Prefabricated construction has recently played an increasingly significant role in social, environmental, and economic developments in the construction sector. Because prefabricated construction projects (PCPs) are interorganizational in nature, their successful delivery, especially under uncertain circumstances, relies on organizational resilience performance throughout the life cycle. The purpose of this study is to develop an ethnography-based methodological framework for the PCPs to evaluate, analyze, and improve the dynamic organizational resilience regarding efficiency, flexibility, and robustness from a life cycle perspective. A two-part framework is developed. The qualitative first part identifies the roles and relationships of participating stakeholders during each project phase, and the second quantitative part measures and analyzes the PCP’s organizational resilience. A typical engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract PCP in China is used as a case analysis to assess the validity of this developed framework. The results show that the robustness and flexibility of the PCP should be improved. Such improvement can be achieved by managing and enhancing the workflow control and how stakeholders communicate. This scenario was examined via a comparative analysis of employing building information model (BIM) and decentralized collaboration platform (DCP) within the case project. Finally, this developed framework could be used as a practical decision-making tool for managers to improve the organizational resilience in the aspects of efficiency, flexibility, and robustness of PCPs in case unforeseen events are encountered. It contributes to the current knowledge body of PCPs by incorporating organizational resilience theory into its performance evaluation and improvements.

Urban infrastructure, the lifeline of modern society, consists of inherently multidimensional and interdependent systems that extend beyond various engineered facilities, utilities, and networks. The increasing frequency of extreme events, like floods, typhoons, power outages, and technical failures, has heightened the vulnerability of these infrastructures to cascading disasters. Over the past decade, significant attention has been devoted to understanding urban infrastructure cascading disasters. However, most of them have been limited by one-sided and one-dimensional analyses. A more systematic and scientific methodology is needed to comprehensively profile existing research on urban infrastructure cascading disasters to address this gap. This paper uses scientometric methods to investigate the state-of-the-art research in this area over the past decade. A total of 165 publications from 2014 to 2023 were retrieved from the Web of Science database for in-depth analysis. It has revealed a shift in research focus from single infrastructures to complex, interconnected systems with multidimensional dependencies. In addition, the study of disaster-causing factors has evolved from internal infrastructure failures to a focus on cascading disasters caused by extreme events, highlighting a trend of multi-factor coupling. Furthermore, predicting and modeling cascading disasters, improving infrastructure resilience, and information sharing for collaborative emergency responses have emerged as key strategies in responding to disasters. Overall, the insights gained from this study enhance our understanding of the evolution and current challenges in urban infrastructure cascading disasters. Additionally, this study offers valuable perspectives and directions for policymakers addressing extreme events in this critical area.

Project failure is unfortunate but common in the construction sector. However, as the Chinese proverb says, failure is the mother of success. In other words, learning from failure can be considered an effective way to prevent the occurrence of a failure in future projects. Surprisingly, the learning effect from failed projects is underexamined both theoretically and empirically in construction activity. This research aimed to explore the effects of the psychological distance of project failure on learning intention by deploying construal-level theory (CLT). Primary data was collected via a questionnaire survey of construction practitioners and analyzed using regression analysis. It was discovered that the experience of project failure does influence practitioners in their learning intention via psychological distance. That is, the psychological distance of project failure plays a mediating role in the relationship between the experience of project failure and learning intention. The study contributes to the body of knowledge pertaining to the domain of learning by revealing the impact of the psychological distance of project failure. Reducing the psychological distance of project failure is recommended to promote employees’ learning intention and advance the prosperity of construction enterprises.

Purpose: The construction industry, characterised by its dynamic nature, demands graduates equipped with diverse skills beyond academic proficiency. Recognizing the significance of employability skills, this study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the employability skills to meet the evolving demands of the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach: Utilizing Web of Science, this review focuses on articles published from 2013 to the research completion date (December 2023), resulting in the selection of 94 highly relevant papers. Then, a combination of bibliometric analysis and in-depth content analysis of the top ten most-cited papers was conducted to examine research trends in this field. Findings: “Soft skills” are identified as the strongest citation bursts between 2014 and 2016. And the emerging research frontiers are adaptability, communication skills and contextual supports. Additionally, the employability skills identified from this study can be categorized into seven groups: profession; personal capital; soft skills; career proactivity and adaptability; personality; emotional intelligence and work ethics. Originality/value: This research advances the body of knowledge on employability skills in the construction field. Moreover, the findings offer actionable strategies. For example, for educators, this includes incorporating real-world case training and workshops focused on developing these skills; for researchers, it suggests focusing on digital skills; for policymakers, it recommends creating work-integrated learning opportunities.