Cost control is conceived to ensure that costs stay in line with the planned needs established by the company to achieve economic targets. Every construction firms needs information about costs in order to plan, evaluate, decide, and budget, among other purposes. The cost control is a process that should be continued through the construction period to ensure that the cost of the building is kept within the agreed cost limits. The cost control can divide into two major areas; the control of cost during design stages and the control of cost by the contractors once the construction of project has started. The main objective of cost control is gaining the maximum profit within the designated period and satisfactory quality of work.
Most of Viet Nam Construction Company have cost control system established by themselves; but the systems are system less and ineffective. Mr. Le Hai Son made a case study on “On Site Cost Control System In Construction Company In Viet Nam: A Case Study Of Three Construction Companies In Ho Chi Minh City” to understand the current practice in their organization and explore what factors are effective or deficient that needs improvement.
His study was carried out to study the cost control method in a construction project, to identify the cost control method frequently used by the contractor during the construction stage and to identify the problem faced in controlling the costs on site. The objectives of his study are (1) to study and understand the current on site cost control system in Vietnamese construction companies; (2) to investigate and identify effectiveness and deficiencies cost control system; the factors caused those effects in relation with measurement identification; and (3) to recommend how to improve the cost control system of company base on the attributes founded.
His study revealed that the common trend in Vietnam Construction Company is that cost control procedure has not been systematized. The organizations have initiated a development plan and only a few of them have successfully established their cost control systems. This shortage, therefore, is a major factor that causes contractors' business failures during the current economic recession period. They used the system designed by themselves and applied for all projects they achieved.
Mr. Le Hai son’s study also revealed that site personnel in the organizations have less participation in cost control. According to the companies' policies, the budget is set and solely approved by head office. Normally, head office doesn't let site personnel know budget and assigned them to control only in term of quantity. As a result, site personnel have no cost-conscious mind and are not motivated to monitor and control cost. For cost analyzing and reporting, the responsibility is taken by accountants who can generate information based on bills and invoices. Certainly, the generated cost information can't reflect the real on-site situation and can't provide great benefits to management to take right and timely corrective actions.
In this case study, most of cost codes system used by the contractor or construction management company is not examined to identify their effectiveness in controlling project costs. Therefore, monitoring of actual expenditures of each work item and monitoring of work progress in comparison with budget and actual cost can't be achieved.
His study found some problems that affect to cost control system of company come from following reasons:
1. Human factors and type of training cost engineers –Viet Nam does not have professional estimators, hence construction management on cost control had not yet assessed appropriately. Training mission to provide engineers and expert in this field had not yet considered important.
2. Estimate norm - Viet Nam has many norm systems, but they are deficient, inadequate and complicated. Many construction works in norm are not appropriate with reality leading cost management, setting up estimate, verifying, approving and executing have difficulties during last period.
3. Material calculation method - it is necessary to have a regulation that stipulate adequate real cost, it can be considered that we can follow the announcement from prestige supplier; therefore we can compare and chose.
4. Labor cost calculation- each province has different comprehension and calculation method about labor cost and caused difficulty in establishing and managing the cost.
5. Treat inflation for construction buildings- the internal and international market price have powerful fluctuation.
6. Reserve expenditures for building construction -With the regulation for reserve cost about fifteen percentages “for feasibility study” for both inflation and quantity are not appropriate. Modification of the project, additional cost and efficiency investment can not avoid and the difficulties with investment project from capital sources will increase.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
Abstract
In a recent consulting assignment we realized that there was some lack of understanding of the whole system of project cost control, how it is setup and applied. Consulting engineering companies need an adequate cost control system to improve their profitability and productivity. It is important to keep current on a project's cost by maintaining a reliable cost control system. Most of Viet Nam construction companies do not have an appropriate cost control system that can maintaining a reliable cost control system ;enables a contractor to analyze the productivity of workers, the performance and efficiency of equipment, the cost of materials, and the proper allocation of overhead expenses. The goal of this study is surveying current practice about cost control system in Viet Nam construction company and suggestion factors for improving the system. The study was implemented with case study from three different scale companies. For assessing effectiveness and deficiencies, the system from three companies were evaluated by comparing with measure identification propose by Eknarin Sripraset (2000). The survey indicated that most of systems are self design ; in addition there is no integration between code accounting and cost code. These two main factors contribute to the deficiencies of the system and make the company loss severe benefit.
Monday, 17 August 2009
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
The Roles Of Lao Governtment On ADB Implementation Of Financial Partnership Strategy
Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a monetary institute to implement Financing Partnership with its clients in Member Developing Countries (MDC). ADB has to formulate its strategies agenda to respond the need and challenges of world’s dynamics. Lao P.D.R. is a member development country of ADB. Both of Lao government and ADB conduct the FPS together for poverty reduction in many sectors economic through Country Strategy and Greater Mekong Subregion Program (GMS). Presently, the Lao government recognizes that the social developments are required economic growth. The development of infrastructure system, human resources, agriculture and health need financial partner, because of financial term and capacity-building from both government and private. But Lao government officers still have less experience on preparing financial partnerships management. Many projects in Lao P.D.R met with inadequate financial infrastructure. In short, ADB Financing Partnership strategy is the complex process and needs the efficient coordination with partners and clearly articulated execution to lead to the goals. The proper collaboration of ADB and Lao government are provided virtual lesson and it is able to prevent consequent problems and reduce conflict between ADB and Lao government or third party partners.
Mr. Phouthasen Sinthavong made a case study on “The Roles Of Lao Governtment On Adb Implementation Of Financial Partnership Strategy: A Case Study Of Vientiane Urban Infrastructure And Services Project’ which major objective is to find out treatment method for the FPS improvement, when such problems arise. To achieve the study’s major objective, three sub-objectives were needed to (1) to investigate the current strategy on ADB implementation of the FPS approach to encourage Projects or program in Laos; (2) to identify the strength and weakness of applying the FPS under project or program of ADB encouragement; and (3) to propose recommendation on how to improve the implementation of FPS between ADB and Lao Government for project or program encouragement.
He found out that the Lao government promulgated the Law on Local Administration to support urban revenue collection. It was recognized in Law on Local administration and empowered to raise local revenue for provide of urban service. The mechanism operation was slow than target date this affected directly to the implementation of VUDAA on revenue collection. Paralleling with the Law on Local Administration, Local governor issues the decree regarding fees and charges but there still was a need for further refining as to how the fees and charges were assessed and how they will collect. However at the project completion the base fees and charges were insufficient to provide the type of service. However, the project was completed by its main objectives; this is fundamentally the consequence of Lao government support.
He also found out that ADB’s undertook thirteen Review Mission, including the inception Mission and Midterm Review Mission. The Review Mission was the good performance of ADB to monitoring the project implementation. Each Review Mission met the problems and they were solved among the financial partners. This operation should illustrate the sufficient and efficient result to other project. Additionally, there are some weaknesses of ADB implantation on applying the Financial Partnership to the project implementation in Laos. Although the AFD funded component for Capacity Building was undertake within the same office ADB component and the Review Mission proposed that there was close cooperation between VUDAA management and ADB funded component in aspects of the project. The Review Mission also proposed that Review Mission were undertaken by ADB without the involvement of AFD.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
The infrastructure development in Laos, especially Vientiane, requires a great of number capital for investment. The financial partnership with monetary institute is critical way to develop infrastructure for Lao government and it will be accelerator to catalyst the economic growth and reduce the poor among community.
This research aims to investigate the financial partnership between Lao government and Asian Development Bank, which is a monetary to support fund for development in Asia Pacific. How the Financial Partnership be done and its effect after conduction is the main objective to meet in the research. Eventually, the result from displayed that there are many flaws from the implementation of Lao government on involve project implementation and financial partners such as; lack of better liaison initial among financial partner, Low competency of Lao employee, inadequate financial infrastructure in Laos and low of planning and control and equipments. To meet the efficient infrastructure development, Lao government continued to operate the Financial Partners is not only with ADB but also other monetary institutes or the other governments, whom are interested to assist Lao government for country development.
Keywords: financial partnership strategy; financial infrastructure; financial partner; fund; implementation; ADB
Mr. Phouthasen Sinthavong made a case study on “The Roles Of Lao Governtment On Adb Implementation Of Financial Partnership Strategy: A Case Study Of Vientiane Urban Infrastructure And Services Project’ which major objective is to find out treatment method for the FPS improvement, when such problems arise. To achieve the study’s major objective, three sub-objectives were needed to (1) to investigate the current strategy on ADB implementation of the FPS approach to encourage Projects or program in Laos; (2) to identify the strength and weakness of applying the FPS under project or program of ADB encouragement; and (3) to propose recommendation on how to improve the implementation of FPS between ADB and Lao Government for project or program encouragement.
He found out that the Lao government promulgated the Law on Local Administration to support urban revenue collection. It was recognized in Law on Local administration and empowered to raise local revenue for provide of urban service. The mechanism operation was slow than target date this affected directly to the implementation of VUDAA on revenue collection. Paralleling with the Law on Local Administration, Local governor issues the decree regarding fees and charges but there still was a need for further refining as to how the fees and charges were assessed and how they will collect. However at the project completion the base fees and charges were insufficient to provide the type of service. However, the project was completed by its main objectives; this is fundamentally the consequence of Lao government support.
He also found out that ADB’s undertook thirteen Review Mission, including the inception Mission and Midterm Review Mission. The Review Mission was the good performance of ADB to monitoring the project implementation. Each Review Mission met the problems and they were solved among the financial partners. This operation should illustrate the sufficient and efficient result to other project. Additionally, there are some weaknesses of ADB implantation on applying the Financial Partnership to the project implementation in Laos. Although the AFD funded component for Capacity Building was undertake within the same office ADB component and the Review Mission proposed that there was close cooperation between VUDAA management and ADB funded component in aspects of the project. The Review Mission also proposed that Review Mission were undertaken by ADB without the involvement of AFD.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
The infrastructure development in Laos, especially Vientiane, requires a great of number capital for investment. The financial partnership with monetary institute is critical way to develop infrastructure for Lao government and it will be accelerator to catalyst the economic growth and reduce the poor among community.
This research aims to investigate the financial partnership between Lao government and Asian Development Bank, which is a monetary to support fund for development in Asia Pacific. How the Financial Partnership be done and its effect after conduction is the main objective to meet in the research. Eventually, the result from displayed that there are many flaws from the implementation of Lao government on involve project implementation and financial partners such as; lack of better liaison initial among financial partner, Low competency of Lao employee, inadequate financial infrastructure in Laos and low of planning and control and equipments. To meet the efficient infrastructure development, Lao government continued to operate the Financial Partners is not only with ADB but also other monetary institutes or the other governments, whom are interested to assist Lao government for country development.
Keywords: financial partnership strategy; financial infrastructure; financial partner; fund; implementation; ADB
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Corporate Social Responsibility In Vietnamese Construction Industry
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a new concept for Vietnamese businesses in general and for construction firms in particular. It has become more familiar in recent years especially after Vietnam has enacted and implemented its “Doi moi” (renovation) policy since 1986 and has been gaining more and more significant economic goals. According to Post et al (2002), “CSR challenges businesses to be accountable for the consequence of their actions affecting the firm’s stakeholders while they pursue traditional economic goals.
The general public expects business to be socially responsible, and many companies have responded by making social goals a part of their overall business operations”. There are a lot of studies on CSR of businesses in general and other industries but there are few studies concentrating particularly on CSR in construction industry. Since Vietnam’s concept on CSR is not yet established, Mr. Tran Huong Quang made a study on “Corporate Social Responsibility in Vietnamese Construction Industry”. The main objective of his study is to understand the current status, attitudes and the awareness toward CSR in Vietnamese construction companies through their principles of conduct and evaluating the CSR performance.
His specific objectives are: (1) to understand the attitudes and the awareness of CSR in Vietnamese construction companies; (2) to explore the current status and performance of CSR in construction companies; (3) to find out the influence of other relevant factors to CSR performance in construction companies; and (4) to propose recommendations for CSR performance improvement.
His conclusions based on the result of his study are:
1. Attitude and awareness toward CSR - generally, Vietnamese construction managers have positive attitude toward CSR and good interest in CSR concept. A considerable percentage of managers understand CSR well and can recognize the benefit of CSR while some have bias perception.
2. CSR performance - most organizations have above average CSR performance score which generally come from certain “good characteristic” or objective advantages of construction industry rather than organization’s own efforts.
3. Influence of factors - CSR requires a bunch of indicators to be examined and controlled simultaneously which becomes a burden for every construction companies especially small and medium sized. The research shows that in public companies, there are some CSR indicators with good performance. “Sheer” public companies and similar still play important roles in Vietnamese economy, public equity exist strongly in those companies and the government somehow participates in decision making in those companies. This power is a good advantage for Vietnamese government to initiate many CSR promotion programs.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
Abstract
During recent years, Vietnam, a developing country, is one of the most rapidly developing economies of the world. Among its objectives, sustainable development is essential. Together with attaining some Millennium Development Goals such as reducing poverty, faster growth, improving quality of education, gender equality…, Vietnam has been delivering more and more effort for its sustainable development.
Today’s heightened interest in the role of businesses in society has been promoted by increased sensitivity to and awareness of environmental and ethical issues. Issues like environmental damage, improper treatment of workers, and faulty production that inconveniences or endangers customers are highlighted in the media. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is closely linked with the principles of Sustainable Development and the wider aim of CSR is to create higher and higher standards of living while preserving the profitability of the corporation.
The Construction industry is a large and diverse component of any economy. Its positive contributions for the social through many deliverables are undeniable. But there are still inadequacies inside the industry which has been criticized by lots of researchers. The author would like to conduct a research based on a case study and a survey to assess the attitudes and the awareness toward CSR in Vietnamese construction companies through their principles of conduct and evaluating the CSR performance. By the way, the author would like to discuss about some suggestion for CSR performance improvement and devote his effort in a hope that it may give a small contribution for enhancing CSR among construction companies in his beloved country.
The general public expects business to be socially responsible, and many companies have responded by making social goals a part of their overall business operations”. There are a lot of studies on CSR of businesses in general and other industries but there are few studies concentrating particularly on CSR in construction industry. Since Vietnam’s concept on CSR is not yet established, Mr. Tran Huong Quang made a study on “Corporate Social Responsibility in Vietnamese Construction Industry”. The main objective of his study is to understand the current status, attitudes and the awareness toward CSR in Vietnamese construction companies through their principles of conduct and evaluating the CSR performance.
His specific objectives are: (1) to understand the attitudes and the awareness of CSR in Vietnamese construction companies; (2) to explore the current status and performance of CSR in construction companies; (3) to find out the influence of other relevant factors to CSR performance in construction companies; and (4) to propose recommendations for CSR performance improvement.
His conclusions based on the result of his study are:
1. Attitude and awareness toward CSR - generally, Vietnamese construction managers have positive attitude toward CSR and good interest in CSR concept. A considerable percentage of managers understand CSR well and can recognize the benefit of CSR while some have bias perception.
2. CSR performance - most organizations have above average CSR performance score which generally come from certain “good characteristic” or objective advantages of construction industry rather than organization’s own efforts.
3. Influence of factors - CSR requires a bunch of indicators to be examined and controlled simultaneously which becomes a burden for every construction companies especially small and medium sized. The research shows that in public companies, there are some CSR indicators with good performance. “Sheer” public companies and similar still play important roles in Vietnamese economy, public equity exist strongly in those companies and the government somehow participates in decision making in those companies. This power is a good advantage for Vietnamese government to initiate many CSR promotion programs.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
Abstract
During recent years, Vietnam, a developing country, is one of the most rapidly developing economies of the world. Among its objectives, sustainable development is essential. Together with attaining some Millennium Development Goals such as reducing poverty, faster growth, improving quality of education, gender equality…, Vietnam has been delivering more and more effort for its sustainable development.
Today’s heightened interest in the role of businesses in society has been promoted by increased sensitivity to and awareness of environmental and ethical issues. Issues like environmental damage, improper treatment of workers, and faulty production that inconveniences or endangers customers are highlighted in the media. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is closely linked with the principles of Sustainable Development and the wider aim of CSR is to create higher and higher standards of living while preserving the profitability of the corporation.
The Construction industry is a large and diverse component of any economy. Its positive contributions for the social through many deliverables are undeniable. But there are still inadequacies inside the industry which has been criticized by lots of researchers. The author would like to conduct a research based on a case study and a survey to assess the attitudes and the awareness toward CSR in Vietnamese construction companies through their principles of conduct and evaluating the CSR performance. By the way, the author would like to discuss about some suggestion for CSR performance improvement and devote his effort in a hope that it may give a small contribution for enhancing CSR among construction companies in his beloved country.
Monday, 10 August 2009
Conflict Dynamics in Dam Construction Projects: A Case Study of Middle Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Project, Nepal
In any construction projects, conflicts exist. The bigger the projects are, the more it face many disagreements. Dam construction project involve multidisciplinary teams and interdisciplinary activities. The limited time and physical resources has added the another complexity to the construction process. Different stakeholders have different objectives, perception and priorities. The difference in attitudes often creates conflict (Awakul and Ogunlana, 2002a) and as a result of which most of the projects are set aside at the planning stage whereas others are subject to conflicts during the execution stage causing enormous time and cost overruns.
Mr. Braj Kishor Mahato made a case study on Conflict Dynamics in Dam Construction Projects in Middle Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Project in Nepal which aimed to develop a model for comprehensive and integrated approach of conflict management to manage the conflicts effectively, efficiently and equitably early in a project’s life using system dynamic modeling technique.
His study’s overall objective is to thoroughly understand and develop a simulation model for comprehensive, integrated and proactive approach of conflict management in dam construction project. The model will be helpful for project manager to assess and take proactive measures to manage the conflicts effectively, efficiently and equitably early in a project’s life. However, his study’s three specific objectives are to (1) identify and explore pertinent conflict factors in dam construction projects; (2) develop a model to understand the dynamics of conflict in dam construction project using system dynamics modeling technique; and (3) use the model to derive viable policies for minimization of conflict at construction stage in dam construction projects.
His major conclusions made in this study are as follows:
1. Most interesting fact found from model simulation is intensive public hearing prior to final decision at earlier stage surges conflict forward and minimize overall conflict at later stage.
2. Discloser of project related data to project stakeholder is not only surging conflict forward but also reducing it at construction stage.
3. Intensive public participation at early stage of project will decrease over all interface conflict in project. Public participation and consultation at early stage of project guarantying access to all stakeholders including disclosure of all data, both positive and negative, for public knowledge will reduce the anxiety of local people about the project and establish transparency beyond suspicion which will reduce confrontation at later stage.
4. It may be concluded from the simulation that discrepancy in compensation payment, resettlement and support programs can be minimized by effectively involving project-affected people in formulation and implementation of compensation, resettlement and support program
5. Proper implementation of programs related with resettlement of project affected people (project employment, compensation payment, support programs) will reduce interface conflict at later stage of project.
6. Increasing monitoring and reporting surge interface conflict slightly forward which will give opportunity to project team to take proactive action.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
Interface conflict is identified as one of the major problem in dam construction projects. Differences in attitude and interest often create conflict as a result of which many projects are set aside at planning stage whereas others are subject to conflict during execution stage. Conflict in execution stage causes prolonged delay, enormous cost overrun and at worst abandon of project. Proper management of conflict can determine success or failure of a project. Thus it is crucial to identify the root-causes of interface conflict in present and past project to avoid such problems in future. Qualitative data gathered from the case studies, interviews conducted in Nepal and an intensive literature review has helped to develop a system dynamic model to explore and examine full context of interface conflict theoretically and practically in dam construction project. Reference mode approach was used in modeling based on literature and expert views on the typical evolution of key indicators of interface conflict. This study discusses factors that influence development of interface conflict in dam construction project in Nepalese context.
This study reveals that interface conflict at construction stage of project is caused by lack of effective public hearing prior to making final decision, public participation and information disclosure at early stage of project, insufficient education and training program, discrepancy in compensation payment, resettlement and support programs. Public involvement and mutual consultation considering guaranteed access to all stakeholders, public hearing prior to final decision will increase the public acceptance of the project. It will be easier to reach on agreement on conflicting issues when the stakeholders are well informed and empowered. Disclosure of accurate and timely information for public knowledge will reduce the anxiety of local people about the project and establish transparency beyond suspicion.
Discrepancy in compensation payment, resettlement and support programs can be minimized by (i) effectively involving project-affected people in formulation and implementation of compensation and resettlement program (ii) formulating comprehensive and inclusive national policy to resettlement issues in dam construction project. Education, training and support programs to the project-affected people will provide opportunity to restore their livelihood and create positive perception of community about dam project. Study also identified that monitoring and reporting will allow for identifying success stories to be replicated and avoiding the failure, which will ultimately decrease the negative perception of community about dam project. This will reduce interface conflict in future dam construction project.
Mr. Braj Kishor Mahato made a case study on Conflict Dynamics in Dam Construction Projects in Middle Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Project in Nepal which aimed to develop a model for comprehensive and integrated approach of conflict management to manage the conflicts effectively, efficiently and equitably early in a project’s life using system dynamic modeling technique.
His study’s overall objective is to thoroughly understand and develop a simulation model for comprehensive, integrated and proactive approach of conflict management in dam construction project. The model will be helpful for project manager to assess and take proactive measures to manage the conflicts effectively, efficiently and equitably early in a project’s life. However, his study’s three specific objectives are to (1) identify and explore pertinent conflict factors in dam construction projects; (2) develop a model to understand the dynamics of conflict in dam construction project using system dynamics modeling technique; and (3) use the model to derive viable policies for minimization of conflict at construction stage in dam construction projects.
His major conclusions made in this study are as follows:
1. Most interesting fact found from model simulation is intensive public hearing prior to final decision at earlier stage surges conflict forward and minimize overall conflict at later stage.
2. Discloser of project related data to project stakeholder is not only surging conflict forward but also reducing it at construction stage.
3. Intensive public participation at early stage of project will decrease over all interface conflict in project. Public participation and consultation at early stage of project guarantying access to all stakeholders including disclosure of all data, both positive and negative, for public knowledge will reduce the anxiety of local people about the project and establish transparency beyond suspicion which will reduce confrontation at later stage.
4. It may be concluded from the simulation that discrepancy in compensation payment, resettlement and support programs can be minimized by effectively involving project-affected people in formulation and implementation of compensation, resettlement and support program
5. Proper implementation of programs related with resettlement of project affected people (project employment, compensation payment, support programs) will reduce interface conflict at later stage of project.
6. Increasing monitoring and reporting surge interface conflict slightly forward which will give opportunity to project team to take proactive action.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
Interface conflict is identified as one of the major problem in dam construction projects. Differences in attitude and interest often create conflict as a result of which many projects are set aside at planning stage whereas others are subject to conflict during execution stage. Conflict in execution stage causes prolonged delay, enormous cost overrun and at worst abandon of project. Proper management of conflict can determine success or failure of a project. Thus it is crucial to identify the root-causes of interface conflict in present and past project to avoid such problems in future. Qualitative data gathered from the case studies, interviews conducted in Nepal and an intensive literature review has helped to develop a system dynamic model to explore and examine full context of interface conflict theoretically and practically in dam construction project. Reference mode approach was used in modeling based on literature and expert views on the typical evolution of key indicators of interface conflict. This study discusses factors that influence development of interface conflict in dam construction project in Nepalese context.
This study reveals that interface conflict at construction stage of project is caused by lack of effective public hearing prior to making final decision, public participation and information disclosure at early stage of project, insufficient education and training program, discrepancy in compensation payment, resettlement and support programs. Public involvement and mutual consultation considering guaranteed access to all stakeholders, public hearing prior to final decision will increase the public acceptance of the project. It will be easier to reach on agreement on conflicting issues when the stakeholders are well informed and empowered. Disclosure of accurate and timely information for public knowledge will reduce the anxiety of local people about the project and establish transparency beyond suspicion.
Discrepancy in compensation payment, resettlement and support programs can be minimized by (i) effectively involving project-affected people in formulation and implementation of compensation and resettlement program (ii) formulating comprehensive and inclusive national policy to resettlement issues in dam construction project. Education, training and support programs to the project-affected people will provide opportunity to restore their livelihood and create positive perception of community about dam project. Study also identified that monitoring and reporting will allow for identifying success stories to be replicated and avoiding the failure, which will ultimately decrease the negative perception of community about dam project. This will reduce interface conflict in future dam construction project.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Safety Rules And Procedures Development And Implementation: A Study On Construction Industries In Thailand
The construction industry is known for its poor safety performance when compared with other industries. According to Mohamed (1999), construction accident contribute to many human tragedies, de-motivate workers, disrupt site activities, delay project progress and negatively affect the overall cost, productivity or even the industry’s reputation.
Many researchers made a lot of studies to find ways in having a concrete safety measures to be applied in the construction firm to minimize these related accidents.
Mr. Andreas Adihartanto made a case study on the “Safety Rules and Procedures Development and Implementation” that Thai Construction firms are now applying. The main objective of his study is to investigate effective ways to manage safety rules and procedures when they have to deal with several types of violations. However, to attain the main objective, several sub-objectives were also proposed in his research to (1) investigate the prevalent safety rules and procedures practices in the construction industry in Thailand; (2) explore the relationship between organizational culture attribute and safety rules and procedures development and implementation; (3) examine the relationship between safety rules and procedures development, implementation and type of worker’s violations; (4) explore the relationship between leadership styles and types of safety rules and procedures violations; and (5) As an initial research to investigate the possibility of the “Peltzman Effect” occurrence in construction safety.
Mr. Adihartanto’s conclusions:
SRP’s practices in the construction industry in Thailand
He found out that there were no significant differences between medium-sized and large-sized construction projects in the way they develop and implement SRPs. Most of the SRP’s development variables were scored as high which indicated that contractor companies in Thailand typically take into accounts all of these variables when they develop their SRPs. However, during the implementation, they do not prefer to provide SRPs in form of writing documents (safety cards, manuals, etc.) to all of the workers, including translating written SRPs to the workers’ native language. Further analysis revealed a predisposition that management exploits these variables merely as of value to protect their back from the workers’ excuses. Regarding the translation of written SRPs, most respondents preferred to utilize interpreters to communicate their safety messages into the workgroups in which commonly they are the head of the groups. Therefore, it can be concluded that workers’ type of violations were occurred in similarity, in which they were ranging from erroneous to routine violations.
Organizational culture and SRP’s development and implementation
His analysis result indicated that neither of the clan nor the hierarchical culture attributes is more superior and effective in the development and implementation of SRPs. Each of these attributes has both positives and negatives. It is suggested therefore, that it is much more important for the management to understand the strengths as well as the weaknesses of particular attributes in their relation to the SRP’s development and implementation in order to make necessary adjustment for their organizational effectiveness.
Safety rules and procedures which were known to be complicated or confusing were adjusted, and it is more likely that they willing to put operatives’ suggestions into the rules development. However, in this kind of organizations, drawbacks are resulted from the management deficiencies in supporting their site operation as apparently, the availability of the SRP’s documents to the workforces and maintenance of safety visual signs were insufficient. Therefore, the decisions are skewed more on the management’s side.
SRP’s development and implementation with the type of worker’s violations
The result came with some SRP’s development and implementation variables that could potentially reduce particular type of violations. Therefore, it should be pointed out that mismanaging some of these variables could potentially promote violations. Although the rest of the variables were not found in contributing to the reduction of any type of violations, it is still suggested that management takes these variables into their Hierarchical Attributes Negatives Positives Operation, technical support deficiency Open-systems approach Bureaucratic approachOrdered, well-arranged Procedural rigidity, over reliance Output maximization, torientedClan Attributes Towards FlexiTowards Centra consideration when developing and implementing their SRPs. Table 5.3 and 5.4 below summarizes the analysis result analysis in which they portrayed the potential of each SRP’s development and implementation variable to reduce particular type of violations.
Leadership styles and type of worker’s violations
The result signifies the need for the Safety Officers to carefully understand the impact of their leadership behaviors. It is suggested that emphasize should have been taken to minimize the negative effect of the leadership styles rather than to reduce them. Based from the observations on-site combined with the analyses results, the researcher postulated that the problem largely relies on the workers’ perception. Thus, safety trainings were suggested to address this problem, particularly to take bigger portion in correcting workers’ perception.
5. The Peltzman Effect
In terms of workers’ activeness in safety programs participation, this study did not identify the presence of Peltzman Effect. However, further studies are suggested to investigate this phenomenon from different angle.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to identify problems associated with the development and implementation of safety rules and procedures (SRPs) to ensure worker’s compliance and to give an insight of effective solutions to overcome these problems. The discussions were broadened to identify the influence of organizational culture to the SRP’s development and implementation, the potential of leadership styles in handling particular type of violations and the possibility of the Peltzman Effect occurrence in the construction industry.
The result revealed that several SRP’s development and implementation variables have a great potential in reducing particular type of violations. Therefore, management should be aware that mismanaging these variables could potentially promote violations. In general, the finding suggested that SRP’s should be: (i) developed following project risks assessment, (ii) designed so that it will not over restricted individuals working efficiency, and (iii) designed considering operational difficulties. As well, during the implementation, SRP’s should be: (a) available to all of the workforces, (b) implemented alongside with varieties of safety trainings, and (c) enforced by providing wide ranging of PPE or any other resources necessary to do the job safely.
Furthermore, the findings also suggested the need for the management to understand the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the particular organizational culture attributes in their relation to the SRP’s development and implementation in order to make necessary adjustments for their organizational effectiveness. It is also suggested the need for the Safety Officers to carefully understanding the impact of their leadership behaviors. At last, in terms of worker’s activeness in safety programs participation, this study did not identify the presence of the Peltzman Effect.
Many researchers made a lot of studies to find ways in having a concrete safety measures to be applied in the construction firm to minimize these related accidents.
Mr. Andreas Adihartanto made a case study on the “Safety Rules and Procedures Development and Implementation” that Thai Construction firms are now applying. The main objective of his study is to investigate effective ways to manage safety rules and procedures when they have to deal with several types of violations. However, to attain the main objective, several sub-objectives were also proposed in his research to (1) investigate the prevalent safety rules and procedures practices in the construction industry in Thailand; (2) explore the relationship between organizational culture attribute and safety rules and procedures development and implementation; (3) examine the relationship between safety rules and procedures development, implementation and type of worker’s violations; (4) explore the relationship between leadership styles and types of safety rules and procedures violations; and (5) As an initial research to investigate the possibility of the “Peltzman Effect” occurrence in construction safety.
Mr. Adihartanto’s conclusions:
SRP’s practices in the construction industry in Thailand
He found out that there were no significant differences between medium-sized and large-sized construction projects in the way they develop and implement SRPs. Most of the SRP’s development variables were scored as high which indicated that contractor companies in Thailand typically take into accounts all of these variables when they develop their SRPs. However, during the implementation, they do not prefer to provide SRPs in form of writing documents (safety cards, manuals, etc.) to all of the workers, including translating written SRPs to the workers’ native language. Further analysis revealed a predisposition that management exploits these variables merely as of value to protect their back from the workers’ excuses. Regarding the translation of written SRPs, most respondents preferred to utilize interpreters to communicate their safety messages into the workgroups in which commonly they are the head of the groups. Therefore, it can be concluded that workers’ type of violations were occurred in similarity, in which they were ranging from erroneous to routine violations.
Organizational culture and SRP’s development and implementation
His analysis result indicated that neither of the clan nor the hierarchical culture attributes is more superior and effective in the development and implementation of SRPs. Each of these attributes has both positives and negatives. It is suggested therefore, that it is much more important for the management to understand the strengths as well as the weaknesses of particular attributes in their relation to the SRP’s development and implementation in order to make necessary adjustment for their organizational effectiveness.
Safety rules and procedures which were known to be complicated or confusing were adjusted, and it is more likely that they willing to put operatives’ suggestions into the rules development. However, in this kind of organizations, drawbacks are resulted from the management deficiencies in supporting their site operation as apparently, the availability of the SRP’s documents to the workforces and maintenance of safety visual signs were insufficient. Therefore, the decisions are skewed more on the management’s side.
SRP’s development and implementation with the type of worker’s violations
The result came with some SRP’s development and implementation variables that could potentially reduce particular type of violations. Therefore, it should be pointed out that mismanaging some of these variables could potentially promote violations. Although the rest of the variables were not found in contributing to the reduction of any type of violations, it is still suggested that management takes these variables into their Hierarchical Attributes Negatives Positives Operation, technical support deficiency Open-systems approach Bureaucratic approachOrdered, well-arranged Procedural rigidity, over reliance Output maximization, torientedClan Attributes Towards FlexiTowards Centra consideration when developing and implementing their SRPs. Table 5.3 and 5.4 below summarizes the analysis result analysis in which they portrayed the potential of each SRP’s development and implementation variable to reduce particular type of violations.
Leadership styles and type of worker’s violations
The result signifies the need for the Safety Officers to carefully understand the impact of their leadership behaviors. It is suggested that emphasize should have been taken to minimize the negative effect of the leadership styles rather than to reduce them. Based from the observations on-site combined with the analyses results, the researcher postulated that the problem largely relies on the workers’ perception. Thus, safety trainings were suggested to address this problem, particularly to take bigger portion in correcting workers’ perception.
5. The Peltzman Effect
In terms of workers’ activeness in safety programs participation, this study did not identify the presence of Peltzman Effect. However, further studies are suggested to investigate this phenomenon from different angle.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to identify problems associated with the development and implementation of safety rules and procedures (SRPs) to ensure worker’s compliance and to give an insight of effective solutions to overcome these problems. The discussions were broadened to identify the influence of organizational culture to the SRP’s development and implementation, the potential of leadership styles in handling particular type of violations and the possibility of the Peltzman Effect occurrence in the construction industry.
The result revealed that several SRP’s development and implementation variables have a great potential in reducing particular type of violations. Therefore, management should be aware that mismanaging these variables could potentially promote violations. In general, the finding suggested that SRP’s should be: (i) developed following project risks assessment, (ii) designed so that it will not over restricted individuals working efficiency, and (iii) designed considering operational difficulties. As well, during the implementation, SRP’s should be: (a) available to all of the workforces, (b) implemented alongside with varieties of safety trainings, and (c) enforced by providing wide ranging of PPE or any other resources necessary to do the job safely.
Furthermore, the findings also suggested the need for the management to understand the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the particular organizational culture attributes in their relation to the SRP’s development and implementation in order to make necessary adjustments for their organizational effectiveness. It is also suggested the need for the Safety Officers to carefully understanding the impact of their leadership behaviors. At last, in terms of worker’s activeness in safety programs participation, this study did not identify the presence of the Peltzman Effect.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Framework Implementation Of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, And Residual Management For Thai Building Construction Industry
In 1972, the first conference in sustainable development was held at Stockholm, Sweden. Since then, several countries all over the world have put a great emphasis on this issue and have accepted it as the major concern in a mainstream. A number of conferences and summits have been organized in order to ensure that the world has met the requirement of sustainable contents. Many countries have signed an agreement to accept the agenda in processing the implementation of sustainable development concept across all industries, especially in construction industry. Consequently, “sustainable construction” is the term commonly used in representing sustainability in construction industry.
In term of sustainable construction, material waste is one of key issues (DIT, 2000). The waste has a directly crucial impact on environment. The obvious effect of which which can be easily observed is the rapid achievement of landfill site. A number of studies tried to find out the causes of the construction material waste and the approaches to minimize the waste. Since the waste minimization and management are the important issues toward the sustainable construction, Mr. Pakawat Pormmoon made a case study concerning the systematic formulation of framework through 4Rs (reduce, reuse, recycling, and residual management) waste management strategy for managing the construction material waste on sites. This framework is hoped to enable the construction companies to deal with the construction material waste.
Mr. Pormmoon’s research objective is to develop the 4Rs framework implementation for the construction industry. In order to achieve this main objective, the three
key objectives were also set to (1) investigate the existing activities relating to the concept of reduce, reuse, recycle, and residual management in Thai building construction industry; (2) test the validation of collected 4Rs-relevant activities; (3) develop the framework implementation following to 4Rs concept.
The result of his case study based from the interview revealed that ten general issues can be implemented through 4R’s concept. These issues include (1) environmental policy; (2) nearly Just-in-time delivery; (3) waste management plan; (4) use of long-life construction material; (5) standardization of design; (6) design and build scheme; (7) project quality plan; (8) off-site prefabrication; (9) supply chain alliances with suppliers and recycling companies; and (10)“Take-back” scheme.
However, upon detailed implementation of each “R” in 4Rs, many activities have been arisen. These activities were categorized as (a) improvement of material ordering and supplying; (b) changes of material selection; (c) improvement of site material management; (d) increase of work controlling; (e) defining of alternative options for reuse and recycle; (f) provision of sorting methods and container, area, or infrastructure for collection of by-product; and (g) setting of policies according to the relevance law and regulation; Residual Collection and Residual Disposal
Another finding of his study validated that 4Rs have many relevant activities such as:
1) General Issues
a. To set up environmental policy in order to contribute the implementation of 4Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, and residual management) principle in practices
b. To apply ‘nearly Just-in-time’ delivery principle in order to reduce and alleviate the congestion of material movement on site
c. To encourage the use of Design and Build scheme to deliver project in order to utilize use of value engineering concept
d. To enhance the use of standardization of design in term of modular system to improve buildability and reduce the quantity of off-cuts on site
e. To increase the use of off-site prefabrication to control loss, waste, and damage, thus, the off-cut can be reduced
f. To enhance the use of long-life construction materials such as steel, standard wood, and others to construct building components; therefore those structures can longer be used
g. To develop Project Quality Plan for managing construction materials on site
h. To develop Waste Management Plan for managing waste on site
2) Reduce at management level
a. Improvement of material ordering and supplying
b. Changes of material selection
c. Improvement of site material management
d. Increase of work controlling
3) Reduce at operational level
4) Reuse and recycle at management level
a. Defining of alternative options for reuse and recycle
b. Provision of sorting and collecting methods, container, area, or infrastructure for collection of by-product
5) Reuse and recycle at operational level
6) Residual management at management level - Setting of policies according to the relevance law and regulation
7) Residual management at operational level
His study’s last finding is that application of each 4Rs-relevant on sites and its implementation can be done at both site management and operational level as implemented by Bovis Lend Lease (Thailand) Limited. It yields a better work execution than other companies at site management level.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
The problems regarding to sustainable construction are that the most of construction materials are considered to be low efficiently used. The less efficient use of construction materials will not be a problem if the natural resources are limitless, but in fact it is not. In addition, the construction firms need to be reminded that waste make financial cost both direct cost and indirect cost are significant. Many researches have tried to apply the 3Rs (Reduce, reuse, and recycle) waste strategy for managing waste on construction sites. Consequently, this study has tried to apply the concept of 4Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle, residual management concept in Thai building construction industry. To apply 4Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle, residual management concept in Thai construction industry is the main purpose of this thesis.
In order to correlate the main and the sub-objectives of this study, research methodology has been split into three main steps. The first step is to investigate existing 4Rs-relevant activities. The result is that the related activities following 4Rs concept. These activities would be utilized in the next step, gathering the significance and applicability of collected 4Rs-relevant activities. The second step, some activities have been removed. There are six experts utilized in the second step. The last step is to measure the application of each 4Rs activity on sites at both management and operational level. The data in last step were
collected from both Bovis Lend Lease (Thailand) Limited and other companies within Thai building construction industry.
The results were found that validated eight general issues can be implemented through the 4R’s concept. Moreover, there are eight groups of work which 4Rs concepts can be implemented through that are improvement of material ordering and supplying, changes of material selection, improvement of site material management, increase of work controlling, defining of alternative options for reuse and recycle, provision of sorting methods and container, area, or infrastructure for collection of by-product, and setting of policies according to the relevance law and regulation.
In term of sustainable construction, material waste is one of key issues (DIT, 2000). The waste has a directly crucial impact on environment. The obvious effect of which which can be easily observed is the rapid achievement of landfill site. A number of studies tried to find out the causes of the construction material waste and the approaches to minimize the waste. Since the waste minimization and management are the important issues toward the sustainable construction, Mr. Pakawat Pormmoon made a case study concerning the systematic formulation of framework through 4Rs (reduce, reuse, recycling, and residual management) waste management strategy for managing the construction material waste on sites. This framework is hoped to enable the construction companies to deal with the construction material waste.
Mr. Pormmoon’s research objective is to develop the 4Rs framework implementation for the construction industry. In order to achieve this main objective, the three
key objectives were also set to (1) investigate the existing activities relating to the concept of reduce, reuse, recycle, and residual management in Thai building construction industry; (2) test the validation of collected 4Rs-relevant activities; (3) develop the framework implementation following to 4Rs concept.
The result of his case study based from the interview revealed that ten general issues can be implemented through 4R’s concept. These issues include (1) environmental policy; (2) nearly Just-in-time delivery; (3) waste management plan; (4) use of long-life construction material; (5) standardization of design; (6) design and build scheme; (7) project quality plan; (8) off-site prefabrication; (9) supply chain alliances with suppliers and recycling companies; and (10)“Take-back” scheme.
However, upon detailed implementation of each “R” in 4Rs, many activities have been arisen. These activities were categorized as (a) improvement of material ordering and supplying; (b) changes of material selection; (c) improvement of site material management; (d) increase of work controlling; (e) defining of alternative options for reuse and recycle; (f) provision of sorting methods and container, area, or infrastructure for collection of by-product; and (g) setting of policies according to the relevance law and regulation; Residual Collection and Residual Disposal
Another finding of his study validated that 4Rs have many relevant activities such as:
1) General Issues
a. To set up environmental policy in order to contribute the implementation of 4Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, and residual management) principle in practices
b. To apply ‘nearly Just-in-time’ delivery principle in order to reduce and alleviate the congestion of material movement on site
c. To encourage the use of Design and Build scheme to deliver project in order to utilize use of value engineering concept
d. To enhance the use of standardization of design in term of modular system to improve buildability and reduce the quantity of off-cuts on site
e. To increase the use of off-site prefabrication to control loss, waste, and damage, thus, the off-cut can be reduced
f. To enhance the use of long-life construction materials such as steel, standard wood, and others to construct building components; therefore those structures can longer be used
g. To develop Project Quality Plan for managing construction materials on site
h. To develop Waste Management Plan for managing waste on site
2) Reduce at management level
a. Improvement of material ordering and supplying
b. Changes of material selection
c. Improvement of site material management
d. Increase of work controlling
3) Reduce at operational level
4) Reuse and recycle at management level
a. Defining of alternative options for reuse and recycle
b. Provision of sorting and collecting methods, container, area, or infrastructure for collection of by-product
5) Reuse and recycle at operational level
6) Residual management at management level - Setting of policies according to the relevance law and regulation
7) Residual management at operational level
His study’s last finding is that application of each 4Rs-relevant on sites and its implementation can be done at both site management and operational level as implemented by Bovis Lend Lease (Thailand) Limited. It yields a better work execution than other companies at site management level.
His thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
The problems regarding to sustainable construction are that the most of construction materials are considered to be low efficiently used. The less efficient use of construction materials will not be a problem if the natural resources are limitless, but in fact it is not. In addition, the construction firms need to be reminded that waste make financial cost both direct cost and indirect cost are significant. Many researches have tried to apply the 3Rs (Reduce, reuse, and recycle) waste strategy for managing waste on construction sites. Consequently, this study has tried to apply the concept of 4Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle, residual management concept in Thai building construction industry. To apply 4Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle, residual management concept in Thai construction industry is the main purpose of this thesis.
In order to correlate the main and the sub-objectives of this study, research methodology has been split into three main steps. The first step is to investigate existing 4Rs-relevant activities. The result is that the related activities following 4Rs concept. These activities would be utilized in the next step, gathering the significance and applicability of collected 4Rs-relevant activities. The second step, some activities have been removed. There are six experts utilized in the second step. The last step is to measure the application of each 4Rs activity on sites at both management and operational level. The data in last step were
collected from both Bovis Lend Lease (Thailand) Limited and other companies within Thai building construction industry.
The results were found that validated eight general issues can be implemented through the 4R’s concept. Moreover, there are eight groups of work which 4Rs concepts can be implemented through that are improvement of material ordering and supplying, changes of material selection, improvement of site material management, increase of work controlling, defining of alternative options for reuse and recycle, provision of sorting methods and container, area, or infrastructure for collection of by-product, and setting of policies according to the relevance law and regulation.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Total Quality Management In Property Development Projects In Vietnam
Despite of a half-year difficulty, Vietnam real estate market is now considered a long term potential market as foreign investors are keen on developing more projects. From the picture of real estate development in 2008, it showed that all trading in this sector are almost frozen, together with the increasing of interest from the banks and material prices, domestic investors are put in troubles. Meanwhile, foreign capital from the outside investors is continuously put in Vietnam’s real estate market with an impetuous speed.
Many foreign developers are still looking for opportunities to penetrate Vietnam's realty market, and many companies are now interested in HCM City's outskirts such as Thu Thiem and Cu Chi District. Developers are also keen-on complexes of apartments, offices and commercial centers, resorts, industrial parks and residential areas. These segments' supply and demand are not well matched. Consequently, if having visibility strategy such as focusing on target customer, paying attention on marketing and having ability to bring out a high quality product, then chance of success is a seeable thing.
According to Goetsch (2002) “Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach to doing business that maximizes the competitiveness of an organization through continuous improvement of its products, services, people processes, and environment”. Kotler, 1999 noted that the foundation of TQM is satisfaction renders by products or services and products (or services) are nothing offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that satisfy a want or need.
TQM is not a new concept in the manufacturing sector. However, it does not mean that management system which have worked well in the manufacturing sector can be directly well-applied to construction. This is due to the nature differences between the two sectors. Construction industry has its own unique feature while manufacturing calls for repeat processes with products primarily put out in large batches. On the other hand, construction work is undertaken in the main single batch or projects. Although many of the basic processes are repeated from job to job (e.g. concreting and plastering), the specifics of application are always changing (Low & Peh, 1996).
In construction industry, where customers’ requirements are increasingly complex and expectations are uncertain, the application of such tools becomes difficult. Vietnam’s Property market is now considered a complex and “hot” environment for investors. Hence, application of TQM will be a competitive advantage (Low & Peh, 1996). If TQM can be implemented into property development field in a right way, it can help to improve the quality as well as the productivity of the project. It is a need to identify suitable TQM factors that are applicable to these projects in order to take the best efficiency of implementation.
Ms. Nguyen Viet Nhan made a case study that focused on the property developing projects in Ho Chi Minh City to (1) find out TQM factors that are applicable to property developing projects; (2) find out the perception and practices of TQM in Vietnam property development; and (3) develop TQM framework that is applicable in Vietnam property development.
The results of her study clearly indicated that Leadership and commitment by top management is the most critical factor for the successful implementation of TQM in Vietnam property development organizations. Once it is known exactly where the organization is, the manager can take steps to improve the overall effectiveness of quality management system. This study also found out that the first five critical problems of TQM implementation are (1) Customer focus; (2) Relationship with supplier, contractor and subcontractor; (3) Leadership and commitment of top management; (4) Employee involvement and commitment; and (5) Education and training. These five priority factors should be given more attention in order to achieve a satisfactory level.
Her thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the factors affecting successful implementation of TQM in property developments projects. The primary objectives of this study illustrate the development of TQM, introduce the common TQM model and evaluate the items in property development management's TQM model that are believed to be most successfully and most unsuccessfully implemented. In the later part of the study proposes a new TQM model that is applicable in Vietnam market. The result finding is expected to be powerful information for future research directions especially as an indicator for the development of a suitable TQM framework for the property development projects in Vietnam.
The survey was carried in Ho Chi Minh City and the suburban provinces of Ho Chi Minh City. 145 samples from medium-large scale projects were selected for the analysis. All respondent‟s results were analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. Theory using in this survey is grounded from literature review and expert‟s experience. There are twelve factors which affect successful TQM implementation were identified from the survey. The findings indicated that the most important element in TQM framework is Commitment and Leadership by Top Management. The others critical dimensions of TQM are Employee Involvement and Commitment, Education & Training, Communication to improve quality, Policy, System & Process, Customer focus, Relationship with supplier, contractor and subcontractor, Quality Audit & Evaluation, Improve jobsite quality, Work environment & Culture, Team working for, Continuous improvement, and Resource management. The findings also indicated that there was a difference on TQM perception between project manager and site engineer in some dimension of TQM. These are Customer focus, Quality Audit and evaluation, and Relationship with supplier, contractor and subcontractor. A gap the analysis was carried to examine the importance and actual status of these TQM factors. The results indicated that there are a big gap between actual practice and perception. The top five factors that have largest gaps were Customer focus, Relationship with supplier, contractor and subcontractor, Leadership and commitment of top management, Employee involvement and commitment, Education and training. Improving the satisfactory levels of these factors may lead to a successful TQM implementation. Finally, a framework for implementing TQM is recommended.
Many foreign developers are still looking for opportunities to penetrate Vietnam's realty market, and many companies are now interested in HCM City's outskirts such as Thu Thiem and Cu Chi District. Developers are also keen-on complexes of apartments, offices and commercial centers, resorts, industrial parks and residential areas. These segments' supply and demand are not well matched. Consequently, if having visibility strategy such as focusing on target customer, paying attention on marketing and having ability to bring out a high quality product, then chance of success is a seeable thing.
According to Goetsch (2002) “Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach to doing business that maximizes the competitiveness of an organization through continuous improvement of its products, services, people processes, and environment”. Kotler, 1999 noted that the foundation of TQM is satisfaction renders by products or services and products (or services) are nothing offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that satisfy a want or need.
TQM is not a new concept in the manufacturing sector. However, it does not mean that management system which have worked well in the manufacturing sector can be directly well-applied to construction. This is due to the nature differences between the two sectors. Construction industry has its own unique feature while manufacturing calls for repeat processes with products primarily put out in large batches. On the other hand, construction work is undertaken in the main single batch or projects. Although many of the basic processes are repeated from job to job (e.g. concreting and plastering), the specifics of application are always changing (Low & Peh, 1996).
In construction industry, where customers’ requirements are increasingly complex and expectations are uncertain, the application of such tools becomes difficult. Vietnam’s Property market is now considered a complex and “hot” environment for investors. Hence, application of TQM will be a competitive advantage (Low & Peh, 1996). If TQM can be implemented into property development field in a right way, it can help to improve the quality as well as the productivity of the project. It is a need to identify suitable TQM factors that are applicable to these projects in order to take the best efficiency of implementation.
Ms. Nguyen Viet Nhan made a case study that focused on the property developing projects in Ho Chi Minh City to (1) find out TQM factors that are applicable to property developing projects; (2) find out the perception and practices of TQM in Vietnam property development; and (3) develop TQM framework that is applicable in Vietnam property development.
The results of her study clearly indicated that Leadership and commitment by top management is the most critical factor for the successful implementation of TQM in Vietnam property development organizations. Once it is known exactly where the organization is, the manager can take steps to improve the overall effectiveness of quality management system. This study also found out that the first five critical problems of TQM implementation are (1) Customer focus; (2) Relationship with supplier, contractor and subcontractor; (3) Leadership and commitment of top management; (4) Employee involvement and commitment; and (5) Education and training. These five priority factors should be given more attention in order to achieve a satisfactory level.
Her thesis abstract is copied and posted.
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the factors affecting successful implementation of TQM in property developments projects. The primary objectives of this study illustrate the development of TQM, introduce the common TQM model and evaluate the items in property development management's TQM model that are believed to be most successfully and most unsuccessfully implemented. In the later part of the study proposes a new TQM model that is applicable in Vietnam market. The result finding is expected to be powerful information for future research directions especially as an indicator for the development of a suitable TQM framework for the property development projects in Vietnam.
The survey was carried in Ho Chi Minh City and the suburban provinces of Ho Chi Minh City. 145 samples from medium-large scale projects were selected for the analysis. All respondent‟s results were analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. Theory using in this survey is grounded from literature review and expert‟s experience. There are twelve factors which affect successful TQM implementation were identified from the survey. The findings indicated that the most important element in TQM framework is Commitment and Leadership by Top Management. The others critical dimensions of TQM are Employee Involvement and Commitment, Education & Training, Communication to improve quality, Policy, System & Process, Customer focus, Relationship with supplier, contractor and subcontractor, Quality Audit & Evaluation, Improve jobsite quality, Work environment & Culture, Team working for, Continuous improvement, and Resource management. The findings also indicated that there was a difference on TQM perception between project manager and site engineer in some dimension of TQM. These are Customer focus, Quality Audit and evaluation, and Relationship with supplier, contractor and subcontractor. A gap the analysis was carried to examine the importance and actual status of these TQM factors. The results indicated that there are a big gap between actual practice and perception. The top five factors that have largest gaps were Customer focus, Relationship with supplier, contractor and subcontractor, Leadership and commitment of top management, Employee involvement and commitment, Education and training. Improving the satisfactory levels of these factors may lead to a successful TQM implementation. Finally, a framework for implementing TQM is recommended.
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