Evaluation of the impact of quality risk management on quality performance in the UAE construction projects

Purpose: Despite the implementation of Quality Management Systems(QMS) in construction projects, the repetition of quality failures and their negative impact clearly exposes the deficiencies in the current Quality Management practices with regards to lack of implementing proactive approaches in preventing quality failures. In spite of the wide appeal to adopt ‘Risk-based methodologies’ in quality management, most of the previous quality management studies have ignored it and hence ‘Risk’ is identified as the missing gap, which needs more attention, both in theory and practice. In seeking to overcome these deficiencies/gaps, this study has developed an innovative Project Quality Risk Management (PQRM) model including QRM, QR & QP measurement scales, which are expected to help academicians and practitioners to gain a better understanding of QRM, QR and QP along with their causal relationships, thus enabling them to make more informed decisions in dealing with quality risks. Design/Methodology: In this study, Interview method is used for data collection related to research objective#1, while Literature Review method is used for objective#2. For objectives 3 & 4, Survey method is used for data collection, while data analysis is done through statistical techniques namely Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) using IBM SPSS 24.0 and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using IBM AMOS 24.0 which are carried out for scale development and statistically analyzing & validating the Measurement models. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique using IBM AMOS 24.0 software package is applied to test the hypotheses for examining and evaluating the relationships among QRM, QR and QP. Research Findings: The investigation through interviews, highlights the deficiencies in the existing QM system and concludes with strong suggestions of adopting risk-based approaches for achieving continual improvement. On the other hand, the testing of PQRM model validates the hypotheses, indicating that an increase in the effectiveness of QRM actions can enable in reducing Quality Risks, while enhancing the Quality Performance. Originality/Value: The research study makes three significant contributions to knowledge in advancing the literature of QRM along with good benefits to the industry. Firstly, the deficiencies in the current QM practices have been identified while stressing the importance of reinforcing the traditional QM practices with risk-based approaches. Secondly, three reliable and valid measurement scales viz., QRM, QR & QP are developed through a robust 7-stage scale development process, which can be used to measure the respective processes. Thirdly, an innovative PQRM model is developed and validated. This PQRM model can be used as a causal relationship tool capable of enabling the project teams to make informed decisions in a more holistic manner, for dealing with quality related risks. All the above contributions can be regarded to be very helpful to academicians and practitioners for effective application in both theory and practice. Research Limitations: This study has been done from the Main Contractor perspective only, while it can also be done from the other stakeholders’ perspective, like Client, Consultant etc

Analysis of Shibboleths in Two Major Dialects of Telugu: A Phonetic Analysis

Speech not just gives the linguistic information but is often remarkable source of indexical information as well. There are several cues in speech which give away the cultural, religious, socio, economic and geographical information of the speaker. This identification is robustly facilitated through a speech feature often referred to as ‘shibboleth’: a sound, word or phrase that is typical of a speech community. This paper tries to identify the shibboleths, at the level of sounds, of two dialects of Telugu language (Telangana and Andhra). This has relevance to forensic speaker identification (identifying the criminals based on their phonetic features of speech) and LADO (linguistic analysis for the determination of origin) in the case of asylum seekers. Results indicate that there are several shibboleths at the phonetic level that can be used reliably to distinguish the speakers of one dialect from the other

A Call to Build Trust and Center Values in Food Systems Work

In September of 2019, 70 people from across the U.S. came together to learn from each other about the work of coordinating state level food system plans. The initial intention for this gathering was to surface promising practices of developing and implementing food systems plans—meaning guiding documents, such as the Michigan Good Food Charter or the Vermont Farm to Plate Strategic Plan, that are developed with public input, set out a vision for the food system of a particular place, and identify high priority policies and strategies. Over the course of planning and hosting the three day convening, it became clear that a focus exclusively on technical practices was neither practical nor what participants were most interested in. Instead, it was the complex and adaptive process of bringing people together and the way in which we shared our time that most resonated with many participants. To share more about the design and experience of the gathering, we—the facilitation team—first decided to write a reflection shortly after the event. Much has happened in the months that have followed. The urgency of our present moment in time can no longer be downplayed. The tumultuous events of 2020 have brought the long-standing inequities of our society into stark relief. Six months ago, we were prepared to inspire you to bring values and a focus on equity into your food systems work. Now, we are sending out a call to deep care and accountability to our fellow food system practitioners. If you are not actively working to counter white supremacy culture and structural racism, then your food systems work is in vain and you are reinforcing the status quo

Optimizing AES for Embedded Devices and Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract—The increased need for security in embedded ap-plications in recent years has prompted efforts to develop en-cryption/decryption algorithms capable of running on resource-constrained systems. The inclusion of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) in the IEEE 802.15.4 Zigbee protocol has driven its widespread use in current embedded platforms. We propose an implementation of AES in a high-level language (C in this case) that is the first software-based solution for 16-bit microcontrollers capable of matching the communication rate of 250 kbps specified by the Zigbee protocol, while also minimizing RAM and ROM usage. We discuss a series of optimizations and their effects that lead to our final implementation achieving an encryption speed of 286 kbps, RAM usage of 260 bytes, and code size of 5160 bytes on the Texas Instruments MSP430 microprocessor. We also develop rigorous benchmark experiments to compare other AES implementations on a common platform, and show that our implementation outperforms the best available implementation by 85%. Index Terms—AES, encryption, embedded optimizations, se-cure sensor networks, CC2420, MSP430, Zigbee security. I

Safety citizenship behavior (SCB) in the workplace: A stable construct? Analysis of psychometric invariance across four European countries

Safety citizenship behaviors (SCBs) are important participative organizational behaviors that emerge in work-groups. SCBs create a work environment that supports individual and team safety, encourages a proactive management of workplace safety, and ultimately, prevents accidents. In spite of the importance of SCBs, little consensus exists on research issues like the dimensionality of safety citizenship, and if any superordinate factor level of safety citizenship should be conceptualized, and thus measured. The present study addressed this issue by examining the dimensionality of SCBs, as they relate to behaviors of helping, stewardship, civic virtue, whistleblowing, voice, and initiating change in current practices. Data on SCBs were collected from four industrial plants (N = 1065) in four European countries (Italy, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom). The results show that SCBs structure around two superordinate second-order factors that reflect affiliation and challenge. Multi-group analyses supported the structure and metric invariance of the two-factor model across the four national subsamples

Influence of leadership and safety climate on employee safety compliance and citizenship behaviours

High-risk organizations are continuously striving to minimize risks and establish a safe working environment. While technology and high standards are crucial, a core aspect of an effective safety management system lies in safe human behaviour and this constitutes the main theme for this thesis. In order to assess the state of safety of an organization from a behavioural perspective, safety compliance (SC) and safety citizenship behaviour (SCB) were measured through interviews and quantitative studies with an emphasis on understanding the key aspects of leadership style and associated mediating factors that influence employees' safety compliance and safety citizenship behaviour.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Growing Regional Food Systems & Economies

In 2016, some Black, Indigenous, and Asian American food systems stakeholders and allies from across the state of Mississippi were able to convene together for the first time to dream about transforming the local and state level food systems. This gathering was made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF). The outcome of the gathering was the formation of the Mississippi Food Justice Collaborative with the common goal of improving the health of Mississippians through increasing access to healthy, local, culturally appropriate food, educating people about healthy food, building the capacity of local farmers, and increasing the amount of local food purchased by schools and institutions.This is a collaborative write up produced primarily by Noel Didla, in partnership with the co-stewards of the Center for MS Food Systems. https://alliancems.org/growing-regional-food-systems-economies

Development of proactive safety behaviour scale within the work driving context

This study explores an alternative approach to managing safety issues within the work driving setting by developing and piloting a measurement tool that examines proactive safety behaviours among work drivers. A systematic literature review was conducted to develop the construct and items for the survey, which is then assessed using an expert panel (n = 5) and piloted with a sample of work drivers and supervisors involved in fleet-related activities (n = 37). Principal component analysis produced six internally consistent factors that reflect: protection of other drivers and fixing issues, volunteerism/helping, noticing and reporting, safety voice, problem prevention and feedback inquiry. Investigating a proactive approach in managing risks while driving for work could provide a practical contribution to the field of work driving safety