Management education, training and development of construction managers – will they ever learn?

This thesis investigates the current state of education, training and development ofconstruction managers in the UK by undertaking three strands of research. The first research strand undertakes a longitudinal study to determine the structure of the UK construction industry, and how it has evolved into its present form. Using published Government reports the industry is analysed in terms of the levels and distribution of employment within the industry and the numbers, sizes and types of construction companies that comprise the construction industry. The second research strand comprises a study of the current state of education, training and development of construction managers amongst the top 150 UK construction companies. Research, using a postal questionnaire, is undertaken to establish, firstly, company policies and attitudes towards education, training and development of construction managers; secondly, company policies and attitudes towards links with higher education establishments; and thirdly, the extent of ICT availability to construction managers that could be used to support continuing education, training and development of those managers. Questionnaire responses were either cross-tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis using Chi-Square Tests and Symmetrical Measures to establish the statistical significance of the responses; or were ranked using Relative Importance Indices to determine company attitudes and preferences. The third strand of research comprises a desktop study of the continuing professional development (CPD) requirements of seventeen of the principal professional institutions serving the construction industry

Envisioning Nevada’s future: Goals & strategies for advancing our quality of life

Nevada’s severe downturn has brought to light many of the long-term challenges facing the state. Not only is its economy subject to painful swings, but Nevada’s primary drivers— consumer services (primarily gaming, hospitality and housing) and resource extraction—will provide less support than they have in past business cycles. Less economic vitality will make it harder to offer Nevadans the quality of life they expect. The importance of the economy to quality of life is equally clear—quality of life is a hollow promise without a healthy and supportive economy. Similarly, a proper fiscal structure—both in terms of spending and revenues—is critical to delivering on a quality of life promise. Nevada’s consumer and hospitality industries will feel downward pressure on their revenues as aging baby boomers scramble to make up for low lifetime savings. The state’s gaming industry faces new competition across the U.S. and abroad. And in rural Nevada, the growth of primary resource industries will be modest, since commodity prices (other than for gold) are not expected to return to their recent peaks for several years. The state’s long-term growth is still expected to exceed the national average. Nevada’s relative cost advantages, its hospitable culture, and its vast natural beauty will continue to attract migrants, mitigating shifts in demand for its core industries. Yet population gains, while still significant, will not match the trend of the last 30 years. Residential, retail and hotel construction will therefore no longer be a primary driver of regional growth. Nevada’s slowing growth potential is troubling because, even during the state’s boom years, many of its residents’ needs were not being met. For example, a wide range of educational yardsticks suggests Nevada could do a better job of teaching its children and training its workers. Tight state and local budgets notwithstanding, now is the time to make the structural changes and investments Nevada needs, lest its obstacles become insurmountable in the years ahead. While Nevada’s challenges were put into sharper focus by the recession, these issues have been known and discussed for many years. State and private agencies have developed numerous strategic plans, with the goal of providing public services more efficiently. There have also been numerous studies related to the state’s economic structure, but little has been done to act on their findings. It is time for us to address the issues directly, to act on them and to achieve meaningful progress in the six focus areas detailed in this report. It should also be recognized that there is interdependence and crossover among the six focus areas

Expulsive Greening: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Green Gentrification in The Resilience Paradigm, Brooklyn 2010–2020

Background: This project analyzes the spatial coincidence between gentrification typologies and urban greening in Brooklyn, New York from 2010 to 2020. Assets formed under the NYC Green Infrastructure Program were chosen as a proxy for urban greening to represent the spatial practice specifically within the 21st-century climate change resilience paradigm of development. Methods: First, five indexes measuring variations of economic and demographic conditions related to gentrification were applied to Brooklyn for comparative analysis: NOAA’s Social Vulnerability Indicators of Gentrification Pressure, The NYC Heat Vulnerability Index, The Small Area Index of Gentrification, Typologies of Gentrification and Displacement, and The Housing Risk Chart. Then, for each index, a point-in-polygon count vector analysis was conducted using GIS software to determine the prevalence of green infrastructure assets within the varying gentrification categories. Finally, using the method of dialectical materialism, close readings of theoretical, governmental, and corporate literature were used to examine the forces driving development practices during that time. Results: Gentrification varies per spatial unit with each index application, owing to varying index factors. However, the highest socioeconomic, gentrification, and ecological risk hot spots, regardless of index used, tend to be in northern Brooklyn, while cold spots tend to be located in southern Brooklyn. Despite variability in gentrification hot and cold spots, every hot spot was highly associated with green stormwater infrastructure installed through the Green Infrastructure Program, while cold spots had few assets installed in their boundaries, if any. A review of the quantitative results against the reviewed literature indicate that NYC’s “green” planning and policies are related to ongoing “green” gentrification trends in the United States

Worlds apart? The political economy of communication, information and institutional investor media usage in global financial markets

The thesis critically analyses the role of communication and media systems in contemporary financial markets. New communication technologies have played a central role in the increased velocity, volume and scale of financial market activity since the 1970s. Theoretically, the research developed an analytical framework emphasising intersubjective codifications and reflexive communication processes. This was used to transcode political economic and cultural economic perspectives on financial investment and accumulation. The framework revised neo-Marxist accounts of contradictions in capital accumulation circuits and spatio-temporal fixes by integrating an account of the symbolic ontology of monetary forms and fictitious value. The framework also integrated the Minskian account of how feedback loops endogenous to the market generate financial instability by explaining the reflexive communicative processes involved. The notions of intersubjective codifications and communicative reflexivity were also used to conceptualise social systems boundaries, and to develop the argument that financial system autopoiesis could be operationalised in terms of investor sensitivity to self-referential signals generated by their own trading activity . Empirically, the research provided both a quantitative and qualitative account of how institutional investors prioritise and utilise different forms of media and information in their trading decisions. The study included surveys and interviews of traders and analysts at financial institutions operating in New Zealand and included observations of trading activity at Deutsche Bank, ANZ and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The data generated were used to empirically explore the proposition that communication processes are not merely representative, but constitutive of financial reality. The findings highlighted functional differences between publicly accessible media and professional institutional networks and between market information and reflexive, meta-information. Institutional channels were found to be vital for the validation of trading frames and discerning market flows. These findings of differential functions complicate several recent analyses of financial media that suggest they have a potentially powerful effect on investors. The findings confirmed that reflexive communication processes are constitutive role in shaping market reality and in the formation of fictitious capital values. The evidence of self-referential validation of trading frames suggested the neoclassical account of informational efficiency in market is not sustainable. Moreover, the evidence of communicative reflexivity supported the contention that the financial system has an autopoietic tendency. However, there was also evidence of the continuing significance of referent conditions in the industrial economy and policy. This showed that trading decisions were not based solely on self-referential noise precluded a radical claim of systemic closure. Nevertheless, the recent evidence of crises and the repercussions for governments and the lifeworld suggests that the global financial system’s imperative to expand and accelerate accumulation imposes significant risks/costs on other systems that are not subject to democratic accountability. Indeed, the findings also suggested that non-institutional investors relying of public media trade at a significant disadvantage, significantly undermining neoliberal claims that the increased availability of financial information systems and publicly-accessible trading platforms has facilitated financial democratisation

A framework for training and development of construction craft skills in Nigeria.

The Nigerian construction sector presently accounts for about 1.4% of the nation's GDP, even though its contribution to total GDP seems to have remained, extremely low; the sector is yet to realise its full potential. The sector is expanding strongly with a growth of 10% per year and is supported by multiple real estate projects and by the modernisation and development of infrastructures which offer new opportunities for the construction sector. The nation's approach to the training and development of construction related craftspeople, however, has been general rather than specific; and the various reforms on technical, vocational education and training (TVET) have not succeeded in tackling the perennial craft skills shortage crisis in the sector. This research project focused on formulating and validating a framework for achieving effectiveness and sustainability in the training and development of construction craft in the Nigerian construction sector, with emphasis on addressing the factors militating against securing and sustaining the interest of the youth population in acquiring construction related crafts skills.In order to collect a robust data to adequately address the goal of the study, secondary data were collected through an in-depth review of related literature. Quantitative data were elicited through a questionnaire survey while the gathering of qualitative data adopted the semistructured interview and document analysis approaches. This mixed-method approach generated data that formed the basis for the development of a unique and novel best practice framework for the training and development of construction related crafts people in the Nigerian construction industry. The framework, which was validated by experienced industry-based professionals and academics; was adjudged capable of ensuring effectiveness and enhancing sustainability in craft skills training and development in the nation's construction sector. The study concluded that in order to achieve sustainability and effectiveness, crafts skills training and development in the nation's construction sector must be accorded a specific attention. The establishment of a regulatory organ vested with the responsibilities for implementing and regulating skills training and development in the construction sector is imperative. Apart from facilitating career progression of crafts people and adequately addressing the factors inhibiting the interest of prospective trainees; effective guidance and counselling systems must be provided for the purpose of sensitizing the youths and other potential trainees on the importance and economic prospects inherent in pursuing construction related craft careers. The Construction Craft Skills Training and Development (CCSTD) Framework is a major contribution to knowledge in this area. It is recommended for adoption by the government, construction sector, professional bodies, training providers and other related stakeholders; as a guide on skills training and development matters in the Nigerian construction sector

Professionalism in medicine. What is it and how can it be taught?

This study examines the conceptual framework and teaching of medical professionalism from the perspectives of the literature on the subject, clinicians engaged in clinical teaching regarding professionalism, and medical students. I begin with a brief history and overview of the concepts of professionalism in medicine. I follow that with a Best Evidence in Medical Education (BEME) systematic review of the literature to identify the best evidence for how professionalism should be defined and taught. This review found that there is as yet no overarching conceptual context that is universally agreed upon. The development of ways to teach and assess professionalism has been encumbered, and failed to progress, in large part because of this amorphous nature of the various definitions promoted. The review also found no unifying accepted theory or set of accepted practice criteria for teaching professionalism. Evident themes in the literature are that role modelling and personal reflections, ideally guided by faculty, are the important elements in current teaching programs, and are widely believed to be the most effective techniques for developing professionalism. While it is generally agreed that professionalism should be part of the whole of a medical curriculum, the specifics of sequence, depth, detail, and the nature of how to integrate professionalism with other curriculum elements remain matters of evolving theory. No teaching methodology has been demonstrated in the literature to be effective or accepted for use across a wide range of medical schools. I next developed and carried out qualitative studies to discover what conceptual understanding (mental models) of professionalism medical students and clinical educators held, how these two groups view current professionalism training as a component of medical education, and how they think it should be taught. I found that medical students achieve professionalism through the influence of their exposure to seasoned professionals and through informal peer reflection. The doctors in my study group achieved professionalism not through any formal training they received, but as a result of the actions and attitudes they witnessed during their training, which created a path to reflective practice that they have sustained. I conclude by proposing a conceptual model for instilling professionalism through medical education. This model captures the formative influences on professionalism and provides a framework for understanding professional performance. The teaching of professionalism should be integrated into all years of the medical curriculum, and across all disciplines included in the curriculum. Some attributes of professionalism, such as ethics and communication skills, can be introduced in early years. Mentoring and exposure to positive role models hold the most promise as effective teaching methods. Guided reflection turns transient incidents and experiences into true learning moments, solidifying and honing professionalism. Ultimately professionalism should be viewed as an ethos. I hope that my findings will improve our ability to instil professionalism in our students