Impact Of External Disruptions On Network Governance Of Construction Projects: A Case Study Of Demonetisation And GST In India
K. Chandrashekhar Iyer , Dheeraj K. Ubhayakar and Partha S. Banerjee
The disruption of construction activities reflect in consequential delays and cost implications of the project. Demonetization and introduction of Goods and Service Tax (GST) in India had led to events of disruption in Indian construction sector and the extent of disruption that these two events have caused is shown in this study. The relevant data were collected from 13 different construction and infrastructure projects of an Indian construction firm, from different zones of the country to assess the impacts of disruption caused by these two events. The impact of each event was recorded separately on different governance networks considered for each project; namely Labour Flow Network (LFN), Material Flow Network (MFN), Information Flow Network (IFN) and Finance Flow Network (FFN) and weights assigned to each governance network based on the relative importance were used to compute and assess the overall impact on that project. This study showed that there was significant delay and cost impact due to GST and significant delay impact only, in the case of Demonetization. Also, the impacts of disruption caused by both Demonetization and GST were compared to conclude that the nature of impact of both the disruptions and events can be different.
Construction projects; Disruptions; Demonetization; Goods & Service tax; Governance networks; Project management
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Research Articles
An Application Of Best Value System In Construction Industry: State Of The Art Review
Sharvari Rath and Rajendra B. Magar
Quality Management concept was stimulated by the need to compete in the global market where higher quality, lower cost, and more rapid development are essential for market leadership. Research in the construction sector has proved that utilization of quality management theories has a great influence on the cost effectiveness results of construction projects and achieving successful project performance. It is a way of planning, organizing and understanding each activity of the process and removing all the unnecessary steps routinely followed in the organization. This paper aims to study application of Best Value technique, a quality management programme that focuses on improving quality through the elimination of waste that hampers project effectiveness. This technique adopts the method to reduce client decision making by aligning the most appropriate contractor and vendor to the client through performance information and minimizing the need for superfluous client management and direction by successfully transferring the risk to the party best fit to address the risk and holding it accountable for the results. An application of this system is studied in the venture of selection of the best fitted Contractor and Vendor which directly helps in reduction of waste and delivering a quality product to clients.
Best Value; Contractors; Quality Management; Vendors
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Research Articles
Decision Making For Selection Of Optimum Machinery In Mega Construction Project Using Artificial Intelligence Technique
Sakib Khan , Rajendra Magar and Mohammed Junaid Siddiqui
Selection of machinery in construction projects is a central element in the planning phase of the life cycle of the project. Appropriately selected machinery are the lifeblood of any multistoried construction project and contribute largely to the efficiency, timeliness, and profitability of the project. An error in selection can lead to large and unnecessary expenses arising from operational inadequacy or failure, and can produce an unsafe working environment. The decision to select particular machinery depends on the factors such as project size, project terrain, size of the structure being erected as well as economy, safety, and weather conditions and their variability are considered for selection of machinery. Machine operators perform large amount of work based on the limited information they obtain from the site. Engineers are increasing their risk by relying on this limited information for the optimum selection of machinery, which leads to undesirable expenses. It is assured that optimum selection of machinery lowers the risk and costs associated with it. The selection of machinery depends greatly on skilled judgment that accounts for all likely involved variables. Much information is available to assist in this process in the form of work study data, manufacturer's machine performance, specifications and guidelines on methods of calculating production output and resource requirements. Parameters mentioned above are qualitative and subjective judgment implicit in these terms cannot be directly incorporated into the classical decision making process. Some of these factors are partially quantified and often entangled with personal opinions and seldom based on scientific analysis. These considerations are handled using fuzzy logic techniques. This paper presents a fuzzy logic approach to aid the contractor in the proper selection of machinery. From experts' opinions, membership values of fuzzy sets are aggregated by modified pessimistic aggregation procedure and final selection is achieved by Dominance Matrix.
Construction industry; Construction management; Fuzzy logic approach; Modified pessimistic aggregation; Optimum machineries; Artificial intelligence technique
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Research Articles
Comparative Assessment Of Project Risk Management And Agile Project Management In The Prospect Of Civil Infrastructure Projects
Pulok Ranjan Mohanta
Civil infrastructure projects are commonly known for inherent uncertainty as they are vulnerable to various risks, managing of which decides the fate of the projects. Numerous literature is available describing the risks and their nature. Quite a few describe the views on risk management as well. The risks are managed traditionally by following waterfall approach as that of the project as a whole. This strategy holds good if the projects are of a familiar type. However, when dealing with unfamiliar circumstances and a lot of uncertainty, in terms of frequent change in the scope, is involved within the project, it increases the complexity and hence adds to the difficulty in managing the risks and hence the project. Though the project risk management is not a new concept, the circumstances in which the projects are executed now are very different from the old days, when the approaches for risk management were being formulated. Researchers and practitioners are recently emphasizing the importance of exploring different approaches, including practices from so-called 'Agile Methods', in order to cope with the innovation and dynamism of certain industries and project types. The aim of this article is to present a review of the traditional project risk management methodology and emphasize the easiness of risk management in the large infrastructure projects when they are managed in the agile way.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Process Towards Sustainable Construction Management Development For The Indian Construction Industries To Achieve Business Excellence
Vijayan Gurumurthy Iyer
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process can be broadly defined as a study of the impacts of a proposed project, plan, project, policy or legislative action on the environment and sustainability. In this research, SEA process has been aimed in order to incorporate environmental and sustainability factors in to constructional project planning and decision making (CPPDM) process such as project formulation and appraisal of Indo-Matsushita midget electrode (battery carbon rod) plant in 1979 at Tada, sustainable bridge, road and sanitation structure, green building, nuclear power plant, cotton roller ginning plant and concrete that included policies, programmes, plans and legislative actions. Sustainable construction development is a kind of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability and efficacy of future generations to meet their own needs. The objective of the study is to conceptualize SEA process for the construction sector based on fifteen sustainable detailed project reports (DPRs) submitted by the extension learners of Diploma in Entrepreneurship and Business Management (DEBM) course conducted by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (The EDI of India) during the research year (RY) 1999 to 2017 under the author's counsellorship. The design of the study is cross sectional. International EIA process required multi-disciplinary approach that has been conducted at a very early stage of Japanese Matsushita carbon rod project in 1982 for strategic environmental assessment. The paper highlights the SEA process conducted for certain projects based on operation and process approach and associated studies for sustainable development. Sustainable civil engineering product environmental lifecycle analysis (LCA) has been conducted for identifying and measuring the impact of civil engineering industrial products and services on the environment and sustain efficacy by means of mass and energy balance methods (Iyer, 2017). LCA considers the constructional activities related to raw materials, transformation, ancillary materials, equipment, method, market, man power, production, use, disposal and ancillary equipment. As per competent person (CP) of Factories Act of Tamil Nadu Factories Rules 1950data analysis for construction safety, personal protective equipments and materials(PPEMs) that included garments, clothing, gloves, safety shoes, hard hats, safety glasses, shields, respirators, full aprons, safety belts, and other safety items must be used by an individual. Such equipments are important for personal protection and for safety. It is the manager's and supervisor's responsibility to ensure that they are used. The enactment of worker's compensation law and occupational disease law shall increase materially the cost of insurance to industry. The increased cost and the certainty with which it is applied will put a premium on accident-prevention work. This cost can be materially reduced by the installation of safety devices. It is concluded that constructional management research experience has shown that approximately 80% of all the construction industrial accidents are preventable. SEA system is a potentially useful element of good environmental management and sustainable development; however, as currently practiced in construction industries, it is far from perfection. Emphasis should be given in construction industries on maintaining economic viability of the operation, while in turn taking care to preserve the ecological and social sustainabilities of the country. International EIA process required multidisciplinary approach that has been conducted at a very early stage of the Indo-Matsushita Midget electrode project in 1982 at Tada for economic, ecological and social sustainablities.
Wastage Factors And Lean Technique Analysis: A Study Of Indian Construction Sites
Venkatesan Renganaidu
Poor site management causes huge wastage at the construction site and ultimately results in time overrun, cost overrun thus resulting in customer dissatisfaction. Lean construction techniques are aimed at reducing wastage and increasing value to the customers. Globally, many studies have been carried out to overcome wastage at the construction site by applying various Lean construction techniques but a very few studies have been carried out in the Indian scenario. The objectives of the current study are: (i) To identify the key wastage causing factors at the construction site and (ii) To identify the potential lean technique solutions, to overcome these problems. In order to accomplish these objectives, a critical review of relevant literature and case study analysis were carried out. This is further coupled with a structured questionnaire survey at multiple Indian construction sites to gather information on key wastage causing factors. Relative Important Index (RII) and Factor Analysis were carried out on the responses. The results of this study reveal that delay in approvals, adverse site conditions and poor coordination are the top three key wastage causing factors at the construction site. Value stream mapping, 5S and Last planner are the most recommended and used lean construction techniques to resolve these problems. The study can be further extended to quantify these causes and the impact of application of these techniques.
Wastage Factors; Lean Construction; Value Stream Mapping; Last Planner; 5S
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Research Articles
Ground Water Quality Assessment Of Panvel Region
Muzzammil Shaikh , Shabiimam M. A. , Shivaji M Sarvade and Dayashankar Paswan
Evaluation of ground water quality is an important issue to assure its safe and stable use. In this paper, ground water quality assessment of Panvel and surrounding region has been investigated. Panvel is the most occupied town in the Raigad district. The city is developing rapidly due to its close proximity to Mumbai and JNPT port. Urbanization and agricultural actions have a huge effect on ground water quality of the study area. The groundwater development along the coast results in induced flow of saline water into the aquifers of freshwater and thereby resulting in the intrusion. The intrusion of salt water into the aquifers along the coastal area is becoming one of the major concerns around the world. In this study, various ground water and sea water samples were collected from different sources randomly, like from hand pump, borewell and dugwell. The ground water and sea water samples were analysed according to IS standards. The study reveals that, hardness is high in ground water samples in all the locality of Panvel region. In addition to this, alkalinity and turbidity are major issues in old Panvel and Akurli region.
Ground Water; Coastal Region; Salt Water Intrusion; Ground Water Quality; Water Contamination
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Research Articles
Effect Of Thermal Cycles On Strength Properties Of Fibre Reinforced Copper Slag Admixed Concrete
Binaya Patnaik and Seshadri Sekhar Tirumala
Concrete Structures are exposed to temperature variations mainly due to solar radiation. As reported in literature, concrete containing 100 percent Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) exhibited a steady decline in residual compressive concrete strength when subjected to thermal cycles. This paper presents an experimental study on the effect of thermal cycles on strength properties of fibre reinforced copper slag concrete. The experiments were carried out on concrete cubes of size 100 mm x 100 mm x 100 mm. The concrete cubes were subjected to 28 and 56 thermal cycles at constant temperature of 100°C. Studies have been carried out to determine the impact of various thermal cycles on the fibre reinforced copper slag admixed concrete and compared with ordinary fibre reinforced concrete.
Lean Construction Practices In A Highway Project: A Case Study On The National Highway NH 218
R. Sathish Kumar
Lean construction is a production and management based approach for a project. It is a way to design production systems to minimize the wastage of materials, time and effort in order to generate the maximum possible amount of value. Lean Construction extends from the objectives of a lean management system to maximizing the value and minimizing the waste. A study was done to analyze the lean construction practice in a highway project. The main objective of the study is to analyse and implement the lean construction practices in the construction of a highway. The study is based on a live project 'Improvements to Road from NH-218 to Andhra Pradesh Border leading to Mehaboobnagar via Chincholi [km 92.000 to km 108.200]'. An analysis of the design of the highway pavement is also done where a change in design is recommended which resulted in considerable cost savings.
Lean construction; Waste minimization; Macadam construction; Million standard axles; Design thickness
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Research Articles
Employer Branding: Linking Marketing To The Human Resource (HR) Practice
Sohan Mohanty
The old social contract of the employee being loyal to the company and the company taking care of the employee until retirement is passé. Employees are more responsible while managing their own careers now, constantly looking forward to work with organisations that have good employment reputation and positive employer images. This paper is an essay on employer branding; capturing the aspects of marketing, branding, recruitment and engagement, relevant to the talent management function of an organisation. This study is a compilation of seminal works done in the area of employer branding and related concepts of employer image and employer attractiveness while attempting to link the concept of marketing to the Human Resource (HR) practice. Strong employer brands increase an organisation's ability to attract, retain and engage people. (Barrow and Mosley (2005).
Employer branding; Employer image; Employer attraction; Employer of choice
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