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Real-Time bidding is nowadays one of the most promising systems in the online advertising ecosystem. In the presented study, the performance of RTB campaigns is improved by optimising the parameters of the users’ profiles and the publishers’ websites. Most studies about optimising RTB campaigns are focused on the bidding strategy; estimating the best value for each bid. However, our research is focused on optimising RTB campaigns by finding out configurations that maximise both the number of impressions and the average profitability of the visits. An online campaign configuration generally consists of a set of parameters along with their values such as {Browser = “Chrome”, Country = “Germany”, Age = “20–40” and Gender = “Woman”}. The experiments show that, when the number of required visits by advertisers is low, it is easy to find configurations with high average profitability, but as the required number of visits increases, the average profitability diminishes. Additionally, configuration optimisation has been combined with other interesting strategies to increase, even more, the campaigns’ profitability. In particular, the presented study considers the following complementary strategies to increase profitability: (1) selecting multiple configurations with a small number of visits rather than a unique configuration with a large number of visits, (2) discarding visits according to certain cost and profitability thresholds, (3) analysing a reduced space of the dataset and extrapolating the solution over the whole dataset, and (4) increasing the search space by including solutions below the required number of visits. The developed campaign optimisation methodology could be offered by RTB and other advertising platforms to advertisers to make their campaigns more profitable.

This article aims to investigate the factors influencing the success of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement in the Visegrad Group Countries. According to the European Union, tools such as the division of contracts into smaller lots or the evaluation of tenders based on the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) increase the chances of SME’s winning contracts in public procurement. In particular, the evaluation of tenders based on MEAT rather than the lowest price is a tool favoring SMEs, as it boosts their innovative potential, which creates the preconditions for achieving the best value for taxpayers' money. By analyzing more than 150,000 contract award notices published in the Tenders Electronic Daily in 2019, we found a positive effect on SMEs' chances of winning a contract when using framework agreements or dividing contracts into smaller lots. Moreover, the results of multinomial logit regression suggest that the evaluation of tenders based on MEAT rather than lowest prices increases the chances of SMEs to win the contract by more than 50%. However, the findings that the share of SMEs in the total financial value of contracts is less than 20%, with SMEs winning more than 60% of all contracts, suggest that some obstacles of SMEs' access to public contracts, such as financial, administrative or technical complexity of projects may persist and require further research.

Purpose Best value procurement (BVP) has been recognized for some time as offering significant opportunities to advance process excellence in the construction sector. As an innovative approach to strategic procurement, BVP has attracted attention from the New Zealand (NZ) Government. It has similarly been found that the most substantial benefit of this modified approach to procurement is in value creation and innovative organizational processes through identifying “best value.” Yet to date, there is a lack of robust evidence as to how BVP can exactly influence construction innovation. Accordingly, this paper aims to explore how to improve BVP implementation to promote construction innovation and what are the values to be achieved in BVP mega projects from the view of innovation. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with 22 participants, including project managers, procurement specialists, engineers and general managers from three organization types, were conducted to explore BVP implementation in a range of mega construction projects in NZ. Findings Barriers to BVP implementation and value innovation have been identified in this paper. Data analysis suggested traditional mindset in the procurement process, market constraints, mistrusts and fuzzy definition of BVP are the challenges for BVP implementation; BVP cultivates organizational competition because of diverse collaboration models and value attitudes; and BVP considers more values from the whole supply chain. To promote innovative construction, existing BVP should consider adopting progressive enhancements toward updating procurement guidance, encouraging effective communications, collaborating and promoting changes in stakeholders’ mindset. Practical implications Identified barriers to BVP implementation set up a platform for framing guidance, which could provide an effective approach as it enables a better understanding of what BVP means to NZ and what needs to be overcome. Taking this into account, similar small size markets around the world would be able to consider the applicability of BVP for innovative improvements. Originality/value This paper provides insights into value concepts in project procurement. It theoretically and practically possesses originality in linking BVP to innovative construction. The study of BVP and its application further reveals the importance of establishing a distinct regulation and fostering organizational competition from value aspects to achieve construction innovation.

The effect of aircraft performance, quantity, and schedule on aircraft cost has been analyzed in order to create a method for making informed decisions about aircraft optimization. Operations analy...

Aspects of the lifecycle sustainability of modular and prefabricated construction remain unexplored. In particular, the characteristics of various concrete techniques require further investigation. This study assessed three different construction techniques, namely, On-site concrete (OSC), Individual Panel System (IPS), and Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC). The following environmental impact criteria were studied: greenhouse gas (GHG), ozone layer depletion (OLD), human toxicity (HT), fossil depletion (FD), and terrestrial ecotoxicity (TE). These were calculated using life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis. The total cost of each case studies was calculated using LCC and a social survey was also conducted using a questionnaire survey. The significance weights were incorporated into an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for use in multi-criteria decision making (MCDM: TOPSIS). PPVC was assessed as the best construction technique for most of the environmental criteria. It was 6%, 2%, and 6% lower than OSC in GHG, FD, and OLD, respectively. On the other hand, OSC was shown to be an economic method by 2.4% and 4% having lower cost than PPVC and IPS. Additionally, PPVC achieved the best value in Social-LCA. Finally, since different concrete construction techniques were nominated as the best for each criterion, an assessment of multi-criteria was conducted. The results of MCDM showed that PPVC is the most sustainable method among the alternatives. Furthermore, two sensitivity analyses were performed to dispense with the human subjectivity involved in AHP.

One of the strategies in order to compete in Batik MSMEs is to look at the characteristics of the customer. To make it easier to see the characteristics of customer buying behavior, it is necessary to classify customers based on similarity of characteristics using fuzzy clustering. One of the parameters that must be determined at the beginning of the fuzzy clustering method is the number of clusters. Increasing the number of clusters does not guarantee the best performance, but the right number of clusters greatly affects the performance of fuzzy clustering. So to get optimal number cluster, we can measured the result of clustering in each number cluster using the cluster validity index. From several types of cluster validity index, NPC give the best value. Optimal number cluster that obtained by the validity index is 2 and this number cluster give classify result with small variance value

Актуальность работы обусловлена необходимостью ремонта втулок, имеющих рабочий износ, повышения антифрикционных характеристик трибосопряжений, экономии дорогостоящего сырья и внедрения ресурсосберегающих технологий. Вопрос экономии дорогостоящих материалов или замены их на менее дорогостоящие, а также применение отходов металлообрабатывающих производств не вызывает сомнений. Обеспечение повышенных значений нагрузок и скоростей скольжения при общем снижении стоимости сопряжений и соизмеримых межремонтных периодов достигается путем применения отходов стружки и проведения экономного динамического легирования на микроуровне материалами, способными улучшить эксплуатационные показатели сопряжения в целом. Снижение уровня антропогенного влияния достигается вследствие применения относительно безотходных методов восстановления. Цель: создать трибосопряжение, эффективно работающее при заданных условиях эксплуатации, при этом ограничивая количество потерь дорогостоящих ресурсов и сводя к минимуму негативное влияние на окружающую среду. Для этого применяется основа из измельченных металлоотходов с использованием экономного динамического легирования. Методы: теоретические исследования стойкости предложенного материала, конструкции сопряжения и метода его нанесения; расчет технологических параметров нанесения материала в зависимости от условий эксплуатации. Результаты. Определено наилучшее значение линейных параметров элементарных стружечных отходов, оптимальное значение легирующих элементов для данных условий эксплуатации трущихся пар. Разработана технология получения материалов с прогнозируемыми свойствами, с возможностью регулировки отдельных свойств материалов в зависимости от реальных условий эксплуатации. Разработанная технология ремонта тяжелонагруженных подшипников скольжения, работающих в неблагоприятных условиях эксплуатации, проверена в условиях современного машиностроительного предприятия.

This study examines the entire life-cycle of best-value projects to identify factors that can help key stakeholders build collaborative teams. Fifteen design-build projects (three medical, five off...

This study evaluates 171 hospital bed tower designs from the past decade. The Floor-building gross square feet (BGSF)/Bed, patient care area, ratio between them, and the bed count per unit were analyzed. The findings suggest that the average patient care area has decreased 5%–10% to a 305 departmental gross square feet (DGSF)/Bed average. The patient care area, support, circulation, and area grossing on floor were found to average 908 Floor-BGSF/Bed, and were impacted by the total beds/unit. It was determined that larger bed count per unit designs with 32–36 beds/unit average 21.9% less Floor-BGSF/Bed than designs with 24 beds/unit. The research evaluates design solutions impacted by a shifting environment of regulatory change and escalating costs. The hospital bed towers represent new facilities, horizontal/vertical expansions, and 25+ design teams. Design and/or construction took place during a 10-year period (2008–2018). The acute patient unit designs were reviewed and electronically quantified. The area measurement methodology aligns with the guidelines set forth in the “Area Calculation Method for Health Care” guidelines. Each project team was faced with a unique but similar set of circumstances. The balance between core values, guiding principles, budget, and quality of care was always present and included a diverse combination of owners, designers, construction delivery methods, profit models, and clinical approaches. In today’s world, common solutions are grounded in providing the best value. Project teams face a number of challenges during design. The lack of information should never be one.

Background There is over 10 years of clinical experience and evidence to show that biosimilar medicines can be used as safely and effectively in approved therapeutic indications as their originator biological medicines. In Ireland, biosimilar medicine uptake has been very slow, and savings to the health service will only be realised through fostering a competitive biological medicine market. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the utilisation of biosimilars following a ‘best-value biological’ medicine initiative for adalimumab and etanercept in the Irish healthcare setting. Methods Data was extracted from the National High Tech claims database and High Tech ordering and management hub for the following drugs; adalimumab (Humira®, Amgevita®, Hulio®, Idacio®, and Imraldi®) and etanercept (Enbrel® and Benepali®). Main outcome measure: uptake of the best-value biological medicines. Results In June 2019, just over 90 patients had been initiated on, or switched to a best-value biological for adalimumab or etanercept. Over the next 12 months this increased to over 8500 patients. With the best-value biologicals accounting for approximately 50 % of market share in June 2020, the combined estimated savings and avoided costs are €22.7 million to date. The gain-share prescribing incentive has raised over €3.6 million for the specialties to invest back into patient care. Conclusion Against the background of a finite healthcare budget, this study shows that increasing use of biosimilars can create the financial savings and space to invest in new innovative therapies for the benefit of many patients.

Every day important healthcare decisions are made with incomplete or outdated information about the effects of the different health care interventions available, what delivers the best value for the health system and where more research is needed. It is necessary to invest in strategies that allow access to reliable and updated evidence on which to base health decisions. The objective is to develop and evaluate a strategy for building the capacity among different actors of a country’s health system to implement the model known as “Living Evidence” [LE] in the evidence synthesis and dissemination of knowledge transfer [KT] products to inform health decisions. The study will involve professional members of health system organizations in charge of developing KT-products to inform health decisions. The project will be developed in three complementary phases: 1) LE-implementation framework development through review of the literature, brainstorming meetings, user testing and expert consultation; 2) training in LE tools and strategies; 3) developing LE synthesis for KT-products by applying the framework to real-life diverse situations. To achieve the capacity building strategy assessment goal, several surveys and interviews will take place during the process to assess: 1) the LE-implementation framework for the incorporation of LE synthesis in the development of KT-products; 2) the training workshops; 3) the whole capacity-building strategy used for health system organizations be able of implementing the LE as part of the KT-products they regularly produce. The expected results are an effective capacity building strategy for health system organizations to implement the living evidence model in different KT products; a LE-implementation framework to be applicable to any country or region for incorporate LE in the KT-products; LE synthesis for KT-products directly applicable to the real-setting situations; integration of Epistemonikos-L.OVE platform for keeping the LE process in the development and updating of KT-products.

Decision Support System (DSS) is generally defined as a system capable of providing both problem-solving capabilities and communications capabilities for semi-structured problems. Lecturers are lecturers in higher education institutions, and lecturers are in charge of implementing the tridharma of higher education, which includes education and teaching, research and development of science and technology and community service and supporting activities. And lecturers are teachers who will produce human resources (Human Resources) so that required systems that can be able to produce the best and professional decisions. Simple Additive Weighting ( SAW ) method requires the process of normalizing the decision matrix (X) to a scale comparable to all existing alternative ratings and has 5 criteria such as: graduate, landfill test, microteaching, interview, TPA and of several criteria have several sets. From the determination of criteria and the set can result in the rank and final results of the election of the right lecturer.The results obtained from the test is the decision of the lecturer who get the best value in accordance with predetermined criteria.

Knowing the value of PID parameters is important to tune the PID controller. There are different kinds of process to know the value of PID parameters. Genetic Algorithm is applied to find out the best value of PID parameters. Simulation process has been done by using code in MATLAB to initiate PID controller. In this work it has been shown that how to get the suitable value of PID parameters to tune the PID controller. Researching on different kinds of paper to get information about the process, at which we get the best value of PID parameters. The operation of PID controller depends on the value of PID Parameters. A block diagram shown the methodology part at which explain the whole process of this work. Performance Analysis of the procedure that applied to find the value of PID parameters. The value, which getting by using Genetic Algorithm is applied in (1st to 10th) order to calculate the fitness function. Different kinds of calculation, figure, graph and table shown in this work. After calculating the fitness value, it is obtained that which value is suitable for tuning the PID controller. These value is the resulting value to tune the PID controller.

In recent years, with continuous focus on clean energy and environmental protection, the scale of photovoltaic generation industry in China has been gradually expanded, making great achievements. However, it also faces huge challenges and problems such as fierce market competition, serious photovoltaic curtailment, high cost, etc. In order to promote the sustainable development of photovoltaic industry, this paper constructs an energy storage-involved photovoltaic value chain (ES-PVC) consisting of three nodes for upstream, midstream and downstream, in which photovoltaic power suppliers, battery energy storage business and electric vehicle manufacturers locate respectively. The coupling problem for node enterprises in the value chain is studied by multi-objective optimization and G1 method, which is measured eventually via a single value transformed by ideal point method. Considering the particularity of issue, the paper proposes an improved genetic algorithm (IGA) to fit and solve the model. A best value chain is acquired via proposed approach whose feasibility and applicability are verified through comparative analysis with analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and linear assignment method (LAM) and sensitivity analysis. The implications and limitations are presented in the conclusion, aiming to provide theoretical reference for value management of photovoltaic enterprise and to get further research.

SUMMARY INTRODUCTION: In the future, surgery will be centralized in hospitals with the best value (excellent results with reduced cost). High-performance teams will be required; however, available data concerning the specific abilities necessary to build and manage them are poor. OBJECTIVES: Share the set of competencies and skills established to build and lead a high-performance general surgery team. METHODS: In November 2012, a general surgery team started its activities at a tertiary hospital in Sao Paulo, Brasil. The model consisted of high volume performed by a small team. Experienced surgeons, motivated, and with technical and moral excellence were selected. A sense of unity was created and goals were shared. Complex cases were discussed daily and a prospective database to follow outcomes was established. The payment value was above the market. RESULTS: In 6 years and 4 months, 11,006 surgical procedures were performed (8,597 electives and 2,409 in an urgent setting). Cholecystectomy was the most common procedure (4,101; being 3,676 electives), followed by inguinal hernioplasty (n: 1,827) and appendectomy (n: 925). A total of 449 elective oncologic procedures were performed. The surgical site infection rate in clean procedures was 0.12%, 80 patients required re-do surgery (2.4% in an urgent setting and 0.2% of the electives). There were 22 postoperative deaths (0.66% for urgent and 0.07% for electives), 5 of the 6 deaths in elective patients were in oncologic cases. CONCLUSION: A competent surgical team, inserted in a model that favors performance and values the individual can deliver high volume with exceptional results. RESUMO INTRODUÇÃO: No futuro as cirurgias serão centralizadas em hospitais que tenham melhor valor (resultados excelentes com custo reduzido). Equipes de alta performance serão necessárias, entretanto a literatura acerca das habilidades específicas para montar e gerir essas equipes é muito pobre. OBJETIVOS: Compartilhar as competências e habilidades estabelecidas para construir e liderar uma equipe de cirurgia geral de alto desempenho. MÉTODOS: Em novembro de 2012, a equipe de cirurgia geral iniciou suas atividades em um hospital terciário na cidade de São Paulo (SP, Brasil). O modelo consistia em produzir alto volume com um time pequeno. Cirurgiões experientes, motivados e com excelência técnica e moral foram selecionados. Um senso de unidade foi criado e objetivos coletivos estabelecidos e compartilhados. O pagamento estava acima da média do mercado. RESULTADOS: Em 6 anos e 4 meses, 11.006 procedimentos cirúrgicos foram realizados (8.597 eletivos e 2.409 de urgência/emergência). A colecistectomia foi o procedimento mais comum (n: 4.101, sendo 3.676 eletivas), seguida da hernioplastia inguinal (n: 1.827) e da apendicectomia (n: 925). Um total de 449 cirurgias oncológicas eletivas foram realizadas. A infecção de sítio cirúrgico em procedimentos limpos foi de 0,12% (2,4% para cirurgias de urgência e 0,2% nas eletivas). Ocorreram 22 óbitos cirúrgicos (0,66% na urgência e 0,07% nas eletivas), 5 dos 6 óbitos eletivos ocorreram em pacientes oncológicos. CONCLUSÃO: Uma equipe competente, inserida em um modelo que favorece o desempenho e valoriza o indivíduo é capaz de entregar grande volume com resultados excepcionais.

Energy integration among processes has been one of the most relevant approaches in the field of process synthesis, allowing for better energy use and leading to positive environmental and economic impacts in industrial terms. Since the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a power cycle indicated for using low quality heat as the heat source, this study aims at integrating an ORC with process streams to use the recovered waste heat as the heat source for the cycle. A thermoeconomic optimization in terms of net power produced was proposed and, by means of a case study, an improvement of 6% in specific net energy was achieved over the best value reported in the literature using n-hexane as the working fluid. For working fluids pentane and benzene, improvements of 4.7% and 8.5% were obtained relative to the best specific net energy value presented so far.

In Kenya, no studies have attempted to model alternative scenarios of the cost-implications of reaching universal coverage (i.e. 95% population coverage) of the existing maternity health services network at the ward administrative level. A cross-sectional study design used publicly available geospatial data in combination with routine data from the web-based district health information software (DHIS2) platform. AccessMod (version 5) was used for scaling up analysis. ArcGIS (version 10.5) sufficed for the preparation of geospatial input and the mapping of AccessMod results, respectively. The geographic coverage of three alternative scenarios to scale up the existing maternity health services network was tested and compared to the status quo. The findings in Siaya County confirm that even if the existing maternity health services network had unlimited capacity, almost 30% of pregnant women would still not be covered. Moreover, targeting the upgrade of hospital facility types currently working beyond their capacity would offer the best value for every additional resource allocated as compared to targeting either health centers or dispensaries, otherwise reaching universal coverage will require the construction of 32 second-tier facilities in Siaya County, as it is the most equitable approach in terms of physical accessibility to maternity health services. Future research should also consider the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) to model the effect of scaling up the geographic coverage of maternal health interventions on maternal mortality in Siaya County.

Background Matching survival of a donor kidney with that of the recipient (longevity matching), is used in some kidney allocation systems to maximize graft-life years. It is not part of the allocation algorithm for Australia. Given the growing evidence of survival benefit due to longevity matching based allocation algorithms, development of a similar kidney allocation system for Australia is currently underway. The aim of this research is to estimate the impact that changes to costs and health outcomes arising from ‘longevity matching’ on the Australian healthcare system. Methods A decision analytic model to estimate cost-effectiveness was developed using a Markov process. Four plausible competing allocation options were compared to the current kidney allocation practice. Models were simulated in one-year cycles for a 20-year time horizon, with transitions through distinct health states relevant to the kidney recipient. Willingness to pay was considered as AUD 28000. Results Base case analysis indicated that allocating the worst 20% of Kidney Donor Risk Index (KDRI) donor kidneys to the worst 20% of estimated post-transplant survival (EPTS) recipients (option 2) and allocating the oldest 25% of donor kidneys to the oldest 25% of recipients are both cost saving and more effective compared to the current Australian allocation practice. Option 2, returned the lowest costs, greatest health benefits and largest gain to net monetary benefits (NMB). Allocating the best 20% of KDRI donor kidneys to the best 20% of EPTS recipients had the lowest expected incremental NMB. Conclusion Of the four longevity-based kidney allocation practices considered, transplanting the lowest quality kidneys to the worst kidney recipients (option 2), was estimated to return the best value for money for the Australian health system.

Purpose This study aims to propose an optimal procurement model of the collaborative supply chain in the furniture industry. The final output is the total cost minimisation to produce a furniture product that covers material cost, processing cost, transportation cost and holding cost. Therefore, if companies can give the best value to customers at a low cost, then competitive advantages can be achieved. Design/methodology/approach A genetic algorithm (GA) as a metaheuristic approach was used to solve problems in this research. The optimisation was initiated by developing a mathematical model to formulate the objective function. Findings Based on the case study, the proposed GA model was able to reduce the total cost of production. The cost was reduced by 73.09% compared to the existing system. Besides, the production time of the proposed model is within the capacity of both companies; hence, no penalty cost is imposed. Practical implications The proposed GA model has been implemented and tested to minimise production costs in the Indonesian furniture industry. Originality/value To the best of author knowledge, there is no research has proposed an optimisation model that incorporates production cost, transportation cost and production time capacity together in the collaborative supply chain. This research is the first to collaborate these factors using GA in the furniture industry.

Given the European Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU, policymakers have ordered the inclusion of various criteria, such as the price, life-cycle costs, environmental, and social aspects, in the evaluation of tenders for public construction projects. Consequently, the relevance of non-monetary award criteria has gained significant value. However, the established evaluation formulas, which are used to obtain the best value for money procurement, have resulted in legal disputes. The existing evaluation formulas exhibit mathematical weaknesses, wherein scoring indices do not express economic efficiency adequately. Thus, a conflict is observed between the political requirement of non-monetary award criteria and their evaluation by contracting authorities. To overcome such dilemma, an extensive literature review is conducted. Specifically, this study explores the essential problems of existing evaluation formulas and develops a more reliable method. The technique from the field of efficiency analysis, i.e., Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), is adopted in this study. For contract awarding, the DEA is extended by introducing a decision theoretical framework. For public procurement, the proposed method combines two advantages. First, the proposed method ensures the derivation of a robust tender ranking given that with respect to clients’ preferences, irrelevant and insufficiently tailored tenders do not influence the scoring. Second, the proposed method supports the intention of policy makers to promote public goals, such as sustainable aspects. By disclosing the strengths and weaknesses of bidders with respect to their competitors, all bidders can obtain a precise overview of their performance regarding the award criteria. In sum, the proposed method allows a targeted improvement of certain criteria values in future tenders and consequently leads to an enhancement of public goals.

In design-build (DB), owners use procurement methods such as best value, qualification-based and sole source to offer a more objective approach when selecting design-builders. The aim of this study...

Although construction owners have long utilized Best-Value (BV) procurement within alternative delivery, they have historically been less willing to do so when selecting contractor teams in traditi...

The Institute of Domestic Administration (IPDN) of the West Sumatra Campus is a tertiary institution attended by students from all over Indonesia. This activity is a mandatory activity for all cadets and must be followed every semester. Values ​​determine the graduation of a cadet in his education. For this reason, a good system is needed in determining the value. This study aims to find effective and appropriate values ​​in each service. The method used is Simple Additive Weighting for data that determine ranking. The results of this study have an accuracy of 85% of the ranking data manually to the test data. Thus, this system is more effective in the search process and ranking accuracy. Then this research is a system that can be used as a reference in ranking the best value of welfare.

Background Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust was formed in February 2017 following an acquisition. The Library and Knowledge Services (LKS) merged while operating across two hospital sites. A priority for the merged Library and Knowledge Service was to integrate e-collections. A literature review identified six papers reporting health libraries that had merged and integrated e-collections. Objectives A priority for the merged Library and Knowledge Service was to integrate e-collections. Methods To ensure equitable and cost-effective access to an extended collection, an audit of pre-existing e-collections was conducted. Electronic licence agreements enabling cross-site access were negotiated. A new OpenAthens ID was created. Results The integration of e-collections enabled Trust staff access to a greater number of e-journals and additional e-content, and an overall cost-saving was achieved. Discussion This case study supports existing literature stating that integrating collections increases the number of e-journals. It further identifies cost-difference in acquiring cross-site access to e-journals compared to databases providing full-text e-journals and additional e-content. Conclusion Integrating e-collections enables equity of access and value. A national co-ordinated approach to procurement of e-collections will further support equity and best value throughout NHS LKS.

Purpose The non-achievement of projects of best value remains a perennial problem within the construction industry. This paper aims to identify the latent shortcomings affecting the achievement of value for money (VfM) within the Ghanaian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach From a comprehensive literature review and pilot survey, 18 variables responsible for the non-achievement of VfM were identified. Through purposive and snowballing sampling techniques, a questionnaire was administered to the target professionals. Factor analysis was used to establish the latent shortcomings underlying the same dimensions of VfM achievement in the Ghanaian construction industry. Findings A total of six components were identified and explained as external factors; institutional culture and policy constraints; technical and decision-making factors; human-related factors and accountability and transparency constraints. The relative importance index was used in analysing the strategies to addressing the shortcomings. Social implications The prevalent situation of poorly delivered projects and the continuous campaign for VfM necessitated the need for a study into explaining the latent shortcomings in achieving VfM within the Ghanaian construction industry. It is recommended that governments give VfM in public projects serious attention. This would help to reduce the overall cost of construction projects without compromising quality. When VfM is taken seriously, governments can save more money and undertake more projects as well as gain public acceptance in terms of transparency and accountability. Originality/value This study has set the pace for further research in the VfM analysis by identifying the latent shortcoming, which other developing countries can emulate.

Purpose This paper aims to develop an integrated and comprehensive framework for building and property management (BAPM) for state schools in New Zealand. The results are expected to clarify the complicated process and provide a guide for school boards to manage their property effectively and efficiently. It also seeks to explore the relationship between the key stakeholders and how this impacts the BAPM. Design/methodology/approach In addition, to review literature, qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 16 top managers in state schools. The data analysis results were used to develop the framework using the integration definition for process modelling. Findings The findings contribute to understanding the processes in the BAPM in state schools of school board members by adding input, output, control and mechanism elements in each activity of the processes. The systematic models with main activities and people involved are presented as a guide for school boards in state schools in New Zealand. Challenges and issues in the processes are also identified to draw further study for both school boards and the Ministry of Education. Research limitations/implications The research was conducted with the participation of stakeholders who are sampled from top managers in state schools in New Zealand. A larger scale of participants from other schools may generalise the findings further. Practical implications The research findings are based on the needs and requirements of the stakeholders to understand, implement and control the BAPM for their schools and aid them to achieve the best value for money spending on the management. Originality/value The paper highlights the complexity of the BAPM in schools, presents the roles and responsibilities of the school stakeholders and proposes a systematic framework to assist the school managers in this management process.

Traditional project management (PM) results have been poor. The practices of direction and control have been identified by deductive logic as problematic. Deductive logic identifies that, if a manager directs and controls, their risk goes up and performance will go down. A new approach to PM is the replacement of technical expertise with the identification and utilization of expertise. New components of this approach are the minimization of the need to think and make decisions, the use of the language of metrics, a new definition of risk, and the use of preplanning that includes the utilization of expertise and focusing on the mitigation of risk that the expert does not control. This approach has been tested by the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction Working Commission (CIB W117, formerly known as the Performance Based Studies Research Group at Arizona State University) for the past 25 years increasing customer satisfaction to 98% and minimizing cost by 5 to 30%. These practices are a part of the “PM of the Future.”

Public projects in Saudi Arabia have faced performance issues. The primary procurement system used in Saudi Arabia (low-bid) does not consider the contractors’ performance. A case study conducted at a university campus in northern Saudi Arabia showed low project performance. The current procurement system was analyzed and modified to utilize the concepts of the Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BV PIPS). BV PIPS has demonstrated high levels of project performance in previous tests. A large survey was conducted of 761 classified contractors and 43 universities’ representatives. Survey respondents were asked to quantify their view regarding the current procurement system, rate their level of agreement regarding Best Value principles, and rate their level of agreement with the newly proposed procurement system which integrates Best Value principles. The results of the survey show that both, clients and contractors, are dissatisfied with the current procurement system, and agree with the new procurement system. The survey also suggests that respondents agree with Best Value principles suggesting that contractors’ performance should be tracked, and procurement should be conducted using both price and past performance information. The authors recommend that the newly proposed procurement model should be implemented in more projects in Saudi Arabia to further validate the Best Value system and improve the performance of projects in the country.

This paper provides a literature review assessing the performance and issues of delivering construction services in the Vietnam Construction Industry (VCI). The research also explores a potential solution that could improve the performance of the VCI. The results show multiple non-performance issues that the VCI has experienced in the past 15 years, and presents a comparison between these issues and issues from other countries. The results reveal that the top 5 non-performance issues in the VCI include poor design services, frequent design changes, lack of skilled contractors, a lack of experienced project managers, and financial difficulties of owners. The comparison identifies that 87% of VCI issues were also experienced in other countries. Since the VCI has similar issues as other countries, the author propose that the VCI can improve construction performance by implementing successful methodologies from other countries. This paper investigates the Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BV PIPS) as a potential solution because of two key aspects: (1) sufficient documentation of on time, on budget, and high customer satisfaction from this model, and (2) sufficient testing from other regions and countries to show similar improvement in construction performance.

The ICT industry has struggled with performance for years. Tools, processes, and techniques have been developed in attempts to improve performance, however, the level of performance has not significantly improved. The Best Value Approach has been proposed to increase both the procurement and execution of ICT projects. This researches focus is to further test, explore and confirm the claims associated with the Best Value Approach and its applicability in the ICT industry. Using case study research, the Best Value Approach was used in the selection of an ERP vendor for a client organization. The research findings confirm the claims of the Best Value Approach to be accurate in terms of being simpler, quicker, lower costing, requiring little expertise from the client and delivering an understandable, non-technical plan including detailed schedule, milestone schedule, and schedule that identifies all stakeholder activity.

The Best Value Approach (BVA) offers an innovative method to get the most out of Supplier-Customer Relationships (SCRs). This paper argues that the preparation phase should be enhanced when applying BVA in the context of public procurement. Literature on SCRs learns how successful relationships are governed bilaterally during execution. This literature also describes which processes are taking place prior to contracting. Here, the concepts of this literature areapplied to analyses the specific public procurement context. The impact of this context is, that the tender process is governed unilaterally. Further, BVA - as applied in public procurement - is viewed through the lenses of the SCR literature. Although BVA partly leads to bilateral governance, the impact of the public procurement context remains. For practitioners wanting to improve BVA’s effect in public procurement, the paper offers an enhancement of the approach. For theory building, the analysis leads to a further differentiation of the concept of governance. For regulators, it offers something to consider: focus on principles or rules?

Edible bird nest industries have existed for more than a century; however, it has been going through a few revolution cycles. As harvesting EBN from the natural habitat in the dark and dim limestone caves to the modern purpose-built swiftlet farms, the quality and quantity of the bird nests have risen to a new level. This success of changing the habitat of swiftlet colonies is revolutionary because the ease of rescuing bird nests from life-threatening experiences to a safe environment has improved. Furthermore, with a synthetic environment, the quality of bird nests has improved with decreased levels of pollution and the colony`s population increased due to better growth along with protection from predators. On the downside, edible bird nest cleaning processes experienced very few changes since the discovery of edible bird nests. The method of cleaning remains unchanged. Several machines have been introduced to replace human labor and the results are either ineffective or undesirable. In this study, existing practices were observed and analyzed by identifying the area of opportunity for improvement. A new proposed method has been implemented to enhance the quality and nutrients of the bird nests. The experimental methodology has been employed to analyzes a set of samples obtained from both cleaning methods. The results show a smaller expansion rate under the current method in processing edible bird nest; hence, the possibility of nutrients preserved has increased by 30% under the new method. The percentage of crude protein concentration in the newly improved method was 50.25% whereas in the traditional method, it was only 31.16%. This clearly indicates the difference of 19.09% nutrient lost between the new improved method and traditional cleaning method.

The W117 commission is a leader in innovation. It is the first commission to have a very focused goal of implementing academic research/industry testing to impact the construction industry. The research is constantly evolving and impacting the direction, scope and speed of evolution of performance metrics, transparency, mitigation of risk and the improvement of the supply chain stakeholders. However, this is not the only thrust and value of W117. The W117 is looking to change the definition of successful and impactful research from traditional academic/industry research. It will change what is recognized as valuable and impactful research. This Research Roadmap is the latest document, as of June 2018, and will be continually changed in the coming years. W117 welcomes all other working commissions and industry visionaries to join in the effort towards improving the construction industry.