This paper discusses empirical research aimed at examining the relationship between the safety climate and safe work behavior in construction site environments. A literature review has identified a number of independent constructs with the potential to affect the safety climate. A research model was developed based on the hypothesis that safe work behaviors are consequences of the existing safety climate, which, in turn, is determined by the identified independent constructs. A questionnaire survey was used in order to facilitate the collection of information from construction sites. The model was tested using structural equation modeling. The paper presents the results of testing the research model. The results corroborate the importance of the role of management commitment, communication, workers’ involvement, attitudes, competence, as well as supportive and supervisory environments, in achieving a positive safety climate.

Construction projects located in the Gaza Strip, Palestine suffer from many problems and complex issues. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to identify the factors affecting the performance of local construction projects; and to elicit perceptions of their relative importance. A comprehensive literature review was deployed to generate a set of factors believed to affect project performance. A total of 120 questionnaires were distributed to 3 key groups of project participants; namely owners, consultants and contractors. The survey findings indicate that all 3 groups agree that the most important factors affecting project performance are: delays because of borders/roads closure leading to materials shortage; unavailability of resources; low level of project leadership skills; escalation of material prices; unavailability of highly experienced and qualified personnel; and poor quality of available equipment and raw materials. Based on these findings, the paper recommends that: 1) project owners must work collaboratively with contractors and facilitate regular payments in order to overcome delays, disputes and claims; 2) project participants should actively have their input in the process of decision‐making; and 3) continuous coordination and relationship between project participants are required through the project life cycle in order to solve problems and develop project performance. Santrauka Statybos projektai Gazos Ruože, Palestinoje, kenčia nuo daugelio problemų ir sudėtingų klausimų. Todėl pagrindinis šio straipsnio tikslas yra nustatyti veiksnius, darančius įtaką vietos statybos projektams įgyvendinti, ugdyti suvokimą apie jų santykinę svarbą. Iš viso 120 respondentų buvo suskirstyti į tris pagrindines projektų dalyvių grupes: savininkai, konsultantai ir rangovai. Apklausa parodė, kad visos trys grupės sutinka, kad svarbiausi veiksniai, lemiantys projekto įgyvendinimą, yra: atidėliojimas, susijęs su sienų (kelių) uždarymu ir lemiantis medžiagų stygių; negaunamos atsargos; menki vadovavimo projektams įgūdžiai; nepagrįsta medžiagų kaina; patyrusio ir kvalifikuoto personalo stoka ir prasta įrankių ir žaliavos kokybė. Pasitelkiant šias išvadas, straipsnyje rekomenduojama: 1) projektų savininkai turi dirbti kartu su rangovais ir reguliariai atsiskaityti norėdami išvengti atidėliojimų, ginčų ir pretenzijų; 2) projekto dalyviai turėtų aktyviai dalyvauti priimant spendimus; 3) nuolatinė projekto dalyvių kontrolė ir jų tarpusavio santykis yra reikalingi per visą projekto įgyvendinimo ciklą norint išspręsti iškilusias problemas ir įgyvendinti projektą.

Productivity remains an intriguing subject and a dominant issue in the construction sector, promising cost savings and efficient usage of resources. Productivity is one of the most important issues in both developed and developing countries. The developed countries are aware of the importance of economic growth and social welfare. The developing countries which face unemployment problems, inflation and resource scarcity seek to utilise resources and in such a way to achieve economic growth and improve citizens’ lives. Productivity is an issue of particular importance to projects located within the Gaza Strip, as it is considered a newly‐developed area, and a huge number of projects have been planned for the near future. The aim of this research is to identify factors affecting labour productivity within building projects, and to rank these factors according to their relative importance from a contractor's viewpoint. The analysis of 45 factors considered in a survey indicates that the main factors negatively affecting labour productivity are: material shortage, lack of labour experience, lack of labour surveillance, misunderstandings between labour and superintendent, and drawings and specification alteration during execution.

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 this study is its cross-sectional nature. It is possible that at least certain aspects of leadership and organizational culture, and its impact on KM practices emerge with some kind of time lag. A longitudinal treatment of data might yield additional insights into the impact of leadership behaviors and organizational culture. This study was also unable to actually observe managers interacting with followers. Practical implications – The results of the study are generally consistent with theoretical predictions based on extant research. Originality/value – The results of this study provide compelling evidence in support of the moderating role of organizational culture on the relationship between transactional leadership and KM and will be of interest to those in the field.

The concept of safety culture is relatively new in the construction industry; however, it is gaining popularity due to its ability to embrace all perceptional, psychological, behavioral, and managerial factors. To address the lack of a verifiable process to analyze construction safety culture, this technical note presents a robust conceptual model that has its roots firmly entrenched in pertinent academic and applied literature. It provides a critical review of the term “safety culture”; along with distinct yet related concepts (i.e., safety climate, behavior-based safety, and safety system). It also compares the proposed model with available safety culture models in order to demonstrate its applicability in construction site environments.