Congratulations to Basma Ben Mahmoud for the successful and outstanding defense of her doctoral thesis!
Congratulations to Basma Ben Mahmoud, who successfully defended her PhD in Industrial Engineering on October 27, 2025!
Her thesis, « Development of Decision-Support Tools to Improve the Construction Value Chain: From Supplier Integration to Contextual Selection of Execution Methods », presents an innovative and high-impact approach to optimizing the construction value chain, a key driver for the advancement of sustainable future buildings.
This achievement crowns a major research project, carried out with rigor and passion, under the supervision of Professor Nadia Lehoux (Université Laval) and co-supervision of Professors Pierre Blanchet (Université Laval) and Gabriel Jobidon (ÉTS Montréal).
The jury, composed of renowned experts in the field : Yan Cimon (Université Laval), Louis Gosselin (Université Laval), Pascal Forget (UQTR), and Mario Bourgault (Polytechnique Montréal), praised the quality and significance of her work.
Bravo, Basma! This accomplishment marks a major milestone in a career already rich in achievements and inspiring contributions to research in sustainable construction and industrial engineering.
Summary
In the face of an unstable and unpredictable global context, the construction value chain is proving increasingly vulnerable. Already known for its fragmentation, discontinuity, and the decentralization of decision-making among its numerous stakeholders, this chain suffers from a lack of efficiency and coordination. All these factors make the construction sector—although a key socio-economic indicator for many countries—less productive and more sensitive to external risks. Consequently, researchers and professionals are actively seeking innovative approaches to make the value chain more efficient, connected, and resilient. Among the main challenges identified are the lack of supplier integration—despite suppliers being market experts—the need for a rigorous selection of project delivery methods, which define stakeholder responsibilities and influence the adoption of more collaborative and innovative approaches, as well as the neglect of external environmental factors in decision-making processes.
It is in this context that this doctoral project aims to develop organizational and planning tools to improve the efficiency of the construction value chain. Three objectives were defined to achieve this vision. The first objective, designed to develop a theoretical framework illustrating the key mechanisms that foster supplier integration in the value chain, was achieved through a systematic literature review. Focusing on both the construction industry and more advanced sectors, this analysis identified six integration drivers. One of them, related to contractual policies, forms the foundation of the second objective. The second phase of the thesis thus focused on developing a decision-support tool based on a multi-objective optimization model that combines the assignment of project delivery methods with project scheduling, while considering internal human resource capacities. This phase relied on data collected through a literature review and collaboration with a major public client in Quebec. The developed tool demonstrated flexibility and efficiency, enabling its application in similar industrial contexts.
The final objective of this project emphasized external environmental criteria such as political and economic constraints. A second optimization model was developed to analyze the impact of these criteria on the choice of delivery methods. The first stage included only internal criteria specific to the project and the client, while the second also incorporated external factors. Sensitivity tests and scenario analyses demonstrated the significant impact of these criteria on delivery method selection, risk anticipation, and alignment with governmental directions. A complementary phase further enhanced the approach by assessing the impact of external environmental factors on both delivery method selection and scheduling, while testing certain risk mitigation measures.
This doctoral project thus provides both theoretical and practical contributions to the field of construction value chain management, highlighting concrete levers to promote early supplier integration and offering public decision-makers flexible and adaptable decision-support tools to guide the selection of project delivery methods more effectively, taking external conditions into account.