The Value Management Strategy Construction Essay

The Value Management Strategy Construction Essay According to Merna in (Smith, 2002) the term Value Management (VM) tend to be a blanket term that include many value techniques such as Value Planning (VP) , Value Engineering (VE) and Value Analysis (VA), therefore the definition of VM may vary from country to country and from industry to an other, the Institute of Value Management (IVM, 2010) takes Value Management as the tools and techniques concerned with improving and sustaining a desirable balance between the wants and needs of stakeholders and the resources needed to satisfy them. Its the process in which the functional benefits of the project are explicated and appraised consistent with the value system determined by the client (Kelly et al., 2004). British Standard define VM as the management style that can motivate people, develops skills and promote innovation (BSI., 2000) It is the relationship between the satisfaction of needs and the resources required in achieving that satisfaction (Venkataraman and Pinto, 2008). CIRIA defines VM as the structure approach that help defining the clients value requirements and ensure the delivery of that value through the design and construction process (Connaughton and Green, 1996), the institution of civil engineers (ICE) definition of VM take it as a set of techniques and tools to enhance the project (ICE., 1996) while (BRE, 2010) defines Value engineering (VE) as a pro-active, creative, team approach to problem-solving in construction projects to provide the best value for money. Australian based Department of Human Service (DHS) defines VM as the systematic review of the essential functions or performance of a capital project to ensure that best value for money is achieved. (Chen et al., 2009) considered Value Engineering (VE) as the organized application that uses both technical and non-technical knowledge and skills to eliminate unnecessary cost in the project. VM derives its power from being a team based, process-driven methodology and has been dominated by the north American thinking since its early days (Male et al., 2007) where Americans generally refer to the technique as Value Methodology (VM) which emerged in 1940s as a response to increasing pressure to gain more with fewer resources (Wilson, 2005). The origin of first Value Management application can be traced back to Miles a Purchasing engineer with General Electric who developed the first Value Analysis (VA) plan and the Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE), which was founded in Washington, DC, in 1959 is the premier international society devoted to the advancement and promotion of the value methodology (Alalshikh and Male, 2009).(SAVE, 2007) defined the value methodology as the systematic process used by a multidisciplinary team to improve the value of a project through the analysis of its functions. The application of value management as a formal technique will largely de pend on the value of a particular project and the level of risk involved Value management usually incorporates a series of workshops, interviews and reviews, through which the project requirements are evaluated against the means of achieving them. There are many reasons to use VM in projects one of them is the poor definition of projects at early stage as it is crucial to ensure the project success this poor definition normally comes from the shortage of time given out at that stage, therefore the stakeholders are required to define the project scope and need at early stage (Smith, 2002). In addition to that there are always elements in the project with poor value and using VM can help remove those elements. This paper will look to the VM strategy for Old Cross Community Fitness Centre (OCCFC) through evaluating and appraising the group work, the paper first define VM and traced back its origin, then moves into giving short brief about the project which is the subject of the study. Then the paper shows the steps taking in deciding the best VM study style, after that the paper moved into the generic processes of VM from the Orientation and Diagnosis phase, the Workshop phase and the implementation phase by detailing each one of the components and concentrated in workshop phase as that stage represents the team work. The environment or the context of study, the participants and why they are needed and the inputs and delivery of the study are covered and the paper concluded by the best way of implementing the study outcomes. The critical appraisal for the VM strategy adopted by the team will look at the different processes of VM study and how the team dealt with it and compare the group work with the best practise and published literature in the field, giving rationale and justify the group trends, highlights the group major disagreement with the VM best practise and define strength and weaknesses behind their choices. According to (Male et al., 1998) the VM study style represent method and approaches those need to be used during the VM workshop, it is the outcome of the stage in the project life cycle at which VM study is carried out and to do so the identification of the project current intervention point is needed. (Connaughton and Green, 1996) identified four VM/VE (Value Engineering) intervention stages as follows: concept, feasibility, scheme design and detail design while Male et al. (1998), stated that there is a generally held consensus that the following six opportunities help to achieve the highest effect on any project during a VM studys lifecycle: the pre-brief, briefing, concept design, Charette (Brief Review Workshop), detail design, and operational study (during the construction phase). In this phase of the study the Value Manager should be appointed and normally the Value Manager will held meeting with the clients in order to define objectives of Value Study, gain commitment from stakeholders and agree a bout how the value study programme should be implemented. Meeting with project sponsors and reviewing of documents is likely to happen at this stage along with conducting interviews with relevant stakeholders (Male and Kelly, 2004), selection of the participants in the value study and gathering of information is a crucial part in the this phase (Abidin and Pasquire, 2007). The structure of the value problems in details and the discussion of possible solution along with the agenda for the workshop phase are important parts in this phase and may also include how the workshop should be implemented (Male and Kelly, 2004). In this phase the team decided that more information is needed (documents, contracts, organisation, structure, client requirements, scope and more in terviews and reviews) the group also discovered the need to interrogate the project to align with strategic objectives and the understanding of the organization structure. In order to succeed it is important to know where is the project in relation to life cycle, other VM challenges/problems that are not stated need to be highlighted. All these requirements are essential in this part of the phase (the orientation).on the other hand the diagnosis also has its requirements, from the location of the site and whether it is suitable for such kind of projects, to the political factors surrounding the project without neglecting the effect of fund diversion and how the facility is going to be used. For this phase the group assumed that the investment and the brief have been sorted and duration of 15-20 days has been assigned to this phase to allow time for conducting more interviews with stakeholders and cost consultant in particular The team can be either external or existing team; the use of external team is not beneficial as conflict may arise between existing design team and external team, in addition to that the using of existing team can help in cost reduction, better development of ideas due to experience within the project, open communication and increased in implementation (Male et al., 1998). Building Research Establishment (BRE) stated that the team must represent relevant stakeholders, internal or external facilitator while. The group work choose a team that represent Newton council key members, cost consultant, architect, quantity surveyor, structural engineer, electro-mechanical engineer, relevant stakeholders and two team leaders (facilitators). That selection generally match with (Alalshikh and Male, 2009) as they composited the team in this stage with the Client representatives, end user , design team and project management team. (Male et al., 1998) mentioned five approach of VM study depends on the team composition and the team selected by the group tends to match his VM3 approach, where the personnel are the study facilitator and client representatives together with the project design team The benefits of VM have found to be most effective when an independent facilitator of the consultant/contractor team is appointed (DHS, 2010) . The group work did not mention whether those facilitators are independent or not. (ICE) suggest the team must include all relevant disciplines, have authorised decision maker and be led by value manager without mentioning the size of the team, that explain why Newton Council need to be represented as they are the decision makers. According to (Hoekstra, 2006) most owners lean towards a small 5 to 7 member VE team; one person per discipline, with no duplication, the group trend may be compatible with Hoekstra as the team represents 5 different disciplines if stakeholders , Newton council members and facilitators of the study excluded, Hoekstra also mentioned that the team may include operations, management, ITS, safety, public information, environmental and maintenance disciplines to ensure the coverage of all project aspects. Its clearly noticed that the group work tends to ignore those disciplines although in the size of the team they mentioned that it may reach 16 with variation during the study process without clear identification of the additional members and whether any considerations for other disciplines are taken into account or just that additional proportion of the size was completely assigned to the stakeholders and council members. CIRIA on the other hand recommend the use of value manager who may be either from external organization or in-house (Connaughton and Green, 1996). Again the group did not mention that and whether the two facilitators are part of the consultant/contractor team or not. One important part in the team dynamics is the facilitator and its role during study, according to (Kaufman, 2006) facilitation is the vehicle that guide the VM discipline into a viable process and there are many different type of facilitation, normally the VM facilitator involved before the project begins , being a part of deciding the discipline required in the VM team and determining the size of the team therefore the facilitator need to be well equipped with although the group has motioned the need for two facilitators in their study, they did not mention at which stage these facilitator have been brought into the project and that has a crucial impact in the kind of facilitation to be followed during the study, According to (SAVE, 2007) many factors govern the duration needed to execute the Job Plan in a value study: the size and complexity of the project, the stage of project development, the estimated cost of the project while the typical duration for the Workshop Stage is five-days, which does not include the Pre-Workshop ( orientation diagnosis) and Post-Workshop phase (implementation), (Hunter and Kelly, 2007) stated that there is a difference between study duration on the US and UK as only 1 day is given for the workshop duration in UK while its between 3-5 days in the US which is more compatible with the SAVE guidance in workshop. The group work assigned 2 days to complete the workshop phase which is between the UK the US practise in regard to the duration of the workshop

Poverty in Africa Essay -- essays research papers

African nations regularly fall to the bottom of any list measuring economic activity, such as per capita income or per capita GDP, despite a wealth of natural resources. The bottom 25 spots of the United Nations (UN) quality of life index are regularly filled by African nations. In 2006, 34 of the 50 nations on the UN list of least developed countries are in Africa. In many nations, the per capita income is often less than $200 U.S. per year, with the vast majority of the population living on much less. In addition, Africa's share of income has been consistently dropping over the past century by any measure. In 1820, the average European worker earned about three times what the average African did. Now, the average European earns twenty times what the average African does. Although per capita incomes in Africa have also been steadily growing, and poverty falling, measures are still far better in other parts of the world, such as Latin America, which suffers from many of the same disa dvantages that Africa has. Africans should not blame Mr. Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Britain, The World Bank, George W. Bush, the president of the United States of America, any western developed country or the United Nations for attempting to redress through the Commission for Africa report, and decades of imbalances and injustices visited on Africans by both African rulers and their western collaborators. It is this callous and wicked conspiracy that has brought the beautiful and virgin continent on her knees, largely impoverishing its people and turned them into beggars, crying babies and laughing stocks of the global community. As an African, I have lost count of the number of times, my tummy has ached, and my senses insulted by the shocking im... ...hat this is the era of accountability and transparency in the running of governmental affairs, the current generation of Africans is enlightened and empowered, and are capable of asking questions about their actions. To conclude, Africans by default, willingly and unwillingly are Africa?s worst enemies like the Ghanaian proverb goes, ?the insect that bites you can be found in your cloth?. References ? UN-OHRLLS List of Least Developed ? Founou-Tchuigoua, Bernard Food self-sufficiency: Crisis of the collective ideology African agriculture: The critical choices. United Nations University Press (1990) ISBN 0-86232-798-9 ? World Commission on Protected Areas (1995-2006) WCPA West and Central Africa Region Key Issues The World Conservation Union ? Poverty in Africa from the World Bank ? Poverty In Africa And The Commission For Africa Report by Uche Nworah Poverty in Africa Essay -- essays research papers African nations regularly fall to the bottom of any list measuring economic activity, such as per capita income or per capita GDP, despite a wealth of natural resources. The bottom 25 spots of the United Nations (UN) quality of life index are regularly filled by African nations. In 2006, 34 of the 50 nations on the UN list of least developed countries are in Africa. In many nations, the per capita income is often less than $200 U.S. per year, with the vast majority of the population living on much less. In addition, Africa's share of income has been consistently dropping over the past century by any measure. In 1820, the average European worker earned about three times what the average African did. Now, the average European earns twenty times what the average African does. Although per capita incomes in Africa have also been steadily growing, and poverty falling, measures are still far better in other parts of the world, such as Latin America, which suffers from many of the same disa dvantages that Africa has. Africans should not blame Mr. Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Britain, The World Bank, George W. Bush, the president of the United States of America, any western developed country or the United Nations for attempting to redress through the Commission for Africa report, and decades of imbalances and injustices visited on Africans by both African rulers and their western collaborators. It is this callous and wicked conspiracy that has brought the beautiful and virgin continent on her knees, largely impoverishing its people and turned them into beggars, crying babies and laughing stocks of the global community. As an African, I have lost count of the number of times, my tummy has ached, and my senses insulted by the shocking im... ...hat this is the era of accountability and transparency in the running of governmental affairs, the current generation of Africans is enlightened and empowered, and are capable of asking questions about their actions. To conclude, Africans by default, willingly and unwillingly are Africa?s worst enemies like the Ghanaian proverb goes, ?the insect that bites you can be found in your cloth?. References ? UN-OHRLLS List of Least Developed ? Founou-Tchuigoua, Bernard Food self-sufficiency: Crisis of the collective ideology African agriculture: The critical choices. United Nations University Press (1990) ISBN 0-86232-798-9 ? World Commission on Protected Areas (1995-2006) WCPA West and Central Africa Region Key Issues The World Conservation Union ? Poverty in Africa from the World Bank ? Poverty In Africa And The Commission For Africa Report by Uche Nworah

Personal Constructs Theory Essay

Kelly offered a fresh and enlightening means of understanding human psychology. He presented personal construct theory as a complete, innovative and elaborated abstraction of how people make sense of their world and themselves. It is unique since it can be seen as metatheory, a theory about theories. It holds that people anticipate events by the meanings or interpretations that they place on those events. Kelly called these interpretations personal constructs. His philosophical position, called constructive alternativism, assumes that alternative interpretations are always available to people. Simply, it means that our interpretation of the future are subject to revision or are bound to change. In this manner, a person construe their world from different angles and whatever that angle is, it may not be the right angle in the future. Kelly believed that people construe events according to their personal constructs rather than reality. He also postulated that a person is, in some way, a scientist or vice versa. People generally attempt to solve everyday problems in much the same fashion as scientists; that is, they observe, ask questions, formulate hypotheses, infer conclusions, and predict future events and because scientists are people, their pronouncements should be regarded with the same skepticism as any other data. His assumption was human behavior is shaped by the way people anticipate the future and the constructions made earlier are replaced later in life. Accordingly, it is somehow true to myself. In the simplest experience, when I was in elementary, I wanted to become Pharmacy no matter what it takes or how long will it take. My perception was to go to college earning a pharmacy degree which in essence is the construction I made personally. Then, I went to high school, unexpectedly, I changed my mind. Even though I hold on to my dream of being a Pharmacy, I wasn’t able to reach that because I’ve changed, my wants change. As to the 11 Supporting corollaries postulated by Kelly such as (1) Construction Corollary, a search for repeated themes – replications (2) Individuality Corollary, individuals differ from each other in terms of how they interpret events (3) Organization Corollary, constructs are interrelated and subsuming (4) Dichotomy Corollary, constructs are bipolar and finite in number (5) Choice Corollary, movement in a direction which elaborates the construct system and leads to definition or extension (6) Range Corollary, a construct is applicable for a range of events (7) Experience Corollary, systems change through validation and invalidation (8) Modulation Corollary, permeability of constructs allows the assimilation of new events (9) Fragmentation Corollary, sub-systems of constructs may not be logically related (10) Commonality Corollary, similarity of others is based on similarity of construing. (11) Sociality Corollary, relating to others is successful when the person understands others construing. Among these corollaries, arising from individual’s experience, I consider Individuality Corollary as very true to myself. Kelly’s Individuality Corollary, which states that a person differ from each other in their own constructions of events, stresses how unique the individual is or how individual differences can be visualize.

Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider) Meursault...

Meursault as Christ in The Stranger (The Outsider)nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;In one of his later interviews, Camus made the somewhat irritated comment that Meursault is the â€Å"only Christ we deserve.† While this seem to be a pithy, witty comment, we need to figure out how Meursault is like Christ. Christ taught his disciples and had them go and teach others, yet Meursault has no disciples and chooses to say little. Meursault murders while Christ brings a man back from the dead. Most drastically, Christ †died for our sins† in order to make all those who follow free from original sin. Meursault just dies. So it is hard to see the link. If, however, we are to take Camus seriously, we need to push hard on this comparison. Christ lived his life†¦show more content†¦For Meursault, his death comes randomly. When the penultimate moment comes, and both men are asked by their judges to say something on their own behalf. Both men refuse. Pontius Pilate puts the question to Jesus, trying to get him to say anything to save himself. Through it all, Jesus keeps his mouth shut and insures his crucifixion. This silence is unusual for Jesus; he starts talking as an infant, teaching the teachers and keeps rapping for his entire life. His eloquent silence in the end tells more about his desire for death than anything he could say. Meursault’s moment comes at the end of his trial, when the judge asks if he has anything to say. Faced with the guillotine at the end of a sham trial, Meursault could have railed at the system or begged for forgiveness. Instead he chooses to say nothing. Saying anything at that point would have been banal; there was nothing relevant he could say. Nothing would change his fate. So that is what he chose to say. Christ chooses silence for his eloquence, using his silen ce to choose his death. Meursault chooses silence because there is nothing for him to say. The ultimate difference between the two is illustrated by their respective deaths. In dying, Christ alleviates the entire population of the earth and the populations to come of sin. As a result of his death, everyone has a shot at heaven. On the other hand, Meursault’s death is a repudiation of the afterlife. Before hisShow MoreRelated A Comparison of the Heroes Of The Stranger (The Outsider) and The Myth of Sisyphus1076 Words   |  5 Pages The Absurd Heroes Of The Stranger (The Outsider) and The Myth of Sisyphusnbsp;nbsp; In The Myth of Sisyphus, Sisyphus is an absurd hero because he realizes his situation, does not appeal, and yet continues the struggle. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that The Stranger is, in narrative style, also showing us an absurd hero, or the beginning of an absurd hero in Meursault. In The Myth of Sisyphus Camus establishes the epistemology on which he bases all his works. Ant its a veryRead More Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Finding a Rational God through Nature3501 Words   |  15 PagesFinding a Rational God through Nature in Camus The Stranger (The Outsider)    Turning towards nature for fulfillment, The Stranger’s Meursault rejects the ideology of God as a savior and is consequently juxtaposed against Jesus Christ’s martyrdom, Christianity and the infamous crucifixion. To the inexperienced reader, Meursault appears to be an extreme atheist. Later in Albert Camus’ novel, he is revealed as a humanistic soul that’s in touch with the universality of the earth and soil he treadsRead More Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Meursault as Metaphysical Rebel1996 Words   |  8 PagesMeursault as Metaphysical Rebel in The Stranger (The Outsider)  Ã‚     Ã‚   The Stranger by Albert Camus was published in 1942. The setting of the novel is Algiers where Camus spent his youth in poverty. In many ways the main character, Meursault, is a typical Algerian youth. Like them, and like Camus himself, Meursault was in love with the sun and the sea. His life is devoted to appreciating physical sensations. He seems so devoid of emotion. Something in Meursaults character has appealed primarily