Most infrastructure, settlements and facilities are located near the coast and are highly vulnera... more Most infrastructure, settlements and facilities are located near the coast and are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise (SLR), coastal erosion and storms. Continued population growth in low-lying coastal areas will increase vulnerability to these hazards. At the projected rates, SLR may not pose an immediate threat to coastal areas; nevertheless, a higher sea level will provide a higher base for storm surges to build upon and diminish the draining rate of low-lying areas, thereby increasing the risk of flooding from rainstorms. Due to uncertainty in climate change predictions, coastal vulnerability assessments (VA) and most town planning activities are based on an assumption that sea level will remain constant in the future. However, climate change is undeniable and the resulting SLR is a reality that coastal communities will face in the coming decades. Thus, it is essential to consider coastal dynamics in assessing the impacts of SLR under various scenarios when preparing our cities...
This paper is part of an ongoing research project designed to develop a dynamic model for assessi... more This paper is part of an ongoing research project designed to develop a dynamic model for assessing current and future vulnerability of waterfront residential properties to sea-level rise (SLR). SLR is one of the best recognized effects of projected climate change in recent literature. Increased storm surge height due to SLR can cause significant problems for low-lying coastal areas. Millions of people who live near the sea may be forced to displace due to coastal flooding. As sea level continues to increase due to global warming, decision makers will need to have better tools to understand the extent and timing of coastal hazards. Considering the complexity and dynamic nature of coastal systems with many feedbacks and dependencies changing over time, the research will focus on modelling temporal and spatial variations of coastal flooding in assessing vulnerability of the systems to SLR and storm surges. Yes Yes
Most infrastructure, settlements and facilities are located near the coast and are highly vulnera... more Most infrastructure, settlements and facilities are located near the coast and are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise (SLR), coastal erosion and storms. Continued population growth in low-lying coastal areas will increase vulnerability to these hazards. The impacts of SLR are highly variable across regions and difficult to predict over time and space. Principally, due to constraints on the adaptive capacities of coastal areas, SLR increases the challenge of achieving sustainable development in these areas in developing countries, and they are likely to be hit hardest. Generally speaking, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change are urgent issues, especially among developing countries. The dilemmas confronting decision makers are: how and when to adapt to SLR. The complexity can easily overwhelm the ability of decision makers to thoroughly investigate the outcomes of adaptation alternatives. Therefore developing and implementing effective adaptation options is crucial for futu...
Throughout the world, construction is one of the most hazardous industries due to the complex and... more Throughout the world, construction is one of the most hazardous industries due to the complex and unsafe nature of construction; the Gaza Strip in Palestine is no exception. Construction site safety records on the Gaza strip are considered poor and local contractors, sub-contractors and their workers face daily risks from hazards that need to be managed to prevent death, injury and illness. In view of this, the aim of this paper is to provide insight into the perception of Palestinian construction managers towards: 1) the local industryʼs characteristics which generally affect construction safety, and 2) the factors that directly or indirectly cause site accidents. In doing so, a relative importance index was developed and used to rank the different common characteristics and factors identified by local managers. The results highlighted the most important industry characteristics that give rise to safety challenges viz.: poor accident record keeping and reporting systems; extensive ...
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between leadership behavio... more Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between leadership behaviors and knowledge management (KM) practices. More specifically, it aims to examine the influence of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on KM, and the moderating effect of organizational culture on this relationship, in the context of small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Australia. Design/methodology/approach – A total of four hypotheses were proposed for testing. It also provides is a succinct review of KM basics relevant to the study, the relationship between leadership and KM, and leadership and organizational culture. Findings – The results suggest that both transformational and transactional leadership are positively related to KM practices. They also reveal that charismatic leadership and contingent reward leadership behaviors have greater influence on all the dimensions of KM practices. Research limitations/implications – A key limitation of thi...
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assist organizations in understanding the nature of qua... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assist organizations in understanding the nature of quality management from a resource-based perspective by investigating the relationship between strategies needed to drive quality enhancement, and resources being allocated to support effective strategy implementation. The resource-based view of TQM elements led this case study research to deal with quality management from a strategic viewpoint, or what is known as Strategic Quality Management (SQM). Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs the analytic network process (ANP) to model the interactions between eight SQM strategies and the three types of resources (human, organisational and technological) needed for effective strategy implementation. The paper then formulates a goal programming (GP) model in order to identify the extent to which each single strategy is inhibited by a lack of (or overloaded by) resources. Using a case study approach, the hybrid ANP-GP methodology is empl...
The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a conceptual model comprising organi... more The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a conceptual model comprising organisational innovation dimensions and characteristics within public and private project-oriented organisations operating in Saudi Arabia. Data for the study were collected through a large-scale survey targeting professional project managers working for organisations which had either adopted, or intended to adopt, the Project Management Office (PMO). Responses were statistically analysed to assess the relationships between four variables related to the diffusion of organisational innovations, namely; socio-culture, technology, organisational climate for innovation, and innovation characteristics. The findings suggest that participative culture and, technology availability and implementation intensifies organisational climate for innovation. They also reveal compelling evidence in support of the moderating role of technology on the relationship between the country’s socio-culture and organisa...
Quantifying an accurate sustainability performance for infrastructure projects is a mightily comp... more Quantifying an accurate sustainability performance for infrastructure projects is a mightily complicated process. Thus, most of current sustainability assessment models tend to be simple in their structures. However, ultra-simplicity of those models has led to ignoring one of the most essential principles of sustainability, which is the interaction among its components. In response, it requires an innovative approach that has the capability to consider the interaction among sustainability indicators during the decision-making process in infrastructure planning. This paper presents an innovative model to quantify the sustainability performance of an infrastructure project considering the interaction among sustainability indicators. The proposed model is based on a combination of fuzzy set theory, and fuzzy cognitive maps. The approach illustrates its capability through a real case study application. The results of the case study were compared to those obtained through conventional sustainability assessment models, to demonstrate the contribution of the proposed model. The results also reveal that the proposed model has potential for handling sustainability models limitations.
Development of infrastructure projects generally receives vast amount of capital investment in an... more Development of infrastructure projects generally receives vast amount of capital investment in any country. However, yet one of the main challenges in the provision of physical infrastructure is meeting the growing demand for new infrastructure, while maintaining, upgrading or replacing aging infrastructure. This has led to the recognition of the importance of ensuring infrastructure sustainability during its life cycle. Therefore, in an attempt to investigate current Australian infrastructure sustainability practices, a pilot questionnaire survey was conducted for gathering data required to identify key sustainability indicators (SI's) and to draw upon practitioners' opinions regarding the importance of SI's in assessing sustainability performance of typical infrastructure projects. The research reported upon forms part of a larger study that aims to develop an integrated expert decision support system for sustainability performance assessment. This involves identification of relevant SI's and investigation of practitioners' preferences of their use.
There is a strong link between decision making and environmental stresses. Two dilemmas confront ... more There is a strong link between decision making and environmental stresses. Two dilemmas confront decision makers: how and when to adapt to sea level rise, due to complexities of environmental systems and the changing nature of the decision making process. This process is inherently complex and often involves many stakeholders with conflicting views. Considering the complexity and dynamic nature of coastal systems, this paper introduces a Spatial Temporal Decision framework to assess coastal vulnerability, and the adaptation alternatives to SLR. The STD is based upon a combination of: System Dynamics modelling; Geographical Information Systems modelling; and multicriteria analyses of stakeholders' views using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. For case study analyses, the City of the Gold Coast located in Southeast Queensland, Australia has been selected. The results of the vulnerability assessment indicate that, at the end of a 100 year simulation period, approximately 6% of the ...
Due to uncertainty in the timing and magnitude of Sea Level Rise (SLR) impacts, it is difficult t... more Due to uncertainty in the timing and magnitude of Sea Level Rise (SLR) impacts, it is difficult to determine whether taking a specific action to prepare for SLR is justified. The dilemmas confronting decision makers are: when, where and how to adapt to SLR. To address these issues, this research introduces a recently developed model linking Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with System Dynamics (SD) modelling to present realistic time series scenarios of SLR across coastal communities. The hybrid GIS-SD model provides a multifaceted assessment by going beyond detailing year specific land use impacts through linking these outputs with socio-economic SD modules. As a result, the model provides the potential to address temporal and spatial problems concurrently. The methodology formulated from this assessment process, could potentially be utilised by coastal communities to identify and evaluate effective adaptation alternatives for reducing SLR impacts, and to inform long-term dec...
The scientific community is confident that warming of the Earth’s climate is unequivocal. Sea-lev... more The scientific community is confident that warming of the Earth’s climate is unequivocal. Sea-level rise, which poses potential threats to coastal areas, is one of the most recognised possible impacts of this climate change. The nonlinearities, complexities, and spatial and temporal lags are common characteristics of coastal processes driven by human and natural interaction. With the acknowledgement of the complexity and dynamic nature of coastal systems, this paper introduces a spatial–temporal assessment framework, for addressing both the temporal and spatial variations, when assessing the vulnerability of natural and human systems in coastal areas. The framework is based upon a combination of system dynamics (SD) modelling and geographical information systems by taking into account spatial (x, y, z) and temporal (t) dimensions. The strategy of the adopted approach is to use the loose coupling approach by which a spatial model component is incorporated into a SD model component th...
This paper looks at the potential applications and benefits of using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC)... more This paper looks at the potential applications and benefits of using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a framework to evaluate the value IT adds to the process of project information management in construction. The paper builds upon recently published works by the authors, by further strengthening the conceptually developed 'Construct IT' BSC framework, through the validation of the frameworks five (5) IT-related performance measurement perspectives and associated performance indicators. Construction professionals from large construction contracting and project management organisations located within Australia were used as the target group for a questionnaire survey. The survey results supported the five perspective 'Construct IT' BSC framework. Evidence of reliability and validity is presented for the conceptual framework. D
Information is the cornerstone of any business process. It is not surprising, therefore, for info... more Information is the cornerstone of any business process. It is not surprising, therefore, for information technology (IT) to emerge as a key enabler that changes the way business is conducted. During the last decade or so, significant productivity improvements experienced by a wide range of industries have been associated with IT implementation. IT has provided these industries with great advantages in speed of operation, consistency of data generation, accessibility and exchange of information. This paper details an empirical investigation of users' perceptions of a web-based communication tool adopted on a large construction project. A questionnaire-based research approach was adopted for this purpose. The questionnaire aims to solicit user perceptions of web-based communication to highlight its role in enabling improved project information management and business relationships, compared to the prevailing business-as-usual level. D
The need for improved implementation of Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) ... more The need for improved implementation of Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) has been emphasised in both empirical and prescriptive research studies. This problem is magnified in the construction industry, which has been slow to embrace and utilise new technologies with negative consequences on productivity and innovation. This paper presents a strategic implementation framework for IT/IS projects in construction. The framework builds upon recent published works and encompasses well-documented predictors for effective IT/IS implementation. A case study with a large multi-national construction organisation is used to demonstrate the strategic implementation of a Project Management Information System (PMIS) used for the construction of a mobile phone telecommunications network in the South East of Queensland, Australia.
Most infrastructure, settlements and facilities are located near the coast and are highly vulnera... more Most infrastructure, settlements and facilities are located near the coast and are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise (SLR), coastal erosion and storms. Continued population growth in low-lying coastal areas will increase vulnerability to these hazards. At the projected rates, SLR may not pose an immediate threat to coastal areas; nevertheless, a higher sea level will provide a higher base for storm surges to build upon and diminish the draining rate of low-lying areas, thereby increasing the risk of flooding from rainstorms. Due to uncertainty in climate change predictions, coastal vulnerability assessments (VA) and most town planning activities are based on an assumption that sea level will remain constant in the future. However, climate change is undeniable and the resulting SLR is a reality that coastal communities will face in the coming decades. Thus, it is essential to consider coastal dynamics in assessing the impacts of SLR under various scenarios when preparing our cities...
This paper is part of an ongoing research project designed to develop a dynamic model for assessi... more This paper is part of an ongoing research project designed to develop a dynamic model for assessing current and future vulnerability of waterfront residential properties to sea-level rise (SLR). SLR is one of the best recognized effects of projected climate change in recent literature. Increased storm surge height due to SLR can cause significant problems for low-lying coastal areas. Millions of people who live near the sea may be forced to displace due to coastal flooding. As sea level continues to increase due to global warming, decision makers will need to have better tools to understand the extent and timing of coastal hazards. Considering the complexity and dynamic nature of coastal systems with many feedbacks and dependencies changing over time, the research will focus on modelling temporal and spatial variations of coastal flooding in assessing vulnerability of the systems to SLR and storm surges. Yes Yes
Most infrastructure, settlements and facilities are located near the coast and are highly vulnera... more Most infrastructure, settlements and facilities are located near the coast and are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise (SLR), coastal erosion and storms. Continued population growth in low-lying coastal areas will increase vulnerability to these hazards. The impacts of SLR are highly variable across regions and difficult to predict over time and space. Principally, due to constraints on the adaptive capacities of coastal areas, SLR increases the challenge of achieving sustainable development in these areas in developing countries, and they are likely to be hit hardest. Generally speaking, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change are urgent issues, especially among developing countries. The dilemmas confronting decision makers are: how and when to adapt to SLR. The complexity can easily overwhelm the ability of decision makers to thoroughly investigate the outcomes of adaptation alternatives. Therefore developing and implementing effective adaptation options is crucial for futu...
Throughout the world, construction is one of the most hazardous industries due to the complex and... more Throughout the world, construction is one of the most hazardous industries due to the complex and unsafe nature of construction; the Gaza Strip in Palestine is no exception. Construction site safety records on the Gaza strip are considered poor and local contractors, sub-contractors and their workers face daily risks from hazards that need to be managed to prevent death, injury and illness. In view of this, the aim of this paper is to provide insight into the perception of Palestinian construction managers towards: 1) the local industryʼs characteristics which generally affect construction safety, and 2) the factors that directly or indirectly cause site accidents. In doing so, a relative importance index was developed and used to rank the different common characteristics and factors identified by local managers. The results highlighted the most important industry characteristics that give rise to safety challenges viz.: poor accident record keeping and reporting systems; extensive ...
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between leadership behavio... more Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between leadership behaviors and knowledge management (KM) practices. More specifically, it aims to examine the influence of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on KM, and the moderating effect of organizational culture on this relationship, in the context of small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Australia. Design/methodology/approach – A total of four hypotheses were proposed for testing. It also provides is a succinct review of KM basics relevant to the study, the relationship between leadership and KM, and leadership and organizational culture. Findings – The results suggest that both transformational and transactional leadership are positively related to KM practices. They also reveal that charismatic leadership and contingent reward leadership behaviors have greater influence on all the dimensions of KM practices. Research limitations/implications – A key limitation of thi...
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assist organizations in understanding the nature of qua... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assist organizations in understanding the nature of quality management from a resource-based perspective by investigating the relationship between strategies needed to drive quality enhancement, and resources being allocated to support effective strategy implementation. The resource-based view of TQM elements led this case study research to deal with quality management from a strategic viewpoint, or what is known as Strategic Quality Management (SQM). Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs the analytic network process (ANP) to model the interactions between eight SQM strategies and the three types of resources (human, organisational and technological) needed for effective strategy implementation. The paper then formulates a goal programming (GP) model in order to identify the extent to which each single strategy is inhibited by a lack of (or overloaded by) resources. Using a case study approach, the hybrid ANP-GP methodology is empl...
The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a conceptual model comprising organi... more The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a conceptual model comprising organisational innovation dimensions and characteristics within public and private project-oriented organisations operating in Saudi Arabia. Data for the study were collected through a large-scale survey targeting professional project managers working for organisations which had either adopted, or intended to adopt, the Project Management Office (PMO). Responses were statistically analysed to assess the relationships between four variables related to the diffusion of organisational innovations, namely; socio-culture, technology, organisational climate for innovation, and innovation characteristics. The findings suggest that participative culture and, technology availability and implementation intensifies organisational climate for innovation. They also reveal compelling evidence in support of the moderating role of technology on the relationship between the country’s socio-culture and organisa...
Quantifying an accurate sustainability performance for infrastructure projects is a mightily comp... more Quantifying an accurate sustainability performance for infrastructure projects is a mightily complicated process. Thus, most of current sustainability assessment models tend to be simple in their structures. However, ultra-simplicity of those models has led to ignoring one of the most essential principles of sustainability, which is the interaction among its components. In response, it requires an innovative approach that has the capability to consider the interaction among sustainability indicators during the decision-making process in infrastructure planning. This paper presents an innovative model to quantify the sustainability performance of an infrastructure project considering the interaction among sustainability indicators. The proposed model is based on a combination of fuzzy set theory, and fuzzy cognitive maps. The approach illustrates its capability through a real case study application. The results of the case study were compared to those obtained through conventional sustainability assessment models, to demonstrate the contribution of the proposed model. The results also reveal that the proposed model has potential for handling sustainability models limitations.
Development of infrastructure projects generally receives vast amount of capital investment in an... more Development of infrastructure projects generally receives vast amount of capital investment in any country. However, yet one of the main challenges in the provision of physical infrastructure is meeting the growing demand for new infrastructure, while maintaining, upgrading or replacing aging infrastructure. This has led to the recognition of the importance of ensuring infrastructure sustainability during its life cycle. Therefore, in an attempt to investigate current Australian infrastructure sustainability practices, a pilot questionnaire survey was conducted for gathering data required to identify key sustainability indicators (SI's) and to draw upon practitioners' opinions regarding the importance of SI's in assessing sustainability performance of typical infrastructure projects. The research reported upon forms part of a larger study that aims to develop an integrated expert decision support system for sustainability performance assessment. This involves identification of relevant SI's and investigation of practitioners' preferences of their use.
There is a strong link between decision making and environmental stresses. Two dilemmas confront ... more There is a strong link between decision making and environmental stresses. Two dilemmas confront decision makers: how and when to adapt to sea level rise, due to complexities of environmental systems and the changing nature of the decision making process. This process is inherently complex and often involves many stakeholders with conflicting views. Considering the complexity and dynamic nature of coastal systems, this paper introduces a Spatial Temporal Decision framework to assess coastal vulnerability, and the adaptation alternatives to SLR. The STD is based upon a combination of: System Dynamics modelling; Geographical Information Systems modelling; and multicriteria analyses of stakeholders' views using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. For case study analyses, the City of the Gold Coast located in Southeast Queensland, Australia has been selected. The results of the vulnerability assessment indicate that, at the end of a 100 year simulation period, approximately 6% of the ...
Due to uncertainty in the timing and magnitude of Sea Level Rise (SLR) impacts, it is difficult t... more Due to uncertainty in the timing and magnitude of Sea Level Rise (SLR) impacts, it is difficult to determine whether taking a specific action to prepare for SLR is justified. The dilemmas confronting decision makers are: when, where and how to adapt to SLR. To address these issues, this research introduces a recently developed model linking Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with System Dynamics (SD) modelling to present realistic time series scenarios of SLR across coastal communities. The hybrid GIS-SD model provides a multifaceted assessment by going beyond detailing year specific land use impacts through linking these outputs with socio-economic SD modules. As a result, the model provides the potential to address temporal and spatial problems concurrently. The methodology formulated from this assessment process, could potentially be utilised by coastal communities to identify and evaluate effective adaptation alternatives for reducing SLR impacts, and to inform long-term dec...
The scientific community is confident that warming of the Earth’s climate is unequivocal. Sea-lev... more The scientific community is confident that warming of the Earth’s climate is unequivocal. Sea-level rise, which poses potential threats to coastal areas, is one of the most recognised possible impacts of this climate change. The nonlinearities, complexities, and spatial and temporal lags are common characteristics of coastal processes driven by human and natural interaction. With the acknowledgement of the complexity and dynamic nature of coastal systems, this paper introduces a spatial–temporal assessment framework, for addressing both the temporal and spatial variations, when assessing the vulnerability of natural and human systems in coastal areas. The framework is based upon a combination of system dynamics (SD) modelling and geographical information systems by taking into account spatial (x, y, z) and temporal (t) dimensions. The strategy of the adopted approach is to use the loose coupling approach by which a spatial model component is incorporated into a SD model component th...
This paper looks at the potential applications and benefits of using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC)... more This paper looks at the potential applications and benefits of using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a framework to evaluate the value IT adds to the process of project information management in construction. The paper builds upon recently published works by the authors, by further strengthening the conceptually developed 'Construct IT' BSC framework, through the validation of the frameworks five (5) IT-related performance measurement perspectives and associated performance indicators. Construction professionals from large construction contracting and project management organisations located within Australia were used as the target group for a questionnaire survey. The survey results supported the five perspective 'Construct IT' BSC framework. Evidence of reliability and validity is presented for the conceptual framework. D
Information is the cornerstone of any business process. It is not surprising, therefore, for info... more Information is the cornerstone of any business process. It is not surprising, therefore, for information technology (IT) to emerge as a key enabler that changes the way business is conducted. During the last decade or so, significant productivity improvements experienced by a wide range of industries have been associated with IT implementation. IT has provided these industries with great advantages in speed of operation, consistency of data generation, accessibility and exchange of information. This paper details an empirical investigation of users' perceptions of a web-based communication tool adopted on a large construction project. A questionnaire-based research approach was adopted for this purpose. The questionnaire aims to solicit user perceptions of web-based communication to highlight its role in enabling improved project information management and business relationships, compared to the prevailing business-as-usual level. D
The need for improved implementation of Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) ... more The need for improved implementation of Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) has been emphasised in both empirical and prescriptive research studies. This problem is magnified in the construction industry, which has been slow to embrace and utilise new technologies with negative consequences on productivity and innovation. This paper presents a strategic implementation framework for IT/IS projects in construction. The framework builds upon recent published works and encompasses well-documented predictors for effective IT/IS implementation. A case study with a large multi-national construction organisation is used to demonstrate the strategic implementation of a Project Management Information System (PMIS) used for the construction of a mobile phone telecommunications network in the South East of Queensland, Australia.
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Papers by Sherif Mohamed