Higher education ought to support the identification of training needs for industrial building information modelling (BIM) curriculum development and sustainability education in the fields of civil engineering and management (CEM). This paper proposes a framework based on a four-phase step-by-step quality function deployment (QFD) application for CEM curriculum planning and quality management. The framework attempts to respond to requests collected from 17 professionals and professors in order to integrate BIM into the higher education curriculum in China with a specific focus on construction management programs accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE). The entropy method and a K1–K6 scale adapted from Bloom’s revised cognitive process were employed to evaluate the CEM curriculum in QFD. The proposed framework was successfully applied to CEM curriculum planning, which included two curriculums of the four main knowledge areas provided by the Chinese CEM guidelines: construction cost and flow construction. Two curriculum areas showed that content should focus on knowledge such as (a) Program evaluation and review technique(PERT) planning; (b) construction optimization in flow construction; (c) principles of bill of quantities and (d) construction consumption in construction costs. As for teaching quality management in China, the higher education curriculum should focus on three aspects to promote curriculum integration: (a) pedagogical design; (b) teaching resource and material and (c) curriculum assessment. This research sheds light on the pedagogical shift to a similar context that has established guidelines accredited by the ACCE, with respect to reviewing curriculum planning from a knowledge system perspective in order to meet industrial demands at the operational level.

Many initiatives and policies attempt to make our air cleaner by reducing the carbon foot imprint on our planet. Most of the existing and planned initiatives have as their objectives the reduction of carbon dependency and the enhancement of newer or better technologies in the near future. However, numerous policies exist for electric vehicles (EVs), and only some policies address specific issues related to fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). The lack of a distinction between the policies for EVs and FCEVs provides obstacles for the advancement of FCEV-related technologies that may otherwise be successful and competitive in the attempt to create a cleaner planet. Unfortunately, the lack of this distinction is not always based on intellectual or scientific evidence. Therefore, governments may need to introduce clearer policy distinctions in order to directly address FCEV-related challenges that may not pertain to other EVs. Unfortunately, lobbyism continues to exist that supports the maintenance of the status quo as new technologies may threaten traditional, less sustainable approaches to provide opportunities for a better environment. This lobbyism has partially succeeded in hindering the advancement of new technologies, partially because the development of new technologies may reduce profit and business opportunities for traditionalists. However, these challenges are slowly overcome as the demand for cleaner air and lower carbon emissions has increased, and a stronger movement toward newer and cleaner technologies has gained momentum. This paper will look at policies that have been either implemented or are in the process of being implemented to address the challenge of overcoming traditional obstacles with respect to the automobile industry. The paper reviewed, synthesized, and discussed policies in the USA, Japan, and the European Union that helped implement new technologies with a focus on FCEVs for larger mass markets. These regions were the focus of this paper because of their particular challenges. South Korea and China were not included in this discussion as these countries already have equal or even more advanced policies and initiatives in place.

The purpose of this research is to study the vulnerability of construction enterprises’ innovation capabilities (CEIC) and their respective primary influencing factors. This paper proposed a vulnerability system framework of CEIC, designed two comprehensive assessments for analysis, namely the entropy and set pair analysis method (E-SPA) and the principle cluster analysis and SPA method (P-SPA), and compared grades to verify the vulnerability assessments. Further, the paper quantitatively assessed the major influencing factors in facilitating management, reducing vulnerability, and improving the ability of construction enterprises to respond to changes in the construction industry. The results showed that vulnerability could be effectively and systematically evaluated using E-SPA. However, managing or reducing entrepreneurial sensitivity and improving the ability to respond was critical to supporting sustainable CEIC. The case studies included in this paper suggested that in ensuring sustainable CEIC, companies should concentrate on highly educated human resources, R&D investments, intellectual property related innovations, and government support. This research provided a practical framework and established a sustainable strategy for companies to manage their vulnerability in developing innovation capability. In addition, this research presented an innovative and effective way to quantitatively analyze vulnerability which offered a foundation to signify a new paradigm shift in construction sustainable development.

This research aims to develop a quantitative diagnostic framework by combining the Weisbord six-box model with the growth management model to focus on an organization’s internally driven sustainable management system. The research adopted an instrument developed by Preziosi and an extended Weisbord six-box model. The research employed a survey to collect 180 samples in a Chinese petrol company and applied the comparative method: (a) the average score method; and (b) the entropy method to confirm the growth level of the company. The survey also attempted to identify corresponding top growth influence factors using the obstacle degree formula. The results showed that the integrated diagnostic framework worked well to diagnose a regional but large Chinese petroleum company. In other words, the research successfully quantified the growth position and top influence factors and helped put forward specific suggestions to drive the organization of sustainable development. The method confirmed this organization during the fourth phase of five phases. In addition, top influence factors hindering the internal growth were (a) the lack of task engagement with energy and time; (b) the lack of personal work units; and (c) a poor division of labor for reaching sustainable growth rates. The research provides a generic theoretical framework support to incorporate growth management models into an organizational diagnosis to obtain sustainable growth. It further highlights and practices guidelines in examining actual growth management levels in companies and discusses top influence factors to design efficient management systems to pursue organizational growth in a multitude of industrial contexts.

How should employers and employees negotiate the strange and unexpected issues that COVID-19 has forced us to confront in the past two years? Remote work, in particular, has dramatically changed the dynamic of many people’s jobs, often altering the tasks and boundaries of employment, blurring the lines between work and home, public and private. U.S. employment law, and particularly the powerful employment-at-will doctrine, sets a clear standard but can sometimes be a blunt instrument. Is there any nuance to be found, or to be desired, from employers in these unprecedented times of COVID-19? We will discuss the doctrine of employment-at-will, the standard it creates for American employment, and the various exceptions to it that have arisen over the past several decades. We will then examine a couple of hypothetical workplace scenarios that could arise in a work-from-home environment, discuss how current law would address them, and whether the letter of the law is the best source of guidance in these matters. We will further discuss the challenges faced by many companies as they attempt to deal with these abrupt changes to their working environments. What are the effects, if any, on long-standing employment traditions and practices? What are the legal issues that may arise from them?

The right to the portability of personal data guarantees the interested party the right to receive personal data that concern themselves. Specifically, data which a person has provided to a ‘data collector’ in a structured format can currently be transmitted to another ‘data collector’ without any legal consequences as long as the original ‘collector’ has received consent either derived via a contract or other means. This data transaction from one ‘collector’ to another is often carried out by automated means; it is easily technically possible and is therefore considered to not negatively affect the rights and freedoms of others. This right to data transfer is guaranteed when it comes to data collected in the public interest or in the exercise of public powers conferred on the ‘collector’. The main precedent to the right to data portability is the EU Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016, regarding the protection of natural persons with respect to the processing of personal data and their free circulation, which repeals Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). In Article 20, this regulation discusses the right to data portability, establishing the basic guidelines for this right. Thus, a new personal right is guaranteed, given the context of the general protection of data. In order to strengthen control over their own data, a natural person must also be allowed to receive data in the same structured way.