Construction is a dangerous industry for both individuals and organizations; however, construction workers are more likely to die from suicide than from falling from a height due to mental health issues. A shortage of available labor has led to an increase in ethnic minority construction workers (EM-CWs) in the industry, who may be exposed to various stressors and experience a higher level of stress while working in the unfamiliar environment of a foreign country compared to their counterparts. To manage the stress levels of EM-CWs and improve project outcomes, it is critical to explore the key sources of their stress. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the key stressors faced by EM-CWs and propose practical solutions to manage these stressors in the industry. Six standardized focus groups of EM-CWs were conducted, comprising three general worker groups from Nepal, Pakistan, and India, two skilled worker groups from Nepal and Pakistan, and one multinational group of foremen. Based on the contextual analysis results of focus group discussions, the findings explored nine key stressors from four major aspects: (1) personal (migration, language barriers, and discrimination); (2) task (long working hours and time pressure); (3) organizational (employment issues, job insecurity and pay difference); and (4) physical (poor working environment). The findings of the current study can be used to understand the key issues (i.e., stressors) in their assimilation into mainstream culture, mitigate the main causes of poor performance, improve stress management strategies for EM-CWs, and optimize industry outcomes. Most importantly, the findings can be used to design various programs including safety, language, trade work, and multicultural training, as well as to manage ethnic diversity and improve multicultural integration in industry and society. Based on the findings, the study recommends that organizations introduce Chinese language courses, provide bilingual translators, offer job training in native languages, discourage the use of the existing job supplier pipeline, redesign working hours, replace cash payment with advance methods, and provide organizational support to minimize the impact of all stressors.

An ageing population is a global phenomenon. Like other developed economies, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), China, also faces a severe ageing problem. One initiative to enhance the safe living and well-being of the growing elderly population is to assist them by building ageing-friendly living environments with the application of smart home technologies (SHTs). Therefore, this study focused on investigating the perception of professionals on the use of SHTs to improve and enhance the “ageing-in-place” (AIP) of elderly residents in HKSAR, China. A questionnaire survey was employed to obtain the perception of professionals with requisite knowledge of the older people facility needs regarding SHTs in achieving AIP for the elderly. The data retrieved were analysed with different statistical analyses. Based on the results of the analyses, all the professionals had similar perceptions of the use of SHTs for the safety and well-being of the elderly, except for the incongruence observed between the government employees, contractors and academic regarding how SHTs may not help to better monitor elderly daily activities. The possible reasons for the inconsistent opinions of the academics with other groups were linked to the knowledge of human behaviours and early dementia symptoms in gerontology. The findings will help care receivers, healthcare professionals, social workers, policymakers, smart home designers and developers to improve and enhance AIP in elderly residences in HKSAR, China.

Empirical evidence of compliance or otherwise with procurement laws especially in developing nations is limited despite its importance in ensuring quality project delivery. This research assessed compliance with the procurement law in the local government setting of a developing nation, challenges to compliance and workable solutions. A total of 108 copies of a carefully structured questionnaire were administered to individuals concerned with contract administration in the local governments in the study area and 87 were considered good enough for analysis. Data analysis was done using crosstabulation, chi-square, mean score and percentile. Among other findings, the study revealed that there is partial compliance with the procurement clauses in the local governments. The study also revealed that significant relationship exists between knowledge of the Procurement Act, owning a copy of the act and compliance with the act. These findings of this study will be useful for construction and public procurement administrators as an evidence of the need for a multifaceted action towards strengthening compliance.

Purpose: This paper aims to assess the drivers of value management (VM) in the Nigerian construction industry with a view to identify the critical ones through Delphi study.Design/methodology/approach: A team of 15 carefully selected experts in VM were engaged in two rounds of Delphi survey, and the responses of the survey were analyzed with descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and mode). Kendall’s coefficient of concordance test and Chi-square (χ²) test were also used to test the level of consensus amongst the respondents at the two rounds of the survey to draw inference. Interrater agreement analysis and significant level analysis were further used to determine the criticality of critical drivers.Findings: The critical drivers to VM adoption are adequate understanding of the benefits of VM, higher/postgraduate programme that teaches VM technique, professional’s previous experience with VM, collaboration of all construction professional bodies in Nigeria and VM training.Originality/value: This paper used opinions of VM experts only to achieve the aim of this study as against the common survey method in which respondents who are not knowledgeable in the area of research might fill the questionnaire.