Dissertations for Construction Management (CM)
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Item Influence of innovation perception on the success of the innovative construction projects in UAE(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2018-06) SAAD, MALAKInnovation has been the focus of many researchers and literatures with different applications and contexts. However, the subject of innovation perception regarding the construction industry in UAE has not been fully covered. Also, it is noticeable that there are gaps need to be filled in relation to innovation perception and its influence on successful innovative construction projects which can contribute to the overall construction innovation in UAE. This study’s purpose is to test the rationality and significance of innovation perception factors that trigger the success of innovative construction projects in UAE context. The researcher has chosen the quantitative approach to investigate the innovation perception factors and their influence on the innovative construction projects in UAE. The research hypotheses were developed from the literature review of many previous studies that have explored and confirmed this aspect through statistical findings and the analysis of many survey results. Most of the studied surveys were based on the construction expert candidates who are working in the industry. All data were analyzed using the SPSS software for data analyses. A total of ten innovation perception factors of the UAE construction project are significantly correlated with each other and with successful innovation measure factors. These factors are also regressed with the successful innovation measure factors with significant results. The test results based on the study survey are calculated by the size of the sample collected and their education, years of experience, etc. Further research is required in order to cover a wider section of construction in the different sectors of the UAE construction industry. As per the findings of the different research and studies, some recommendations are provided by the researcher to improve the success rate of innovative construction projects in UAE. The study findings also identify the innovation perception enhancer factors within the construction firms in the country. The study survey questionnaire also tests the analysis implemented to gather all the components collected to develop the logic of the study. The study gets its importance from the data integrated from the literature review, validated through qualitative research and finally verified through many statics' tests in this paper.Item The influence of the critical diffusion factors of 3D printing technology on the success of UAE construction Projects(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2018-06) FARIED, MANSOUR EBRAHIM DAOUD3D printing applications in the construction industry have gained the interest of field specialists, especially in UAE. This is particularly because of the fact that the UAE Government has recently announced its target that at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the new buildings in Dubai should be utilizing the 3D printing technology by the year 2030. This research is aiming to identify the 3D printing technology’s critical diffusion factors influencing the success of the UAE’s construction projects. Through a critical review of the relevant literature, the study developed a framework based on the innovation diffusion theory developed by E.Rogers (Rogers, 2005); to identify critical factors leading to technology acceptance and, therefore, measuring the impact of those identified factors on the successful application of the technology in the UAE’s construction projects. The literature findings have been examined via a quantitative approach through a designed questionnaire and a subsequent data analysis via SPSS statistics software. The literature review identified thirty four factors classified under the five major attributes of technology diffusion following the innovation diffusion theory namely the relative advantage, the compatibility, the trail-ability, the complexity and the observability. All those thirty-four factors were found to be with an evident association with the level of successful implementation and success of the 3D printed project. The study suggests that the integration of all of these factors together will have a stronger level of influence and will lead to higher levels of application success. The study also suggests the classification of the relative advantage, compatibility and complexity as primary factors, and to classify the trial-ability & observability as secondary factors due to difference found in the level of influence that they have on the success of the project. The study faced a limitation on the availability of specific literature related to the 3D printing in construction in general, and in the UAE market in particular. Similar technologies and similar markets have, however, been taken as reference in areas for which precise information was not available. Finally, the study suggested a list of recommendations to be adopted by market stakeholders based on the research findings to facilitate the achievement of the government target.Item The Impact of Managerial Risk factors on Building information modeling Performance in the Construction Industry(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2019-05) NAFA, MOHAMMAD MAHMOUD SULTAN"Recently, most of the countries are trying to implement BIM for all the construction projects due to the increase of project size and complexity. Moreover, the many benefits that software is offering to the construction projects encouraged the project managers to use BIM to monitor their projects. On the other hand, there are many challenges facing BIM implementation and affecting its performance. These benefits and challenges inspire researchers to exert more efforts in order to increase the benefits of the software and reduce the negative impacts of BIM on the construction industry. This research has been particularized to identify the impacts of the managerial risk factors on the BIM performance in the construction industry related to coordination, standard of efficiency, experience and cost. The researcher has used both qualitative and quantitative methods to explain the objectives of the study. The quantitative part was carried out through an online questionnaire and a hard copy survey distributed to a population working in the same field to get the feedback about the topic of the research. The total accepted questionnaires were 85 out of 110 distributed questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed by using statistical package for social sciences to measure the accuracy of the data. Several analysis methods were used by SPSS such as descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, one-way ANOVA analysis and Tukey test. The researcher found that there are serious impacts of the managerial risk factors on BIM performance in the construction projects. The software provides control measures to mitigate the influence of these factors on the success of BIM implementation. However, this study discusses the managerial risk factors affecting BIM and does not cover the other risk factors that also has a negative impact on the software. Accordingly, it is highly recommended to perform further studies to identify the impacts of the other risk factors that influence the software performance for example technical and contractual risks and clarify the required measures to control its influences on the BIM and project success. "Item The effect of the Technical Risks on the successful implementation of BIM(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2019-05) ASSAF, OBAID MHD DEIA ELDIN"The digital revolution had many applications in different industries which lead to a major improvement. So it was necessary to use BIM as a new technology in the construction field for ensuring a rapid and stable growth. There are many challenges in implementing BIM in the construction industry which threaten its success and prevent the use of all advantages. There are many potential technical risks associated with the use of BIM technology which negatively impacted different aspects in the construction industry. There are four major technical risks categories considered in this research which are technical risks related to interoperability issues, dealing with data, intricacy and missing quality. Each category of these risks has different variables which affect BIM process and functionality in different phases of the projects. This study will focus on analyzing the technical risks variables and its impact on the success of BIM use on the construction field. The first part of this research was the qualitative part where it build the analysis on previous studies on these technical risks. The qualitative was followed by forming a questionnaire to collect the information from the participants on BIM technical risks. A collected responses from the participants was equal 72 which have completed all the questions on the questionnaires. All the responses were analyzed the statistical software (SPSS) by applying different statistical tests like descriptive, reliability, ANOVA and Tukey which will help in interpreting the participants answers. The outcomes in the research indicate that there generally no significance difference in the responses of the participants in this study which agreed about the negative impact of the technical risks variables on the use of BIM. The technical risks variables affecting the quality and speed of BIM process and modeling function which cause delay and cost increase on the construction projects. Thus, future researches are encouraged to be done on this field to encounter deeper study of the impact of these technical risks variables on the effect of new virgins of BIM platforms. Additionally, future researches are recommended to consider the technical risks effect on the construction projects in order to update other studies about the mitigations measures to reduce the negative effect. "Item The Relation between Risk Management throughout Project Lifecycle and the Success of Construction Projects in the UAE(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2018-06) SAID, MOHAMED ZAKARIAManaging construction in the developing countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is critical which emphasises the significance of Risk Management (‘RM’). However, is the organisation managing its risks effectively? This concern may occur from time to time on the top management level. This research aimed to explore the key risks affecting the construction initiatives in the UAE throughout the Project Lifecycle (‘PLC’); and to provide adequate answers for certain research questions, 1) What are the key risks that need to be addressed at each phase?; and 2) Are there any risks that move from one phase to another? The objectives include literature review of RM, PLC, risks associated with each phase, success criteria of the projects. The research followed the positivism philosophy, deductive approach, survey strategy based on quantitative approach into a longitudinal time horizon. A quantitative analysis has been conducted with focus on the UAE construction industry to verify the proposed hypotheses between the RM through PLC phases and the success of construction projects in the UAE. The data analysis revealed that proposed Hypotheses are valid as a result of high correlation. Also, it has been noted that number of risks move from one phase to another including the risks pertaining to financial management, QHSE aspects, governance, stakeholders, resources, roles and responsibility. In addition, a control assessment method has been discussed for the construction practitioners in the UAE to assess the internal controls effectiveness throughout the PLC. Further researches have been recommended to develop a framework of standard controls to mitigate the key risks identified in this research.Item The Use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Construction: An exploration of current challenges for collaborative construction(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2018-05) SABRI, MAENThe Construction market represents more than 10% of the global economy, and the demand for infrastructure project is increasing due to population increase. Particularly, in the UAE, the construction market is considered one of the best markets compared to other Middle Eastern countries due to the availability of international companies involved in the construction activity. The use of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology provides a developed communication system to ensure effective collaboration between all stakeholders when running constructions. This research explores the reasons which prevent the UAE construction market from switching to the collaborative construction approach, by highlighting the current use of BIM in some of the running projects in UAE market. In addition, this research explores the challenges facing BIM users. A quantitative approach was followed, using a survey questionnaire as an instrument. The main result of the study was that the current practice of BIM implementation in UAE construction industry is not strong, and needs improvement in many sections, such as cost estimation according to BIM requirements.Item Project manager perceptions factors influencing the delivery of successful innovation in construction projects(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2018-05) DIAB, MOHAMED EL SAYEDThere has been an increase in the adoption of innovation in the construction industry over time. Innovation in construction is related mostly to new materials, processes, method of constructions, services, and new forms of construction organisation. Unlike in other industries, implementation of innovation is not at an organisation level but at a project level. From this point of view, there is an agreement between studies that project managers of construction projects have a significant role in innovation management at project level. In addition to that, the rate of innovation in construction is less than that of most other industries because of the nature of the industry. It is possible that less research and development might be the reason for limiting innovation growth. Therefore, this research tends to add evidence to the existing knowledge of the influence of project manager perceptions factors on delivering successful innovation at construction project level and provides important insights for further research. In this research there are 25 major items of project manager perceptions identified from the literature and categorised into four factors of project manager perceptions that most probably have an influence on innovation. This research used quantitative methodology by applying an online survey to collect data from 66 respondents that included 5 pilot samples. Ethical issues were anticipated and considered in this research. Data was collected, tested and found valid and reliable after analysis by computer software SPSS. Demographic information and the employment background of participants are relevant to this research and the respondents were considered experienced in the construction industry and familiar with project management disciplines. The main findings show that there is an influence of project manager perceptions factors on delivering successful innovation at a construction project level with evidence that his leadership, capabilities/competences, personality traits, and skills (non-engineering skills) are relatively important for the significance influence. Based on this influence, construction organisations need to adopt an innovation policy, a culture for innovation, and innovation diffusion methods which concentrate more on the characteristics of the project manager’s job and his ability to contribute or assess delivering successful innovation at project level to increase the possibilities of his influence to innovation. Also, it is recommended that construction organisations need to implement a set of selection characteristics for the position of project manager that examine his perceptions factors toward contributions in innovation. And it is recommended for the innovative client to add these characteristics to the project requirements.Item Client Causes of Variation in Construction Projects in United Arab Emirates(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2017-10) ALDHAHERI, MOHAMMED ALIThe current research paper was to set to investigate client causes of variation in the construction projects in United Arab Emirates. The past literatures were studied and a brief primary research was conducted. The study led to the finding of eleven independent variables that are more likely to impact the dependent variable, project variation. As the goal of the project was to identify the client causes of variation, therefore, all the eleven causes are deeply related to the client in some way or the other. The study led to the understanding that involvement of the client with the project, either more than required or lesser, leads to the project variation. The research paper reviewed previous studies that were associated with the topic to identify the causes. In addition, a primary research was conducted to understand the gravity of the causes. The study led to the understanding that the key variation causes that are faced by the stakeholders are size and the complexity of the project, lack of planning and communication, different opinions among clients and other stakeholders, unsatisfied client, and others.Item A Study on the Critical Success Factors using BIM for Precast Structures in the UAE’s Construction Industry(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2017-06) Ahmed, Muneera AbdulKarimBuilding Information Modeling (BIM) is useful for construction industry in the UAE but the process of adoption is very low and slow, and it might be because of lack of studies and researches in this area conducted in the UAE. In this study, several areas of adoption related challenges examined in this study, which creates issues to adopt BIM for precast structures. This study also investigated critical success factors that influence implementation of construction projects in the UAE. As per literature review findings, the best practice is BIM for precast structure in various nations and regions. Engineers and contractors also considered the critical success factors and benefits of BIM so they can adopt successfully. The conceptual framework consists of BIM for precast adoption, the best practices, and critical success factors. In this study, the qualitative and quantitative approach including suitable tools and techniques applied. In addition, in this study, the data collection methods used was 8 interviews, 44 surveys, and 5 pilot testing. Accordingly, these methods used were also conducted to ensure the validity and reliability of an instrument. Qualitative data analysis applied with the use of summarizing, categorizing, and structuring data gathered for analysis using narrative forms. Quantitative data analysis applied with the use Question Pro analytical tools. There are various ethical considerations mentioned during conducting research followed by data analysis. The respondents participated are from the public and private sector, and they possess good knowledge about precast structure use and the implementation of BIM. There is a positive impact and CSFs includes various positive relationships. The data showed that time, quality and cost factors are important for the implementation of BIM and in the use of precast structures. By the end of this study, the recommendations were for policy-makers and project managers to implement BIM. Another recommendation includes for policy makers, so they should emphasize widely on challenges faced towards BIM implementation at both project and strategic level. While, project managers should select suitable BIM software based on suitable specifications and characteristics.Item The New Role of the Client in Adopting Innovation in Construction Projects(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2017-03) AL-TAYEH, TAREQ FAROUQThe rate of innovation adoption in the construction industry has been witnessed to have risen due to an increased awareness in clients about the perceived benefits of innovation. Two important innovation examples that have been adopted by many construction clients in recent years were explored, which are: Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Prefabrication. The construction client`s role in the traditional procurement method, which is considered the dominant procurement method in the construction industry, has been witnessed to have changed towards driving construction industry stakeholders to adopt innovation in construction projects. The new role of the construction client is that of innovation co-creator in which the client plays the pivotal role of diminishing the barriers which exist under the traditional procurement method’s hierarchy and inducing the construction project stakeholders to work closely and collaboratively to co-create innovation. The literature investigated the diffusion of innovation in the construction industry which revealed seven factors which have been influencing the change in the client’s role towards a new role of co-creating innovation in construction projects. These factors were used to derive the research hypotheses. The quantitative research approach was implemented in this research to examine the defined hypotheses through a survey which was collected from 107 professionals presenting different organizations working in the United Arab Emirates construction industry. The data analysis results revealed that there are six factors which influence the change in the construction client’s role towards the adoption of innovation in construction projects in the United Arab Emirates, which are: performance improvement, environmental sustainability, client characteristics, organizational culture, client experience and competence, and government regulations. The research concluded that the aforementioned six factors are influencing change in the construction client’s role under the traditional procurement method towards the new role of co-creating innovation in construction projects in the United Arab Emirates.Item A Study on Impact of Change in Contractor’s Project Organization Structure on Project Performance(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2016-10) Sarhan, Sameh Said MohammedProject organization structure is considered the most important tool that used by senior management of construction organizations for communication, staff evaluation, decision making and achieving the project objective. Moreover, introducing change in project organization structure during the project life cycle for any reasons whether in response to internal or external influences is perceived as one of the critical processes that influence on the project performance. Meantime, involvement of senior management in establishment, management and change management of the project organization structure are generally recognized as one of the important factors in determining its success, since the organizations use its various projects in order to achieve their goals and objectives. On the other side, U.A.E economy is considered from the most rapidly growing economies in the Middle East and the construction industry in U.A.E represents great portion of U.A.E economy which requires more focus to investigate the most problems related to this vital sector in order to gain the potential benefits behind growing this sector among other U.A.E markets. The purpose of this study is to investigate a particular problem occurred in completed construction projects in U.A.E market. The problem appeared as a result of unnecessary changes and due to slow or inadequate response to change by senior managers in contractor’s project organization structure. These unnecessary or inadequate changes had negative impact on the project management roles and responsibilities, additional cost and time impact. Furthermore, there were negative consequences on the performance of the project’s team and their effort to create new ideas as well as their innovation inside the construction project that they are involved. The qualitative methodology is used in this study through investigating five case studies for construction projects that completed in U.A.E market along with extensive literature review that focused on the different sides of the problem as well as an interview with ten members of contractor’s project management and senior managers to examine the impact of the problem on project performance and team effectiveness. The results of this study will be used to illustrate the recommendations and suggestions that may help in providing better solutions, in order to avoid such unnecessary changes in the future. The major findings from this research indicate that establishment of contractor’s project organization structure with clear and defined roles and responsibilities has positive impact on project performance and team effectiveness. Moreover, contractor’s senior managers play an essential and a vital role in establishing and management the project organization structure, ID # 2013122149 Dissertation MSc.CM P a g e | 4 consequently any unnecessary changes and slow or inadequate response to the project organization structure change will lead to negative impact on the project performance like increase the project activity reworks; weak communication between project team; increase of material wastages; time delay and cost overrun. Furthermore, the study shows that unsuitable change management by senior managers has considerable impact on the team effectiveness and coherence between the project team and also on their innovation. On the other side, the research revealed the most common reasons behind the change in the project organization structure such as economical and financial market conditions; termination and resignation of staff; internal relocation due to internal priorities; clients and consultants request and improper establishment of project structure in the early stage of the project.Item Innovation Strategies to design and deliver Resilient Critical Infrastructure Projects(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2016-07) Odeh, Laith Issam MohammadCritical infrastructure that considered the main artery of the economy and security for any country may get affected by different risks, challenges and threats, whether environmental (weather changes, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.) or from human activity. In this sense, it is the duty of all parties involved in the design and construction of such facilities to cooperate in order to overcome these threats or in other words to deliver resilient CI , for this reason, many countries have developed a programs to secure the CI. It may come to mind that the CI are only complex projects like nuclear power stations or airports, but they include all the projects that damage or shutdown may cause paralysis of the state regardless of the size of the project. The resilience starts from the design stage through anticipates the threats and risks that could affect the CI, these threats may be unexpected that is why innovation needed in the design and construction of these facilities is requirement for protecting and securing the CI. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the innovation in the design, construction and operation of the project and the resilience of CI. To achieve this objective research included two sections, the first section includes the study of the CI definitions and the most important risks and threats related and the different definitions of the term and the various factors for resilience from previous studies. While the second section has included the study of previous research of innovation in the design and construction of critical infrastructure projects, focusing on the tools and strategies followed by the consultant and client. After collecting, the Information from both sections a conceptual model will be developing connected the Innovation tools and the resilience factors. In order to collect the data, The method of qualitative research have been conducted by asking questions in interviews face-to-face with the design and construction engineers in three critical infrastructure, including transport and agriculture (water supply), in order to verify the conceptual model. After data collection and analysis founded that, the various tools and strategies followed by the owner and consultant have a direct impact on the reduction of the risks and threats to critical infrastructure projects and thus contribute largely in securing and resilience these projects. The different Innovative tools will be link to the resilience different factors (Recovery, Robustness, and Resourcefulness) by analyzing and comparing three critical Infrastructures. It have been found that the technology is the most effective innovative tool to promote the resilience in the critical Infrastructure also conclusion come out of the importance of the trust, coordination and communication between the different teams to resist and adapt the risks and threats associated to the critical Infrastructure. The Innovation process (I) is a process that integrated different tools and strategies in order to design and deliver Resilient CI.Item Developing the Construction Procurement Methods in the UAE to Implement Building Information Modelling (BIM)(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2016-03) Mostafa, Ahmed SayedBuilding Information Modelling (BIM) is a revolutionary technology that presents strong potential to evolve the productivity and performance of the construction industry through improving the integration among stakeholders. Nevertheless, the performance of a new technology can be impaired if it is implemented in an inappropriate process. Therefore, implementing BIM effectively requires significant changes in the construction business practices in order to create more efficient methods for improving communication, collaboration and sharing information among team members in design, construction and operating phases. To keep pace with the global trend of adopting BIM to improve the performance of the construction industry, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has mandated BIM in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Therefore, the currently used processes and framework of the procurement methods in the UAE construction industry need reconsideration so as to ensure the success of BIM implementation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the required reformation in the framework of current procurement methods in the UAE to implement BIM appropriately, and to propose overtures to assist the UAE AEC industry to adopt BIM and facilitate the organisations to utilise maximum benefits of BIM. Accordingly, the research has conducted extensive literature studies in order to identify the required changes needed for the framework of procurement methods to be compatible with adoption of BIM. The literature studies led to the theoretical framework which illustrated that the demanded changes in the procurement methods to ensure proper adoption of BIM are: change in the relationship among participants, change in the contractual agreements, sharing the risks and rewards among stakeholders, early involvement of stakeholders, and involvement of new participants. To examine the information obtained from the literature review, this study adopted qualitative approach to collect the data from practical perspective thereby creating four case studies by conducting face-to-face interviews with hand-picked professionals in the AEC industry, who had vast experience in projects that adopted BIM. The open-ended discussion has participated in identifying the required changes in the procurement ID: 120132 MSc CM 3 methods framework and has assisted in proposing a set of practical approaches to reform the project delivery methods for ensuring successful adoption of BIM. The research findings have articulated that in order to implement BIM process correctly, it is mandatory to change the relationship among participants to be more collaborative, and create a system to share the risks and rewards among the participants to promote cooperation among them. In addition, the most important requisite change is involving the key players from design stage to create proper BIM model that will save time and cost. Furthermore, there are required changes in contracts to oblige the participants to adopt BIM, identify the level of development (LOD) in each stage and determine the responsibilities and intellectual property rights of each stakeholder. Moreover, it is recommended that new stakeholders be involved, like BIM management firm, to manage the BIM process in every stage, determine the required inputs of each stakeholder and the time of each input and control the flow of information among participants.Item Management Career Path for Construction Engineers and the Transition Stage(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2015-12) Abu Hmaid, HalaBased on several recent studies it had been observed that a lot of engineers are interested to follow a managerial path in their career life. This research is aiming to study the management career path for engineers in the construction industry, focusing on the transition stage to provide guidance for the engineers to override this stage successfully. Wherein, researchers found that engineers face challenges in their transition process from technical engineering to a management position. This goal has been achieved through an extensive literature review that was conducted to provide an in-depth exploration for the objectives of the study, which lead to the conceptual framework of the study that present the factors that contributes in the transition process for engineers, these factors are: personal characteristics, management skills and working experience. These principles was examine through a qualitative approach to present different experiences for engineers who pursue a managerial path successfully, that was approach through a case study method using a semi-structural interviews; interviews was conducted with two engineers who had a successful experience in the transition from technical engineering to a management position and were successful in fulfilling an important managerial position. The cases were analyzed and compared with the literature review findings. The most important findings of the research recommend that construction organizations can’t promote engineers for a managerial position based on their technical competencies only, they need to take in account other principles like personal characteristics, and managerial skills, in addition construction organizations must provide adequate training for engineers before promoting them officially to a management position. Universities need to add a management course to the curriculums of engineering degrees, and it was highly recommended for engineers to benefit from others’ experience and challenges in the transition to help them build an insight for the challenges that they might face.Item Choice of GCC Construction Market Entry Mode(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2015-11) Al Sadi, Omar JawdatThe international construction sector is one essential organ of the global economic body. While more construction companies target international construction markets, two related queries to both academicians and investors will be asked frequently: “What is the most appropriate mode to consider during entry?” and “On which basis entrant can choose this entry mode?”. This purpose of the study is to propose a framework to guide entrants for successful entry to GCC construction markets, therefore, the study investigated the decision making process of international contractors and examined the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) construction markets to identify the key factors that would influence a firm’s entry strategy. Those aims were achieved by extensive literatures studies which developed a preliminary framework to select entry modes based on their strategic effects, and a final framework indicating the most appropriate entry mode for each GCC market by implementing the decision making process model in context of GCC states. In order to collect the data, the study considered a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Initially the entry mode data was collected from 86 international contractors’ web home pages, these contractors are listed as the most successful international contractors in each GCC state separately by MEED Projects (2015). And then further qualitative approach was considered to examine the proposed selection framework based on strategic effects in UAE construction market, interviews with carefully selected top management executives through face to face semi structured interviews have enabled the successful examining of proposed model. The study found that firms’ initial choice of a specific entry mode is a key strategic decision to ensure successful investment, as the option of entry mode adjustment is hard without incurring significant losses of time and money, moreover, it was found that construction unique characteristics imply different priorities than those in other industries to enter foreign markets. Furthermore, The study concluded that most of GCC markets require the entry using permanent modes, eventually a set of recommendations were introduced to facilitate the entry process and ensure successful entry to GCC construction markets.Item Solutions for the UAE Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry to mandate Building Information Modeling (BIM)(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2015-04) Omar, Hany SalahFor decades the construction industry has been challenged to improve its efficiency, therefore several attempts have been recorded proposing different initiatives. At the moment Building Information Modeling (BIM) is rapidly growing worldwide as a viable tool for this purpose. However, BIM is rarely used in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry despite the potential benefits of BIM to the industry. The purpose of this study is to propose solutions to assist the UAE AEC industry to mandate BIM. Therefore, to identify the factors that influence the mandate of BIM, the research involved extensive literatures studies that lead to the conceptual model. The conceptual model involved four recognized factors that influence the implementation of BIM in the UAE AEC industry; these factors are the perceived benefits of BIM, the challenges and obstacles that hinder to implementation of BIM, the driving forces imposing the use of BIM and the readiness for organizations and the AEC industry to mandate BIM. In order to collect the data, the research adopted combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Initially data was collected from BIM users and non-users via structured questionnaire survey that is distributed by mail to 362 organizations in UAE. These organizations were randomly selected from the Emirati Society of Engineers (ESE) and the Dubai Municipality directory. Then further qualitative approach via three case studies provided better understanding for the aforementioned four contributing factors for the mandate of BIM in UAE AEC industry. Interviews with carefully selected AEC industry professionals through face-to-face open-ended discussion have enabled proposing a set of practical solutions to swiftly mandate BIM in the UAE AEC industry. The study findings indicate that, there is a moderate understanding for the essence of BIM in the UAE AEC industry, especially for the local developers, public authorities and small and medium size organizations. That means raising the awareness of BIM in the UAE AEC industry especially for the decision makers is the clue to motivate all the AEC players to mandate BIM. Moreover, the AEC players should recognize the challenges they may face during the switch to implement BIM. The study revealed that the most critical challenges that hinder the implementation of BIM are “lack of management commitment to implement BIM” and “the resistance to change, and clinging to the old ways of working”. Moreover, the UAE AEC industry nature to mandate BIM is promising, because majority of the big companies in building sector are international companies with excellent experience of BIM. Therefore, bringing their global experience of BIM into the UAE will assist in transferring and sharing BIM knowledge from these international organizations to the local organizations. That will significantly assist the smooth transition to implement BIM and will shorten the duration to mandate BIM in UAE. Moreover, the UAE government can play a great and active role to introduce appropriate execution plans to implement BIM stipulating a timeframe to mandate BIM as a compulsory requirement in the AEC industry. In addition to including BIM in the AEC undergraduate and post graduates’ syllabuses to introduce to the UAE AEC industry a new generation with full awareness of BIM.