Managing Business In The Civil Construction Sector Through Information Communication Technologies

Many industries have struggled to realize the importance of modern technology, but none more so than the construction industry. By employing various computer-aided management systems, construction businesses have increased their profitability and the systematic way their companies function. Managing Business in the Civil Construction Sector Through Information Communication Technologies supplies a compendium of innovative research that highlights the use of computer-aided design and tools and the vital role that such forms of information technology have to play in the actual production activities of any civil construction company. Subsequent chapters focus on equally vital areas such as that of construction management, contracts management, materials management, human resource management, and enterprise resource planning. Chapters on cloud computing technology, internet of things, and artificial intelligence enable readers to acquire an overview and grasp the basics of these latest trending technologies. This book is ideally designed for construction firms, students, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, IT consultants, and academicians.

With a number of disparate, often geographically distributed,organisations involved in the delivery of construction projects,there has been considerable interest in e-business tools within theconstruction industry. These tools open up a range of possibilitiesfor the industry to rethink existing processes and working methods,so their use is increasingly common. Nevertheless, there has beenlittle definitive guidance for practitioners, researchers andstudents on the major issues in electronic business from aconstruction perspective. By bringing together 16 contributions from research and industrycovering theory, technological issues, practical implementation andlegal matters, and illustrated with a number of case studies,e-Business in Construction fills that gap. Starting with thetheoretical aspects of e-commerce and moving on to consider thespecifics of the construction context, it includes a mechanism forthe assessment of the e-readiness of construction sectororganisations. The middle part of the book focuses on the role ofvarious technologies in e-business, with examples included asappropriate. This is followed by a discussion of practical, legaland trust issues. The potential of next generation of informationand communication technologies is also addressed. With a fine blend of theoretical and practical aspects ofe-commerce in construction, and well illustrated with a number ofindustrial case studies, e-Business in Construction will find anappreciative audience of construction practitioners, researchersand students at all levels.

Digital transformation is reshaping the business arena as new, successful digital business models are increasing agility and presenting better ways to handle business than the traditional alternatives. Industry 4.0 affects everything in our daily lives and is blurring the line between the physical, the biological, and the digital. This created an environment where technology and humans are so closely integrated that it is impacting every activity within the organizations. Specifically, contracting processes and procedures are challenged to align with the new business dynamics as traditional contracts are no longer fitting today's agile and continuously changing environments. Businesses are required to facilitate faster, more secure, soft, and real-time transactions while protecting stakeholders’ rights and obligations. This includes agile contracts which are dynamically handling scope changes, smart contracts that can automate rule-based functions, friction-less contracts that can facilitate different activities, and opportunity contracts that looks toward the future. Innovative and Agile Contracting for Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0 analyzes the consequences, benefits, and possible scenarios of contract transformation under the pressure of new technologies and business dynamics in modern times. The chapters cover the problems, issues, complications, strategies, governance, and risks related to the development and enforcement of digital transformation contracting practices. While highlighting topics in the area of digital transformation and contracting such as artificial intelligence, digital business, emerging technologies, and blockchain, this book is ideally intended for business, engineering, and technology practitioners and policy makers, along with practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in understanding the scope, complexity, and importance of innovative contracts and agile contracting.

This internationally conducted study of the latest construction industry practices addresses a broad range of Information and Communication Technology applications. Drawing on research conducted in the US and UK, this book presents the state of the art of various ebusiness processes, and examines BIM, virtual environments and mobile technologies. Innovation is a theme that runs throughout this book, so in addition to the direct impact of these new technical achievements, it also considers the management styles that helped them to emerge. Examples from industry are illustrated with case studies and presented alongside research from some of the best known academics in this field. This book is essential reading for all advanced students and researchers interested in how ICT is changing construction management and the construction industry.

As technology continues to advance, it is critical for businesses to implement systems that can support the transformation of data into information that is crucial for the success of the company. Without the integration of data (both structured and unstructured) mining in business intelligence systems, invaluable knowledge is lost. However, there are currently many different models and approaches that must be explored to determine the best method of integration. Integration Challenges for Analytics, Business Intelligence, and Data Mining is a relevant academic book that provides empirical research findings on increasing the understanding of using data mining in the context of business intelligence and analytics systems. Covering topics that include big data, artificial intelligence, and decision making, this book is an ideal reference source for professionals working in the areas of data mining, business intelligence, and analytics; data scientists; IT specialists; managers; researchers; academicians; practitioners; and graduate students.

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) risk considers the nonfinancial risks that could arise in a business, such as sustainability, brand reputation, legal aspects, ethics, and more. As businesses all have their own risk profiles, there is a need for risk management and mitigation that is unique for each company. Because of this variability, the study on ESG risk factors and motives of incorporating the ESG perspective into business models are crucial yet challenging. Therefore, it is important to understand how companies are adapting and mitigating ESG risk in diverse types of businesses. Adapting and Mitigating Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk in Business examines processes in enterprises that can increase the sustainability of business models and their coherence with the assumptions of the concept of sustainable development and ESG risk. Furthermore, the book explores how enterprises operating in different sectors are adapting their business models towards sustainability in order to create sustainable value. This book is a valuable tool for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, practitioners, academicians, researchers, and graduate students in finance, business, and management.

Strategic analytics is a relatively new field in conjunction with strategic management and business intelligence. Generally, the strategic management field deals with the enhancement of the decision-making capabilities of managers. Typically, such decision-making processes are heavily dependent upon various internal and external reports. Managers need to develop their strategies using clear strategy processes supported by the increasing availability of data. This situation calls for a different approach to strategy, including integration with analytics, as the science of extracting value from data and structuring complex problems. Using Strategy Analytics to Measure Corporate Performance and Business Value Creation discusses how to tackle complex business dynamics using optimization techniques and modern business analytics tools. It covers not only introductory concepts of strategic analytics but also provides strategic analytics applications in each area of management such as market dynamics, customer analysis, operations, and people management. It unveils the best industry practices and how managers can become expert strategists and analysts to better measure and enhance corporate performance and their businesses. This book is ideal for analysts, executives, managers, entrepreneurs, researchers, students, industry professionals, stakeholders, practitioners, academicians, and others interested in the strategic analytics domain and how it can be applied to complex business dynamics.

The contemporary world lives on the data produced at an unprecedented speed through social networks and the internet of things (IoT). Data has been called the new global currency, and its rise is transforming entire industries, providing a wealth of opportunities. Applied data science research is necessary to derive useful information from big data for the effective and efficient utilization to solve real-world problems. A broad analytical set allied with strong business logic is fundamental in today’s corporations. Organizations work to obtain competitive advantage by analyzing the data produced within and outside their organizational limits to support their decision-making processes. This book aims to provide an overview of the concepts, tools, and techniques behind the fields of data science and artificial intelligence (AI) applied to business and industries. The Handbook of Research on Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Business and Industry discusses all stages of data science to AI and their application to real problems across industries—from science and engineering to academia and commerce. This book brings together practice and science to build successful data solutions, showing how to uncover hidden patterns and leverage them to improve all aspects of business performance by making sense of data from both web and offline environments. Covering topics including applied AI, consumer behavior analytics, and machine learning, this text is essential for data scientists, IT specialists, managers, executives, software and computer engineers, researchers, practitioners, academicians, and students.