scholarly journals Motivating Workers in Construction

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason E. Barg ◽  
Rajeev Ruparathna ◽  
Daylath Mendis ◽  
Kasun N. Hewage

The study of the motivation of construction workers is limited to a relatively small body of knowledge. Although there is considerable research available regarding motivation and productivity, few researchers have provided a comprehensive analysis on the motivation of construction workers. The research stated that productivity in construction has not improved compared to other industry sectors such as manufacturing. This trend has been echoed in publications throughout the past five decades, and suggested that motivation is one of the key factors impacting productivity. This paper offers a comprehensive review of the published work that directly links the key words—construction and motivation. The findings have been presented in five themes, that is, motivation models, environment and culture, incentives and empowerment, and worker management. This paper concludes with two methods suggested by previous researchers to improve motivation of construction workers: (1) relevant worker incentives (intrinsic or extrinsic) and (2) improved management practices, specifically regarding communication with workers.

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
William F. Messier ◽  
Chad A. Simon ◽  
Jason L. Smith

SUMMARY This paper presents a comprehensive review of behavioral research on external auditors' use of analytical procedures published over the past two decades. We frame our review around four phases of the analytical procedures process: develop an expectation, establish a tolerable difference, compare the expectation to the recorded amount and investigate significant differences, and evaluate explanations and corroborative evidence. We find that while considerable research has focused on auditors' performance of the latter phases of the analytical procedures process (i.e., investigate significant differences and evaluate explanations and evidence), relatively less research has focused on the initial phases of the process (i.e., setting expectations and establishing thresholds). We also find that prior research has primarily focused on the preliminary and substantive analytical procedure settings with little research examining auditors' judgments and decisions when using analytical procedures at the overall review stage of the audit engagement. Finally, we summarize the significant findings from research in each phase and provide a number of research questions whose answers could improve our understanding and the performance of analytical procedures. Data Availability: All articles are publicly available.


Author(s):  
Luca Giustiniano ◽  
Lucia Marchegiani ◽  
Enzo Peruffo ◽  
Luca Pirolo

Many decisions on IS investments have made during the past 20 years but yet, the extant literature does not provide a clear understanding of the phenomenon of IS outsourcing. This chapter answers two main questions relevant to researchers and practitioners: 1) What are the main findings so far in IS outsourcing literature? 2) What do we still need to learn? Through a comprehensive review of the literature, the authors offer systematization of the body of knowledge on outsourcing, its implications on firms’ boundaries, and the theoretical challenges. The MIS perspective appears to be very present, both by considering technology as part of the external environment and by exploring IS and IT as areas for important sourcing decision. In conclusion, implications for managers are drawn.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 633-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lai Zheng ◽  
Karim Ismail ◽  
Xianghai Meng

Developing non-crash or surrogate measures of road safety has drawn considerable research interest over the past five decades. Traffic conflict techniques, which analyze the safety situations from the aspect of more observable traffic events than crashes, are the most prominent techniques to date. This study provides a comprehensive review of previous research on traffic conflict techniques, striving to find answers to the following open questions: What is a traffic conflict? How to collect the traffic conflict data? And what is the ground to claim that traffic conflicts can be valid surrogates for crashes? The strengths and weaknesses of available answers to these questions are assessed based on methodological and empirical grounds. Directions for the future research are identified and outlined. It is believed that following recommended future directions may offer convincing answers to identified open questions.


Focaal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (74) ◽  
pp. 97-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa J. Krieg

Based on an ethnographic field study in a museum and an evening high school in Cologne, this paper discusses experiences of young German adults in everyday encounters with the Holocaust, which are oft en accompanied by feelings of discomfort. Considering the Holocaust as an uncanny, strange matter contributes to understanding that distance and proximity are key factors in creating uncomfortable encounters. Distance from the Holocaust reduces discomfort, but where distance cannot be created, other strategies have to be put to work. This article underlines the significance of experience in an individual’s personal relation to the past for gaining an improved understanding of Holocaust memorial culture in Germany.


2020 ◽  
pp. 187-192
Author(s):  
S.A. Popov

The article deals with the problem of collecting, preserving and researching the disappeared names of localities in the subjects of the Russian Federation, which for centuries have become an integral part of the historical and cultural heritage of the peoples of our country. The author believes that only a comprehensive analysis of the past oikonyms in nominational, lexical-semantic, historical-cultural, historical-ethnographic, local history aspects will restore the linguistic and cultural systems of different time periods in different microareals of the Russian Federation. The author comes to the conclusion that in order to preserve the historical memory of the disappeared names of geographical objects, local researchers need the support of regional state authorities and local self-government.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (20) ◽  
pp. 2293-2340
Author(s):  
Firdoos Ahmad Sofi ◽  
Prasad V. Bharatam

C-N bond formation is a particularly important step in the generation of many biologically relevant heterocyclic molecules. Several methods have been reported for this purpose over the past few decades. Well-known named reactions like Ullmann-Goldberg coupling, Buchwald-Hartwig coupling and Chan-Lam coupling are associated with the C-N bond formation reactions. Several reviews covering this topic have already been published. However, no comprehensive review covering the synthesis of drugs/ lead compounds using the C-N bond formation reactions was reported. In this review, we cover many modern methods of the C-N bond formation reactions, with special emphasis on metal-free and green chemistry methods. We also report specific strategies adopted for the synthesis of drugs, which involve the C-N bond formation reactions. Examples include anti-cancer, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-histaminic, antibiotics, antibacterial, anti-rheumatic, antiepileptic and anti-diabetic agents. Many recently developed lead compounds generated using the C-N bond formation reactions are also covered in this review. Examples include MAP kinase inhibitors, TRKs inhibitors, Polo-like Kinase inhibitors and MPS1 inhibitors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 496-517
Author(s):  
Yangcheng Liu ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Jiaqi Wang ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Changlan Chen ◽  
...  

Patrinia scabiosaefolia Fisch. Trev. and Patrinia villosa (Thunb.) Juss, are two species of Patrinia recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia with the same Chinese name “Baijiangcao” and similar therapeutic effect in traditional Chinese medicine. The present article is the first comprehensive review on the chemical composition and pharmacological activities of these herbs. In this review, data on chemical constituents and pharmacological profile of the two herbs are provided. This review discusses all the classes of the 223 compounds (phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, terpenes, saponins and volatile components, etc.) detected in the two herbs providing information on the current state of knowledge of the phytochemicals present in them. In the past three years, our research group has isolated and identified about more than 100 ingredients from the two herbs. Therefore, we published a systematic review of our research papers and studies on the two herbs were carried out using resources such as classic books about Chinese herbal medicine and scientific databases including Pubmed, Web of Science, SciFinder, CNKI. etc. The present review discusses the most thoroughly studied pharmacological activities (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antitumor and antiviral activities) of the two herbs. This comprehensive review will be informative for scientists searching for new properties of these herbs and will be important and significant for the discovery of bioactive compounds from the two herbs and in complete utilization of Patrinia scabiosaefolia Fisch. ex Trev. and Patrinia villosa (Thunb.) Juss.


This book, based on research carried out at the Academia Sinica over the past 30 years, explains the basic difference between the variable charge soils of tropical and subtropical regions, and the constant charge soils of temperate regions. It will focus on the chemical properties of the variable charge soils--properties which have important bearing on soil management practices, including maximizing soil productivity and combating soil pollution.


Electricity is critical to enabling India’s economic growth and providing a better future for its citizens. In spite of several decades of reform, the Indian electricity sector is unable to provide high-quality and affordable electricity for all, and grapples with the challenge of poor financial and operational performance. To understand why, Mapping Power provides the most comprehensive analysis of the political economy of electricity in India’s states. With chapters on fifteen states by scholars of state politics and electricity, this volume maps the political and economic forces that constrain and shape decisions in electricity distribute on. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it concludes that attempts to depoliticize the sector are misplaced and could worsen outcomes. Instead, it suggests that a historically grounded political economy analysis helps understand the past and devise reforms to simultaneously improve sectoral outcomes and generate political rewards. These arguments have implications for the challenges facing India’s electricity future, including providing electricity to all, implementing government reform schemes, and successfully managing the rise of renewable energy.


Nanoscale ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsong Xiong ◽  
Qinghuan Bian ◽  
Shuijin Lei ◽  
Yatian Deng ◽  
Kehan Zhao ◽  
...  

Near-infrared (NIR) light induced photothermal cancer therapy using nanomaterials as photothermal agents has attracted considerable research interest over the past few years. As the key factor in the photothermal therapy...


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