MPM students visited Hyundai E&C and GS Headoffice in Seoul Korea

Master of Project Management in Construction (MPM) Students visited Hyunday E&C and GS during MPM Field Trip to South Korea 1-6 August 2010.

As part of MPM learning activities, we visited large international construction company Hyundai E&C and GS. The purpose of this visits is to learn their new development, strategy and research.

Many thanks to Hyunday E&C and GS!

Dr. Chotchai and Dr. Hadikusumo organized MPM and CEIM Introductory Seminar in Saigon on 29 Jan 2008

On 28 January 2008, Dr. Chotchai and Dr. Hadikusumo organized "MPM and CEIM Introductory Seminar" in SEAMEO, Saigon. The purpose of the seminar is to explain our MPM and CEIM program and curriculum to potential students.

Dr. Chotchai made a presentation on "The Need of Higher Education in Project Management". According to him, the construction growth in Vietnam is very high at about 12% of the National GDP. Vietnam is facing a new environment in constructing projects such as international investors and high complexity projects. He discussed that there is a big opportunity in the project management career especially for students who get their degree from international universities. Many Foreign Direct Investors project need qualified engineers who have good project management knowledge and English proficiency.

He mentioned that so far engineers learn project management through (i) short course training which is not sufficient to learn holistic view of project management and (ii) experience which may cost a lot of money since delay and cost overrun may happen.

Short course trainings usually only teach the hard components of project management such as cost estimation and control and project scheduling. However, due to the nature and characteristic of projects in which many companies and people work together at the same time, Project Manager needs to have the 'soft components' of project management such as communication management and skills, negotiation, team management, leadership, project organization and contract risk management which hardly can be learned through a short course training. This is one of the reasons for why CEIM offers higher education (i.e. master and doctoral) in Project Management in Construction.

Another reason, project manager needs to develop his/her problem solving skills. This problem solving skill can only be learned through intensive research work in which a scientific approach is used (observation, hypothesis development, hypothesis testing and analysis).

After Dr. Chotchai's presentation, Dr. Hadi made a presentation about 'Professional Master of Engineering in Project Management in Construction (MPM)' and 'Two-Phase Master and PhD'. Dr. Hadi highlighted that MPM is designed based on a balance between theoretical and practical aspects of project management knowledge while two-phase programs emphasize more on the theoretical aspects. Therefore, MPM is suitable for professionals who have been working in construction industry for at least three years, while two phase programs are suitable for fresh graduate engineers and researchers.

The seminar was attended by 25 potential students.

Posted by
Dr. BHW Hadikusumo
CEIM Coordinator
http://www.set.ait.ac.th/ceim/

" CEIM offers Master and Doctoral degrees in Construction Project Management and Infrastructure Management in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam "

CEIM Joined SET Promotion in Vietnam

On 28 to 29 January 2008, CEIM joined SET Promotion in Vietnam. We visited several organizations and universities in Vung Tau and Saigon as follows:

• VietSov Petro, Vung Tau
  
• Ba Ria Vung Tau University
• PetroVietnam Manpower Training College, Vung Tau
  
• Hoa Sen University, Saigon
  
• Van Lang University, Saigon
  

From our visits, we receive several potential collaborations to expand CEIM operation in Vietnam.

Posted by
Dr. BHW Hadikusumo
CEIM Coordinator
http://www.set.ait.ac.th/ceim/

" CEIM offers Master and Doctoral degrees in Construction Project Management and Infrastructure Management in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam "

Risk Management in Construction - Challenging and Emerging Issues (in Vietnam) Part 4 (End)

Photo 1. Risk Management in Construction

Photo 2. Forum Participants

Posted by
Dr. BHW Hadikusumo
CEIM Coordinator
http://www.set.ait.ac.th/ceim/

" CEIM offers Master and Doctoral degrees in Construction Project Management and Infrastructure Management in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam "

Risk Management in Construction - Challenging and Emerging Issues (in Vietnam) Part 3

Analyze Risk Factors Affect on Vietnam Construction and Petro Projects

In the Risk Management in Construction FORUM, Mr. Pham Hong Linh and Dr. Trinh Thuy Anh made a presentation on Risk Factors Affecting Vietnam Construction and Petro Projects.

Mr. Pham Hong Linh who is now the General Director of OMMON Pipeline project 400 Km Length and a Vice President of PV Gas shared his years of experience in managing construction projects such as (i) Dung Quat Oil Refinery, (ii) Thi Vai LPG Terminal, (iii) Phu My - Thu Duc Gas Pipeline, (iv) Ca Mau Gas – Power - Fertilizer, and (iv) PVN Tower Building at Le Duan St, HCM. He explained the problems faced in the projects and the causes as follows:

• Dung Quat Oil Refinery - Delay Cost increase due to The Owner Change and Wrong in the estimation
• Thi Vai LPG Terminal - Delay, Crack Settlement due to wrong in design of foundation
• Phu My - Thu Duc Gas Pipeline - Delay due to Change F.S and Cost increase
• Ca Mau Gas – Power - Fertilizer - Delay and not yet operate due to Cost increase from half billion to 900 million.
• PVN Tower Building at Le Duan St, HCM - Delay due to policy change and Design & Build
  

In his conclusion, he gave his positive opinions regarding Risk Management for Vietnam Construction Projects as follows:

• Risk management should be considered as an important part of project management.
• Risks management need to be considered into related regulation. Construction Law or Government Decrees
• Especially focus on the initiation stage:Investment report, Feasibility Study, Project planning and Detail Design.
• The Government required playing an important role in study and providing risk management institution in Investment Projects.
• Proposes in specific institution for risk management in terms of time, cost, resource, regulation, guideline, process and content by the government. For example, the cost estimated for risk management could be considered as essential part among the total investment cost of the project.
• The Investors should pay appropriate attention to risk management along with project planning while those institution and policies do not approve.
• The appendix of the report suggests a risk management process to them.
  

During the Question and Answer session, participants asked following questions:

• When is the best time to conduct Risk Management?
• According to Mr. Linh, Risk Management must be carefully taken in each project phase. In each phase, different risks occur. For example, during the Feasibility Study, we should consider risks related with Land Acquisition. He explained that one of the project must pay a lot of compensation to the contractor because the owner cannot give the compensation to the people on time. Another example, for pipeline project, during the design stage the project may not identify any road construction and then at the construction stage, a new road construction was constructed. This means that additional costs to repair the road after the construction of pipe line occurs.

Posted by

Dr. BHW Hadikusumo
CEIM Coordinator
http://www.set.ait.ac.th/ceim/

" CEIM offers Master and Doctoral degrees in Construction Project Management and Infrastructure Management in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam "

Risk Management in Construction - Challenging and Emerging Issues (in Vietnam) Part 2

Dr. Hadikusumo made a presentation about Safety Management System for Zero Accident Target. His presentation discussed how to develop a good safety management system and which safety programs are effective to achieve our safety performance target. His presentation was based on a 4.5 years intensive study conducted in Thailand by Dr. Thanet Aksorn and Dr. Hadikusumo.

In his presentation, he explained that most of accidents are caused by unsafe behaviors of people and unsafe conditions. The unsafe behavior contribute 80% of the total accidents. The main reason of the unsafe behavior is because of Human Error. Based on Acciddent/Incident Theory of Dan Peterson, human error can be reduced and eliminated if the company has a good safety management system.

Dr. Hadikusumo concluded that four important issues which are very important to support the implementation of Safety Management System: (i) Management Committment, (ii) Worker Participation, (iii) Safety Protection System and (iv) Safety Administration.

He mentioned that many contractors dont really know which safety programs are effective to help them to achieve good safety performance target. Based on the 4.5 years intensive study, Dr. Thanet revealed that some safety programs are very effective and efficient to reduce accidents, unsafe acts and unsafe conditions. They are:

• Accident investigation including near-miss accident
• Safety Inspection
• Job Hazard Analysis
• Safety committee
• Safety Audit
• Control of Subcontractors
  

Effective means can achieve the result and Efficient means the safety program does not need a lot of resources.

During the Question/Answer session, forum audience asked following issues:

• How much is the appropriate safety budget for a construction project? In Dr. Hadikusumo's opinion, the budget is within 1.5 to 3% depends on the size of the project. For large construction project with longer duration, the safety budget can be 1.5% since the PPE can be repetitively used. However, he mentioned that the most important is not the percentage figure, but how the budget is allocated. He recommended that the safety budget must be separated from the total project cost and the contractor must breakdown the safety budget in detail so that this safety budget plan can be used to check whether the contractor really implement the safety plan. This issue is important because many projects tried not to spend on safety expenses for increasing their profits.
• Do I need to have a Safety Management System, if i already pay insurance? The answer is yes! They are two different purposes. Insurance is to protect you from a certain risk while Safety Management System is for your organization competency and development.

Posted by

Dr. BHW Hadikusumo
CEIM Coordinator
http://www.set.ait.ac.th/ceim/

" CEIM offers Master and Doctoral degrees in Construction Project Management and Infrastructure Management in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam "

Risk Management in Construction - Challenging and Emerging Issues (in Vietnam) Part 1

CEIM/AIT in collaboration with AITCV organized a forum "Risk Management in Construction - Challenging and Emerging Issues" in Saigon, Vietnam on 16 January 2008 at Majestic Hotel.

The FORUM was attended by 50 persons from many organizations:
- Cong Ty TNHH Tu Van Xay Dung Tan CC
- Cong Ty CP TV TK Cang - Ky Thuat Bien
- Cong Ty Co Phan Dau Tu Phat Trien Sai Gon
- Cong Ty TNHH Huy Tan
- Cty Co Phan Xay Dung and Kinh Doanh Vat Tu
- Thanh Tra So Xay Dung Tp HCM
- Tong Cong Ty Xay Dung Sai gon
- CN-Trung Tam Tu Van Dau Tu Va Thiet Ke
- Cong Ty Tu Van Thiet Ke Dau Khi
- Waseco
- Chuong Duong Construction and Investment Company
- IndoChina Land Project Management
- PV Manpower Training College
- Cong Ty Co Phan Phat Trien Nha thu Duc
- Cong Ty Kiem Dinh xay Dung Sai Gon
- Trung Tam An Toan Va MT Dau Khi (CPSE)
- Cong Ty TNHH Bat Dong San FPT
- Cong Ty Kiem Dinh Say Dung Saigon
- Ban Quan Ly Du An Khi Tay Nam Bo
- Cong Ty Co Phan Ngoc Suong
- COFICO
- Real Architecture
- Saigon Construction Quality control
- Saigon Construction Corporation
- PetroVietnam Power Corporation
- THUDUC House
- Project Management Unit
- Royal Haskoning


Three speakers were invited to present risk-related topics:
- Dr. BHW Hadikusumo (CEIM/AIT Faculty) on "Safety Management System for Zero Accident Target"
- Mr. Pham Hong Linh (Vice President of PV Gas) on "Risk in Vietnam Construction"
- Dr. Roland (AIT Faculty) on "Legal and Contract Risk"

The English presentation was interpreted to vietnamese language by two interpreter:
- Ms. Mai Do Thuy Dung (Purchasing Manager of IndoChina Capital)
- Mr. Bui Quang Luong (Project Management Unit Officer)
- note: both of them are currently pursuing their Professional Master in Project Management program in AITCV/Saigon.

In overall, the FORUM was very interesting. There are a lot of discussions and questions raised by FORUM participants.

We try our best to organize similar forums every three months!



Posted by

Dr. BHW Hadikusumo
CEIM Coordinator
http://www.set.ait.ac.th/ceim/

" CEIM offers Master and Doctoral degrees in Construction Project Management and Infrastructure Management in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam "

Risk Management in Construction Forum in Vietnam

AITCV is organizing a Risk Management in Construction Forum on Wednesday 16 January 2008.

Three speakers will make presentations and lead the forum discussions:

• Safety Management System for Zero Accident Target by Dr. BHW Hadikusumo, Construction Engineering and Infrastructure Management, Asian Institute of Technology.
• Prevention and Treatment Of Legal and Contract Risks in the Construction Industry in Vietnam by Dr. Rolland Amoussou-Guenou Attorney at Law, Lecturer and Asia–Africa Initiative Project Manager Asian Institute of Technology (AIT - Thailand)
• Risk Management in Vietnam Construction Industry by Mr. Pham Hong Linh (Vice President of Petrovietnam Gas)

Venue: Majestic Hotel, Ho Chi Minh
Date: Wednesday, 16 January 2007
Hours: 8.30 am to 12 noon
Cost: VND 500,000

For registration, please contact Ms. Tuong (ngletuong@aitcv.ac.vn and mobile phone: 913138408)

Posted By
Dr. BHW Hadikusumo
CEIM and MPM Coordinator
http://www.set.ait.ac.th/ceim/

" CEIM offers Master and Doctoral degrees in Construction Project Management and Infrastructure Management in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam "