Faculty Publications
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Publications by NITK Faculty
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Item Designing cost-effective lighting system for surface mine projects(2006) Mangalpady, M.; Karmakar, N.C.; Rao, Y.V.The objective of lighting in mines is to provide good illumination, which improves the safe and efficient working environment. The artificial lighting is very much essential for the sustained production, to meet the ever-growing demand of the mineral industry. Haul roads within the pit are one of the critical areas in surface mines where lighting installations are not permanent due to regular movement of faces. Though the initial investment for the lighting is very less compared to total project cost, the annual cost is considerably high against the running cost of the project. The proper selection of lamps, reflectors, mountings etc., for particular type of work is very important for energy efficient lighting system, without compromising with the quality of light. A computer model has been developed to evolve a cost effective lighting system for surface mine projects. This model helps in assessing viability of various light sources, so as to achieve energy effective solutions. Properly designed lighting system can prove to be a very cost effective investment for the mine owner.Item Estimating and prediction of turn around time for incidents in application service maintenance projects(Academy Publisher, 2008) Basavaraj, M.J.; Shet, K.C.Application Service Maintenance Projects normally deals with Incidents as First Level support function. Incidents in majority directly link with Production Environment, so Turn around Time for Incidents is a significant factor. Many Companies are having Service Level Agreements with Customer for Turn around Time for Incidents. There is a need to focus on Estimating and Predicting Turn around Time for Incidents. Improvement in Turn around Time helps in improving the Service Level Agreements earlier agreed with the Customer. Saved time can be diverted to other Project Activities like Enhancements or for new requests. This will also helps as one of the paths for Companies to get new business with the Customer. We have used Capability Maturity Model Integration(CMMI)V1.2 Quantitative Project Management(QPM) methodology for Application Service Maintenance(ASM) Projects for estimating and predicting turn around time for incidents. By implementing this best practice in SEI CMMI Level 5 Company we have achieved a significant improvement of approximately 50 percent reduction in Average Turn around Time for incidents. © 2008 Academy Publisher.Item Empirical validation of software development effort multipliers of intermediate COCOMO model(2008) Basavaraj, M.J.; Shet, K.C.Intermediate COCOMO Model computes effort as a function of program size and a set of cost drivers. Effort adjustment factor (EAF) is calculated using 15 cost drivers. EAF is an important significant factor in computing software development effort. We have taken one delivered development project of size of 479 function points and planned for 917 Person days of SEI CMM Level 5 "Excellent" Company as a case study to analyze the EAF. We have empirically validated the cost driver model for Intermediate COCOMMO using this projects data. Validation has been done by using other two development projects data of Excellent Company. From our analysis, we have found that cost drivers defined ratings need to be revisited for the projects of size less than 10 Person months. We have come out with ratings for some cost drivers where earlier it was not defined. This approach helps the project managers to anticipate and estimate the efforts for development projects preferably less than 10 Person months. We have achieved approximately 30% improvement in effort variance by following this approach. © 2008 Academy Publisher.Item Building integrated project and asset management teams for sustainable built infrastructure development(Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. Howard House Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, 2014) Wong, K.K.W.; Kumaraswamy, M.; Mahesh, G.; Ling, F.Y.Y.Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the relevance of the relationally integrated value networks (RIVANS) concept for integrating project management (PM) and asset management (AM) for total asset management (TAM). The specific objectives are to test the RIVANS for TAM concept postulated by Kumaraswamy (2011) and Kumaraswamy et al. (2012); discover ways to enable PM and AM teams to work in an integrated manner; and recommend strategies and operational measures to promote greater team integration in the industry. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based in Hong Kong with parallel studies in the UK, Singapore and Sri Lanka. Through a comprehensive questionnaire, a case study on an organization engaged in both design and construction and operations and maintenance (O&M) works, interviews and hosting a workshop (all conducted with experienced industry practitioners and experts), a set of recommendations are derived to guide the industry toward greater team integration. Findings – Early involvement of O&M staff is important for better anticipating obstacles and learning from past experiences, but PM and AM teams generally work independently with limited interaction. Priorities of the stakeholders are often different. Knowledge management is increasingly important, but knowledge sharing is not always a priority. The three focus areas in the set of recommendations developed from Hong Kong are: organizational/management structure, procurement strategies and operational mechanisms; fostering culture of team building and providing additional means of communication; and informal communication tools. Originality/value – There has been little research into the communication, interaction and integration between PM and AM priorities and teams. However, increasing industry emphasis on sustainable buildings, end-user satisfaction and designing for maintainability dictates that PM and AM teams must work closer together, hence the imperative for mapping useful directions to be pursued. © 2014, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Item Developing a knowledge-based safety culture instrument for construction industry: Reliability and validity assessment in Indian context(Emerald Group Holdings Ltd., 2019) Deepak, M.D.; Mahesh, G.Purpose: Harnessing the power of knowledge management is important for minimizing accidents occurring at construction projects. Yet, knowledge management is a neglected dimension when developing safety culture in the construction industry. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop a knowledge-based safety culture questionnaire and examine its validity and reliability in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was formulated after identifying 69 influencing factors from a thorough literature review. In total, 210 valid responses were obtained from key stakeholders operating in Indian construction industry. Reliability and validity of the measurement scale were examined by factor analysis and inter-item correlation test. Comparison of knowledge-based safety culture scores across several demographic profiles of the respondents was utilized for testing discriminant validity. Findings: Results suggest that the new instrument appears to be a reliable, valid and sensitive instrument that will contribute in examining the effect of key factors that influence the importance of the knowledge dimension toward developing safety culture in the construction industry. Originality/value: The measurement tool developed in this study focuses on considering the importance of knowledge management in enhancing safety culture of the construction industry. This instrument can be utilized to compare the level of safety culture among key stakeholders of construction projects. This paper can contribute to the promotion of safety theory in Indian construction industry and provide practical implications for construction enterprises when they engage in improving safety conditions in their organizations. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item Dimensions for improvement of construction management practice in Ethiopian construction industry(Emerald Group Holdings Ltd., 2020) Mengistu, D.G.; Mahesh, G.Purpose: The state of the different practices in construction industry determines its performance level. Hence, improving performance of construction industry needs assessing state of the practices in the industry and devising improvement intervention. The purpose of this paper is to measure improvement requirement level of different construction management practice areas and to identify the underlying improvement dimensions in Ethiopian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach: Questionnaire survey was developed for data collection based on a thorough literature review which yielded 28 construction management practice areas. Purposive sampling method was used to select respondents for the survey. Mean score was used to identify the required improvement level, and one sample T-test was carried out to identify significance of improvement requirement. Factor analysis was conducted to identify the underlying dimensions of the construction management practice areas. Findings: Findings indicate 27 areas need significant improvement. This shows the low level of adoption of good construction management practices in Ethiopian construction industry. Factor analysis resulted in the areas being grouped to four broad improvement dimensions, namely, project management, organization management, knowledge and risk management and project development and contract management. Originality/value: The findings provide information for appropriate action by the stakeholders to raise standards of adopted construction management practices. It also show areas of construction management which require more focused research in the context of Ethiopian construction industry. Considering the similarity of nature of construction industry problems in developing countries, the findings can be extended to similar countries. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item Delay in Rural Road Construction: Evidence from Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in Shimoga District, Karnataka, India(Springer, 2021) Suresha, S.N.; Arun, V.Rural roads are the basic infrastructure required for the improvements of rural areas. Rural roads had been planned and constructed under various rural development programs by the Government of India. However, serious efforts through these programs could not make road connectivity for more than 50% of rural areas in India. Hence, the Government of India had launched a major programme known as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) on December 25, 2000. The PMGSY programme emphasizes on time and quality of construction. This paper reports an investigation on the delay in the construction of PMGSY roads in Shimoga district, Karnataka, India. Using the real-time data of PMGSY roads available on the Online Management Monitoring and Accounting System, an analysis was made to find the delay occurrence in the construction projects of the study area and the effect of various parameters with respect to delay. The study reveals that 95% of the PMGSY road projects have not been completed within the stipulated time and the road length, construction type, and seasons do not affect delay in construction. The present study helps the policy makers to implement reliable polices on rural road programs in the future. © 2021, The Institution of Engineers (India).Item Identifying the performance areas affecting the project performance for Indian construction projects(Emerald Group Holdings Ltd., 2021) Ingle, P.V.; Mahesh, G.; Deepak, D.Purpose: The construction industry is facing challenges because of performance shortfalls. Construction projects are highly complex, distinctive, fragmented and do not have well-established performance assessment models to evaluate their project success. The purpose of this paper is to assess the direction through determination of performance areas that would affect project performance in Indian construction projects. Design/methodology/approach: A survey instrument was developed to gather data on the perception of industry professionals on these identified areas. Purposive sampling method was used to select respondents for the survey. These performance areas are ranked using relative importance index to ascertain a level of importance among the group. Factor analysis (FA) was conducted to identify the significant performance areas project performance. Further to identify the most influence performance areas on Indian construction projects, multiple regression analysis was carried out. Findings: Findings indicated 28 significant performance areas. This shows the low level of adoption of good construction management practices in Indian construction projects. FA resulted in the areas being grouped to nine broad significant performance areas with 59.49% of the total variance, namely, quality, schedule, environment and stakeholder satisfactions, cost, productivity, safety, communication management, customer relations and finance. Multiple regression analysis revealed two pivotal factors “customer relations” and “schedule” that significantly influence project performance in Indian construction industry. Originality/value: The outcome of the study will guide project stakeholders, who desire to improve project performance on construction projects, to prioritize their efforts. It also highlights performance areas of project management which required more focussed research in the context of Indian construction projects. The findings can be extended to the developing countries. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item Developing a building performance score model for assessing the sustainability of buildings(Emerald Publishing, 2022) Hp, T.; C, R.; Deepak, D.Purpose: Construction industry is one of the leading causes of pollution generation in today's context. But the fact that the development of construction industry leads to the country's economic and social development cannot be unobserved. Hence, there is a need to develop a sustainable construction methodology, and while doing so, measures must be considered so as to not disturb the natural habitats. With the greater prominence shown toward the concept of green and sustainable construction developments, various tools have been developed in recent years in order to measure the performance of such sustainable and green buildings. In the Indian context, the assessment tools developed to measure the performance of the green building are found to be scanty in addressing various economic and social impacts. Design/methodology/approach: This study aims at developing a building performance score (BPS) model concerning the sustainability model built on the triple bottom priorities considering all the three vital components, viz. environmental, economic and social factors. In this study, the different phases involved in the complete life cycle of the project are recognized and then all the phases are assessed considering all the three major components mentioned in the BPS model. Findings: The outcome of this study specifies that various indicators, such as the topographical and climate change, health and safety of the construction workers, project management consultancy, risk management, security measures and solid waste management, form a chief source of a sustainable building, and these indicators are not being assessed in the existing assessment tools. Also, consideration of environmental, economic and social factors is also equally important in construction industry. Moreover, these indicators are also required to be assessed and included in the evaluation process while assessing the performance of the building. Originality/value: The BPS model developed in the study will assist to improve in assessing the building performance with respect to all indicators in the complete life cycle of the project. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item A hybrid machine learning approach for early cost estimation of pile foundations(Emerald Publishing, 2025) Deepa, G.; Niranjana, A.J.; Balu, A.S.Purpose: This study aims at proposing a hybrid model for early cost prediction of a construction project. Early cost prediction for a construction project is the basic approach to procure a project within a predefined budget. However, most of the projects routinely face the impact of cost overruns. Furthermore, conventional and manual cost computing techniques are hectic, time-consuming and error-prone. To deal with such challenges, soft computing techniques such as artificial neural networks (ANNs), fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms are applied in construction management. Each technique has its own constraints not only in terms of efficiency but also in terms of feasibility, practicability, reliability and environmental impacts. However, appropriate combination of the techniques improves the model owing to their inherent nature. Design/methodology/approach: This paper proposes a hybrid model by combining machine learning (ML) techniques with ANN to accurately predict the cost of pile foundations. The parameters contributing toward the cost of pile foundations were collected from five different projects in India. Out of 180 collected data entries, 176 entries were finally used after data cleaning. About 70% of the final data were used for building the model and the remaining 30% were used for validation. Findings: The proposed model is capable of predicting the pile foundation costs with an accuracy of 97.42%. Originality/value: Although various cost estimation techniques are available, appropriate use and combination of various ML techniques aid in improving the prediction accuracy. The proposed model will be a value addition to cost estimation of pile foundations. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.