Blended learning for project management

Students studying at postgraduate level should engage in learning on higher cognitive levels such as evaluation and creation. The notion of effective learning at this level is characterised by the student’s ability to use acquired knowledge and principles to solve complex problems. Learning theories advocate maximising student engagement with the learning resources in order to facilitate such effective learning. This can be achieved by addressing the following factors in curriculum design: accessibility, variety, formative assessment and the development of learning communities. This paper presents work done on a postgraduate level Project Management course to maximise the factors mentioned above, for example, with the introduction of automatically marked quizzes and the re-structuring of the course content. The content and delivery of the course was changed from weekly lectures and tutorial sessions (old system) to a web-based blended learning system (new system). Evaluation of the old and new systems was undertaken using questionnaires. The student evaluation suggests that the new system led to more effective learning. It is suggested that effective learning can be facilitated by a blended learning system

Causes of accidents on construction sites: the case of a large construction contractor in Great Britain

In the construction industry in Great Britain, it is estimated that workplace accidents and work-related ill-health cost society £3 billion – this is equivalent to 4% of the construction industry revenue of about £75 billion. Thus, the need to study, understand and effectively manage health and safety (H&S) on construction sites cannot be overemphasised. This paper presents an analysis of accident data recorded by a large construction contractor in Great Britain. The data cover a period of 36 months from April 2004 to March 2007. Pareto analysis was used to determine the relative importance of the causes of accidents on the basis of number of workdays lost. Differences between the four sectors (highways, infrastructure, rail and utilities) in which the company operates were investigated. The case study suggests that the main causes of accidents on construction sites relate to individual attitudes towards H&S. Ability and willingness to implement safe approaches to working and an awareness of their own and others’ H&S can contribute to safe performances. It is suggested that the company could increase awareness of H&S issues among the workforce. This should be done on a regular basis through effective training, briefing and debriefing

A framework for introducing the private finance initiative in Brunei Darussalam construction industry.

The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a common, and sometimes preferred, approach to funding public projects without immediate recourse to the public purse, in the construction industry in developed countries throughout the world. It is, also, increasingly gaining popularity among developing countries. Brunei Darussalam is a developing country located on the northern coast of the island of Borneo in South East Asia with an interest in exploring how it can effectively employ the PFI approach to project finance in its construction industry. Against this background, a comprehensive desk study was undertaken together with an analysis of the relevant processes of government in Brunei Darussalam and a framework developed to facilitate the smooth introduction of PFI in the country’s construction industry. The framework was built around four main dimensions: organisation, training, participation and implementation. The framework was evaluated through a survey of managerial level civil servants in Brunei Darussalam’s Ministry of Development. The framework was found to be easy to understand, comprehensive, consistent with government processes and acceptable at all relevant Ministry levels. The framework provides a useful starting point on Brunei Darussalam’s journey towards effective implementation of PFI in its construction industry

Why small and medium construction enterprises do not employ six sigma

Six sigma (6σ) is a powerful business strategy which is aimed at increasing customer satisfaction and profitability by improving the quality of products and services. Many organisations have implemented 6σ and achieved significant levels of success. Successful implementation of 6σ leads to outcomes that would be welcome in the construction industry, given its reputation of suboptimal performance. The construction industry relies heavily on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Any improvement in construction SMEs would lead to improvements in the construction industry as a whole. Against this background, a survey was undertaken to establish whether construction SMEs used 6σ and to identify factors affecting the adoption of this business strategy. It was found that none of the SMEs in the sample used 6σ. The reasons given for not employing 6σ, in descending order of importance, were: lack of knowledge about 6σ programme; lack of resources (human, time, money); 6σ programme not required by customers; other sufficient quality system in use; 6σ provides no perceived benefits; and end users not prepared to pay for 6σ programme. These reasons can be challenged when a critical analysis of innovation in the external environment within which construction SMEs operate, trends in the mode of delivery of construction industry products, trends in performance measurement in the construction industry and the flexibility of 6σ as a quantitative approach to managing quality. Construction industry stakeholders need to think about 6σ critically and make informed decisions about its role in the construction industry quality management agenda

An evaluation of health and safety management in small construction enterprises in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom (UK) construction industry has one of the best safety records within the European Union, with fatalities and serious injuries being about one third of the European average. However, despite a number of recent initiatives, accidents still regularly occur on UK construction sites. A disproportionate number of fatalities occur in small construction enterprises employing fifteen operatives or less. In 2007, a survey of small construction enterprises in Southern England was carried out to identify factors which contribute to this relatively poor safety record. The survey was based on prior research which had identified three interrelated factors that influence health and safety (H&S) management: the individual’s competence and attitude; the job tasks and environment; and the organisational culture and leadership. It was found that project managers on small construction sites had limited knowledge of H&S requirements which often resulted in a poor or potentially dangerous work environment and a poor safety attitude within the workforce. It was concluded that increased awareness and training of project managers in small construction enterprises should be a priority for all who seek to improve H&S on construction sites

Motivation among construction workers in Turkey

The role of management is to apply organisational resources to achieve organisational objectives. The nature of commercial enterprise necessitates the desire for increased productivity and efficiency, and workforce motivation is acknowledged to be an influencing factor in these areas. Theory suggests that motivational factors follow a hierarchical format where higher level needs become dominant when lower level needs have been fulfilled, and improvements in motivation are facilitated more effectively through the higher level needs. This study looks at factors affecting the motivation of workers on Turkish construction sites. 370 construction workers were asked in a questionnaire to give examples of positive and negative factors which affect their motivation at work. It was found that money earned is the foremost motivating and de-motivating factor in the eyes of the construction workers. As a result it is suggested that workers on Turkish construction sites are managed in a way which limits their opportunities to fulfil higher level needs, and in order to increase worker motivation, and therefore productivity, the management of such workers should move away from control through external means and towards control through internal and cultural forces

A mathematical model for allocating project managers to projects

In multi-project environments, the decision of which project manager to allocate to which project directly affects organizational performance and therefore, it needs to be taken in a fair, robust and consistent manner. We argue that such a manner can be facilitated by a mathematical model that brings together all the relevant factors in an effective way. Content and thematic analyses of extant literature on optimization modelling were conducted to identify the major issues related to formulating a relevant mathematical model. A total of 200 articles covering the period 1959 to 2015 were reviewed. A deterministic integer programming model was formulated and implemented in OpenSolver. The utility of the model was demonstrated with an illustrative example to optimize the allocation of six project managers to six projects. The results indicate that the model is capable of making optimal allocations in less than one second, with a solution precision of 99%. These results compare well with some intuitive verification checks on certain expectations. For example, the most competent project manager was allocated to the highest priority project while the least competent project manager was allocated to the lowest priority project. Through this study, we have proposed a comprehensive and balanced approach by incorporating both hard and soft issues in our mathematical modelling, to address gaps in existing project manager-to-project (PM2P) allocation models as well as extending applications of mathematical modelling of the PM2P allocation problem to a “new” country and industry, with a view to complement managerial intuition. In an attempt to address gaps in existing mathematical models associated with challenges related to acceptance by industry practitioners, future work includes developing a graphical user interface to separate the model base and optimization software details from users, as part of a complete product to be validated as an industry application

Extending the clean development mechanism to building projects

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a global scheme intended to provide a flexible way to comply with carbon emissions reduction commitments through emissions trading. In this scheme, countries can purchase certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of avoided emissions, to meet part of their emission reduction commitments. The CER credits are generated from emission reduction activities that are undertaken in developing countries. Although the CDM has benefited several sectors, the building sector hitherto accounts for a meagre proportion of the globally registered CDM initiatives. However, recent research suggests that there is potential in using the CDM concept to address carbon emissions associated with buildings. Further to this suggestion, this paper presents a demonstration of how the CDM concept could be applied to building projects in a developing country, Uganda. A two-bedroom residential house was considered as the unit of analysis and carbon emissions associated with constructing its walls were derived, considering materials, plant, and workforce used. Two options for the house were considered: a baseline (i.e. constructed using typical materials, plant, and labour) and green alternative (i.e. constructed using provisions to reduce carbon emissions). The difference in carbon emissions in the two options was found to constitute a basis for a CDM whose structure is presented and discussed in this paper. Considering a bottom-up projection regarding construction of residential houses in Uganda, the findings show that using the CDM concept, carbon emissions reduction of over 200 ktCO2 could be achieved in a period of 10 years. These figures were found comparable with prevailing CDM initiatives which are not associated with buildings. The overall findings indicated that extending the CDM concept to building projects is plausible and could promote market-based mechanisms of enhancing sustainable construction