Purpose: More attention should be paid to project managers’ (PMs) job satisfaction as they play an important role in ensuring projects are completed successfully. The purpose of this paper is to identify human resource management (HRM) policies and practices that lead to higher PMs’ job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was conducted on PMs who are working in construction firms and project management consultancy firms. Data were collected via random, convenience and snowball sampling. The data collected were analysed using partial least square-structural equation modelling, independent samplest-test and Pearson’s correlation.Findings: The findings show that PMs who are satisfied with their firms’ HRM practices and job rewards also have higher job satisfaction. Several HRM strategies that give rise to higher job satisfaction are identified, e.g. a system to recognise and develop talent, and taking active steps to identify and develop backups in case of emergency. Unfortunately, some practices are not implemented to a significant extent, and these include: systematically recruiting and retaining talented PMs, encouraging PMs to plan for their careers, offering performance and development coaching, and appraising employees.Research limitations/implications: The limitations include the low response rate and the relatively small sample size of 81. The profile of respondents is largely from construction companies with more than 150 staff, and, therefore, the findings are more applicable to medium- to large-sized construction firms.Practical implications: The study identified many HRM practices and policies that are significantly associated with PMs’ job satisfaction, yet many of these are not implemented to a significant extent by the employers. The practical implication is that employers of PMs should systematically implement these in order that their PMs have higher job satisfaction which is important for a project’s success.Originality/value: The originality of this research is that the HRM practices and policies that are associated with job satisfaction of PMs are uncovered. Its value is in showing that PMs derive greater job satisfaction when HRM policies encompass talent development, career coaching and a personalised management style. Among these important practices, those that have been neglected were also identified. The study offers recommendations on the HRM practices that firms should be put in place for their PMs to experience higher job satisfaction.

This study aims at identifying the critical success factors (CSFs) for safety management of high‐rise building construction projects and exploring interactions among such CSFs. Study data were sourced from semistructured interviews and a questionnaire survey administered in China. The study constructs a third‐order CSFs system containing six CSFs: management measures, management organization, technical and management plan, worker safety behavior, safety environment, and worker safety quality. Among these, management organization is found to be the key factor affecting construction safety management performance, while worker safety behavior is a factor with a direct impact. Implications for practice are proposed. This study enriches the existing literature on the CSFs and performance evaluation of construction safety management in high‐rise building construction projects. Safety performance of high‐rise building construction projects can be effectively enhanced by improving the professional competence of safety management organizations.

Residential satisfaction of university dormitories serves as one of the significant aspects in the framework of sustainability in higher education. This study aims to develop a framework for post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of university dormitories in China grounded on the socio-technical systems approach and to identify factors contributing to students’ residential satisfaction. Two focus groups were carried out to build the socio-technical framework. A case study was undertaken to evaluate the post-occupancy status of university dormitories, and structured-questionnaire was used to collect the data. The results show that university dormitories are equipped with quality physical facilities. However, they failed to provide satisfied services and supporting infrastructure. This indicates that “hardware” could generally meet students’ requirements, while the “software” is still less competent. It is also found that the socio-technical systems approach has the feature of being embedded into the social, regulatory and geographic contexts. In order to enhance post-occupancy satisfaction, occupants’ participation would be helpful. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting a socio-technical framework of POE and its embeddedness feature. Implications for research and practices are also provided.

Contractual focus is thought to lie on a spectrum ranging from formal contract behaviors to relational behaviors. This study aims to investigate whether the use of relational behaviors leads to higher-quality relationships among contracting parties in public construction projects, identify the hindrances to adopting relational behaviors in these contracts, and recommend measures to overcome the hindrances. Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from respondents who had public project experiences in Singapore and thereafter analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. The result shows that a lack of relational background leads contracting parties to adopt formal contract behaviors in public projects, and this further leads to deterioration in the quality of relationships among contracting parties. The results also indicate that (1) a lack of long-term commitment and a lack of public client initiative lead to misalignment among contracting parties and (2) a lack ...