Performance improvement in the construction industry is significantly influenced by the innovation performance of small construction knowledge-intensive professional service firms (SCKIPSFs). There is thus an urgent need to better understand the nature and process of innovation in such firms. The prevailing innovation literature is generally not appropriate for SCKIPSFs, as it tends to focus on large, manufacturing-based firms operating in 'non-project based' environments; rather than small, service-based firms operating in multiple, fluid 'project based' environments. A knowledge-based innovation model was developed from a review and synthesis of the relevant literature. This model is presented as a holistic, system-orientated framework to better investigate how SCKIPSFs create, manage and exploit innovation. The five variables in the conceptual model are: interaction environment; relationship capital; structure capital; human capital; and, knowledge capital. The conceptual model formed a gap analysis framework to interrogate the meta hypothesis and six sub-hypotheses. The model was investigated and developed through a longitudinal twenty-two month case study which consisted of an exploratory phase and an action research phase. Semi-structured interviews, company documentation and company workshop data collection techniques, and content analysis and cognitive mapping data analysis techniques, were used. The unit of analysis for this research was taken as the 'innovation activity.' In the exploratory phase of the case study, seven innovations were investigated, and key variables for successful and unsuccessful innovation identified. In the action research phase of the case study, an interim project review process innovation was developed and, in so doing, the interactions between the key variables identified in the exploratory phase were investigated. The empirical testing of hypotheses revealed two principal factors that stimulate successful knowledge-based innovation in SCKIPSFs: client requirements (synonymous with the market-based view of innovation) and the competences of knowledge workers (synonymous with the resource-based view of innovation). In developing and testing the conceptual model, the research contributed to innovation theory by: affirming that the prevailing innovation theory is not appropriate for SCKIPSFs; and, conceptualising and empirically validating two forms of knowledge-based innovation: exploitative innovation and explorative innovation, along with their generic variables and their distinctive variables to success and failure, within a SCKTPSF context. The results emphasised the need, in practice, for appropriate: senior management education and training in innovation management; and, mechanisms for knowledge sharing between staff which are not solely driven by immediate project needs.

Solid waste management has been recognized as one of the most immediate and serious problems confronting the Palestinian institutions especially those responsible for service delivery, policy and strategy formulation. The complexity and historical context of integrated and sustainable waste management with special focus on the disposal options of municipal solid waste is studied within the context of sustainable development. This is the core of the research, which seeks to make a contribution to the understanding and assessing of waste management process including relations and mandates of institutions involved in solid waste management decision-making process which forms the basis for the development of an environmentally sound sustainable disposal strategy of municipal solid waste for the Gaza Strip. The work is based on case studies derived from four holistic case studies in the Gaza Strip. Soft system methodologies are used to illuminate the qualitative concerns. It is applied to the solid %%-asmtea nagement in order to analyse and assesst he solid waste existing situation and recommends some actions in order to improve the disposal situation. The quantitative information from practice is placed alongside the qualitative data to give further insight into the issues being studied. Solid waste indicators and scoring system as triangulation with the soft system approach were selected to represent and evaluate disposal alternatives of the four case studies. An evaluation of the four disposal options as percentages was the outcome of the evaluation of disposal matrix. It was discovered that an overlaps between Palestinian institutions involved in solid waste decision-making. Clear mandates, responsibilities, legislation is not efficiently functioning. Its concluded that soft system methodology supported with case studies methodologies, have proved to be a suitable approach for structuring, expressing, modeling the available information and as a result solving the problem of waste management. Comprehensive solid waste management legislation must be formulated so that effective sustainable solid waste management programs can be laid out. National waste management strategy considering landfilling, composting, 311's, and incineration as an integrated sustainable disposal option was recommended to be adopted by the Palestinian National Authority.

The main goal for IS/IT projects is the successful and timely delivery which meets their planned performance and objectives. However, IS/IT projects frequently fail. It has been reported that, on average, IS systems are delivered one year behind schedule, only I% of projects finish on time and within budget. This highlights the need for a model capable of determining the state of readiness of organisations prior to their implementation of an IS/IT project. This model should be able to show the way of improving organizational readiness to increase the likelihood of a successful implementation of such a project. In spite of the recognition of the main factors which can affect the success of IS/IT, tools do not exist that addresses those factors in an integrated manner. The primary aim of this research is to produce a general practitioner measurement tool that assists organisations in identifying the readiness gap before the initiation of a new ISAT project, and suggests guidelines for improvements. This research is also concerned with the establishment of an evaluation framework for ISAT. This framework presents a measurement of the success of IS/IT projects at the business level. Both the evaluation framework and the general practitioner model would help organizations to predict the level of success of IS/IT projects in meeting their business objectives. In order to achieve the aims and objectives of this research a thorough review of previous related literature from different disciplines was carried out in order to first build the IS/IT evaluation framework. The literature covered fields such as IS/IT success literature, organisational effectiveness, strategic planning, communication thcories, marketing, maturity models and ISAT measurement. The framework was then verified and modified by an exploratory field work in nine organisations from which the general practitioner model was established. To verify and test the model, qualitative non-experimental approach was conducted using in-depth case studies in four different organisations utilising triangulation of data collection methods that uses observation, structured interviews, unstructured interviews, historical data collection, and document review.

Flanagan and Norman (1982b) examined the bidding performances of three contractors. In developing this study, the aim of this research is to demonstrate through statistical modelling that, in terms of competitiveness, competing contractors are influenced, to varying degrees, by contract type and size and that a competitiveness relationship exists between contractor size and contract size. Bidding behaviour between construction firms is regarded as the outcome of strategic management decisions undertaken in an economic setting. Contractors are seen to compete for construction work in a competitive environment made up of a series of market sectors, each containing an amalgam of contract types and sizes, while clients are viewed as initiators of the whole contracting process. Contractors are shown to respond to client demands by deciding on a strategic domain within which to operate, which contracts to bid for and, if opting to bid, the appropriate bid level. Two approaches to modelling competitiveness are offered. The first approach examines the relationship between competitiveness and variability in bidding and a four-way classification system of bidder behaviour is developed. The main goal of this work, however, is contained in the second approach, which uses multiple regression to construct a competitiveness model - a prediction equation relating bidder competitiveness (the dependent variable) to the independent variables of bidder (analysed individually and also grouped according to size), contract type and contract size. The regression model shows that differences in competitiveness are greater for different contract sizes than different contract types. The most competitive contractors appear to be those with a preferred contract size range. The results are inconclusive in providing evidence that large bidders are more competitive on larger contracts and vice versa.

Construction is a process, which involves diverse parties having different professional skills and interest. At present, the co-operation and information exchange between parties involved in any construction has not yet been attained. During a project life cycle, the amount of information generated and exchanged is enormous even for a small-size construction project. Current process of managing information flow in construction still lags behind other industries such as manufacturing. In the era of information age, information technology (IT) becomes a vital tool for managing information. It allows a user/manager to store and retrieve information easily, quickly, produce complete and accurate response, and be better informed of the relevant issues. However, the progress of IT in the construction industry relies on the ability of the project participants to exchange and share information among themselves. Inevitably, there is a need for common standards and approaches due to the lack of compatibility of the information exchange. The complexity and vast amount of information involved in any construction project and the lack of standards have made the process of producing an integrated environment very difficult. A framework for establishing an Integrated Construction Environment (ICE) has been proposed with the aim of co-ordinating the integration process between the various construction applications. SPACE (Simultaneous Prototyping in An integrated Construction Environment) has been developed which aims to integrate design and construction throughout the project's life cycle via a single database. The implementation of this framework has led to the development of a modularised central core whereby each application has its own data module. CAPE (Construction Application Protocol for data transfEr) is a design application, which has been developed as part of data module in SPACE. It represents a building elements data module and the object interpreter engine. It aims is to improve the flow of information between project's participants, particularly those related to the design stage. The development of CAPE data module has resulted in the implementation of a system, which capture most of the design elements in CAD (AutoCAD/AEC Tm), the study of their properties such as co-ordination and dimension and populates it into the object-oriented database systems to serve other application modules in the project model, i.e. SPACE. CAPE data module also provides several benefits. It provides essential support for the integration of design and construction, a generic set of building element classes, defines building elements with the necessary information at run-time, and a dynamic and an independent environment for all graphical packages such as CAD and YR.

In the last thirty years, air traffic has increased rapidly causing the need to build more and larger airports. As the aviation industry continues to expand, the need for larger and more efficient aircraft with bigger payloads over greater distances becomes inevitable. The use of larger aircraft coupled with the growing demand for air travel requires the building of more and larger airports. One of the most important factors to consider when building a new airport is the impacts it may have on the environment. This thesis attempts to investigate the most important environmental impacts that may rise from the building of a new airport, it also discusses both the positive and the negative aspects of such impacts. It also discusses the ways and means of reducing and minimisin the adverse environmental impacts. It does iQI, however, concentrate specifically on a particular airport and the contents apply to airports "in general". A " general assessment" of such environmental impacts will also be made in the final Chapter. It should, however, be noted that, although the main aim of this thesis is to investigate the environmental impacts of airports, a considerable amount of' the material in this thesis relates to "aircraft" since some of the most important environmental impacts of airports are directly caused by aircraft, for example, the problem of aircraft noise.

Literature and past research suggests that one of the reasons for the poor performance of the construction industry is due to the inappropriateness of the awarded contractor. In order to ensure a successful completion of a project, a comprehensive and careful assessment of contractors data in a prequalification stage is required. Appointing an appropriate contractor to carry out the construction work, therefore, becomes one of the most important tasks to ensure the success of a project. In this thesis the author has made a preliminary survey to investigate the bidding process currently used in the construction industry through literature survey, extensive interviews with the construction professionals and an industry wide questionnaire. The investigation has focused on the procedures of prequalification and bids evaluation, it also covers the list of criteria considered for selecting contractors in prequalification and bid evaluation stages. The thesis investigated the perceived relationship between contractor selection criteria (CSC) currently in use and predominant project success factors (PSF) in terms of time, cost and quality involving a sample of experienced construction professionals. This research is based on the premise that selection should concentrate on determining contractor potential for achieving project goals in terms of time, cost and quality. The study presented a quantitative technique to combine the contractor data in terms of these goals. The study also presented an evaluation strategy that involves the consideration both of the client goals as ends and contractor data as the means, the strategy based on the rnultiattribute utility theory for the frnal selection or rank ordering of the contractors. The selection is ultimately based on the preferences and the attitude of the decision maker toward risk. A real case study was used to validate the proposed methodology for contractor prequalification. The benefit of this work is that it provides a means using the PERT methodology to incorporate uncertainty andlor imprecision associated with the assessment of contractors data, this all in terms of the ultimate project success factors of time, cost, and quality. The utility technique proposed should help clients in selecting contractors and the contractors themselves for selecting sub-contractors in offering a means of broadening their analysis of tenderers beyond that of simply relying on tender values. It also alerts contractors to the importance of increasing their ability to satisfy the needs of the clients in terms of their ultimate project goals.

Value Management (VM) is an organised effort directed at analyzing the functions of systems, supplies, equipments and facilities, for the purpose of achieving the required functions at lowest overall cost, consistent with requirements for performance, including reliability, delivery, maintainability and human factors. This structured method can also be successfully used to define the scope of a project. In the UK, the awareness of the tremendous potential and benefits of applying VM to construction projects has made some clients eager to apply this technique to their projects. There are, however, a number of problems which inhibit the use of this advanced technique in the construction industry. Qualified VM specialists, for instance, are very scarce within the industry, it is often difficult to find them to undertake proper VM studies. This research therefore aimed at exploring the feasibility of building a Knowledge-Based System (KBS) to facilitate VM implementations in the design stages of a construction project. A demonstration system has been successfully developed to illustrate the facilities which would be available to potential users in a fully developed system. A method of allocating project cost against functions of the project specified by the clients has been developed, which could expedite the processes of clarifying clients' brief and ensuring good value for money by cutting unnecessary costs and enhancing required functions. The research has also explored how KBSs can be effectively applied to "open-ended" decision-making problems in which new options may be generated during each session with the system, i.e. the study considered the possibility of letting users extend and customise the knowledge base. The system has been described as a "satisfactory and very promising system" by the UK industrial specialists.

The thesis considers the construction tender price index, an important area of construction economics, and models are developed to fit the trends in this index. Between 1980 and 1987, the UK Building Cost Index produced by the Building Cost Information Service increased at an annual rate of 6.3% compared with Tender Price Index 3.3% and Retail Price Index at 6.7% per annum. This significant disparity between Tender Price and Building Cost Index is unexpected in view of the attributed importance of input prices in the tender price formation. This suggests that other factors apart from input prices may be responsible for the trends in building prices generally. The thesis reviews the pricing strategies of construction contractors leading to the conclusion that macroeconomic factors are equally important. A univariate analysis of 24 potential indicators of tender price trends identified some variables of importance. An analysis is described of these variables using the OLS system of regression analysis. Single structural equation model of construction tender price level is developed which offer structural explanation of the movements in the index. Indicators of construction price (in real terms) produced by the structural equation were found to be unemployment level, real interest rate, manufacturing profitability, number of registered construction firms, oil crisis, building cost index, construction productivity and construction work stoppages. A Reduced-form model of construction price is developed that utilises simultaneous equation models comprising construction demand, supply and equilibrium models - the reduced-form models being generally regarded as having better predictive power than structural equations. The model is validated by comparing its accuracy with forecasts produced by two leading organisations in U.K. The out-of-sample forecast errors of the reduced-form model are 2.78, 3.58, 4.28 and 5.59 RMSE percent over 0, 1, 2 and 3 quarter forecast horizons respectively, which are better than the Building Cost Information Service (3.32, 5.29, 7.57 and 9.96 RMSE percent) and Davis, Langdon and Everest (3.21, 5.01, 7.16 and 10.41 RMSE percent).

In the UK, building maintenance makes up more than 50% of total construction output while reactive maintenance covers two thirds of the overall building maintenance projects. It was therefore found not surprisingly that reactive maintenance work receives the most complaints and gives more negative impacts on business activities in terms of time, cost, and the health and safety of the users. As this type of maintenance work is mostly carried out by firms with less than 20 employees, which constitutes 84% of the industry, reactive maintenance is hence, the major focus of this study. The aim of the research is to demonstrate how inexpensive IT and communication tools can lead to enhanced effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of minor construction projects. Process analysis was carried out to provide valuable insights into the existing business process of reactive maintenance and also the information and communication technology that is being used by the parties involved in the process. It unearthed problems that impede the process in terms of time, cost, quality of work and the health and safety of the users. These problems can be encapsulated as poor communications between different parties, lack of knowledge sharing and poor quality of information, which often leads to longer time taken to fix a problem and incurs higher cost. A prototype online knowledge management system called "MoPMIT". MoPMIT (More Productive Minor Construction Projects through Information Technology) was developed based on these problems and the improvements required which the main idea is to bring all parties onto the online system so that they can share the necessary project information for better management of knowledge. The system allows them to communicate and share the information available to them via a common interface with pre-allocated password access as a control mechanism that restricts each user to its role. System evaluation was conducted among potential MoPMIT users and generally the results were positive. They were of the view that this system would lead to better management of knowledge, improve communication and better sharing between all parties.