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With the rapid growth of the construction industry in China in recent years, its impact on society and the environment is increasing, as well as the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In order to understand the CSR awareness and CSR practices of Chinese domestic construction enterprises, this study conducted a comprehensive content analysis of the CSR reports of China’s leading 100 domestic construction enterprises. The results show that the Chinese construction industry’s CSR awareness is generally poor and CRS practices mainly involve corporate governance, environmental management, occupational health and development, economic responsibility, community development, and overseas responsibility. State-owned enterprises are more concerned with community responsibility, while private enterprises pay more attention to economic and employee development. These findings not only reveal the CSR awareness and CSR practices of Chinese domestic construction enterprises but also provide practical implications for construction enterprises in other countries to integrate CSR into their corporate governance system and strengthen their CSR practices.

Governmental governance is an emerging concept in the area of governance and is critical to the success of megaprojects. The aims of this study are to investigate the impact of governmental governance on megaproject performance and to identify the most critical component of governmental governance. To achieve these goals, a conceptual framework of governmental governance and a comprehensive framework of megaproject performance were established first, followed by proposing a research hypothesis that governmental governance could contribute to megaproject performance. To test the hypothesis, data collected by a questionnaire administered to 239 professionals were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Results showed that governmental governance could contribute to megaproject performance significantly. It also reported that “public monitoring and scrutiny” was the most critical latent variable of governmental governance on megaproject performance, followed by “systemic risk management,” “regulatory oversight,” “construction of clean government,” “strategic planning,” and “institutional design.” This study has contributed to the body of knowledge of governmental governance by investigating its impact on megaproject performance. The findings from this study are useful to the industry as well, because they can enhance practitioners’ understanding of governmental governance, which could help them improve their management of megaprojects eventually.

Over the past decade, public participation has been increasingly implemented in Chinese public construction projects (PCPs) to facilitate their smooth execution at the micro level and to promote collaborative governance at the macro level. However, only a limited number of studies have systematically evaluated participation performance in Chinese PCPs. This study aims to develop a public participation performance index (PPPI) for promoting the implementation of public participation in Chinese PCPs. An initial list of 15 key performance indicators (KPIs) was compiled through a literature review and refined by a pilot survey with selected experts. Based on this list, a questionnaire survey instrument was developed and used to collect the opinions of 192 participants with various stakeholder roles in different PCPs in South China. A composite PPPI for PCPs in South China, which consists of six out of 15 KPIs, was then constructed according to the survey results. The Guangzhou Asian Games venue construction was selected as a case study to illustrate the use of this index. The PPPI has great potential for future application in participation practices. Although this index is developed in China, the research method can be replicated in other developing countries to develop similar indices for international comparisons

Collusion has been defined as a set of behaviours where competitors coordinate their market behaviour surreptitiously, which is contrary to the principles of free competition (Chotibhongs and Arditi 2012a, b; Zarkada-Fraser 2000).

Collusion is a set of behaviours where competitors coordinate their market behaviour surreptitiously, which is contrary to the principles of free competition (Chotibhongs and Arditi 2012a, b; Zarkada-Fraser 2000). Collusion is also insidious and harmful to the management of construction projects because it may decrease the number of bidders and increase contract prices, thus resulting in a poor project outcome (Oladinrin and Ho 2014; Zarkada-Fraser and Skitmore 2000). Moreover, collusion has brought a ‘dirty’ image to the construction sector and degraded public trust on the sector (Zarkada-Fraser 2000).

Compared with developed countries, those developing countries have more serious corruption problems as they are undergoing the transition of economy and lack mature legislative and administrative system (Ling and Hoang in J Prof Issues Eng Edu Practice 136(3):156–164, 2010; Ofori in Challenges of construction industries in developing countries: lessons from various countries. In: Proceedings of 2nd international conference of CIB task group 29: challenges facing the construction industry in developing countries, 2000)

Being an insidious risk to construction projects, collusion has attracted extensive attention from numerous researchers around the world. However, little effort has ever been made to assess collusion, which is important and necessary for curbing collusion in construction projects. Specific to the context of China, this paper developed an artificial neural network model to assess collusion risk in construction projects. Based on a comprehensive literature review, a total of 22 specific collusive practices were identified first, and then refined by a two-round Delphi interview with 15 experienced experts. Subsequently, using the consolidated framework of collusive practices, a questionnaire was further developed and disseminated, which received 97 valid replies. The questionnaire data were then utilized to develop and validate the collusion risk assessment model with the facilitation of artificial neural network approach. The developed model was finally applied in a real-life metro project in which its reliability and applicability were both verified. Although the model was developed under the context of Chinese construction projects, its developing strategy can be applied in other countries, especially for those emerging economies that have a significant concern of collusion in their construction sectors, and thus contributing to the global body of knowledge of collusion.

The number of construction megaprojects, with costs exceeding RMB50 billion (nearly USD800 million), has increased exponentially in China in the past two decades because of outstanding economic achievements and fast urbanization. However, these projects are usually beset with underperformance problems, such as cost overruns, safety incidents, functional and quality defects, and poor environmental and sustainable performance. Programme management has been increasingly advocated as a pragmatic approach through the centralized coordinated management to improve megaproject performance at the overall organizational level. This paper reports a pragmatic framework of programme organizational capability comprising 24 factors based on a case study of the Shanghai Expo construction. The 24 programme organizational factors (POFs) identified from the literature review and interviews are grouped into three categories in terms of organizational capability theory, organizational contextual capability, organizational cor...

Business-to-government (B2G) corruption is thought to be a common phenomenon in the Chinese construction sector, especially in public construction projects, inducing many accidents and loss...

Over recent years, the issue of corruption in the public construction sector has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers worldwide. However, limited efforts are available for investigating the underlying factors of corruption in this sector. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the underlying factors of corruption in the public construction sector of China. To achieve this goal, a total of 14 structured interviews were first carried out, and a questionnaire survey was then administered to 188 professionals in China. Two iterations of multivariate analysis approaches, namely, stepwise multiple regression analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling were successively utilized to analyze the collected data. In addition, a case study was also conducted to triangulate the findings obtained from the statistical analysis. The results generated from these three research methods achieve the same conclusion: the most influential underlying factor leading to corruption was immorality, followed by opacity, unfairness, procedural violation, and contractual violation. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring the properties of corruption in the public construction sector. The findings from this study are also valuable to the construction authorities as they can assist in developing more effective anti-corruption strategies.

The emergence of construction megaprojects has become a global phenomenon over the last two decades as a result of rapid urbanization. Program management has been increasingly promoted as a vital approach for ensuring megaproject success through the coordinated management of the dispensed execution of a program at the organizational level. Nevertheless, practicing this method in construction megaprojects is a continual improvement process that requires relevant guidelines and tools. This study proposes an innovative tool to evaluate a structured program organization in conjunction with the fuzzy synthetic evaluation method. Based on determinants of program organization identified from a Delphi survey previously conducted by authors regarding the Shanghai Expo construction, combined with results of further Delphi surveys for the same project, the use of this new evaluation approach in the case project is illustrated step-by-step. With this tool, clients can better utilize the program management app...

Social network analysis (SNA) has been widely used to explore the existence and strength of connections among various actors within an organization. Recently, understanding and interpreting social aspects in project organization have gained great interest in project management research. Consequently, there is a need to analyse complex project organization (CPO) by using SNA with increasing numbers of large-scale and complex projects. The goal of this research is to better appreciate the social network relations in a CPO environment and to improve the organizational efficiency and team performance through new organizational control mechanisms (OCMs). This study first discusses a multi-level social network framework with a focus on the CPO where major analytical components of the framework are presented including modelling elements and structures and preferred parameters. Next, social network-oriented OCM and strategies are illustrated and compared with regular organizational controls. To examine the mentio...

Corruption has been identified as the greatest obstacle to economic and social development. Public construction projects, in particular, face high corruption risk as public construction sector has been consecutively deemed as the most corrupt one. Despite considerable efforts have been undertaken to measure corruption at a nation level, few researchers focus on the measurement of corruption in construction projects. This paper develops a fuzzy measurement model for the potential corruption in public construction projects in China. Through semistructured interviews with 14 experts, and then a questionnaire survey with 188 respondents, 24 measurement items of corruption were identified and further categorized into five constructs. The fuzzy set theory was then adopted to quantify each measurement item, construct, and the overall corruption level. This model can facilitate in evaluating, revealing, and monitoring corruption in public construction projects. Although this paper focuses on measuring cor...

Understanding relationships between causes of and vulnerabilities to corruption are essential in corruption research in construction because it addresses the fundamental issues of the widespread corruption in the public construction sector. Through an empirical survey, this study aims to investigate effects of the two causes of corruption, the flawed regulation systems and lack of a positive industrial climate, on five various kinds of corrupt vulnerabilities in China. The data were collected from officials, practitioners, and academics involved in the Chinese public construction sector, and then analyzed by factor analysis and partial least-squares structural equation modeling. The analysis results suggest that the flawed regulation systems have a higher influence on corruption vulnerabilities than the lack of a positive industrial climate. The results also indicate that the most influential item on the flawed regulation systems is negative leader roles, followed by inadequate sanctions, lack of ...

Response strategy is a key for preventing widespread corruption vulnerabilities in the public construction sector. Although several studies have been devoted to this area, the effectiveness of response strategies has seldom been evaluated in China. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the effectiveness of response strategies for corruption vulnerabilities through a survey in the Chinese public construction sector. Survey data obtained from selected experts involved in the Chinese public construction sector were analyzed by factor analysis and partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Analysis results showed that four response strategies of leadership, rules and regulations, training, and sanctions, only achieved an acceptable level in preventing corruption vulnerabilities in the Chinese public construction sector. This study contributes to knowledge by improving the understanding of the effectiveness of response strategies for corruption vulnerabilities in the public construction sector of developing countries.

Troubles existing in the industry of Construction Supervision in China are analyzed. The competition power of the industry is weakened due to the policy of long widely forced CS service procurement. Misapprehensions of the industry’s liabilities extends the professional risks, making loss of excellent HR. Strategy for the improvement thru mechanism reconstruction are issued for the industry’s sustainable development.

The paper analyses the characterization and reasons of non-collaborative phenomena in large-complex construction program taking 2010 Expo site construction as a case, then gives a study of framework on collaboration management system. The operation practice of collaboration management system in Expo program is analyzed later especially from the view of sub-systems. Three main conclusions are finally coming which may guide the practice of large-complex construction program management.

Table of contents 01 The eco-toxicological effects of cadmium stress on five ornamental plants Zhouli Liu, Wei Chen, Xingyuan He, Shuai Yu, Weihang Ding 02 Study on the formation and release mechanisms of hydrogen sulfide in Longtan coal mine Jianjun Liu, Yuliang Wu, Kaixiang Fan 03 Coral bleaching in the North Reef of China’s Xisha Islands in 2014 Yuanchao Li, Xinqing Zheng, Shiquan Chen, Haiqun Xie 04 Soil chemical characteristics in a Cunninghamia lanceolata stand suffering from ice-snow damage Jie Li, Zhuomin Wang, Li Xue 05 Diversity of understory vegetation was under a Cunninghamia lanceolata stand suffering from ice-snow damage Zhiyang Lie, Weilong Huang, Tongtong Zhou, Li Xue 06 The effect of water, nitrogen and harvesting time on yield and biomass allocation of Helianthus tuberosus L. Kai Gao, Tiexia Zhu 07 The vertical variation of microbial communities in the sediment of sea cucumber pond Weiteng Mao, Pei Yu, Xinfang Lv, Yunchun Li 08 Indicating significances of alpine plant functional groups to environmental change Peixi Su, Rui Shi 09 Research on the daily CH4 fluxes of soil in summer mangrove community at Yingluogang of Guangxi, China Yong Jiang, Xingbin Chen, Shichu liang 10 Beach protection structures in middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River Junfeng Xu 11 Social responsibility management of large dam project with owner as core: an empirical case in China Jiwei Zhu, Zhao Zhai, Linan Zhou, Yun Le, Li Cao 12 The ecological function value assessment analysis of urban waterfront Jiwei Zhu, Ping Lu, Zhiqian Huang, Bei Zhou 13 Mechanism of diurnal osmotic potential changes and adjustment of three Caragana species in different habitats of the Inner Mongolia Plateau Zhirong Zheng, Shihai Lv, Chaoyang Feng 14 Biodiversity of phytoplankton and environmental influences analysis of Longfeng Wetland, China Nan Song, Yan Liu, Xinxin Lu, Yawen Fan 15 The effect of human activities on culturable soil microbes from Yaoquan Mountain in Wudalianchi, China Jianfei Guan, Jihua Wang, Xueping Zhang