Mahalingam, A and Levitt, R E (2007) Safety issues on global projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 133(7), pp. 506-516. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Global construction projects that involve collaboration between participants from multiple countries can often lead to conflicts and delays due to different cultural perceptions of acceptable levels of safety among the different project participants. The current literature has not explored the origins, extent and costs of these delays, as well as ways to remedy them on global projects. Detailed case studies of four comparable global infrastructure projects indicate that legal rules, cultural values and the prevailing economic situation in their countries of origin, influenced project participants' perception of safety. Differing mindsets on these projects clashed, leading to project delays and costs. Project participants unsuccessfully attempted to use a strategy of education to improve safety levels, and then resorted to more successful coercive strategies such as the imposition of fines. This research contributes to: practice, by identifying challenges that international contractors face when attempting to transfer safety techniques to developing countries on short-term global projects; and to theory by shedding light on cultural challenges faced on global projects.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | care reports; international development; organizational policy; safety |
| Index terms: | developing country, safety issue, face, mindset, strategy, international development, collaboration, project delay, case study, global construction, infrastructure project |
| Subjects: | health behaviours and lifestyles, strategic management, data collection methods, psychology, financial risk, development economics, management, infrastructure and transport systems, project controls |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Cost Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Time Control, International Construction |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here