This conference brings together a number of leading organisations of the construction industry – the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB), the China Network of Universities and Tongji University.  CIB Is represented by working commission W112 “Culture in Construction” which is supported by W113 “Law and Dispute Resolution”,

 TG59 “People in Construction”, TG64 “Leadership in Construction”, TG67 “Statutory Adjudication in Construction” and TG68 “Construction Mediation”.  The china network of leading universities concerned with construction research and education comprises The University of Hong Kong, Harbin Institute of Technology, Renmin University, Tianjin University, Tsinghua University, and Tongji University, the host institution for this conference.

Further, the conference examines the subject areas of culture, and dispute avoidance with a view to integrating the concepts and procedures to enable improvement in performance.  An important aspect of context for the conference is multi-national construction projects, due to their importance and the well-known potential disruptions due to disputes and the consequent detriments to performance.  Of course, many such concerns arise on all projects but the scale of multi-national projects raises their profiles and serves to heighten awareness of the more obvious differences between participants.

It has long been recognised that the industry is fragmented and tends to perform (on a diverse spectrum of metrics, and from differing stakeholder perspectives) rather poorly.  It may well be that a root problem is lack of integration, exacerbated by increasing specialisations and globalisation, in an industry which remains subject to ‘design being so far removed from production’.

The format for the conference will, itself, endeavour to make an incremental contribution to integration by promoting a strong focus on discussion amongst all delegates for diverse disciplines, countries and, hence, cultures.

On acceptance of the final papers, each will be posted on the website of the conference.  Each registered delegate will be given the password to access the papers so that they con be downloaded/read and considered before participation in the conference in Shanghai.  Sessions will be initiated by keynote speakers and delegates will be requested to keep their own presentations concise so that time for discussion and debate can be maximised to greatest effect.  A post conference publication documenting the debates will be produced and distributed to delegates.

Not only will papers be published in the conference proceedings but the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has agreed to publish appropriate papers in several of its journals, notably, Civil engineering innovation and Proceedings: Management, Procurement and Law. 

As Chairperson for the conference, I look forward to welcoming you to Shanghai for what will be a most interesting, stimulating, useful and, I am sure, entertaining event.

CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction) was established in 1953 with its headquarters in Rotterdam. CIB’s mission is to serve its members through encouraging and facilitating international cooperation and information exchange in building and construction research and innovation. CIB is engaged in the scientific, technical, economic and social domains related to building and construction, supporting improvements in the building process and the performance of the built environment.

CIB currently numbers over 400 members originating in some 70 countries, with very different backgrounds: major public or semi-public organizations, research institutes, universities and technical schools, documentation centers, firms, contractors, etc. CIB members include most of the major national laboratories and leading universities around the world in building and construction.

The CIB Task Groups and Working Commissions organize 5 to 10 big conferences or symposia each year. CIB conferences and co-sponsored conferences cover a wide range of areas of interests to its Members, and attract more than 5000 participants worldwide per year.

The Commission was established in March 2006 as the successor to the former CIB Task Group TG23 that had the same title.

The scope for this commission reflects the array of important business concerns deriving directly from underpinning culture – organizational climate, ethics, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The construction industry itself as field of interest is considered on an international, national and local scales, focussing on the processes, (project-) experiences, and the parties involved. Given the dynamism, the scope is maintained under constant review.

Against this background the objectives of W112 are:

1.to continue to research National Cultures and Organizational Cultures relating to construction worldwide to maintain and extend the ‘Inventory of Culture in Construction’

2.to extend the methods of research employed to encompass more longitudinal approaches to enable evolutional aspects of culture to be included in investigations

3.to research into the related cultural topics of organizational climate, ethics, CSR, and OCB; and other related topics to provide a more comprehensive understanding of culture and its consequences

4.to enhance relationships with other CIB Commissions, and beyond, to disseminate findings and stimulate further collaborations and investigations.

For more information,please go to the website: http://www.cibworld.nl/website/