- Laboratory of Construction Equipment and Management
Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki 54124
Greece - ++302310995525
- Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Construction Project Management, Risk Management, Disaster risk management, Project Risk Management, and 16 moreRisk Management and Insurance, Risk, Risk and Vulnerability, Risk Assessment & Risk Management, Risk and Vulnerability - Natural Hazards, Human Resources, PPP, risk assessment, Community Resilience, Disaster risk reduction, Participatory Decision Making, Disaster Culture, Organisational Behaviour, Entrepreneurship, Labour Management, Business Administration and Management, and Human Resource Managementedit
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In bridge management systems, multi-objective decision-making has emerged as a decision support technique to integrate various technical information and stakeholder values. Different multicriteria decision making techniques and tools have... more
In bridge management systems, multi-objective decision-making has emerged as a decision support technique to integrate various technical information and stakeholder values. Different multicriteria decision making techniques and tools have been developed in the last three decades. This paper presents an overview of different approaches to multi-objective decision making at the object and network level, with the purpose of incorporating different aspects of bridge performance goals, which may vary according to technical, environmental, economic and social factors. The example of application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), as one of the multi criteria decision making method, to a illustrative case study is presented in the paper.
Research Interests:
Various project performance appraisal frameworks (PPAFs) have been established in practice for engineering projects of both the public and private sector. Their aim is to measure the targeted and tangential attributes of project... more
Various project performance appraisal frameworks (PPAFs) have been established in practice for engineering projects of both the public and private sector. Their aim is to measure the targeted and tangential attributes of project performance and conformance to specified quality standards. In this paper, the following PPAFs are summarily presented: CONQUAS and BDAS of Singapore, PASS and BAM of Hong Kong and SBTool of Portugal, Spain and Italy. Then, the current state of research regarding the key bridge performance indicators (KBPIs) is noted and considerations regarding the possible adaptation of a PPAF-inspired blueprint for a general quality appraising frameworkfor roadway bridges take place. Concluding, the importance of lessons-learned and best practices in the establishment of a novel conceptual and computational framework is discussed.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Decision-making for infrastructure systems is a difficult task to perform because of the complexity and the variety of the types of risks that may occur in the different phases of the life-cycle of an infrastructure system. To overcome... more
Decision-making for infrastructure systems is a difficult task to perform because of the complexity and the variety of the types of risks that may occur in the different phases of the life-cycle of an infrastructure system. To overcome these difficulties a new methodology for a risk-based decision making for planning and operating infrastructure systems is proposed. This methodology integrates: i) the variability of impact upon risk occurrence, ii) the available risk-response strategies, and iii) the preference of the decision maker over these strategies with regard to the criticality of the various impacts upon risk occurrence. The proposed methodology considers four risk-response strategies, namely: a) acceptance, b) mitigation, c) transfer, and d) avoidance. Three approaches are applied, in order to determine the preference margins between these strategies: i) compliance with regulations and specifications, ii) determination based on data elaboration, and c) subjective judgment. Once, the expected value of the impact upon risk occurrence is estimated, the decision maker is capable to decide for the respective risk-response. An application example is presented as a proof-of-concept of the proposed methodology.
Public – Private – Partnerships (PPPs) have extensively evolved over the last two decades and have become an important tool, worldwide, for developing infrastructure. Two interrelated crucial fields for successful partnerships in PPPs are... more
Public – Private – Partnerships (PPPs) have extensively evolved over the last two decades and have become an important tool, worldwide, for developing infrastructure. Two interrelated crucial fields for successful partnerships in PPPs are the legal risks and their management through appropriate legal and contractual frameworks. The different perceptions over the legal, contractual, political, and social risks that have a strong impact on the success of PPPs need to be re-examined with the aim of suggesting a context that will allow assessing the perception and mapping of those risks in a comprehensive and effective way. Once such a context is established, the next step is to explore the legal tools that may advance the pursuits of PPPs from achieving viable projects to achieving viable partnerships. These tools must deal with well-identified issues in PPPs contracting, such as renegotiations, standardization, bundling/unbundling, and contract durations. The analysis of research and empirical findings with regard to all the above mentioned issues results in the suggestion of a new context for the understanding of legal risks and of short-term contracts as tools to advance the viability of successful PPPs.
In the recent past, both developing and developed countries have been engaged in partnerships with the private sector in order to develop the required infrastructure in different sectors of the economy (e.g. power generation,... more
In the recent past, both developing and developed countries have been engaged in partnerships with the private sector in order to develop the required infrastructure in different sectors of the economy (e.g. power generation, transportation, etc.). These Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) were implemented with several variations aiming, in all cases, at enhancing economic and social growth, while, at the same time, minimizing requirements of public funds. Currently, this project delivery scheme seems to lack the strong support that was demonstrated both by the public and the private sector in the 90’s. In this chapter, the potentials for a new flourishing period of public-private partnerships in infrastructure development are investigated. Useful lessons learned from the systematic private participation in infrastructure development for almost 20 years are presented and discussed with emphasis on financing issues. The aim is to provide the decision makers with useful ideas on achieving sustainable financing of PPP projects, which is a cornerstone for this type of investments. Therefore, some critical conclusions are drawn concerning the requirements with regard to these financing issues for PPP projects. Accumulated data, experience, and knowledge are integrated to identify: (a) necessary interventions in the infrastructure market, (b) new mechanisms and (c) instruments that can assist, in the future, the development of infrastructure with the PPP project delivery scheme.
Environmental protection and management of natural resources can be considered now – after a long debate – a top priority at the global level. Current environmental problems and modern approaches for growth and wealth have placed the... more
Environmental protection and management of natural resources can be considered now – after a long debate – a top priority at the global level. Current environmental problems and modern approaches for growth and wealth have placed the environment in a central position. In this context, the approach to the education of environmental engineers has shifted to include more scientific fields than the traditional ones. This paper proposes a curriculum for a department of environmental engineering and natural resources management that corresponds to contemporary demands and requirements. The proposal was formalized during the project under the title “DEREC Tempus JEP – Development of Environmental and Resources Engineering Curriculum”, where the authors have participated as members of a European research team with the task to develop such a curriculum. The paper presents the drivers and the requirements towards developing a modern curriculum concerning the environment, as well as, a specific proposal for a respective course. The aim is to identify and focus on the new perspectives in environmental engineering and management to address the modifications required in the traditional curricula towards educating a new generation of environmental engineers and managers.
Coastal zones are dynamically evolving systems comprising three components, i.e. the marine, the coastal, and the land subsystem. This is a typical division of a coastal zone and the only common feature that two different coastal zones... more
Coastal zones are dynamically evolving systems comprising three components, i.e. the marine, the coastal, and the land subsystem. This is a typical division of a coastal zone and the only common feature that two different coastal zones may present. Concerning other features such as landscape morphology, ecological habitats, land uses, residential development and economic activities, etc., coastal zones present a multivariate environment with various characteristics. In general, there may be three different typologies of coastal zones based on morphological criteria. However, the number of coastal zones types is extremely increased when the specific conditions met in each one of these types are taking into consideration. Several types of human settlements and habitats along with various processes of human and natural origin render an environment with many inter-dependencies and risks.
Within the past 5-10 years, several approaches and tools have emerged that may be useful for evaluating natural and human-made environmental vulnerabilities at chemical manufacturing plants, energy plants, transportation networks and... more
Within the past 5-10 years, several approaches and tools have emerged that may be useful for evaluating natural and human-made environmental vulnerabilities at chemical manufacturing plants, energy plants, transportation networks and other critical infrastructure located in heavily populated urban areas and coastal ports and harbors. The evaluation of the effectiveness of these approaches and tools in the current framework of environmental management is a crucial issue in order to verify the appropriateness of available techniques and methods and identify possible future needs to address environmental security. At the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, “Environmental Security at Ports, Harbors and Coastal Areas” held 17-21 April 2005, Thessalonica, Greece, a work group of international risk assessment, decision-making, environmental modeling and engineering experts from 11 countries explored the current state of different risk assessment and management tools and approaches for addressing environmental security in coastal ports and harbors. This chapter summarizes the findings of the work group and concludes with a summary of technical challenges and recommendations for future research.
Risks reduction in construction projects is feasible through Building Information Modelling (BIM) according to the respective literature; however, so far, BIM-based risk management (RM) has not been addressed in a systematic way. This... more
Risks reduction in construction projects is feasible through Building Information Modelling (BIM) according to the respective literature; however, so far, BIM-based risk management (RM) has not been addressed in a systematic way. This paper attempts to formalize BIM-based RM by suggesting and demonstrating the performance of a three-stage methodology. The methodology is applied on two risk scenarios in a building project through four commercial software applications that perform in combination, a full risks analysis regarding time and cost levels for the building project. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed methodology and risk management in construction projects using BIM are presented.
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Infrastructure Systems (IS) management is a key priority in the context of sustainability while resilience of IS is ranked very high among the fields of priority in the construction sector. While the literature presents many quantitative... more
Infrastructure Systems (IS) management is a key priority in the context of sustainability while resilience of IS is ranked very high among the fields of priority in the construction sector. While the literature presents many quantitative methods for measuring resilience, still none of them is considered generally accepted to become a standard. At the same time, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is recognized as a useful tool for the AECOO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owner and Operator) industry and is increasingly adopted by the construction sector around the world. Although BIM ensures the interoperability of information among different parties involved throughout the project life cycle, application of BIM in both infrastructure and facility management phase is not widely used and has not been fully exploited. Literature review has identified a gap concerning IS resilience enhancement through BIM technology and the aim of this study is to propose such a methodology. The technology of City Information Modelling that expands from the building to the city level and provides with spatial and visual representation of urban areas is proposed as the basis for the proposed methodology.
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Infrastructure systems and assets are, worldwide, facing challenges due to aging and increased requirements to serve the growing social and environmental needs. In addition, various frameworks supporting asset replacement decisions have... more
Infrastructure systems and assets are, worldwide, facing challenges due to aging and increased requirements to serve the growing social and environmental needs. In addition, various frameworks supporting asset replacement decisions have been proposed but they mainly consider dimensions such as structural performance and life-cycle costs. This paper confronts infrastructure renewal problem at a higher level by shedding light to its interface with megaproject development. Through the brief review of two discrete research areas, namely ‘methods for infrastructure project feasibility analysis’ and ‘integrated infrastructure systems modelling’, it seeks to conceptualise a new method that is able to appraise megaproject investments by simulating and measuring the performance of the whole infrastructure network, into which a megaproject is about to be incorporated.
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Megaprojects are large-scale ventures of inherent great complexity; they last long, cost much, and affect the lives of a significant number of people. A common type of megaprojects that aspire to (re)form the so-called “cities of... more
Megaprojects are large-scale ventures of inherent great complexity; they last long, cost much, and affect the lives of a significant number of people. A common type of megaprojects that aspire to (re)form the so-called “cities of tomorrow” is the urban megaprojects, i.e., megaprojects including all types of infrastructure involved for a holistic intervention in the city’s environment. The decision to initiate and develop such projects, though, is a very hard task that requires the inclusion of a broad agenda of issues to be taken into consideration, such as: a) scarcity of required resources, b) assessment of the project’s decisive impact on the structure of urban functions and city planning, c) alignment with the principles of urban sustainability, etc. This paper reviews the interface between urban megaprojects and urban sustainability taking into consideration the emergence of smart cities. Through synthesis and comparative analysis of these concepts, the paper explores their compatibility and the extent to which they can be integrated, in order to promote the growing needs of contemporary cities in a manner that reduces resource waste, environmental pollution and the creation of social inequalities. Some examples of case studies around the world are used to lighten the associated challenges to megaprojects in the urban environment context. Based on the above analysis, the paper provides an analytical overview of crucial aspects, such as the early stakeholder engagement, the adoption of a problem-solving oriented strategy, and useful recommendations for future policy makers.
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Assigning values to weights in a multi-criteria decision making problem is critical, since it introduces the decision maker’s perception and preference over the importance and value of the decision problem’s criteria and alternatives,... more
Assigning values to weights in a multi-criteria decision making problem is critical, since it introduces the decision maker’s perception and preference over the importance and value of the decision problem’s criteria and alternatives, respectively. This paper investigates theoretically and experimentally the impact of the applied weighting method on the decision maker’s determination of weights. The research develops a methodology to evaluate the impact that a weighting method may have on the decision maker’s attitude concerning the assignment of weighting values, comprising; a) a psychometric test revealing the decision maker’s attitude against risk and ambiguity with a new modeling approach based on a psychometric function and b) an assignment of weighting values by the decision maker with different weighting methods. The results demonstrate that the expression and particularly the ranking of decision maker’s attitudinal preference are affected by the weighting method and this impact is measurable through the proposed methodology.
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Cloud computing promises to revolutionize traditional construction project management through reduced costs and access to a project's central information platform from any device connected to the internet. Cloud-Based Project Management... more
Cloud computing promises to revolutionize traditional construction project management through reduced costs and access to a project's central information platform from any device connected to the internet. Cloud-Based Project Management (CBPM) is designed to automate and standardize the various processes in the management of Engineering and Construction (E&C) projects by providing a cooperation platform for all project stakeholders, which allows real time updating of important information as well as reduction of time frictions in communication. This research is the first structured approach to investigate: a) the degree of understanding of CBPM from the Greek Construction Industry (GCI), b) the degree of incorporation of CBPM in GCI and c) the potential for further addressing CBPM in GCI, as well as the needed changes to the industry to achieve this incorporation. Research methodology comprised two stages: a) a literature review, which identified the benefits from utilizing specific CBPM tools and the necessary actions for integrating them in E&C companies, and b) an interview of 38 professionals that revealed challenges and opportunities of E&C organizations in the GCI with regard to the implementation of CBPM. The research's findings are indicative for the near future of CBPM in the Greek Construction Industry.
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The organizational status, in terms of competitiveness, employee morale, and efficiency of internal processes is a primary issue of concern for top management. Determining this status has been an issue of extensive study in various... more
The organizational status, in terms of competitiveness, employee morale, and efficiency of internal processes is a primary issue of concern for top management. Determining this status has been an issue of extensive study in various contexts, such as organizational performance, organizational behavior and culture, and, recently, organizational resilience. The research question is whether these contexts are significantly different or, in fact, they describe the same property of an organization, i.e. its inherent ability to perform and react efficiently in a dynamic business environment. A consequent question is whether this organizational property could be uniquely contextualized and used for organizational monitoring and decision-making. This paper's first aim is to define the new term of organizational health, which integrates existing concepts and largely expands the content of the term, as it is currently used in the literature. A second goal is to suggest an assessment method for organizational health that will be able to provide a metric of an organization's capacity to perform and adopt to a dynamic internal and external environment. Literature review is used to: a) identify the great number of parameters involved in the analysis, and b) integrate the various contexts where these parameters are met into the single context of organizational health. Once the definition of the new concept is provided, the appropriate theoretical background of the assessment method is investigated; this method should encompass all critical dimensions and provide a quantitative measure to indicate the specific organizational improvements required per case. The theory of entropy is selected in this context and its appropriateness is presented and justified. Overall, the research proposes a new, innovative and holistic framework for evaluating an organization's status and constitutes the first step of building a new theory with an expected significant effect to the organizational management body of knowledge.
The organizational status, in terms of competitiveness, employee morale, and efficiency of internal processes is a primary issue of concern for top management. Determining this status has been an issue of extensive study in various... more
The organizational status, in terms of competitiveness, employee morale, and efficiency of internal processes is a primary issue of concern for top management. Determining this status has been an issue of extensive study in various contexts, such as organizational performance, organizational behavior and culture, and, recently, organizational resilience. The research question is whether these contexts are significantly different or, in fact, they describe the same property of an organization, i.e. its inherent ability to perform and react efficiently in a dynamic business environment. A consequent question is whether this organizational property could be uniquely contextualized and used for organizational monitoring and decision-making. This paper’s first aim is to define the new term of organizational health, which integrates existing concepts and largely expands the content of the term, as it is currently used in the literature. A second goal is to suggest an assessment method for organizational health that will be able to provide a metric of an organization’s capacity to perform and adopt to a dynamic internal and external environment. Literature review is used to: a) identify the great number of parameters involved in the analysis, and b) integrate the various contexts where these parameters are met into the single context of organizational health. Once the definition of the new concept is provided, the appropriate theoretical background of the assessment method is investigated; this method should encompass all critical dimensions and provide a quantitative measure to indicate the specific organizational improvements required per case. The theory of entropy is selected in this context and its appropriateness is presented and justified. Overall, the research proposes a new, innovative and holistic framework for evaluating an organization’s status and constitutes the first step of building a new theory with an anticipated significant effect to the organizational management body of knowledge.
The decision to work abroad is influenced from a great number of factors including cultural, social and psychological ones, which are also critical for a successful adjustment to the host country. The decision should be the outcome of a... more
The decision to work abroad is influenced from a great number of factors including cultural, social and psychological ones, which are also critical for a successful adjustment to the host country. The decision should be the outcome of a very delicate decision-making process, which, however, is currently not available as both literature and practice clearly indicate. This paper attempts to identify and analyze those factors with an impact on the selection of the country to work abroad, aiming at laying the foundations of a new, respective method. An extensive literature review revealed all the factors related to the expatriation and relocation issues of an expatriate focusing on the socio-cultural and personal dimensions, rather than those of the working environment and job satisfaction, which are related to the job’s description. Based on the findings of the literature review an international questionnaire survey was prepared and conducted aiming at: a) evaluating these factors, in terms of importance for the potential expatriate and b) deciding on their use in a formal methodology for the selection of a country to work abroad. The collected data were statistically analyzed and the correlations between the factors were investigated to identify those among them that are critical to include in a formal country selection process. A major finding of this research was that the field’s literature highlights a different set of critical factors compared to those indicated by the questionnaire survey. Furthermore, a second important finding is that the critical factors present very loose correlations, which indicates that any model aiming at supporting the decision-making process for selecting the country to work abroad should introduce them very carefully. The two findings lead to the conclusion that a proper selection of the factors to incorporate into a country selection method process is required.
The highly complicated task of airport management imposes the existence of a successful risk management framework that must ensure resilience for airports projects; this paper presents the development of a fuzzy system - based risk... more
The highly complicated task of airport management imposes the existence of a successful risk management framework that must ensure resilience for airports projects; this paper presents the development of a fuzzy system - based risk analysis method that could successfully serve this goal. The method introduces a set of risks of different nature in a two-step process: a) identification and classification through literature review, and b) validation and final ranking through a questionnaire survey that qualitatively assesses the risks impact to the fundamental project performance variables, namely cost, time and quality. The risk identification and quality analysis processes allow for the development of a fuzzy system that performs a quantitative risk analysis based on the analyst’s estimation for the severity and possibility of occurrence of various risks. The proposed method constitutes an effective approach in managing risks in airports ensuring achievement of high operational performance.
Resilience engineering has become an important field representing a new way of understanding and management of safety. The raising interest for resilience engineering and the rapid application of the respective theoretical basis to... more
Resilience engineering has become an important field representing a new way of understanding and management of safety. The raising interest for resilience engineering and the rapid application of the respective theoretical basis to several application cases alters the traditional approach of infrastructure systems’ risk management. In this context, the quantification of resilience is a challenging issue, which is still far from considered as adequately addressed in the respective literature and, therefore, requires a better insight. The aim of this research is to provide such an insight into currently established and proposed methods for quantifying resilience of infrastructure systems and suggest a methodological framework that effectively responds to the requirements of resilience measuring. To achieve this aim, resilience engineering is shortly presented and discussed, in terms of definition and characteristics. Then an insight provided into various resilience quantification methods, such as probabilistic, graph theory, fuzzy inference, and analytical methods. Discussion over these methods reveals their strengths and weaknesses in quantifying resilience. A major finding of this research is that current methods are, mostly, incomplete and largely dependent on concepts and approaches, which emanate from other well-established and well-elaborated methodological frameworks, thus failing to provide solutions in the context of resilience engineering. On the other hand, it is proposed that entropy theory constitutes a framework, which better captures the underlying interrelations of systems modules and, therefore, constitutes a more appropriate and effective framework for quantifying resilience of infrastructure systems.
Infrastructure is prone to risks of different nature in all phases of its life cycle. These risks have a multifaceted effect on the operation, safety, and performance levels of the infrastructure systems, thus affecting the social and... more
Infrastructure is prone to risks of different nature in all phases of its life cycle. These risks have a multifaceted effect on the operation, safety, and performance levels of the infrastructure systems, thus affecting the social and economical status of communities. Therefore, proper risk management of infrastructure in its whole life cycle is imperative towards attainment of the desired infrastructure systems’ efficiency levels. This paper presents the advancement of a new risk based decision making methodology that indicates the preferable risk-response strategy between: a) acceptance, b) mitigation, c) transfer and d) avoidance; the selection of the strategy is based on the quantified risks that are included in the analysis. The methodology is presented through an explanatory example concerning the repair/maintenance costs of infrastructure facilities. The example demonstrates the methodology’s capacity to facilitate risk based decision making for infrastructure systems.
This paper discusses the basic parameters of resilience engineering and analyses transportation systems, at a high level, in order to identify the key variables for a holistic design of transportation systems that shall include the... more
This paper discusses the basic parameters of resilience engineering and analyses transportation systems, at a high level, in order to identify the key variables for a holistic design of transportation systems that shall include the parameter of resilience. Critical factors in the context of resilience engineering are identified in transportation systems, in order to determine the features and properties that are of prior significance to the systems’ ability to recover from sudden and severe stresses in a dynamic environment. Based on the review of the respective literature, this paper concludes with a framework for resilience engineering of transportation systems.
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Although, an issue that applies to all aspects of a construction project, risk has always been primarily related to workers safety. The risk of accidents requires appropriate identification, assessment and response in all phases of a... more
Although, an issue that applies to all aspects of a construction project, risk has always been primarily related to workers safety. The risk of accidents requires appropriate identification, assessment and response in all phases of a construction project’s life cycle. This, in turn, is achievable by applying a systematic approach that can effectively measure the right indicators of an emerging risk. In this paper, the novel concept of “risk component” is defined and shortly described through different examples that correspond to different risks. From another starting point Automated Data Collection (ADC) technologies are briefly reviewed, in order to investigate their appropriateness for measuring risks components. A comparative presentation of the main ADC technologies highlights their advantages and disadvantages and indicates the most effective among them in assessing risk through risks components measurements. Through this presentation, it is concluded that vision-based tracking methods are the most effective in quantifying risk components. This result is validated with a case study that simulates the operation of a proposed simple system for construction site monitoring by the use of vision-based tracking methods. The application example clearly demonstrates the effective combination of theoretical and technology innovation in construction risk assessment.
The construction industry requires well trained managers and that explains the demand for appropriate educational programmes. However, it is questionable, whether the educational programmes offered are actually effective and respond to... more
The construction industry requires well trained managers and that explains the demand for appropriate educational programmes. However, it is questionable, whether the educational programmes offered are actually effective and respond to the industry’s requirements. This paper investigates the perception of three different stakeholders in the education – industry system, namely the employers, the employees and the educators. Through a questionnaire survey prepared and conducted for this research, several interesting findings are inferred with the following being the most critical: a) industry’s requirements for construction projects managers are hardly met, because of insufficient educational programmes, b) educators and professionals have a different evaluation of the required skills and competencies for qualified construction project managers, and c) soft skills are proven to be more critical than hard skills, which directly implies the need to develop behavioral and personality-based competencies compared to the strong technical and business training background. These findings are critical, because they contribute to the development of the philosophy and content for construction projects management educational programmes that can ensure a platform of knowledge to respond to a wide spectrum of required skills and competencies for construction projects managers.
Depending on the type of the project, the type of the partnership, and the particularities met in the host country, Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) present different characteristics, which despite, a certain level of prodecural... more
Depending on the type of the project, the type of the partnership, and the particularities met in the host country, Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) present different characteristics, which despite, a certain level of prodecural similarities lead to worth-noticing differences in the implemention of Public-Private-Partnerships and consequently to various levels of success. This paper investigates the parameter of the organizational structure of the public sector involved in PPPs in construction aiming at: a) identifying and collectively present the critical properties that public sector organizations should possess, and b) determining the minimum requirements that it must satisfy, in order to achieve successful PPPs. A thorough review of public sector agencies involved in PPPs is conducted and presented including application examples and data that prove deficiencies and best practices, worldwide, in order to define the respective strengths and weaknesses in delivering construction projects through PPPs. One of the main conclusions is the essential role of a PPP Unit to the delivery of successful PPPs. Based on this finding, an organizational structure for the public sector is proposed that corresponds to the basic requirements that should be met, in order to succeed in developing PPPs.
This paper explores the compatibility among the educational preparation of construction project managers and the actual background which is necessary to perform their professional tasks. The research is focused on the identification of... more
This paper explores the compatibility among the educational preparation of construction project managers and the actual background which is necessary to perform their professional tasks. The research is focused on the identification of the knowledge and competencies offered in several educational programs through different education processes and practices on the field of Construction Project Management. The critical points and current trends in the education of construction project managers are investigated through the review of related literature and specific curricula of academic programs and professional organizations seminars. The related data are evaluated and the produced results indicate specific directions adopted in the education of the construction project manager. Among the main conclusions is the emphasis on soft skills and the importance on the development of behavioral and personality-based competencies compared to the strong technical and business training background.
This paper investigates the conformity of the Greek legal framework on occupational diseases in construction with the guidelines for application of risk management as described in the Project Management Body of Knowledge, a credible... more
This paper investigates the conformity of the Greek legal framework on occupational diseases in construction with the guidelines for application of risk management as described in the Project Management Body of Knowledge, a credible international standard. The aim of this research is to identify specific provisions in the Greek legal framework that require further improvement towards an effective risk management of occupational diseases. To achieve this goal, related laws and presidential decrees are analysed and their provisions are associated – based on content – to the appropriate risk management process. The identification between the levels of compliance of legal provisions with the specifications described in the standard is performed through comparative analysis. The results reveal that the current Greek legal framework addresses the issue of risk management for occupational diseases in an unsystematic and incomplete way. The research identifies certain weaknesses and makes specific suggestions towards a legal framework aligned with the respective international standard.
We consider project scheduling as a study of the relations between activities and time (chronological sequence). It is well known, however, that for certain types of projects spatial considerations (e.g. site layout, facility planning,... more
We consider project scheduling as a study of the relations between activities and time (chronological sequence). It is well known, however, that for certain types of projects spatial considerations (e.g. site layout, facility planning, site congestion etc) should also be taken into account. In tunnel construction, housing and repetitive projects the spatial dimension has long been taken into account in methods such as location/time diagrams, lines of balance and the repetitive scheduling method. In this paper a literature investigation is performed with the purpose of indentifying all methodologies and techniques that take into account “space” as an entity in producing construction schedules and the practical implications of this approach are discussed. It is argued that it is mainly a lack of perception and not a scarcity of tools that by and large lead to spatial considerations not being taken into account in most project time schedules.
Public-Private-Partnerships have been used, globally, as an infrastructure delivery and management system for both the developing and the developed countries. A growing demand for additional infrastructure has highlighted the use of... more
Public-Private-Partnerships have been used, globally, as an infrastructure delivery and management system for both the developing and the developed countries. A growing demand for additional infrastructure has highlighted the use of infrastructure funds as an alternative to project financing. However, the current economic crisis and the inherent risks in infrastructure funding jeopardize this type of infrastructure development. This paper refers in brief to the fundamentals of infrastructure funding such as mode of application, infrastructure assets, and stakeholders. The most important contribution of the paper is the identification of certain critical factors that should be primarily considered by decision-makers involved in infrastructure investment appraisals. These factors are related to: a) the drivers for investing, b) the actual demand for infrastructure, c) the structure of the funds, d) the competition in the market, and e) the regulatory framework of operation. Along with the identification of the critical factors an analysis framework is presented that indicates the proper addressing of these factors in an infrastructure investment appraisal. The results from the validation of the critical factors and the analysis framework are expected to provide the decision makers with a secure base for evaluating the viability and profitability of infrastructure investment alternatives.
The selection of the optimum investment between different alternatives is a critical decision in construction business due to the, often, irreversible and of high cost consequences for the entrepreneur. This paper presents a decision-tree... more
The selection of the optimum investment between different alternatives is a critical decision in construction business due to the, often, irreversible and of high cost consequences for the entrepreneur. This paper presents a decision-tree based tool that supports the decision maker in the selection of the optimum investment. The tool supports the analysis of various scenarios for the investment alternatives under consideration. For each scenario the expected income and the anticipated expenditures are introduced associated with respective probabilities. The final outcome is the expected profit for each investment alternative assessed according to an associated combined probability of occurrence. The various expected profits for each investment alternative are compared to identify the best alternative in terms of profitability and expectation to occur. A practical example is presented to demonstrate the utility of the tool and the ability it provides to implement in a simple and quick way an investment selection analysis.
Globally, tourism is a particular sector of the economy that presents significant perspectives of growth in the near future. Effective management of space and integration with tourism activities is a complicated task that requires a... more
Globally, tourism is a particular sector of the economy that presents significant perspectives of growth in the near future. Effective management of space and integration with tourism activities is a complicated task that requires a holistic approach including spatial, financial, and environmental planning as well as social analysis. Operational research provides methods and techniques that can assist the planning, monitoring, and control of tourism infrastructure. Evaluation of alternative strategies, action plans and policies as well as confrontation of performance and risk issues can be achieved in the rational and systematic frame of operational research. This paper presents the fields of application of the main methods and techniques of operational research to the regional and tourism planning. It demonstrates the advantages, benefits and limitations of the merging between operational research and regional and tourism planning and provides with certain suggestions to associate operational research techniques with regional and tourism planning steps.
Several tools have been developed to enhance efficiency of urban governance. However, there is still a long way towards the implementation of urban decision-making as the participatory process that involves a broad range of various... more
Several tools have been developed to enhance efficiency of urban governance. However, there is still a long way towards the implementation of urban decision-making as the participatory process that involves a broad range of various stakeholders. The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements developed the Participatory Urban Decision Making (PUDM) Process Toolkit to create a platform for successful participatory urban planning and decision-making. Although comprehensive in content, the toolkit presents limited interaction with information technology and computer systems. The content of this paper is focused on: a) highlighting the fields where the PUDM process could be computerized and b) providing the architecture of a computer-based framework for application of the PUDM process. The aim is to contribute to the automation of the process in order to pursue limitation of the required resources and creation of a technological platform for integrating data, information and knowledge for urban decision-making.
Marinas play a key role in the development and promotion of nautical tourism worldwide. The world marina industry is a very competitive one that requires more and more modern practices of management. The development of new marinas through... more
Marinas play a key role in the development and promotion of nautical tourism worldwide. The world marina industry is a very competitive one that requires more and more modern practices of management. The development of new marinas through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) is one of these practices. The PPP project delivery scheme is, however, constrained by a lot of inherent risks, which are multiplied due to the special nature of marina projects. Currently such risks have not been identified in a holistic approach that can support the implementation of a comprehensive risk analysis process. The purpose of this paper is to identify the risks that should be addressed in an efficient risk analysis prior to the development of marinas through PPP. Literature and real cases review are used to achieve the purpose. The final output is the components of a risk inventory, which can be applicable to the risk analysis process involved in the development of marinas through PPP, worldwide.
Decision making in urban and regional development and management (URDeMa) issues is a difficult task to perform due to several constraints. The negotiation stage between the several parties involved in URDeMa decision-making is... more
Decision making in urban and regional development and management (URDeMa) issues is a difficult task to perform due to several constraints. The negotiation stage between the several parties involved in URDeMa decision-making is highlighted as a critical point for the whole process. Formal and informal processes and tools adopted for decision-making in URDeMa issues are reviewed to investigate their capabilities and limitations. The requirement for a computational tool that will assist at the high-level the decision-making process by facilitating the negotiations between stakeholders is identified. A conceptual framework for the development of a model that would support such a tool is presented in detail. Issues regarding input’s form and methodology of collection, theoretical context of the model’s operation, mode of implementation, and exploitation of results are analysed. The benefits of the development of such a model are explained and the issues that require further research are identified.
Risk identification in the case of technical projects is an issue that has been extensively studied in many previous research efforts; however, a thorough study of the respective literature clearly reveals a methodological and application... more
Risk identification in the case of technical projects is an issue that has been extensively studied in many previous research efforts; however, a thorough study of the respective literature clearly reveals a methodological and application gap between research and practice, which is further increased by a wide discrepancy of definitions and procedures applied. This paper proposes the consideration of risk sources in the risk identification process as a means to bridge the identified gap and reduce discrepancy. The paper presents the results of the processing and analysis of real projects’ risk data through unstructured interviews with the experts who provided the data, and examines their correlation with a comprehensive risk sources checklist drawn from previous research. The results of this cross-checking clearly highlighted the extensive misconceptions of the related terms and notions in practice (e.g., what is perceived as risk identification is actually risk source identification), as well as the partial implementation of procedures that reflects a similar partial approach to technical project risk analysis in practice (e.g., the risk sources actually identified are fewer than those that could be identified through a holistic approach to technical project risk analysis). These results draw attention to the need for more-focused risk source–related research, because the new paradigm shift in technical project risk analysis highlights the importance of risk sources.
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Bridge quality control plans and asset management systems are often integrated in collective frameworks used by authorities nationally and internationally. Similarities among these frameworks include the utilization of performance... more
Bridge quality control plans and asset management systems are often integrated in collective frameworks used by authorities nationally and internationally. Similarities among these frameworks include the utilization of performance indicators for quality appraisal. However, there are discrepancies in the ways such frameworks are researched, developed, and applied. Additionally, there are problematic aspects even in their common characteristics, like the relative absence of correlation between observed performance indicator values and benchmarked ones, and the deliverables’ disparity due to the diversity of the quantified indicator variables. For the alleviation of such problematic aspects, this paper presents a bridge quality appraisal methodological and computational framework. It builds on (1) the adaptation of the sustainable building methodology and its combination with expert input solicitation methods and the research findings of the European Cooperation in Science & Technology (COST) Action TU1406, and (2) a multi-input adaptation of the analytical hierarchy process. The methodology is presented in terms of its general procedural steps and calculating requirements, and then it is tailored to reinforced concrete overpass roadway bridges. The methodology’s application in a real case study concludes the presented research.
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In the current utilization of Performance Indicators for bridge Quality Control, there is no correlation between observed and benchmarked Performance Indicator values, and an ambiguity of deliverables due to the diverse nature of... more
In the current utilization of Performance Indicators for bridge Quality Control, there is no correlation between observed and benchmarked Performance Indicator values, and an ambiguity of deliverables due to the diverse nature of Performance Indicators. For the alleviation of those above, this paper presents a methodology that appraises the quality of bridges. This methodology builds on the adaptation of the Sustainable Building Method and its combination with expert input solicitation methods and the research findings of COST Action TU1406. In addition, it features an adaptation of the Analytical Hierarchy Process. The methodology is presented regarding its general procedural steps and calculating requirements, and then it is tailored to the case study of Strimonas Bridge in Greece.
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Risk identification is adversely affected by the still existing definitional and applicational discrepancy regarding risks and other related notions, such as hazards and impacts. A paradigm shift is beginning to be in effect, proposing... more
Risk identification is adversely affected by the still existing definitional and applicational discrepancy regarding risks and other related notions, such as hazards and impacts. A paradigm shift is beginning to be in effect, proposing the preliminary identification of risk sources in order to ameliorate the aforementioned adversities. However, apart from identifying risk sources from the outset, the bulk of the already conducted project risk-related research, from which risk sources could be derived, is still not free of discrepancies and is falling short of use. In this paper, a new linguistic clustering algorithm, utilizing the k-means++ procedure in addition to the semantics tools of stop world removal and word stemming, is developed and codified. Then, the algorithm is applied on a vast risk notions set, emanated from an exhaustive review of the relative literature. The clustered and semantically processed results of the application are then used for the deduction of risk sources. Thus, this paper provides a compact, general and encompassing master set of risk sources, discretized among distinct overhead categories.
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The selection of the optimum investment between different alternatives is a critical decision in construction business due to the, often, irreversible and of high cost consequences for the entrepreneur. This paper presents a decision-tree... more
The selection of the optimum investment between different alternatives is a critical decision in construction business due to the, often, irreversible and of high cost consequences for the entrepreneur. This paper presents a decision-tree based tool that supports the decision maker in the selection of the optimum investment. The tool supports the analysis of various scenarios for the investment alternatives under consideration. For each scenario the expected income and the anticipated expenditures are introduced associated with respective probabilities. The final outcome is the expected profit for each investment alternative assessed according to an associated combined probability of occurrence. The various expected profits for each investment alternative are compared to identify the best alternative in terms of profitability and expectation to occur. A practical example is presented to demonstrate the utility of the tool and the ability it provides to implement in a simple and quick way an investment selection analysis.
Abstract. Globally, tourism is a particular sector of the economy that presents significant perspectives of growth in the near future. Effective management of space and integration with tourism activities is a complicated task that... more
Abstract. Globally, tourism is a particular sector of the economy that presents significant perspectives of growth in the near future. Effective management of space and integration with tourism activities is a complicated task that requires a holistic approach including spatial, financial, and environmental planning as well as social analysis. Operational research provides methods and techniques that can assist the planning, monitoring, and control of tourism infrastructure.
Decision making in urban and regional development and management (URDeMa) issues is a difficult task to perform mainly due to conflicting interests, different agendas and varying approaches of the stakeholders involved in the process.... more
Decision making in urban and regional development and management (URDeMa) issues is a difficult task to perform mainly due to conflicting interests, different agendas and varying approaches of the stakeholders involved in the process. Negotiations between these stakeholders are, therefore, imperative in order to achieve best decisions with wide acceptance concerning URDeMa issues. In this paper, formal and informal processes and tools adopted for decision-making in URDeMa issues are reviewed in order to investigate their capabilities and limitations. The requirement for a new tool that will assist at the high-level the decision-making process by facilitating the negotiations between stakeholders is identified. Furthermore, the development of a fuzzy-theory based model that would support such a tool is suggested and presented in detail. Critical issues for the development of this model such as the input’s form and methodology of collection, the theoretical context of the model’s operation, the model’s architecture, the mode of implementation, and the exploitation of results are analysed. The benefits of the development of such a model are explained and the issues that require further research are identified.
Strategic and managerial decision-making in an organization can have a crucial effect for the whole entity; however, it rarely involves the organization’s employees evenly at the different organizational levels. The result is—what is... more
Strategic and managerial decision-making in an organization can have a crucial effect for the whole entity; however, it rarely involves the organization’s employees evenly at the different organizational levels. The result is—what is addressed in this paper as—the ostracism risk, namely the risk accruing from the lack of satisfaction of underprivileged employees’ groups during the decision-making process. The ostracism risk could jeopardize the organization’s integrity and therefore requires effective treatment. This paper aims at verifying a conceptual approach, which is proposed as a methodology for assessing the probability of organizational cooperation when deciding under risk, thus minimizing ostracism risk. The proposed approach is based on organizational and human resources management (HRM) theories and is contextualized for construction through the understanding of systems theory. The proposed methodology presents a potential modelling via game theory of a medium-sized construction company that is organized according to Mintzberg’s organizational model. The utilization of the bounded Pareto distribution is presented as an approach of the model’s probabilistic processing, and the potential for estimating the probabilities to adopt a favorable cooperational decision is verified. The paper concludes with the reference to the next steps required for the methodology’s validation and further improvement.
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Abstract. Globally, tourism is a particular sector of the economy that presents significant perspectives of growth in the near future. Effective management of space and integration with tourism activities is a complicated task that... more
Abstract. Globally, tourism is a particular sector of the economy that presents significant perspectives of growth in the near future. Effective management of space and integration with tourism activities is a complicated task that requires a holistic approach including spatial, financial, and environmental planning as well as social analysis. Operational research provides methods and techniques that can assist the planning, monitoring, and control of tourism infrastructure. Evaluation of alternative strategies, action plans and ...