Improved Baseline Productivity Analysis Technique
This article has been corrected.
VIEW CORRECTIONPublication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 136, Issue 3
Abstract
Previous studies have aimed to develop effective methods to derive baseline productivity (BP) for labor-intensive activities in construction sites. However, there are two different definitions of BPs: one is defined as a performance benchmark of best practice and the other as a standard reflecting a contractor’s normal operating performance. It is necessary to clarify the difference between the two definitions and their corresponding BPs. This research introduces data envelopment analysis (DEA) as a new method for deriving BP and compares DEA with the other four BP deriving methods. DEA is concluded as the best method in terms of objectivity, effectiveness, and consistency to find BP that represents the best performance a contractor can possibly achieve. With the capability of deriving productivities of multi-input and multi-output activities, the proposed DEA has raised the scale of labor productivity from the level of single factor productivity to total factor productivity which will help construction researchers and managers to evaluate performances of interests in a much more effective way.
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© 2010 ASCE.
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Received: Nov 3, 2008
Accepted: Jul 16, 2009
Published online: Aug 10, 2009
Published in print: Mar 2010
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