Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed on 27 Mar. 2006) "Master of arts in arbitration and dispute resolution." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2006. / "Master of Arts in arbitration and dispute resolution, LW6409 dissertation" Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 23, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Despite the numerous advantages that design and build has as a procurement method for construction projects, which have made it the procurement method of choice for construction projects in Europe and North America, not many South African construction companies are making use of it. This study investigates the constraints which are associated with design and build in South Africa. It also seeks to find out how certain performance indicators in construction fare when design and build is used. It then proposes recommendations on how the method can be improved in order to increase its use in South Africa. Data for the study was collected from six major professions in the construction industry including contractors, engineers, quantity surveyors, project owners, project managers and architects in order to give a more balanced view of the problems. Questionnaires, emails and telephonic conversations were methods used to collect the data. Sample t-tests were then conducted on the data using the statistical package, Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS). The results obtained show that there are numerous problems faced in all phases of construction projects when design and build is used as the procurement method of choice in South Africa. Most of the problems are around the issues of inadequate knowledge by project owners in construction, and also the unavailability of manpower to help owners with technical issues. Of the performance indicators investigated, time management and project quality are found to perform poorly. Project owners should deploy their own project managers in the construction process

Thesis. 1976. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil Engineering. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Engineering. / Bibliography: leaves 83-84. / M.S.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-121).

No description available.

The objective of this thesis is to consider whether the institutionalist hypothesis that the choice of organisational form functions to limit the transaction costs of organising productive activities explains a major standard-form contract which is used in building production. I approach this task by demarcating three models of contract which represent different points along a "contracting continuum". Each of the three governance structures - classical contract, relational contracting and the firm - represents a distinct patterning of resource co-ordination and each generates its own configuration of transaction costs. Thus the contracting continuum provides a basis for comparing the cost-reducing strengths and weaknesses of governance structures that vary with respect to their characterisation of relations between economic actors, and of the form and substance of both planning and implementation of decisions. The second part of the thesis focuses on the standardform building contract and its location along the contracting continuum. This part of the thesis addresses the question of "transactional fit" between the building contract and the activity which it purports to regulate. The analysis proceeds by identifying sources of transaction costs in the context and in the practices of building production and examining the governance implications of the contractual responses to such costs. 11 In its conclusions the thesis attempts to evaluate the contribution of institutional analysis our understanding of legal conceptions of contract. By using an industry-wide standard-form contract as a focus, I hope to illustrate some of the strengths and also the limitations of this approach. Building contracts have received little academic attention in the UK., and transaction cost analysis of governance structures is a young science which has been pursued with more enthusiasm by economists than by lawyers. As yet there has been little attempt to relate substantive aspects of the lawyer's understanding of contract to the "new institutional economics". It is hoped that this thesis will make a contribution to that exercise.

Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2008. / "Master of Arts in arbitration and dispute resolution." Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on June 1, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.