138 research outputs found
Structured process improvements in facilities management organisations: Best practice case studies in the retail sector
Facilities management is a key managerial discipline and large corporations are increasingly
recognising its importance in respect of achieving organisational goals and objectives.
Enterprises are able to improve their performance by the more effective use of resources, the
matching of appropriate support systems to business activities, and the application of assertive
management by those best qualified and equipped to carry it out. However, FM organisations
lack clear guidelines to direct their improvement efforts and to benchmark their performance
against other organisations. The SPICE FM (Structured Process improvement in construction
environments â facilities management) maturity framework was developed as a response to
this requirement. SPICE FM draws a distinction between FM organisations that have âmatureâ
or well-established processes, and those where the processes are âimmatureâ. This paper
briefly describes the characteristics of the SPICE FM Framework, followed by a review of the
key findings from the case study undertaken
Customer related facilities management processes: understanding the needs of the customer
In the past, organisations could concentrate on their internal capabilities, emphasising product
performance and technology innovation. Organisations that did not understand their customersâ needs eventually found that competitors could make inroads by offering products or services better aligned to their customersâ preferences. Many Facilities Management organisations today have a mission focused on the customer, and how the organisation is performing its customersâ perspective has become a priority for the organisational management. How the FM organisation is performing through the eyes of its customers has therefore become a priority issue for facilities managers. This captures the ability of the organisation to provide quality goods and services, the effectiveness of their delivery, and overall customer service and satisfaction. It places importance on the organisationâs ability to achieve its vision, and how it wants to be seen by its customers. This paper will discuss some of the important FM customer related processes and mechanisms associated with its measurement identified through a series of case studies carried out as part of a major research stud
Performance measurement applications in facilities management: An investigation into the future directions
Facilities Management (FM) is very frequently described as, âan integrated approach to
operating, maintaining, improving and adapting the buildings and infrastructure of an
organisation in order to create an environment that strongly supports the primary objectives of
that organisationâ. The practical and strategic relevance of FM to organisations in all sectors of
the economy is now increasingly recognised. Accordingly, organisations seek to improve their
competitiveness by introducing a core business philosophy and restructuring to release senior
management time and improve effectiveness. Managements have begun to realise that for
organisations to benefit from their enormous investment in facilities, they have to begin
managing them actively and creatively with commitment and a broader vision. Formulation of
techniques that are capable of assessing âfacilities performanceâ in terms of quality, cost and
effectiveness, is therefore critical for âOrganisationalâ and âFMâ advancements. Research has
emphasised that there is a clear need to measure FM performance which would integrate both
the business and facilities domains. Accordingly, this paper summarises a literature review of
current leading-edge performance measurement and management practices within facilities
management organisations and conceptual models of performance measurement and
management from other industries. Accordingly, the paper identifies the directions to develop
performance measurement systems in FM with specific links to measure facilities relationships
with those of the core business
Lessons learned from Asian tsunami disaster: Sharing knowledge
Creating an organised common platform to capture, organise and share the knowledge on
disaster management strategies is considered vital to enhance the effectiveness of future disaster
management efforts. Hence, ensuring the availability and accessibility of accurate and reliable
disaster risk information when required entails an efficient system for knowledge sharing. This
paper highlights the importance of knowledge and good practice sharing in disaster
management strategies, and discusses key lessons learned from 2004 Asian tsunami,
particularly relating to the Sri Lankan context. Good practices and lessons learned are discussed
on five different themes: social, technical, legal, operational and environmental. Further, the
ISLAND website is introduced and developed as part of a research aimed at increasing the
effectiveness of disaster management by facilitating the sharing of appropriate knowledge and
good practices
Key knowledge management variables for facilities management organisational effectiveness
Although knowledge management concept has grown noticeably during last few
years, management of facilities knowledge has been little studies. Facilities
knowledge is of crucial importance for organisational effectiveness and makes a
proactive contribution to business to achieve competitive advantage. The research
addresses the importance of managing facilities knowledge and to reveal the key
knowledge variables by examining the current practice and gaps in application of
knowledge management techniques in facilities management context. The intellectual
capital framework is introduced as a conceptual model with which facilities users can
identify and organise facilities knowledge in a purposeful way
Integrating research and teaching in higher education: Conceptual issues
Integrating new knowledge created through research with teaching has become an
important area that needs prompt attention with the growing emphasis on student
learning activities, quality assurance procedures and research funding mechanisms
within the UK higher education system. The link between research and teaching is not
automatic. Thus, it needs to be created in higher education departments in order to
achieve a productive relationship and manage research activities of university staff
with teaching duties. The research study, on which this paper is based on, aims to
develop principles in relation to transferring research knowledge into teaching
through a literature review and case studies. The paper reports conceptual issues
related to such a transfer process based on the literature findings
Blockade of catecholamine-induced growth by adrenergic and dopaminergic receptor antagonists in Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella enterica and Yersinia enterocolitica
BACKGROUND: The ability of catecholamines to stimulate bacterial growth was first demonstrated just over a decade ago. Little is still known however, concerning the nature of the putative bacterial adrenergic and/or dopaminergic receptor(s) to which catecholamines (norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine) may bind and exert their effects, or even whether the binding properties of such a receptor are similar between different species. RESULTS: Use of specific catecholamine receptor antagonists revealed that only α, and not ÎČ, adrenergic antagonists were capable of blocking norepinephrine and epinephrine-induced growth, while antagonism of dopamine-mediated growth was achieved with the use of a dopaminergic antagonist. Both adrenergic and dopaminergic antagonists were highly specific in their mechanism of action, which did not involve blockade of catecholamine-facilitated iron-acquisition. Use of radiolabeled norepinephrine suggested that the adrenergic antagonists could be acting by inhibiting catecholamine uptake. CONCLUSION: The present data demonstrates that the ability of a specific pathogen to respond to a particular hormone is dependent upon the host anatomical region in which the pathogen causes disease as well as the neuroanatomical specificity to which production of the particular hormone is restricted; and that both are anatomically coincidental to each other. As such, the present report suggests that pathogens with a high degree of exclusivity to the gastrointestinal tract have evolved response systems to neuroendocrine hormones such as norepinephrine and dopamine, but not epinephrine, which are found with the enteric nervous system
Improving dissertation assessment
During the last decade, there have been increasing calls for higher education to improve standards, increase the quality of assessment, and for greater accountability of lecturers. It is recognised that consistency in assessment is even more important where assessment is through one large piece of work, such as a dissertation, and where the assessment outcome will have a significant impact on the final grade of students. Dissertation modules typically pose further problems for assessment consistency due to the large number of students and the resultant need for large numbers of lecturers to participate in its assessment. This paper synthesises the initial literature findings from an on-going research project that aims to identify good practices for dissertation assessment, in an attempt to improve the quality and consistency of assessment
Valuation of Drought Information: Understanding the Value of the US Drought Monitor in Land Management
Droughts affect recreation and tourism, grazing, forests, and timber, and can have important indirect effects for the ecosystems and species that rely on water. Despite its importance, the effect of drought in the land management sector is less understood than in other water-intensive sectors, such as agriculture and public water supplies. This study presents the first-ever estimates of the economic valuation of the information provided by the U.S. Drought Monitor using the avoided cost method. These estimates are based on the time and labor saved by using the U.S. Drought Monitor rather than compiling drought-related information from other sources, or using other sources for tracking/monitoring droughts, communicating drought conditions, and dealing with drought-related issues. The results reflect rational behaviorâthe more time needed to compile or collect drought information provided by the U.S. Drought Monitor, the higher the dollar value in avoided cost. This dollar amount also varies by institution and organization, which indicates respondents from different organizations value the information from the U.S. Drought Monitor differently. For example, compared to the state offices, the field offices in the Bureau of Land Management value more of the information provided by the U.S. Drought Monitor. These estimates can be used to estimate the societal benefits and help policy makers evaluate the U.S. Drought Monitor in different sectors
Sequence analysis of an Archaeal virus isolated from a hypersaline lake in Inner Mongolia, China
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We are profoundly ignorant about the diversity of viruses that infect the domain <it>Archaea</it>. Less than 100 have been identified and described and very few of these have had their genomic sequences determined. Here we report the genomic sequence of a previously undescribed archaeal virus.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Haloarchaeal strains with 16S rRNA gene sequences 98% identical to <it>Halorubrum saccharovorum </it>were isolated from a hypersaline lake in Inner Mongolia. Two lytic viruses infecting these were isolated from the lake water. The BJ1 virus is described in this paper. It has an icosahedral head and tail morphology and most likely a linear double stranded DNA genome exhibiting terminal redundancy. Its genome sequence has 42,271 base pairs with a GC content of ~65 mol%. The genome of BJ1 is predicted to encode 70 ORFs, including one for a tRNA. Fifty of the seventy ORFs had no identity to data base entries; twenty showed sequence identity matches to archaeal viruses and to haloarchaea. ORFs possibly coding for an origin of replication complex, integrase, helicase and structural capsid proteins were identified. Evidence for viral integration was obtained.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The virus described here has a very low sequence identity to any previously described virus. Fifty of the seventy ORFs could not be annotated in any way based on amino acid identities with sequences already present in the databases. Determining functions for ORFs such as these is probably easier using a simple virus as a model system.</p
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