Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which form a significant section in many economies, are some of the worst impacted by the Extreme Weather Events (EWEs) and are considered to be the most vulnerable section of the UK economy to the impact of extreme weather. This is of particular importance to the construction industry, as an overarching majority of construction companies are SMEs who account for the majority of employment and income generation within the industry. Whilst construction has been perceived as a sector significantly vulnerable to the impacts of EWEs, the issues with regard to resilience of construction SMEs to EWEs have only been subjected to limited in-depth academic research. This study was developed to identify the growing need for improving the resilience of construction SMEs and sought to undertake an in-depth investigation of the issues. Positioned within a pragmatic research philosophy, case study research strategy was adopted as the overall research strategy in undertaking this investigation. A mixed method research choice consisting of an exploratory questionnaire survey of SMEs and in-depth interviews of case study SMEs were employed to investigate the research questions which arose. The findings of the exploratory questionnaire survey indicated a lack of coping strategies among the construction SMEs studied. However, the in-depth case studies revealed that construction SMEs with significant previous EWE experience have, indeed, developed various strategies to address the risk of EWEs. A theoretical framework was developed to represent the resilience of construction SMEs to EWEs, informed by the findings of the study, where resilience was seen as a collective effect of vulnerability, coping strategies and coping capacities of SMEs, characteristics of the EWE and the wider economic climate. The study provides an original contribution towards the overarching agenda of the resilience of SMEs and policy making in the area of EWE risk management.

Aim: To understand and evaluate the effect of a change from a Traditional Model Unit (TMU) to a Household Model Unit (HMU) for people with dementia, using social engagement and interactive occupation of residents, staff and relatives as outcome measures, in order to make recommendations for future nursing home development. Methods: A mixed methods approach was adopted. Residents, staff and relatives were observed using a snapshot observational method for 11 days pre renovation and 14 days post renovation. Pre renovation interviews with staff (n=25) and relatives (n=22) were contrasted with 19 staff and 14 relatives post renovation interviews. Results: Residents spent more time in the HMU communal living spaces (p≤.001). They were more independently active (p≤.001), more socially engaged (p≤.001) and more involved in interactive occupations (p≤.001). There were significant increases in the time that staff spent in the room (p≤.001), being socially engaged with residents (p≤.001), and performing their work tasks (p≤.001). The data set for relatives was smaller and significance was only achieved in an aggregated grouping engaged and interactive category (p≤.05). Qualitative interview data was used to elaborate on this quantitative data. The interview data was condensed into a multi-component typology of HMU features for future comparison and research. Conclusion: Adopting an HMU environment created behavioural changes in interactive occupation and social engagement of residents, staff and relatives utilizing the main sitting areas. The physical, operation and social environments which created these changes are described in detail. Recommendations are made for nursing home environments and future research.

In line with the main awareness of partnering in solving the many issues within the global construction industry, the Malaysian government has call upon the local industry to embrace and adapt partnering practices in their project delivery. Although culture has been noted as one of the main enabler for partnering, there is lack of research in highlighting the role of culture in partnering and virtually no evidence of a partnering framework established for a multi-ethnic and racial workforce in a developing country such as Malaysia. This research aims to develop a framework for partnering that aligns organizational culture in the Malaysian construction industry. This exploratory research studies the basic concept of partnering and the influence of culture to partnering success. This research seeks to identify which partnering enablers are readily available in the Malaysian construction industry at present. Apart from that, this research also explores the current organizational culture which affects the level of engagement in partnering among private SME consultant firms in particular and the industry in general. The private SME consultant firms are highlighted in this research due to the evidence that indicates the critical role of the consultants in driving the innovations in the industry, which is also cited as one of the outputs from successful partnering. This research leans towards interpretivist epistemological standpoint with an inductive approach and employs a convergent parallel mixed methods survey design in order to answer the research questions. In this research, 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted with top and middle managers in 4 private SME consultant firms and 69 questionnaires were completed by practitioners from various segments of the Malaysian construction industry. As the design suggests, findings from a critical literature review, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires are merged to form a foundation for the development of framework in this research. This research contributes not only to expanding the knowledge in the concept of partnering but also for the implementation of partnering in the construction industry particularly in Malaysia through the framework developed. The practical implication of this thesis is to provide the construction practitioners with the method to establish, enhance and maintain a network of successful partnering relationship in Malaysia.

Indonesia is a country that is highly susceptible to disasters, particularly earthquakes. In the last decade, Indonesia has been hit by three large earthquakes; Aceh in December 2004, Yogyakarta in May 2006, and West Sumatra in September 2009. These earthquakes have created considerable losses to Indonesian communities, leading to 130,000 fatalities, US$10.3 billions in economic losses, and 500,000 heavily damaged houses. The extensiveness of housing reconstruction is the most problematic issue in the housing reconstruction programme sector. Although a community-based post-disaster housing reconstruction project (CPHRP) has been implemented, nevertheless the outcome was overshadowed by delays in delivery, cost escalation, unexpected quality, and community dissatisfaction. The implementation of good practice in project risk management in the construction industry is expected to enhance the success of CPHRP. Accordingly, this study aims to develop a risk management model for community-based post-disaster housing reconstruction approach. In order to achieve the aim and objective of the research, multiple case studies are selected as research strategies. This study implements the sequential mixed method application, starting with a semi-structured interview and followed by a questionnaire survey as the primary method. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data, whilst descriptive and inferential statistics were deployed to analyse quantitative data. The novelty of the research is as follows: this study reveals the importance of the understanding of a community-based approach in post-disaster housing reconstruction. Four highly significant advantages of CPHRP have been discovered, the most significant advantage being that it ‘creates a sense of ownership’ to beneficiaries of the project. The psychological advantage of CPHRP was also found to be greater than the construction advantage. Furthermore, the risk assessment revealed some high-risk events during the pre-construction stage of CPHRP. The project objective most affected by them is project time completion. A risk response document has also been proposed. Moreover, this study found twelve critical success factors (CSFs) of CPHRP, with the highest of the CSFs being ‘transparency and accountability’. With careful attention paid to the above findings, it is expected that the success of the implementation of CPHRP can be increased.

The construction industry forms a significant component of most economies and is responsible for a large share of revenue generation and employment creation. The sector performs well compared to a number of other sectors in terms of productivity and witness steady growth in almost a decade preceding 2008 until impacted upon by the current economic downturn and still performed better than the overall economy average during these difficult times. In the UK, it is responsible for about 7.5 per cent of total employment thus making up the second largest sector of UK employment. Skills requirement to such an important economically viable sector operations is therefore crucial if it is to keep this level of performance. However, this very important industry suffers from a negative image as it has been characterised by a relatively low-status with unyielding and uncompromising working conditions hardly offering any job security. Regardless of these perceptions of construction as well as its high level demand for skills, it is still characterised by a persistent culture of white male-dominant environment. As a result, BMEs are proportionally underrepresented, despite the skills requirements as well as alleged public commitment towards equality and intolerance of discriminatory practices and in respect of successive increases in the minority ethnic population have meant that the UK is more ethnically diverse than ever. Such demographic changes mean that organizations cannot afford monolithic blocks of workforce and still remain competitive. In view of the above, the constant underrepresentation of BMEs in the industry resulting from the many bottlenecks hampering their recruitment, progression and retention in construction needs urgent attention and thus creates a research gap. This study seeks to fill this gap to help decision making processes and influence policy in this regard. As an exploratory study it is philosophically based on mixed methods research paradigm. The study used literature review, semi structured interviews and questionnaire survey as data collection techniques. NVivo 8/9 and SPSS 16 were used for Content analysis and quantitative analysis respectively for the empirical data collected. The study concludes having investigated the cultural practices in the industry especially in respect of recruitment, retention and progression for means to advance BME entry into the industry. Having identified the barriers and the possible remedies to ameliorate the situation, a framework has been put forward with the ultimate aim of informing stakeholder programmes, policy decisions and initiatives to enhance the proportional representation of BMEs in the industry.

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The technology of online banking for customers refers to several types of banking activities through which bank customers can get information and carry out most retail banking services. Libyan banks continue to conduct most of their banking transactions using traditional methods. Given the prevalence of online technology adoption by the banking industry in developed countries, reasons for the lack of such innovation in developing countries such as Libya is of interest in any consideration of technological innovation. The online banking technology usage rate in Libya is at present very minimal, despite the fact that Libya is one of the wealthiest countries in Africa as it is a major oil producer and one of the Europe’s biggest North Africa oil suppliers (Touati, 2008). The Libyan banking industry is now lagging behind and in extreme need of essential change to enhance its banking system, as it has been continuously criticised for its inadequate and inefficient services. Unreliable national telecommunications infrastructure, lack of education between bank customers, lack of technological knowledge among bank staff and customers, and the distance between bank branches and their headquarters were slowing the development of Libyan banking system. These processes require extensive and comprehensive study of online banking related factors in order to achieve customers’ trust and acceptance in online banking technology. The aim of this research is to develop a framework to guide government official for increasing customer trust and acceptance for online banking. After providing literature on online banking, this study considers a framework and tests various factors that might act to determine whether a given technology is likely to be trusted and accepted by the customers of the banking industry in a developing country such as Libya. Data was collected using quantitative and qualitative research methods. The questionnaire survey was distributed to more than 200 Libyan customers of the Bank of Commerce and Development (BCD) and they were analysed quantitatively by descriptive and statistical (correlation and regression) analysis. The data was qualitatively validated with interviews and content analysis. The data was based on customers’ perceptions of factors that might affect their decisions as to whether or not to trust online banking technology in Libya. The study thus addresses the question: How can the level of Libyan bank customers’ trust of online banking be improved? The results of the analysis of this enquiry and findings from a comprehensive literature review enabled the theoretical framework for customers’ trust and acceptance improvement to be developed. As the main outcome of the study, this framework consists of acceptance which includes (relative advantages, ease of use), trust and risk, and online banking issues which includes (security issues, technical and legal support issues, reputation issues, privacy issues, transactional/operation issues). Moreover, technology readiness and demographic characteristics (age, gender) are proposed as having a moderating effect on the relationship between intention and the challenges that might affect customers’ trust and acceptance. These components of the framework have been subject to necessary validation. Thus, if implemented with a conscious effort to address all the mitigating factors, online banking has the potential to bring substantial corporate benefits to both banks and their customers. This research also has significant implications for other research and practical analysis of online banking customers by providing a comprehensive database and established knowledge based on essential theory; this could be used as a resource for practitioners and potential more detailed research, the government officials will also be of interest to the framework for their banking future policies regarding customers’ trust and acceptance. In conclusion, while the aim and objectives of this research were accomplished by providing a framework for the improvement of trust and acceptance of online banking technology by Libyan bank customers, the study has identified the potential limitations of the research and recommendations for future research.

Value investing strategies, those calling for the purchase of shares with low market values relative to measures of their financial fundamentals, have shown great promise in the literature indicating the potential for stock market outperformance. Collectively this idence is one of the most controversial challenges to the efficient market hypothesis. This thesis focuses on one value strategy, net current asset value-to-market value 'NCA/M' strategy examining a large sample of U.K. shares over period from 1980 to 2005.