The millennial generation is facing challenges in their career path and they believe that tertiary education can help them to equip better to tackle against. However, some students find it difficult to rush back to classroom due to work commitment. Fortunately, flexible education developed these years allows students to capture knowledge anytime and anywhere easier. In order to deliver courses in line with students’ need, many universities have considered offering alternative studying modes, such as flexible method, to enrich the course delivery. Using a case study, this paper investigates the delivery approach adopted by a school of a well-known university in Australia. This School offers architecture and construction management courses and has successfully adopted the flexible approach, with the aid of various online teaching and learning tools: the Cloud, Elluminate Live!, EchoSystem, Mediawiki and ePortfolio, in delivering subjects. It is welcomed by various cohorts of students. Not only the student numbers have been increased, but the School is also the first preference when students opting architecture and construction management studies. Statistics also indicate students’ satisfaction and course experience are improved. The success of this School proves itself to be an exemplar for other educators planning for flexible delivery.

Quantity surveying is the key profession in cost management for construction business. However, construction industry is notorious in using information technology that makes reporting inefficient. A construction company in Hong Kong has been using an enterprise resource planning system as the information communication technology in management and cost reporting backbone since 2003. This paper investigates if such system represents an efficient tool for quantity surveyors and any intervening actions are required to enhance its efficiency. In doing so, a team of surveyors interviewed and then the soft system methodology was used as the research approach to depict the situation. This leads to the improvement needs and list of actions. Participants have prioritized working closely with top/senior management to design a proper report format; avoiding unnecessary adjustments and undue influence to reporting, and ensuring accurate data as the top three critical actions crucial for reliable cost reporting.

Quality management is an important research topical in construction industry. The aim of this paper is to review and investigate, via extensive literature reviews, the management perspectives when construction organization implementing total quality management (TQM). If it can be operated successfully and is functioned well, competitive advantage will be enhanced that may lead to eight beneficial areas [improve quality and environmental performance; broaden business opportunities; benefit the community; increase market share; improve finance situation; enhance organizational effectiveness; streamline response to legal issues and lessen insurance budget] which favour commercial viability. However, there are challenges in doing so which include inexperience, resources and administrative constraints, inadequate management skill, and cultural differences. Therefore, in order to foster quality culture, it needs four management directions, namely construction management (CM), knowledge management (KM), project management (PM) and human resources management (HRM). One can reasonably conclude that the quality improvements by TQM are going to create long term commercial advantages.

Although information communication technology (ICT) is long regard as very useful tool in today`s construction engineering and project management environment, organizations must not only operate based upon its original setting, but also requires on-going observation, additional features and fine-tuning actions before the desirable outcome can be achieved. However, it is a very common phenomenon that organizations purchase the licensed "off-the-shelf-software" package and customize it to suit their own business need. Due to the incapability of such software and inefficient customization, the possible result is making that ICT tool not user-friendly and sometimes the whole system becomes obsolete. The purpose of this paper is to review and report those actions taken (between February 2006 and December 2010) by a construction organization to enhance the performance of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system launched in December 2002. Such actions include: improving data inputting method; removing the transition bottleneck; introducing crystallization function; revising the organization`s "Delegation and Limits of Authority"; publishing the "League Table" amongst users; integrating the 3D Mode into the system and upgrading hardware. Whilst the ultimate goals of such system are well beyond the time limit of this research study, an obvious interim result, achieved by this case studied organization, was winning a landmark project worth US$500 million after the ERP system was functioned properly and effectively. Their experience and success becomes an exemplar which can be borrowed by those companies, from managerial perspectives and as a roadmap, planning to adopt information technology (IT) strategy and use ICT tool in the construction engineering and project management framework. Singapore, where public housing provisions have been a major concern of their citizens as the building stock gets older.

Purpose Competitive advantage can be gained in several ways including gaining a knowledge advantage (K‐Adv). This paper sets out to report on the first stage of broad study to assess the effectiveness of implementing an enterprise resource planning system (ERP) from a knowledge management (KM) perspective. Design/methodology/approach The study used a survey of a small but representative group to gain feedback in their experience of using the ERP system. Results are evaluated using a KM framework, the knowledge advantage (K‐Adv) capability maturity model (CMM) tool that was initially developed for use by construction organisations to assess the impact of leadership and its supporting ICT infrastructure on the ability of people (by effectively creating, sharing, disseminating and using knowledge) operating in a highly dynamic business environment. Findings The K‐Adv framework analysis for the study indicates that the ERP system was seen as a useful tool for cost management and that its deployment effectiveness is mainly dependent on human‐to‐human knowledge transfer about how to make the ERP system work. Also, how leaders in organisations facilitate and support people is a critical enabler of the ERP system deployment. The K‐Adv CMM tool was useful in making sense of the degree of organisational maturity from a KM perspective. Practical implications The findings first highlight the usefulness of focusing on people‐support in using the ERP adoption in this organisation's context and, second, they illustrate how a CMM tool like the K‐Adv can be used to evaluate KM practices. Originality/value The likely effectiveness of use of an ERP is well‐known. However, the originality of the paper is twofold. First, it explains effective ERP application drivers and inhibitors from a KM perspective. Second, it tests and adapts a tool that helps evaluate KM effectiveness and assists better understanding of how these practices are enacted from a cost management business unit perspective.

Case study research investigating the impact of culture upon a Hong Kong based construction contractor's leadership in implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system unearthed rich data relating to the predominantly Hong Kong Chinese cultural perspective of power, leadership and followership. Intimately involved participants were surveyed using both structured and semi-structured interviews. The study's focus was centred upon the interplay between culture, power and how people interact with the way that the ERP is used and how teams of people involved in the ERP implementation, perceived the supportive nature of the organisation's leadership in deploying the ERP. A culturally sensitive empowering leadership style was a significant issue in successfully project managing and deploying the ERP. Understanding how teams and their leaders interact and how power and trust influences the facilitation role of leadership is also useful in gauging how an ERP can be most effectively deployed.