Kategoria BISAC: Technology & Engineering >> Construction - General

Contrary to stereotype, the construction industry has embraced IT with some vigour. Computers are used effectively across the sector and this use is increasing. A range of new issues have emerged in consequence.

This practical book draws on direct industrial experience and examines the role of IT within a range of enterprises operating in the construction and property industry. Emphasis is given to the human side of IT and the effects of the implementation of IT systems on them. The functionality of the IT systems is considered, as is the design brief and the operation of the...

This key text addresses the topic of lightweight claddings in buildings and is a useful guide and reference resource.

Written by well-known specialists in the field, this fourth edition of an established text has been revised throughout to incorporate the latest environmental issues, the use of wood and terracotta in cladding, and use of new materials, particularly the new moulded materials. Two new chapters cover wood and terracotta in cladding. The main types of cladding systems are described in detail and methods of production, performance characteristics, applications and methods of...

This comprehensive and unique work considers the various aspects involved in the behaviour of bulk storage structures. It is the accumulation of over 30 years of study, experiments and field measurements by the author, covering design, examination and evaluation of bulk storage structures. The subjects treated in this volume range from design, through operational behaviour, to failure and its prevention. The following areas are considered: theories of stresses and strains in particulate materials; material testing and evaluation for the prediction of a structure's loads and behaviour;...

Innovation in Small Construction Firms promotes the benefits of innovation, and stimulate innovation capability within and between small and medium sized (SMEs) construction firms in an effort to bring in a new 'can innovate, should innovate, want to innovate' culture to the construction industry. Presenting new theoretical and practical insights and models grounded in descriptive case studies, the issues addressed include:

• what is the motivation to innovate?
• what is appropriate innovation?
• how can small construction firms create, manage and exploit...

Do recent moves in the construction industry towards collaborative working and other new procurement procedures really make good business sense? Procurement in the Construction Industry is the result of research into this question and it includes the first rigorous categorizing of the differences between procurement methods currently in use. In the process of carrying out this research, the team has produced a comprehensive study of procurement methods which looks in detail at the relative benefits and costs of different ways of working, with sometimes surprising results. As such, it is...

Since the early 1980s, researchers and practitioners in the organisational and management fields have presumed a link between organisational, or corporate, culture and organisational performance. Whilst many believe this exists, other authors have been critical of the validity of such studies. Part of this doubt stems from a reliance on measures of organisational performance that are based purely on financial measures of business growth.

Using the construction industry as the subject of his research, Vaughan Coffey traces the development of the literature on organisational culture...

Making no assumption of your prior knowledge, Economics introduces the basics of economics as they relate to the built environment. Looking at the principles of microeconomics (markets, price mechanisms, resource allocation, theory of the firm, etc.), these principles are put into the context of construction firms and property markets. Lively, real-life case studies are built into the text to provide concrete examples of the theories being explained and macroeconomics are also covered.

Key features of this easy-to-use book include:

• clear chapter structure
...