Best software test & quality assurance practices in the project life-cycle. An approach to the creation of a process for improved test & quality assurance practices in the project life-cycle of an SME

The cost of software problems or errors is a significant problem to global industry, not only to the producers of the software but also to their customers and end users of the software. There is a cost associated with the lack of quality of software to companies who purchase a software product and also to the companies who produce the same piece of software. The task of improving quality on a limited cost base is a difficult one. The foundation of this thesis lies with the difficult task of evaluating software from its inception through its development until its testing and subsequent release. The focus of this thesis is on the improvement of the testing & quality assurance task in an Irish SME company with software quality problems but with a limited budget. Testing practices and quality assurance methods are outlined in the thesis explaining what was used during the software quality improvement process in the company. Projects conducted in the company are used for the research in the thesis. Following the quality improvement process in the company a framework for improving software quality was produced and subsequently used and evaluated in another company

Cost and benefit of energy efficient buildings

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006.Includes bibliographical references.A common misconception among developers and policy-makers is that "sustainable buildings" may not be financially justified. However, this report strives to show that building green is cost-effective and does make financial sense today. Though green buildings typically have a higher upfront cost compared to conventional constructions, they do offer benefits that simply built-to-code projects lack. These benefits include cost savings from reduced energy and water use, less waste production, diminished environmental and emissions costs, lower operations and maintenance costs, and enhanced occupant productivity and health. These values range from being fairly predictable (energy and water savings can be recorded over time) to relatively uncertain (productivity/health benefits are somewhat arbitrary and subjective). Based on a 20-year Net Present Value analysis with a 5% real interest rate, a recent study by the California Sustainable Energy Task Force showed the total financial benefits of green design to be $50/ft2 -$75/ft2, depending on the building's level of LEED Certification. This number is over ten times bigger than the average 2% cost premium calculated for the 33 green buildings they analyzed-about $3-5/ft in California.(cont.) Energy savings alone, from reduced energy demand and decreased peak load, was calculated to be$5.79, which already exceeds the cost premium. Conservative calculations based on a study on Norway building retrofits show that the cost of energy savings ranges from 1-4 cents/kWh. Comparing this number to the cost of various modes of electricity generation, ranging from 3-80 cents/kWh, it is clear that the cost of generating electricity greatly exceeds the cost of saving energy through energy efficient buildings. Thus, green buildings are cost effective and should be more widely adopted.by Wenying Zhang.S.B

Advanced Launch System propulsion focused technology liquid methane turbopump technical implementation plan

This program will focus on the integration of all functional disciplines of the design, manufacturing, materials, fabrication and producibility to define and demonstrate a highly reliable, easily maintained, low cost liquid methane turbopump as a component for the STBE (Space Transportation Booster Engine) using the STME (main engine) oxygen turbopump. A cost model is to be developed to predict the recurring cost of production hardware and operations. A prime objective of the program is to design the liquid methane turbopump to be used in common with a LH2 turbopump optimized for the STME. Time phasing of the effort is presented and interrelationship of the tasks is defined. Major subcontractors are identified and their roles in the program are described

A new lean change methodology for small & medium sized enterprises

SMEs find it difficult to implement productivity improvement tools, particularly those associated with Lean Manufacturing. Larger companies have more success due to greater access to resources. To provide the SMEs with a way to implement Lean sustainably, the European project ERIP develops a new lean change methodology for SMEs. In this paper the methodology is explained and three test cases show the strength of the methodology. The method is a sequence of achieving management and company support, starting with data analysis and identifying problems and consequently solving these problems. Within the workshops, training of employees is conducted. The three test cases show that even through limited efforts, a good productivity improvement can be achieved in a sustainable manner

Technology adoption in the BIM implementation for lean architectural practice

Justification for Research: the construction companies are facing barriers and challenges in BIM adoption as there is no clear guidance or best practice studies from which they can learn and build up their capacity for BIM use in order to increase productivity, efficiency, quality, and to attain competitive advantages in the global market and to achieve the targets in environmental sustainability. Purpose: this paper aims to explain a comprehensive and systemic evaluation and assessment of the relevant BIM technologies as part of the BIM adoption and implementation to demonstrate how efficiency gains have been achieved towards a lean architectural practice. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is undertaken through a KTP (Knowledge transfer Partnership) project between the University of Salford and the John McCall Architects based in Liverpool, which is an SME (Small Medium Enterprise). The overall aim of KTP is to develop Lean Design Practice through the BIM adoption and implementation. The overall BIM implementation approach uses a socio-technical view in which it does not only consider the implementation of technology but also considers the socio-cultural environment that provides the context for its implementation. The technology adoption methodology within the BIM implementation approach is the action research oriented qualitative and quantitative research for discovery, comparison, and experimentation as the KTP project with JMA provides an environment for “learning by doing” Findings: research has proved that BIM technology adoption should be undertaken with a bottom-up approach rather than top-down approach for successful change management and dealing with the resistance to change. As a result of the BIM technology adoption, efficiency gains are achieved through the piloting projects and the design process is improved through the elimination of wastes and value generation. Originality/Value: successful BIM adoption needs an implementation strategy. However, at operational level, it is imperative that professional guidelines are required as part of the implementation strategy. This paper introduces a systematic approach for BIM technology adoption based on a case study implementation and it demonstrates a guideline at operational level for other SME companies of architectural practices

Marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs): important approaches to obtain (firm and sector) greenhouse gases (GHGs) reduction

The study aims to identify appropriate methods that can help organisations to reduce energy use and emissions by using an effective concept of sustainability. In different countries, estimates of marginal abatement costs for reducing GHG emissions have been widely used. Around the world, many researchers have focused on MACCs and reported different results. This may due to different assumptions used which in turn lead to uncertainty and inaccuracy. Under these circumstances, much attention has been paid to the need for the role of MACC in providing reliable information to decision makers and various stakeholders. By reviewing the literature, this paper has analysed MACCs in terms of the role of different approaches to MACCs, representations of MACCs, MACC applications, pricing carbon, verification, and sectors analysis for energy and emissions projections. This paper concludes that MACCs should depend on actual data to provide more reliable information that may assist (firms and sectors) stockholders to determine what appropriate method for reducing emission

Design and implementation of an automated data quality control system in the financial sector

[EN] Lending Controls play an important role in ensuring that banking product control standards are understood and applied. The Data Quality and Structural Systems team continuously develop and deliver operational controls within the Core Banking Platform in order to improve the performance of the business and to minimise risk and costs. The identification of existing internal controls and reporting of Data Quality in a bank and their link with automation requirements and software process improvement are in the focus of this research. Therefore, the aim is to develop an automated process and software tool that helps to improve and control internal banking processes as well as manage the data quality assessment and monitor the retrieval of the pending position status of loan processes in banks. The methodology followed is based on Software Reengineering such as Agile Methodology and Extreme Programming. The automation of Data Quality Internal Controls has proven to be a suitable process to improve the quality of data, minimising the errors and reducing the time as well as the management of the customer impact.[ES] Santander UK es parte del Grupo Santander. Es un banco comercial y de particulares con presencia en Europa, América del Norte y América del Sur. Es el segundo banco más grande de Europa con más de 1400 oficinas y 25 millones de clientes. Tiene una orientación del modelo de negocio de Santander hacia actividades de banca minorista. Lo que le hace estar más protegido frente a los cambios que se están considerando a nivel internacional en cuanto a la creación de estructuras separadas entre banca comercial y banca de inversión. Las altas direcciones de los bancos consideran que existen focos de riesgos que pueden afectar al desarrollo de su negocio y consecuentemente a los riesgos derivados del mismo. Por eso mismo la calidad de la gestión del riesgo es un eje prioritario en la actuación de un banco. El riesgo de crédito es una de las mayores preocupaciones. Es lo que puede hacer que un banco acabe en bancarrota o que le permita competir con los más poderosos. El riesgo de crédito está directamente relacionado con los controles internos. Desde que se publicó la Sabanes-­‐‑Oxley, las empresas al principio reacias a adaptarse al cambio, han visto las mejoras que supone tener una buena gestión y controles internos que junto con las auditorías internas hagan menos frecuentes las auditorías externas. Reduciendo así el coste que supone tener que resolver los conflictos durante auditorías externas. Uno de los factores más importantes de los controles internos es la calidad de los datos que se generan, almacenan y analizan. La cantidad de información que se genera hoy en día hace imprescindible una buena gestión para poder obtener un beneficio de ella. La mayoría de los trabajadores en el entorno empresarial trabaja con hojas de cálculo para procesar datos. Normalmente son tareas manuales y repetitivas que pueden generar errores y el tiempo empleado para desarrollarlas es muy elevado. El proyecto consiste en generar una herramienta de software basada en la hoja de cálculo, que permita automatizar los controles internos que se llevan a cabo dentro de la empresa. Lo que reducirá los errores y el tiempo de ejecución de las tareas. El propósito del proyecto es desarrollar un modelo técnico para controlar los diferentes procesos. Esto se realizara mediante el análisis de la situación actual, entrevistas con los expertos y la persona al cargo del proyecto, y reuniones con los usuarios del modelo actual. Con la información recopilada de la literatura, la lectura de los documentos internos y las reuniones, se configuró un gráfico de procesos que permitió localizar entender y analizar el proceso existente así como la incorporación de mejoras que lo conviertan en un modelo automatizado. Los objetivos del proyecto son: 1. Identificación de las prácticas comunes y composición de una literatura revisada para la adquisición de un profundo conocimiento de los productos bancarios, los procesos de control internos, existentes modelos de control, y mejora de procesos de software y su metodología. 2. Análisis de requisitos de los existentes productos bancarios y sus procesos mediante reuniones y entrevistas informales y revisión de literatura previa para establecer una visión clara de las mejoras necesarias y aplicaciones a desarrollar para poder incorporarlas al modelo existente. 3. Desarrollo de código usando software existente para desarrollar una herramienta modelo que automatice controles internos del banco para analizar la calidad de los datos de la base de datos. 4. Garantía de calidad de datos mediante la implementación del proceso automatizado y el software desarrollado, reduciendo el tiempo empleado y eliminando los errores potenciales en los datos. 5. Desarrollo de una herramienta de software para recuperar las cuentas con saldo pendiente en el estado de los préstamos. Esta aplicación reduce los errores que origina un software interno del banco, lo que supone una gran relevancia debido al gran impacto en el consumidor que estos errores significan. El alcance del proyecto es el desarrollo completo de una aplicación que incluya herramientas para el control interno, automatizando y mejorando el proceso de control eficientemente usando metodologías de ingeniería de software. Además de mejorar la calidad de los datos y monitorizar la recuperación de los pagos pendientes y los estados en las cuentas de préstamos.Carrión Giménez, MJ. (2013). DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN AUTOMATED DATA QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/47922.Archivo delegad

Green strategic leadership capability: Construct development and measurement validation

Green strategic leadership capability (GSLC) has emerged as a major study topic in strategic management in light of urgent global crises such as climate change. There is, however, a paucity of theoretically conceptualised and empirically validated measurement models evaluating the various leadership capabilities of top managers. GSLC implies that top managers endorse green management practices in organisational operations to minimise their environmental impact. Our research conceptualises GSLC from a natural-resource-based view by considering top managers’ capabilities to develop GSLC measurement models. We used a multi-study, multi-method approach to develop GSLC multidimensional scales using field interviews, thematic analysis and bulk surveys. GSLC is operationalised as a hierarchical and multidimensional scale consisting of three core dimensions, namely green foresight capability, green adaptive capability and green absorptive capability, along with nine subdimensions – resulting in 31 measurement items. The developed and validated scales may be applied to extend the theory and practice of green management, while offering a valuable source for organisations to assess their GSLC and identify and prioritise areas for green growth