Project Management for construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Project Management for construction - Essay Example Failure of the management to provide safe and healthy working environment often leads to more accidents and diminished productivity, work slippage and significant delays which often results in losses. However, quality failures are not only attributable to human resource alone but may also be a result of poor material handling, including procurement, inventory control, shop fabrication and field servicing.1( Tersine, R.J. 1982) The use or the none use of new equipment may also be a factor for poor productivity. In some cases, the failure of the construction firm to adopt recent innovations in technology removes the company from the mainstream construction activities thereby reducing its competitiveness in terms of work speed and efficiency. With a strong technological base, there is no reason why the construction industry cannot catch up and reassert itself to meet competition wherever it may be. Individual design and/or construction firms must explore new ways to improve productivity for the future.2( Peurifoy, R.L. 1970) A site subcontractor who have been contracted by my company for so many years is currently having quality failures. During the previous years, the same subcontractor serviced our company without problems. However, in the past few years, this contractor have not be performing well. Several sites on which it is currently working on have been experiencing quality failures requiring re-works and causing significant delays. Based on initial reports, the subcontractor is experiencing poor productivity and high labour turnover in its site preliminaries team. They have had four team managers in the last four years and the team has twice walked off jobs during that period. Further reports state that the preliminaries team Head Office base is in two portakabins in the Head Office car park. As Head Investigator for a main contractor, I should

Essay Example for Free

Essay The song â€Å"Imagine† was written by John Lennon in 1971. John Lennon was a former guitarist in the legendary band, The Beatles. He then came out with his own song that soon became one of the most famous tunes in all of history. The song was written to give the world a more hopeful perspective during a troublesome time instigating a revolution of anti-war movements. The song â€Å"Imagine† was written by John Lennon in 1971 to persuade the audience to imagine a world of peace during a time when the world was filled with war. During the year of 1971, the world was dealing with a great deal of war and violence. This was the time of the Vietnam War, the Cold War between the United States and the USSR, the Ind-Pakistani War creating a dark time in Pakistan during 1971, as well as a war ending in South Asia followed by the establishment of the Sovereign Nations in Bangladesh. During all of these troubles, the world was also filled with a great deal of racial discrimination. Although most of the world was involved in wars and strife, John Lennon decides to write an uplifting song that creates a setting without the struggles of man that lead to violence and giving a whole new perspective to the people that needed it. The song â€Å"Imagine† asks the listener to imagine a world of peace. The main argument this song represents is that if we can picture a world without any reason for violence then maybe we can begin achieve it. John Lennon implies protest with his song by asking the listener to picture a world without religion, possessions, countries, or any other reason for violence. â€Å"Imagine theres no countries, it isnt hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for and no religion, too. Imagine all the people living life in peace.† This part of the song implies protest by asking the audience to imagine a world living as one, without countries or religion to cause any racial discrimination. A slow rhythm made by a piano introduces the song with a soothing tone. The lyrics ask you to imagine a world with no heaven or hell and then to imagine all the people living for today. The music transitions to a more upbeat  tone by introducing drums after this verse in the song. There is also a repetition with the piano beats and the lyrics. When the lyrics asks the audience to imagine something, the piano beat repeats to the slow, soft tempo that was in the beginning. The music and the lyrics work together to create an optimistic yet soft, soothing tone.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing

Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing Outsourcing Robert and Gordon (1996) claims that outsourcing has expanded considerably over the last two decades. The reason behind this expansion is that economies of scale became more apparent in the recent years than it was earlier. Outsourcing is a management approach that involves delegation of an activity to an external service provider which was previously performed internally (Lankford and Parsa, 1999). The activity must have been performed internally before outsourcing to third party. If the activity is delegated to another vendor without performing internally then it would be ‘externalization’ rather than outsourcing. The term outsourcing itself shows from ‘out’ ‘source’ (i.e. external source). In the earlier phase of 1960, outsourcing was merely considered as contractual agreements wherein a supplier does processing or is providing services for another company. But, it is different from regular purchasing agreement as outsourcing is not selling o ff a part of the business. The Out-contracted services or processes must be replaced by the supplier in outsourcing. This is the basic difference between regular purchasing agreement and outsourcing. Outsourcing is not simply a make it or buy it decision, the activities outsourced must be of significant interest for the company (Bryce and Useem, 1998). The term outsourcing often leads to confusion in what is meant by outsourcing, when used in place of a more specific term (Andrade and Chapman, 1998). According to Johnson (1997): Contracting-out, contract manufacturing, employee leasing, sub-contracting, consulting, contract services and contract programming, are often mistaken as mere outsourcing as all of these items are similar to outsourcing. But, on the other hand these items bear different characteristics as well which differentiates them from outsourcing. 3.1.1 Motives for outsourcing A company will decide to outsource an activity when such an activity can be performed by other companies at a lower cost by using economies of scale (Kakabadse Kakabadse, 2002). Nowadays, companies use common sourcing strategy of outsourcing as a tactical quick fix at the times of financial difficulty and rely on outsourcing strategy to come out of financial crisis or provide cash infusions (Johnson, 1997). Outsourcing decision also erupts from the search for competitive advantage. Porter (1980) views that a company needs to identify its competitive advantage. Once the company identifies its core business activities then it can outsource other non-core activities to focus more on core businesses. According to Juma’h and Wood (2000), smaller companies are likely to gain the best results from outsourcing. Their main motive is to prosper from the advantage of economies of scale. Smaller companies often find it difficult to achieve economies of scale within their internal activities and functions as they lack the ability. But, they are more flexible in absorbing change and innovations into their organisation. Thus outsourcing may come as a saviour for small companies to achieve functional efficiency similar to those of large companies (Juma’h and Wood, 2000). Juma’h and Wood (2000) argue that larger companies theoretically benefit less from outsourcing as compared to smaller companies in terms of cost reduction as large companies already enjoy the benefits of economies of scale in many cases or at least possess the capability or expertise to achieve it internally. In despite of this, the most frequent users of outsourcing are larger companies. There are apparently other reasons underlying for outsourcing other than realizing benefits of economies of scale from competitive advantage. According to Fan (2000) the other motives to outsource are: reduced costs, improved managerial focus, improvised quality, enhanced flexibility to facilitate change. Fill and Visser (2000) identifies the same drivers with some additions such as: increased knowledge and capacity, potential for creating strategic business alliance, reduction of investment, technical considerations, increased access to functional capacity, and fewer internal administrative problems. Outsourcing is generally accepted as a view of contracting out or disposing parts of business to achieve tactical benefits. However, Johnson (1997) in contrast cited a new view on outsourcing: viewing outsourcing as a way to offer structural change. According to the new approach, the company undertaking the activity (outsourcee) is viewed as being brought in by the outsourcer rather than contracted out. The author further developed these views and classified reasons to outsource into tactical and strategic reasons. Both these reasons differ from each other on the basis of their focus on short-term (tactical) and long-term (strategic) benefits. The tactical reasons for outsourcing comes from the functions outsourced which are beyond the control of the company and difficult to manage. Smaller companies generally go for outsourcing with the view of achieving economies of scale while large companies often benefit from outsourcing activities which are out of their control. Another reason of this category may be that the company outsource activity at times of financial distress to obtain capital funds for core activities. But, these tactical reasons to outsource are of short term nature (Douglas and Meehan, 2001). Apart from tactical reasons, there are other strategic reasons to outsource which focuses on longer term and are associated with gaining access to world-class knowledge and expertise, the risk sharing and the focus on core competencies. An organisation can reduce its risk significantly by means of outsourcing. The foremost strategic reason for outsourcing is to increase company focus on core competencies of the organization (Douglas and Meehan, 2001). Problems with outsourcing Outsourcing poses a number of rewards to an organisation such as cost reduction, focus on core competencies, improved quality. But, there are number of disadvantages also underlying to outsourcing namely enhanced dependency on supplier, employee redundancy, loss of control, increased expenditure due to ‘hidden’ outsourcing costs (Douglas and Meehan, 2001). According to Prahalad and Hamel (1990) every organization needs to identify, cultivate and exploit their core competencies in order to grow. Competitive advantage might be lost if core business are outsourced. Therefore, it should be seen by the company that no mistakes are made in identifying core competence. Significant Knowledge of the company will fade off if core activities are outsourced which is difficult to rebuild once lost. Bonifazi  et al.  (2004) views ten traps in an outsourcing project that should be taken into consideration during the implementation of the project. To begin with, lack of management commitment; lack of communication plan; minimal knowledge and experience of supplier; failure to recognize outsourcing risks by companies; failure to obtain outside outsourcing professionals; failure to utilize internal resources by organizations; rushing through vendor selection; ignoring cultural differences; minimizing vendor productivity; the last trap described is the failure caused by not understanding the ongoing outsourcing relationship with the vendor. Diminishing quality service and insufficient flexibility in achieving the desired results also contributes towards outsourcing risks. All these risks should be considered at the time of contract formulation. By designing a proper contract outsourcing risks may be well protected (Andrade Chapman, 1998). The whole structure of the organization can be affected by a single outsourcing agreement. 3.1.3 Common Outcomes Outsourcing is a powerful corporate strategy that requires flexibility in the sense global business takes place. Used effectively, outsourcing can very well live up to the standards set in the beginning of the agreement (Bonifazi  et al.,  2004). But, if used ineffectively the agreement may culminate in search of another vendor or by bringing the outsourced activity back ‘in-house’ (Andrade Chapman, 1998). Backsourcing Backsourcing currently lacks a common definition. However, Andrade Chapman (1998) gives a definition which is easier to understand once the term outsourcing is understood. He defines backsourcing as process of bringing back outsourced functions in-house. When an activity originally performed internally by the company and then contracted out to a vendor, is brought back in-house is referred to as ‘backsourcing’ (Andrade Chapman, 1998). Backsourcing is often mistaken as insourcing. But, both of them deviate on the aspect that insourcing is bringing back the functions in-house that were never outsourced but initially contracted out while in backsourcing the functions that were outsourced is brought back home. In other words, in backsourcing the activities must have been previously outsourced. 3.2.1 Motives  for Backsourcing A company may end an outsourcing contract even if everything was all right. The reasons being behind this may be that the company would have restructured its organization, might have entered a new market or would have been affected by law changes (Andrade Chapman, 1998). Some companies solve the problem of poor outsourcing results by bringing the outsourced function back home. Kakabadse Kakabadse (2002) points out that such a remedy is often costlier to the outsourcer and discomfit to the vendor. Despite, of heavy costs for reabsorbing many companies still choose to undergo for backsourcing. Reverting back the outsourced functions also raises finger on the organizations’ previous decision and judgement. However, press reports show that backsourcing is becoming common now-a-days (Wong, 2008). The various risks and problems associated with outsourcing explode motives for undertaking backsourcing. Deteriorating quality service and minimal elasticity in the agreement to respond to such deterioration is the single most common motive for backsourcing (Andrade Chapman, 1998). Loss of control, increased cost and trustworthiness are also drivers of backsourcing (Wong, 2008). According to Wong (2008) power and politics may also be a motive for backsourcing. He explains that power and politics among senior executives of the organization might play an important role at the time of outsourcing. When this set of executives are replaced by new executives who believe in internal development of an activity previously outsourced, then the strategy inside the company will change once again from outsourcing to backsourcing. In other words, embedding of knowledge about the outsourced function within the company may lead to backsourcing. Changes in vendor organization may also trigger backso urcing. If the vendor organization merges with other organization to form a new entity, then there is a possibility of change in perception of new entity. The changed perception of the new entity on ongoing outsourcing contract may create disputes between the parties leading towards backsourcing (Wong, 2008). Table 1.1 Illustration of Backsourcing cases 3.2.2 Backsourcing Implications The process of backsourcing can be a significant endeavour, but its activities are very intricate and require lot of attention together with hard work. If backsourcing plans are not formulated diligently, then it can easily cause employee fatigue (Azzouqa, 2008). According to Andrade Chapman (1998) staffing is the main issue since competence can rarely be found back-home. This is because at the time of outsourcing an activity, the staffs related to the activity is often either transferred to the vendor company or is resigned from the company. Therefore, one implication of backsourcing is to hire staff from the contractor or from the market. The process of hiring might not be successful as the personnel might not have preferred competence as required by backsourcing company (Andrade Chapman, 1998). As a result of backsourcing, companies have to pay huge compensation to the vendor company to reabsorb the outsourced activities back into the organization, if the contract is terminated before its expiry. The strategy of backsourcing can also be adopted after the expiry of contract. However, in this situation also the company has to bear high cost for re-insourcing (Wong, 2008). Thus, in the both the circumstances organizations have to incur huge expenses. For example, Farmers group paid $4 million as termination fees to IBM to extricate itself from its agreement (Overby, 2003 cited by Wong, 2008). Technology procurement is also a significant matter that should be addressed at the time of backsourcing an activity. When the activity is outsourced, the technology used to perform those activities is often sold since it is rarely of any use to company after discontinuation of activity. Therefore, bringing an activity back in-house whether in terms of backsourcing or insourcing would almost require acquiring new technology. This may again be a costlier practice for the company and can take long time to internalize technology within the organization (Andrade Chapman, 1998). However, reducing costs and control of operating costs are considered as most significant drivers of outsourcing (Fan, 2000).

Human Genetic Screening Essay -- Science Genes DNA Essays

Human Genetic Screening Human genetic screening is a process that is very complex and very powerful. Genetic screening may detect some inherited traits that may later on cause a person to have a disease that may alter his/her life. Human life, as with any other organism, is b uilt with cells. A human cell consists of forty-six chromosomes, which are paired into twenty-three different pairs. Each one of these chromosomes carries thousands of genes. Each gene consists of information that codes for a particular trait. This information is determined by the DNA found in that gene. A gene for one trait may have various alleles that will make one person appear a little different than that of a person with a different allele. An example would be of a person with brown hair. They would have a dominant allele for hair color, where as a person with blond hair would have two recessive alleles for hair color. It is possible to have a large number of different alleles for each trait, which is why people look so different from on e another (Reilly, Genetics, Law and Social Policy. p. 7). ÒAlthough each person does have some variation in DNA, all members of the human species carry more or less the same set of DNAÓ (Griffiths, An Introduction to Genetic Analysis. p. 4). Because there is such a huge number of genes it is a very complicat ed process to isolate and identify the information in the DNA fragments. In these fragments it is possible for researchers to: Ò isolate and characterize at the molecular level single genes that are responsible for inherited genetic diseases. Genetic ill health can be divided into three major types. The first type is inherited genetic diseases caused by abnormal forms of genes that are passed on from on... .... Complexity Limits the powers of prediction. Feb. 1, 1996: p. 390. Griffiths, Anthony, Jeffrey miller, David Suzuki, Richard Lewontin, William Gelbart, An Introduction to Genetic Analysis, Sixth Edition. W.H. Freeman and Company, 1996: p. 4,5-6. Koenig, Barbara, The New York Times. Gene Tests: What You Know Can Hurt You. April 6,1996: p. 15 Lehrman, Sally, Nature. Genetic testing needs more checks. Nov. 9, 1995: p. 121. Masood, Ehsan, Nature. Gene tests: who benefits from risk? . Feb. 1, 1996: P. 389. Reilly, Phillip, Genetics, Law, and Social Policy. President and fellows of Harvard College. 1977: p. 7. The World Book Encyclopedia, 1993 Edition, 1993 World Book Inc. 1993: p. 85. Web Site #1 Written by: The Exploratorium , 3601 Lyon St., San Francisco, CA 94123 Web Site #2 Written by: The Exploratorium, 3601 Lyon St., San Francisco, CA 94123

Fantasy Books

What if you discovered a magic spring that would keep you forever as young and vital as the day you drank from it- would you partake it? Fantasy represents that which is impossible and outside the parameters of our known reality. Although some people believe that fantasy books, movies and TV shows are corrupting the minds of teens nevertheless fantasy books should be read because they teach the difference between good and bad. Fantasy books often tend to be very appealing to teenagers and help develop their personality, which is why a lot of teenagers who previously never used to read books started reading books.Reading fantasy books such as Harry Potter and twilight instills love for reading books in young teens. These adolescents can partially relate to some of these stories, as most of the characters of the novels are the same age as the readers. Hence, teenagers undergo a similar experience, though they are restricted by realities of life. These books tend to be a temporary escap e from daily life. This is evident from the fact that before Harry Potter it was usually unheard of kids queuing in front of book shops to buy books (CITATION . Teens are interested in reading books that let them explore the world beyond their immediate surroundings. It helped them think out of the box. This allowed them to dream much bigger than they could ever before. It also develops critical reading skills of the teenagers which later helps in their academics. For example reading lengthy books such as Harry Potter, not only increases the reading speed of these children but also helps them read effectively when in class, as it helps them save time.Therefore it is beneficial not detrimental for teenagers to read fantasy books as it instills in them the habit of reading from an early age which later helps them in life. Fantasy books and movies increase the imagination and creativity of teens. When a teenager reads fantasy books and watches fantasy movies, the thought provoking natu re of his/her mind is triggered. It makes the reader intrigued by what is happening in the plot, and what will happen? They will want to speculate the story and be surprised by what they read.This increases the sensible predicting capacity of an individual. According to UK’s fantasy book reviews, fantasy books such as Earthsea Saga (CITATION5) Fantasies allow readers to consider and speculate painful realistic themes sometimes in a way that is more acceptable than in reality. This enables them Therefore teenagers are interested in reading books that let them explore the world beyond their immediate surroundings. It helps them think outside the box. This allows them to dream bigger than they could ever before.These books and movies allow teenagers to see how different situations instigate different emotions in people and how can they be overcome. Although critics argue that reading fantasy corrupts young minds, however Fantasy books and television shows can often be productive . This is because fantasy books help develop the young minds, rather than corrupt them. They help individuals think outside the box, and go beyond what they see in their daily lives. They . They develop values, and desire and passion for excellence. For example, inFantasy books and movies often portray being part of the good team as a norm that is supported by society and almost always results in a good outcome, whereas evil leads one astray and leads to eventual defeat and shamefulness*. This is evident from fantasy movies such as Spiderman and Batman. For example in Batman, Firstly, it is believed by certain sections of society that reading fantasy books and seeing television shows do not develop but rather corrupt young minds. This view is often supported through examples such as Twilight and the need

Free Essays on Henry & George

Henry Lamartine, from the â€Å"Red Convertible† and George Orwell, author of â€Å"Shooting an Elephant†, in many ways are a lot alike. They both share several of the same type of internal conflicts, that way them down, throughout their stories. Both Henry and George are undergoing identity crisis’s they are insecure with who they are because of themselves and because of outside external conflicts. Henry Lamartine is a Native American, who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s. He struggles with everyday life, because he is of a different ethnic group then most of the people around him. He cannot seem to hold a steady job, and a lot of it is to do with his looks and his unlucky way of life. Everything seems extra hard for him; he has to work hard twice as much to achieve his goals then most people do, including his little brother Lyman, who at the age of 16 owned a restaurant. Which frustrated Henry because he saw how little effort Lyman had to but into things to get a good end result. Henry was shipped off to the Vietnam War, and was never the same once he came back. Like many Vietnam veterans, Henry was withdrawn and hurting on the inside from what he had seen when he was at war. He is struggling with many internal and external conflicts throughout this short story. Henry is coping with the fact that he his culturally different and has not been completely Americani zed like his younger brother. Henry is also aware of the conflict with in himself resulting from being different and from being sent off to war. He does not have any clue who he really is and what exactly he is supposed to be doing in his life. Thus kills him on the inside because he sees other people around him either making an impact on the world, and/or people completely content and happy with whom they are. The constant fighting with himself forces him, to give up, in way, on his life. He takes up drinking and gives his car to Lyman, showing the reader that he ... Free Essays on Henry & George Free Essays on Henry & George Henry Lamartine, from the â€Å"Red Convertible† and George Orwell, author of â€Å"Shooting an Elephant†, in many ways are a lot alike. They both share several of the same type of internal conflicts, that way them down, throughout their stories. Both Henry and George are undergoing identity crisis’s they are insecure with who they are because of themselves and because of outside external conflicts. Henry Lamartine is a Native American, who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s. He struggles with everyday life, because he is of a different ethnic group then most of the people around him. He cannot seem to hold a steady job, and a lot of it is to do with his looks and his unlucky way of life. Everything seems extra hard for him; he has to work hard twice as much to achieve his goals then most people do, including his little brother Lyman, who at the age of 16 owned a restaurant. Which frustrated Henry because he saw how little effort Lyman had to but into things to get a good end result. Henry was shipped off to the Vietnam War, and was never the same once he came back. Like many Vietnam veterans, Henry was withdrawn and hurting on the inside from what he had seen when he was at war. He is struggling with many internal and external conflicts throughout this short story. Henry is coping with the fact that he his culturally different and has not been completely Americani zed like his younger brother. Henry is also aware of the conflict with in himself resulting from being different and from being sent off to war. He does not have any clue who he really is and what exactly he is supposed to be doing in his life. Thus kills him on the inside because he sees other people around him either making an impact on the world, and/or people completely content and happy with whom they are. The constant fighting with himself forces him, to give up, in way, on his life. He takes up drinking and gives his car to Lyman, showing the reader that he ...