No abstract

Over the years, it has been observed that partnering has been ineffectively implemented in the public sector of Hong Kong. Contributing factors to this lack of success are nature and large size of bureaucratic organizations and commercial pressure compromising the partnering attitude. The Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited (MTRCL), one of the prominent pioneers in adopting project partnering in the infrastructure sector of Hong Kong since 1999, however, implemented the partnering principle with significant success. This paper, based on a recently completed research project funded by the Construction Industry Institute-Hong Kong (CII-HK) in late 2004 and a follow-up in-depth interview meeting with senior executives of MTRCL in early June 2005, analyzes the rationale behind the successful development of partnering culture in the infrastructure sector of Hong Kong through a case study -the Tseung Kwan O Railway Extension (TKE) Contract 654 -Platform Screen Doors. The project comprises the supply and installation of platform screen doors along the whole MTRCL's TKE with five stations. This project was analyzed by means of the project documentation and face-to-face interviews with the project representatives, comparisons with another five partnering case studies, and a follow-up in-depth interview meeting with another two senior executives of MTRCL. After the analysis, it was found that the implementation of partnering together with an Incentive Agreement (IA), a kind of Target Cost (TC) contracts, underpinned the partnering success of this project. Therefore, it is recommended that partnering together with TC contracts such as IA greatly assists in the achievement of construction excellence, and can provide a workable model for enhancing overall project performance in electrical and mechanical projects.

Several contemporary theories of ethics are reviewed and then linked to professional ethics. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect primary data regarding quantity surveyors' attitudes towards professional ethics. The subjects were members of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS). Systematic multivariate statistical analyses, such as ANOVA, F-distribution, and test for significance, were used to draw insight from the survey results. A discrepancy in the standards of professional ethics between senior and junior surveyors was found in the survey. In addition, wide and significant variances towards ethical concepts and decisionmaking considerations were found between senior and young practitioners. The results also show that the respondents attach great importance to the interest of their employers, their clients and themselves, which is not in line with the expectations of the general public. These findings provide useful information for researchers in studying specific ethical decision-making models as well as drafting more theoretically based rules of conduct.

China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 has allowed both domestic and overseas real estate enterprises to compete under the same market conditions. This has led to a more rigorous competition in the Chinese real estate market. Understanding this challenge is essential as it enables real estate enterprises to assess their competitiveness properly, and therefore adapt to their competition environment by applying adequate methods to improve their competitiveness. This paper presents an understanding on the applicability of various established competitiveness assessment methods. The characteristics of real estate firms are also presented with the appreciation of the Chinese environment. The study investigates the applicability of various established competitiveness assessment methods for real estate organizations in China considering the characteristics of real estate industry and the comments of the interviewees. The understanding on this applicability leads to the development of a model-procedure for assessing the competitiveness of real estate firms. The model‐procedure employs various assessment methods in different stages in the process of examining the competitiveness of real estate businesses. The effectiveness of the application of the model‐procedure is evidenced through discussions with senior professionals. Then a case study is presented to illustrate how the model‐procedure can be applied. The findings of the study provide valuable references to study competitiveness assessment in other country's real estate industries. Santruka Nuo 2001 metu, kai Kinija tapo Pasaulines prekybos organizacijos (PPO) nare, ir vietines, ir užsienio nekilnojamojo turto imones gali konkuruoti tomis pačiomis rinkos salygomis. Del to konkurencija Kinijos nekilnojamojo turto rinkoje tapo tik aršesne. Ši iššūki būtina suprasti, nes jis nekilnojamojo turto imonems leidžia tinkamai ivertinti savo konkurencinguma, prisitai kyti prie konkurencines aplinkos bei pasirinkti adekva čius metodus konkurencingumui didinti. Straipsnyje apžvelgiama, kaip suprantamas ivairiu pripažin tu konkurencingumo vertinimo metodu tinkamumas. Pateikiamos Kinijos nekilnojamojo turto imoniu charakteristikos. Remiantis atlikto tyrimo rezultatais, nekilnojamojo turto sektoriaus charakteristikomis ir apklausoje dalyvavusiu asmenu komentarais, nagrinejamas ivairiu pripažin tu konkurencingumo vertinimo metodu tinkamumas Kinijoje veikiančioms nekilnojamojo turto organizacijoms. Suvokiant ši tinkamuma, galima sukurti procedūros modeli, kuri naudojant būtu vertinamas nekilnojamojo turto imoniu konkurencingumas. Ivairiais nekilnojamojo turto imoniu konkurencingumo tyrinejimo proceso etapais taikant procedūros modeli naudojami skirtingi vertinimo metodai. Mineto modelio taikymo efektyvumas aptariamas su šios srities profesionalais. Tada pateikiamas konkretaus atvejo, parodančio procedūros modelio taikyma, tyrimas, o jo išvados suteikia vertingos informacijos, kuria galima naudoti tyrinejant konkurencingumo vertinima kitos šalies nekilnojamojo turto sektoriuose.

No abstract