...Turner Construction Company: Project Management Control Systems 1. What is Turner’s business strategy? Their greatest competitive advantage is providing accurate information to the owners, creating a partnership. Turner’s business strategy is to build on this partnership to ensure repeat business. They keep the customer informed on every milestone in the project and use the IOR to communicate financial updates and construction progress. They have proven time and time again that their expert management knowledge and delivery saves the developer time and money in the end. 2. What contingencies could invalidate the strategy? This strategy is compromised with how and when Turner decides to release capital. If Turner decides to release the contingency funds, they may never see them again. There is no guarantee those dollars will be committed back to the project. If Turner releases the savings to please the owner and an unforeseen problem arises; the construction company will have to use money from their earnings to cover any potential issues. This will damage the company’s profits and is in clear violation of their strategy. If Turner decides to hold onto the savings it runs the risk of upsetting the owner. This is in violation of their strategy to create a partnership with the owner. 3. Does the IOR system force managers to address contingencies? The report generates a “best-effort” prediction of the total expected cost and earning contributions of a completed project...
Words: 649 - Pages: 3
...Team A Construction halted on new VA hospital in Aurora Denise Beyard Com295 12/15/2014 Dion Williams Team A Construction halted on new VA hospital in Aurora The article we read involved the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Aurora. They hired a company called Kiewit-Turner joint venture to fulfill the construction of building their new hospital. As it stands the VA approved a project that was way over budget and would last well past their deadline. Kiewit-Turner ended up spending $1,000,000 of their own money to continue the project as they were obligated to continue working. Eventually the construction workers had to stop working and weren’t paid for their work and it was said they would have to wait possibly until after the holidays to be paid. The group each agreed that it was very unethical of the VA to force a project they didn’t have enough funds to cover and allow cause the Contractor to come out of pocket so much money. It was also agreed by most that the subcontractors should have been paid for their work completed or they should have remained on payroll as they depended on the income. No one was given notice of what was to happen. They didn’t know they would have to walk away from work and without pay. They didn’t even have a chance to go find out work to make up for their losses. It’s a very sad situation. Some said both the VA and Kiewit-Turner both acted unethically because Kiewit-Turner could have let the subcontractors know what was going on so they could find other...
Words: 391 - Pages: 2
...Department’s team. Then the Form 2a was submitted and approved. The scope, estimate and Form 2a documents served as a base for negotiations with the consultant. Originally the consultant fee estimate was $3.4 M, however, the consultant fee estimate for this project scope was agreed to be the amount of $3 M. The amendment number 2 to the Service Provider agreement was developed and approved by the Board on September 14, 2015. The NTP for the final design was issued on September 25, 2015 and the design is expected to be completed by November 2016. This project has others challenges beside the geometrical design. Among them we can mention drainage, rock cut slopes, retention walls, residential and archeological areas and Right-of-Way temporary construction...
Words: 470 - Pages: 2
...QUESTION 3: Discuss on the Effects of Procurement System in the performance of construction projects I. INTRODUCTION Procurement is also called as sourcing, which means gathering services and goods from the preparation and of request through the approval of statement for payment. This involves purchase planning, financing, making the purchase, inventory control and stores, specific development, standard determination, supplier research and selection, supply contract administration, disposal and other related functions, value analysis and price negotiation. Procurement plays major role in work relationship between parties involved in the construction process. Identify the primary and secondary objectives of the projects, Risk innate in the proposal, Environmental determination, which it will be implemented and selecting the appropriate procuring method for the proposed project. Procurement was not about a building, it was about entire project which includes obtaining goods and services, also includes obtaining human recourses like, consultants, contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers and specialists for some purpose. It is the very important step which can show some significant impact on the project success. Procurement is essentially a series of considered risks – each method has individual strengths and weaknesses, which must be carefully calculated by clients and industry alike. There are a number of different types of procurement routes available for clients to select...
Words: 5134 - Pages: 21
...1.0 The Role of Emotional Intelligence In Project and Construction Management Today 1.1 Introduction This literature review deals with the role of emotional intelligence in project and construction management today and argues that, even if it is a relatively new approach and just became more and more important during the last decade, the topic is still not getting enough attention in the contemporary construction industry (Zhang & Fan, 2013). Especially when it comes to larger and more complex or even international and cultural complex projects, a high level of emotional intelligence and competence in the project management might be more necessary and contribute to the project’s success (Müller & Turner, 2007). Therefore this literature review contains an overview of the significant authors, defines the actual term of emotional intelligence, analyses the main issues and positions, summarizes some relevant studies and research and identifies implications for contemporary project and construction management practice. 1.2 Overview As one of the most significant authors Goleman (1995) defines emotional intelligence as the ability of being aware of your own and other’s emotions, recognizing them and even using them to influence people in their actual thinking and behaviour. That is why these abilities are very supportive and at least as important as IQ or technical skills for every leader independent of his industry, in order to achieve better business results (Goleman...
Words: 2151 - Pages: 9
...is about the ability to accommodate variation, for example design changes (Bennett and Flanagan, 1983). Variation can be known as change order that often happen during construction phase. (Turner, 1990) Lack of tender/contract information or error of it will cause the variation. The design team may have to modify the contract information when the issue of variations arising principally. After change the project scope or specification, the construction costs will increase and the profits also have to justify increasing. The controllable variation is one of the important factors to public client or private client due to the quality of work done and the completion time of a project. Certainty of price Certainty should not be conceived as an absolute assuredness, but instead a relative or sliding scale, i.e. “how certain” the price that procurement approach could offer. (Turner, 1990) The firm price of the project has to prepare and submit to clients before committing to it. Price of the project may include the design fees, construction fees, financing costs and management fees. During the period of project, the price certainty will be change. The estimator will produce approximate estimates for the client so that the project cost will be within the financial budget by getting the firm price before construction of the project. (Peter, 2004) The price certainty is important to client because they are easy to control the financial budget, quality and also the functionality of...
Words: 268 - Pages: 2
...philosophies of the team members are considered in light of the effect they may have upon risk management. This paper briefly reviews project management, risk and risk perception and their interrelated effects upon the construction process. It is suggested that just as risk philosophies of individuals affect the decisions made in their lives away form their professional careers, so their perceptions and experiences of risk can affect their professional decisions. The approaches utilised for the research to explore this theory are also discussed within this paper. Keywords: Process; Project Management; Risk Perception; Risk Philosophy INTRODUCTION This research is being undertaken as part of the Process Protocol II project (Cooper et al, 1998), for which the author is responsible for the mapping of the project and risk management activity zones. There are three related topics covered within this paper: risk propensity, defined as a person’s desire to either avoid or to take risks; risk preference, the perceived level of risk and uncertainty a person is willing to accept in a given situation; and risk perception, the subjective view of the perceived risk associated with a hazard (Adams, 1995). These areas have been largely overlooked by construction management research, which has instead concentrated on the harder issues of risk management, such as risk quantification using statistical analysis and the methods adopted to do this (Edwards & Bowen, 1999). The terms...
Words: 4538 - Pages: 19
...Critically comment on the transaction cost based theory of Construction procurement and evaluate its potential as a practical tool in the Selection of procurement systems Abstract This term paper will provide comprehensive reviews on the entire literature involving transaction cost economics (TCE) in construction procurement. It will also critically describe the transaction cost based theory of construction procurement and also give an evaluation of its potential as a critical tool in the selection of procurement systems. The paper will also explore how TCE has emerged from most economic roots to examine empirical phenomena in construction procurement. TCE has been increasingly applied not only to business-related fields such as finance, accounting, organizational theory and marketing but also to the construction industry. Most construction industries have recently moved to practice innovative working techniques that will involve great collaboration and interrelationships that has been in the past. While these benefits such as collaborative and improved ways of working are discussed, but so little is evident about their cost. Hence there proves to be a diverse evidence showing the cost of procurement and more competitive and traditional practices. The purpose of this term paper is to try and examine the transaction based theory of procurement that is used in construction industry. Introduction Ever since it emerged in the early 1970s (Williamson 1971) the new...
Words: 3143 - Pages: 13
...Alberto Sikaffy CMGT 263 Professor Paul 11/17/14 Building Information Modeling Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an intelligent model-based process that provides insight to help you plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. BIMs are files that can be exchanged or networked to support decision-making about a place. Businesses and Individuals use BIM software to construct and maintain physical infrastructures from water, wastewater, electricity, bridges, ports, apartment buildings, schools, warehouses and much more. The term “Building Information Model” was first documented in a paper written by Van Nederveen and Tolman (1992), from TU Delft in the Netherlands, although the concept of BIM has existed since the 1970s. The US National Information Model Standard Project Committee has the following definition for BIM: “Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition” Before BIM, traditional building designs were largely reliant upon two-dimensional drawing. BIM has facilitated this process augmenting the three primary spatial dimensions width, height, and depth. With BIM we now have time as a fourth dimension and cost as a fifth dimension. BIM design tools allow extraction of...
Words: 844 - Pages: 4
... INTRODUCTION As a Construction Project Manager in any construction delivery method, there are many assessments and reviews for subcontractor’s submittals for safety, materials, equipment and performance. This paper will focus on the Project Management policy on cost-effective considerations for methods, safety and worker’s long term health hazards on the jobsite. For example, many mechanical contractors, depending on system design and specifications still must account for strict adherence to management policy for many jobsites. Factors considered, particularly for welding processes performed by a mechanical subcontractor alludes to several concerns. Such things as space, accessibility, ventilation, quantity and quality of welds, duration of toxic fumes and proximity of hazardous chemicals are a few. Also consideration for direct welder safety prevention equipment and long term effects are chief factors. Also in this paper I will attempt to present cost-effective innovations in on-jobsite methods and processes. But it is important to note from the article written by Alistair Mutch (1998) “The Impact of Information Technology on Traditional Occupations: The Case of Welding, welding is an example of a manual craft occupation that, whilst subject to some change, has not been as dramatically affected by information technology as some analyst suggest.” For this reason, changes in welding safety may be limited. CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT INTENT ON SAFETY...
Words: 1497 - Pages: 6
...gender imbalances and androcentricism prevalent in post-apartheid theatre, this paper speaks to the relationship between theatre, liminality and communitas. I am interested in unpacking how collaborative processes of theatre-making provide spaces for women to remap their personal narratives. Remapping in this instance refers to processes of transforming lived experience through story. I address how, through engaging in ritual activities that are central to the stories performed, actors, audiences and the owners of the source stories are invited to physically participate in remapping and transforming lived experience. Linked to this is the choice of form(s) and how this affects or impacts on the performed stories as well as on the construction of performed rituals and ultimately on the processes of remapping personal narratives. I focus specifically on Mothertongue’s 2004 production, Uhambo: pieces of a dream. The production was an integration of theatre and visual art in the form of performances, portraits and installations that probed the concept of democracy through the eyes of women living in Cape Town. The production took audience members on a journey that wove together women’s personal responses to life in South Africa post-1994. PAPER Shards of...
Words: 7672 - Pages: 31
...Architecture Roman Batterberry Arts/100 January 22, 2013 Lisa Turner Architecture The Daniels & Fisher Tower in Denver, Colorado is 5 Elements of Architecture The Daniels & Fisher Tower uses five of the ten elements of architecture to create quite a notable building. These five elements are expressed in the buildings materials, the architect’s use of lines and repetition, how the building balances astatically, and the tower’s scale. Material This tower is constructed on top of a 24 foot thick concrete base. The tower is erected by a steel skeleton and is faced with “blond brick and creamy terra-cotta”. This healthy base and firm skeleton contribute to the firmness of this building. The four faces of the tower have Seth Thomas clocks, all with arms measuring six feet long. There is, finally, a 2.5 ton bell in the top two stories of the tower. Line As with any tower, the majority of the lines draw the audience’s eyes up from the bottom to the top. The majority of the tower’s lines are vertical, with a subtle horizontal contrast from the lines of windows on the faces. Just below the clock, the architect constructed a prominate horizontal line. This horizontal line appears due to an observation deck like platform. This floor only stops the vertical sides of the building for only 2 or 3 stories before another horizontal line. These two parallel horizontal lines create a box-like shape that dramatically stopping the eye’s move upward to draw attention...
Words: 701 - Pages: 3
...CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Definition: Construction in general is the process of building or assembling of architecture. The construction sector is responsible for building new houses, apartments, factories, offices and schools. It also builds roads, bridges, ports, railroads, sewers and tunnels, among many other things. In addition, it maintains and repairs all of those structures and produces the basic materials such as concrete that are used to make them. The industry’s significance is due not only to the fact that it provides the buildings and infrastructure on which virtually every other sector depends, but to the fact that it is such a sizeable sector in its own right. The construction industry is Europe’s largest industrial employer, accounting for about seven percent of total employment, and in the Europe, the US and Japan combined, it employs more than 40 million people. Among all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the construction industry accounts for an average of 6.47 percent of GDP. History since Industrial Revolution: There were many factors that revolutionized the construction industry after the industrial revolution. The invention of Portland cement, glass, reinforced concrete, architectural glasses, cranes etc. has brought in a huge leap in the technology. Cement: Portland cement was developed from natural cements made in Britain in the early part of the nineteenth century, and its name is derived from...
Words: 2591 - Pages: 11
...al. 1997). The objectives and priorities of a client need to be matched to a procurement system. To do this effectively, it is essential that the characteristics of various procurement systems and selection methods available are understood by clients and their advisors before a procurement method is selected. In this report, the characteristics of the most common procurement systems and methods are presented. In conjunction with this report the reader should also refer to the material developed by the New South Wales Government (2005) ‘Procurement Methodology Guidelines for Construction’ and the Western Australian Department of Housing and Works ‘Local Government Procurement Guide’ (2006). 2.0 PROCUREMENT STRATEGY New building or renovation/adaptation of an existing building is necessary only when no other building exists or appears to exist that will meet or appears to meet the needs of a client (Turner, 1990). A building project is one way of delivering a solution to the particular business needs of clients, whether for investment, expansion or improved efficiency. When a new build...
Words: 7778 - Pages: 32
...Construction Project Controls: Cost, Schedule, and Change Management UP-201 September 2004 CURT Owner Member Companies Abbott Laboratories Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. Ameren American Electric Power Baxter Healthcare Corporation Boeing Company Caterpillar Inc. Citigroup ConocoPhillips DTE Energy The Dow Chemical Company E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Company Eastman Kodak Company Ernst & Young ExxonMobil Chemical Company FMC Corporation FirstEnergy Corporation General Electric Company General Mills, Inc. General Motors Corporation HCA Healthcare Corporation Hercules, Inc. Honda of America Mfg., Inc. IBM Intel Corporation Johnson & Johnson Kansas City Power & Light Company The McGraw-Hill Companies MeadWestvaco Corporation Merck & Company, Inc. Owens Corning PSEG Power, LLC Pfizer, Inc. The Procter & Gamble Company Rohm and Haas Shell Global Solutions (U.S.), Inc. Southern Companies Sunoco, Inc. TECO Tampa Electric Company Toyota Motor Mfg. North America Tyco International U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers U.S. General Services Administration The University Of Cincinnati Associate Member Companies Alberici Group, Inc. BE&K Bechtel Egizii Electric, Inc. Fluor Corporation Hunt Construction Group Jacobs Engineering Group Rudolph/Libbe Companies The Shaw Group, Inc. Tetra Tech FW Inc. Turner Construction Company Zachry Construction Corporation Association Associate Members Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) Mechanical Contractors...
Words: 2779 - Pages: 12