Rodney Howes - Böcker

The past 50 years has seen a steady increase in the number of construction businesses operating on a global basis. However, in recent years, there has been a total transformation of the international business market into more of an integrated holistic community and this transformation can be put down to three key developments:The first and most dramatic has been the improvement of communication systems, including satellite technology and the development of computer information technology.The second is the manner in which international trade has developed since the Second World War. The establishment of the United Nations and associated bodies (such as the World Health Organisation) was the first step in encouraging nations to work together to solve world problems. Since then, governments have set up a number of organizations to help develop and regulate the world economy and international trade.The third and most recent development has been the realization that most of the world’s resources are finite and will not support current rates of economic and industrial growth indefinitely.Strategic Management Applied to International Construction has been specifically written to provide a broad coverage of the knowledge required to address strategic issues relating to the business of construction on a global scale. Unlike previous books in this area, it is not biased towards practice in any particular country. Instead, it provides knowledge that is universally applicable and this knowledge is supported by a series of case studies of leading consultants, contractors and suppliers of products, materials and construction equipment to highlight current best practice by organizations in America, Japan and Europe. Supporting the text are numerous diagrams, charts and tables to help visualize the key issues.Strategic Management Applied to International Construction will be an excellent reference work for practitioners across all construction related disciplines who are seeking to supplement their strategic business knowledge and expertise in the broad spectrum of international construction. The book will also be essential reading for postgraduate students studying construction management and for undergraduates who are studying specialist options, or who have selected subjects related to international construction as a final year dissertation topic.h

Throughout the world there is a growing demand for high quality public services to support socio-economic development. Infrastructure is central to improving the level of public services and the quality of the built environment. But in key areas such as transport, energy, water, healthcare, education and communications, public resources are not sufficient to keep pace with this demand. As the public sector struggles to keep up, the private sector is increasingly involved in the procurement of economic and social infrastructure.Until now procurement strategies have often concentrated on the mechanisms and the ‘bricks and mortar’ without a thorough analysis of the processes and their implications for services. The result is that all too often infrastructure projects are implemented in an ad hoc and fragmented way. In this ground-breaking book, Rodney Howes and Herbert Robinson provide a holistic approach to infrastructure provision that facilitates infrastructure delivery aimed at continuously improving the level and quality of services. Critical issues of policy and strategy, implementation, and operational aspects are examined within the context of sustainability.By emphasising the importance of procuring infrastructure within an overall national or regional development policy and strategy, the authors have demonstrated the importance of linking investment and resource decisions to local social, economic and environmental needs. With each chapter carefully written to reflect part of the infrastructure delivery chain and illustrated with practical examples and case studies from around the world, this book offers a new blueprint for infrastructure investment and resource management.