Examining The Importanceof Key Performance Indicators Construction Essay

Examining The Importanceof Key Performance Indicators Construction Essay The Latham Report, also known as Constructing the Team was published by Sir Michael Latham in 1994 to highlight the inefficiencies of UK construction industry at that time. The industry was underperforming as a whole, generating low profitability and unable to meet clients satisfaction. Latham Report served as a wake-up call for the nation and underlined the immediate need to reform. Sir John Egan picked up from where Latham left off and published the Egan Report, also known as Rethinking Construction in 1998. Egan Report (1998) identified five key drivers of change which are committed leadership, a focus on the customer, integrated processes and teams, a quality driven agenda and commitment to people. Sir John Egan also challenged the industry to reduce its construction cost and time by 10% annually. Egan Report concluded that, if the UK construction industry is to meet new challenges and opportunities, it must transform itself, and KPIs were highlighted as a tool for attaining this (Cooper, 2004). The first set of UK Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) was published in 1999 with three main objectives (Constructing Excellence, 2006): Key Performance Indicators can be rather confusing to those who have little knowledge in business management. It is believed that the benefits of KPIs are yet to be fully exploited by the construction industry ever since the publication of Egan Report. KPIs are not new to the industry but they are either not recognised or kept away by the management teams (Parmenter, 2007). Nowadays, the term KPIs has become one of the most over-used and little understood terms in business development and management (Ibis, 2010). According to KPIs expert David Parmenter, KPIs represent a set of measures focusing on those aspects of organisational performance that are the most critical for the current and future success of the organisation (Parmenter, 2004). When used correctly, KPIs are able to tell an organisation what to do to improve performance dramatically. However, the organisation can only succeed when the company leaders and staff are all together focusing on KPIs. Each business industry has a different set of KPIs for companies to use to measure their success. In the construction industry, companies use indicators such as the number of safety incidents in a specified time period, profitability of construction projects or reviewing cost of construction materials against the predetermined budget (Vitez, 2010). Cox et al. (2003) state that KPIs are compilations of data measures used to assess the performance of a construction operation. They also state that KPIs could be the methods management uses to evaluate employee performance of a particular task. These evaluations typically compare the actual and estimated performance in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and quality in terms of both workmanship and product. In order to measure performance or calculate the effects of any given change on the construction process, one must first determine the appropriate KPIs to focus on to measure its impact (Cox et al., 2003). Performance indicators can be defined by either the quantitative results of a construction process, for example  £/unit, or by qualitative measures such as worker behaviour on the job. Accurate analysis of construction performance can be only performed after the KPIs are determined and monitored (Cox et al., 2003). Before any Key Performance Indicators are determined, it is vital to identify what the organisations goal is (Visitask, 2010). After the goals are identified, KPIs will act as a measure of progress towards those goals. Whatever the KPIs may be, they must be critical to the success of the organisation (Reh, 2010). After the KPIs have been defined and the way to measure it has also been determined, a clear target has to be demarcated which should be understandable by everyone in the organisation (Visitask, 2010). The target should also be specific so that every individual are able to work together towards accomplishing it. To achieve a particular target level of Key Performance Indicator for a company, every department along with the company leaders have to work in synergy towards it (Visitask, 2010). In short, KPIs help an organisation define and measure progress toward organisational goals. Once an organisation has analysed its mission, identified all its stakeholders, and defined its goals, it needs a way to measure progress toward those goals and KPIs are those measurements (Reh, 2010). Measuring performance allows an organisation to objectively determine what is working and what is not (Ling and Peh, 2005). There are many ways to use KPIs in the business and industry. According to Constructing Excellence (2006), the main ways that KPIs are used in the construction industry are: CIPFA (1996) describes benchmarking as a tool for self improvement. It suggests that organisations are often prompted to use benchmarking when they want to reduce cost, achieve more with the same or fewer resources, prepare for competitive tendering, improve quality of service, or change culture of the organisation. Benchmarking can be used in a host of ways. For example a company can compare its performance internally, by benchmarking processes in one office against the same processes in another; or it can undertake similar work externally by examining how it compares with its direct competitors (Pickrell and Garnett, 1997). When choosing a target for benchmarking, it is best to benchmark similar organisations in the same industry, in similar marketplaces, of a similar size and if possible, working in a similar locality. Such an approach provides not only more meaningful and focused targets for improvement, but also data and more general information about what competitors are achiev ing (Cooper, 2004). However, sometimes it is necessary to go beyond the sphere of ones own industry to identify the best practice in the business (McGeorge and Palmer, 1997). KPIs are a type of performance measurement tool. It allows management to measure the performance of a company in a certain area such as profitability. KPIs can help a team to work together to achieve a common set of measurable goals, and provide a very quick way of seeing the actual performance of a goal or strategic objective (RapidBI, 2009). According to Constructing Excellence (2006), KPIs can also be used as a marketing tool. For example, Contractors can use KPIs to prove that they have excellent safety records to promote themselves in front of clients when tendering. Besides, KPIs can help companies to make decisions quicker when there are accurate and visible measures to back them up (RapidBI, 2009). In the construction industry, KPIs help managers to find weak areas in their operations that can be improved, leading to faster construction completion times and fewer employee safety incidents (Vitez, 2010). Moreover, constructions companies who use KPIs in their operations usuall y have more flexible operations than their competitors (Vitez, 2010). Although not realised by many people, KPIs actually play a part in providing sustainable construction. There are environmental KPIs that measure impact on the environment, energy use, waste, and impact on biodiversity which are all crucial to sustainability. Benchmarking can provide an objective analysis of how successful an organisation is performing and allows a company to identify its position in the market (Ling and Peh, 2005). By benchmarking against best practice in the industry, one can identify potential areas of growth or weaknesses and use lessons learnt to make targeted improvements. In long run, companies who benchmark will be able to deliver clients expectations and increase clients satisfaction. Besides, benchmarking can help to lock an organisation into continuous performance improvement, and to develop a culture in which it is easier to admit mistakes and make changes (CIPFA, 1996). Pickrell and Garnett (1997) claim that benchmarking can help to reduce overheads and increase profitability of a company. It also enables companies to really understand their business processes. The most important thing of all about benchmarking is that it allows better companies to demonstrate that they are capable of delivering good services and products, thus developing a barrier to the poorer performers in the market. When this happens, poorer performers will strive to improve their performance by means of benchmarking the better ones and consequently the overall performance of the industry is increased as the market gets more competitive.

Transformative Learning in Adulthood :: Adult Education Educate Essays

Transformative Learning in Adulthood A defining condition of being human is that we have to understand the meaning of our experience. For some, any uncritically assimilated explanation by an authority figure will suffice. But in contemporary societies we must learn to make our own interpretations rather than act on the purposes, beliefs, judgments, and feelings of others. Facilitating such understandings is the cardinal goal of adult education. Transformative learning develops autonomous thinking. (Mezirow 1997, p. 5) Since first introduced by Jack Mezirow in 1978, the concept of transformative learning has been a topic of research and theory building in the field of adult education (Taylor 1998). Although Mezirow is considered to be the major developer of transformative learning theory, other perspectives about transformative learning--influenced by the work of Robert Boyd--are emerging. Following a discussion of transformative learning as conceptualized by Mezirow, this Digest describes research and theory building by Robert Boyd and its influence on current perspectives of transformative learning. Some suggestions for fostering transformative learning conclude the Digest. Mezirow and Transformative Learning The theory of transformative learning that has been developed by Mezirow during the past 2 decades has evolved "into a comprehensive and complex description of how learners construe, validate, and reformulate the meaning of their experience" (Cranton 1994, p. 22). Centrality of experience, critical reflection, and rational discourse are three common themes in Mezirows theory (Taylor 1998), which is based on psychoanalytic theory (Boyd and Myers 1988) and critical social theory (Scott 1997). For learners to change their "meaning schemes (specific beliefs, attitudes, and emotional reactions)," they must engage in critical reflection on their experiences, which in turn leads to a perspective transformation (Mezirow 1991, p. 167). "Perspective transformation is the process of becoming critically aware of how and why our assumptions have come to constrain the way we perceive, understand, and feel about our world; changing these structures of habitual expectation to make possible a more inclusive, discriminating, and integrating perspective; and, finally, making choices or otherwise acting upon these new understandings" (ibid.). Perspective transformation explains how the meaning structures that adults have acquired over a lifetime become transformed. These meaning structures are frames of reference that are based on the totality of individuals cultural and contextual experiences and that influence how they behave and interpret events (Taylor 1998). An individuals meaning structure will influence how she chooses to vote or how she reacts to women who suffer physical abuse, for example.

Cross Symbol

A cross represents many things to different people. Some view it as simply a‘t’. For others, it is their way of life. Many in America feel this way. A cross is the main symbol for Christianity, and as Christianity is the main religion in America, it can be considered a symbol of American culture. A cross is more than just a t-shaped piece of wood. A cross is the representative symbol of American culture. One morning, a long while ago, there was a man. This was before crosses had the present day meaning. He was to be crucified on a wood-shaped t contraption.It was called a cross. Forwarding to the present day, when most people think of or hear the word cross, they think of a battered old wood piece that is in the shape of a lower case t. While that is generally what a cross will come in, it can take the form of many things. It can be made of metal, wood, plastic, cardboard, or even by crossing one’s fingers. A cross can be fancy, new, battered, or old. No matter th e look of it, though, the cross always seems the same in the hearts and minds of those who cherish it.Perhaps the most thought provoking image of a cross is when Christ is on it, nails in his feet and hands, with a pierced wound in his side, his head bowed to heaven. The cross is both a symbol of happiness and sadness. One of the main reasons that pilgrims and settlers came over to the future site of the great United States of America was to avoid religious persecution in their homelands. America was the place of all things new and reborn, and what better way to practice their outcast religions. Most of the religions, however, shared one thing in common: they were all Christian-based religions.They just had different ways of practicing how to worship their Lord, Savior, and God. Being in the church-run country of England, however, was difficult because of these different practices. They united and came under the banner of one object, the cross. Many people view the cross as excludin g and not open to everyone everywhere. This is far from the truth. The cross accepts any and all who wish to worship under it and be one with the rest of the Christian nation. Those that pervert the word and message of the cross and its religion aren’t the true bearers of Jesus’ word and message.Sometimes the cross is perceived as a bat that beats the message into your head and does physical damage to them. This is far from the truth. A cross is like a pillow, that can be snuggled and used for friendly pillow fights, but it always comforts when it is needed. A cross needs to be thought less of as an animate object, and more of an inanimate object that encompasses a broad scope of items. One of these objects could be considered a pen and quill. When the founding fathers of the United States assembled in Philadelphia, they penned the words â€Å"endowed by their Creator. While Creator can have a broad variety of meanings depending on background, upbringing, and current value system, one can infer the implied meaning of what that statement was supposed to mean. America had religious upbringings. If it wasn’t for religion, America could possibly not be here today, or not be as successful as it is. The pilgrims could have stayed in England and Mainland Europe, and America may not have been settled until a much later date. In current times, many will argue that the cross is an obsolete and inaccurate representation of American culture.While it is true that church attendance and overall religiousness of the country is going down, the greater majority, even ones who don’t attend church on a regular basis, still view the cross as a symbol of greater things. It symbolizes the resolve of the American people. When in doubt, they look up, hoping for a sign of greater things to come. A cross may not be as fancy as a tasseled flag, or as popular as a roaring lion, but do those items have a deeper meaning to it? Americans have never been about bei ng the fanciest, or being the best.Americans care about what is important to them, and they fight for it. Present day fights to keep the cross and other Christian-related materials are a constant effort. Many should re-read the Declaration of Independence, and see the word Creator. It may refresh and jog their memories. The cross is one of the symbols of the American culture. Religion plays a large part in many lives in the country, and this is a representation of that. Perhaps if more people come under the wings of the cross, America can be great again.

Quotes from Poets About Death

Quotes from Poets About Death Its difficult to know what to say when trying to comfort someone who has suffered the loss of a loved one. But death is part of the human condition, and there is no shortage of literature about death and dying. Sometimes it takes a poet to give us perspective on the meanings of life and death. Here are some famous, and hopefully comforting, quotes about death from poets and writers that would be appropriate when offering condolences. William Shakespeare Quotes About Death And, when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of Heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun.- From Romeo and Juliet Loves not Times fool, though rosy lips and cheeksWithin his bending sickles compass come;Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,But bears it out even to the edge of doom.-    From Sonnet 116 Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.- From Julius Caesar To die, to sleepTo sleep: perchance to dream: ay, theres the rubFor in that sleep of death what dreams may comeWhen we have shuffled off this mortal coil,Must give us pause: theres the respectThat makes calamity of so long life. - From Hamlet Quotes About Death from Other Poets Be near me when my light is low... And all the wheels of being slow. -   Ã‚   Alfred Lord Tennyson Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality.-    Emily Dickinson Death comes to all. But great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold. -    George Fabricius Death gives us sleep, eternal youth, and immortality.-   Jean Paul Richter Death is a commingling of eternity with time; in the death of a good man, eternity is seen looking through time.-   Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.-   Antoine de Saint Éxupà ©ry Do not stand at my grave and weep.I am not there; I do not sleep.I am a thousand winds that blow.I am the diamond glints on snow.I am the sunlight on ripened grain.I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the mornings hushI am the swift uplifting rushOf quiet birds in circled flight.I am the soft stars that shine at night.Do not stand at my grave and cry;I am not there; I did not die.- Mary Elizabeth Frye Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night.-   Edna St. Vincent Millay Though lovers are lost, love shall not. And death shall have no dominion.  - Dylan Thomas

Motivational Reasons for Failure in School Essay Example

Motivational Reasons for Failure in School Essay Example Motivational Reasons for Failure in School Essay Motivational Reasons for Failure in School Essay In August of 2009 two boys began their school year at public schools in Southeastern Idaho. Both boys had been raised in similar settings of a two parent home, average income, and raised in a demographically rural community. These boys have had equal opportunities in the educational system of supportive parents and teachers and after school programs. Intellectually both boys have the ability to succeed in school. This tale of two Southeastern Idaho boys, and of millions of children just like them, raises the question of why some students educationally excel and others do not. If both boys in this scenario have the same opportunities, the same environmental settings, and the same level of intelligence then why will one excel and the other not? Research has shown that motivation reasons, such as fear of failure, incuriosity, and lack of ambition, can cause low classroom achievement. Have you ever been so afraid of failing at something that you decided not to try it at all? Or has fear of failure meant that, subconsciously, you undermined your own efforts to avoid the possibility of a larger failure. Many of us have probably experienced this at one time or another. The fear of failure can immobilize – it can cause us to do nothing, and therefore resist moving forward. But when we allow fear to stop our forward progress in life, we are likely to miss great opportunities along the way. According to the Reiss Motivational Profile, fear of failure in the number one reason for low achievement in school. Students that display this fear of failure often feel that failure hurts less if they don’t try to succeed. Signs that a student may have a fear of failure are a reluctance to try new things or get involved in challenging projects, procrastination, and low self-esteem or self-confidence. We have defined the emotion and identified the symptoms, now how can we help overcome. Students with fear of failure may be at their best when parents and teachers stand behind them and encourage them. Positive encouraging words and actions are observed and taken in. Students will respond if the classroom atmosphere is uplifting and rewarding. Students should be made aware that in everything they do, there’s always a chance that they will fail. Facing that chance, and embracing it, is not only courageous, but it gives them a fuller, more rewarding life. According to Steven Reiss incuriosity scored as the second motivational reason why students have low achievement is school. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary incuriosity is define as lacking a normal or usual curiosity: uninterested. Students in school seem to regulate how much thinking they do. Some need to think a lot, these students need many interests to satisfy their high need for intellect. Others aim to think very little. It is not just one or two topics they hate thinking about, they just dont like to think for any length of time. At least, that is what they say and how they behave. These school children need many practical activities to gratify their need to minimize thinking. They hate school because it makes them do something [think] they dont want to do for longer than a few minutes at a time. Teachers need a general sense of how long each individual student needs to think versus how long he/she needs to rest from thinking. Incurious pupils enjoy thinking for below-average periods of time and need long periods of rest. Teachers should break down the material into small bites and to give emphasis to the practical application of the curriculum. Lack of ambition was rated number three for motivational reason why students have low achievement in school. Lack of ambition is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as absence of the desire to strive toward achievement. For students in school, it manifests as an inability to consistently take action toward goals – or even the inability to create goals in the first place! Without accepting full responsibility for the direction of their life, students will not be able to commit to a plan of action, and will ultimately remain sitting on the fence. These students find it easy to blame people and situations for their failure to move forward in life. Students can be motivated differently for a variety of reasons, from age to culture to special needs. Teachers will need to incorporate various scenarios. Some motivations might work better than another or a combination of the two is a better approach. Individual students respond differently, some may respond to tangible rewards, stickers, and praise. Motivation for others will be a sense of accomplishment, responsibility, and pride. The tale of the two junior high boys in Southeast Idaho illustrates the role that fear of failure, incuriosity, and lack of ambition plays in low achievement at school. Both boys had equal opportunities educationally and environmentally. Their internal self shaped the outcome of their achievement. Teachers can encourage and inspire our children to overcome these setbacks of fear, incuriosity, and lack of ambition. Success can be a

Introduction to business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Introduction to business - Essay Example Thus, it becomes clear that steel is highly significant to modern society. Tata Steel is the second biggest steel manufacturer in Europe and has its chief steelmaking plants in Holland and UK. It supplies steel and associated services to main industries such as production, vehicle manufacture and packaging. The European operations are a supplementary of Tata Steel Group, one of the world’s top ten steel manufacturers. The joint Group has approximately 80,000 employees. A dedication to environmentally-sound practices is an important part of many businesses’ promise to act responsibly. Social responsibility refers to company’s responsibilities to take advantage of its long-term positive impacts and reduce its negative impacts on society. This paper is in the form of a report of its current approach to managing environmental drivers in their market. The impact of five key environmental drivers, namely, the effects of urbanization, generation of energy, transportatio n, agriculture and tourism, on the organization is also incorporated in this report. Report: Tata Steel Europe Ltd is a multinational company making steel, which is headquartered in London, UK, and is a completely owned subsidiary of Tata Steel. It is the second biggest steel-maker in Europe. â€Å"Today, it is one of the largest steel producers in the world with over 80,000 employees across five continents† (The World of Steel n.d.: 11). The company functions two main integrated steel plants in the UK, at south Wales, Scunthorpe Port and Talbot, north Lincolnshire, and one in IJmuiden, the Netherlands. Started in 1907, and at present the company is among the top ten global steel manufacturing companies with a crude steel capability of over 28 million tonnes per annum. The company is also engaged in activities relating to discovering, prospecting, and mining iron ore, ferro alloys, coal and other minerals; manufacturing and designing plants and equipment for oil, steel and na tural energy, gas and power, mining, ports, railways, aviation, and agricultural implements and space industries. â€Å"The manufacturing facilities at Tata Steel Europe comprise of manufacturing hubs† (The journey towards enduring sustainability 2013: 16). It is at the present, one of the world's most geographically-diversified producers of steel, with operations in 26 nations and a commercial presence in over 50 nations. The Tata Steel Group Company, in FY 2012- 2013 with a turnover of US$ 24.82 billion, has over 81,000 workers across five continents and is a Fortune 500 business. â€Å"By carefully identifying and articulating the drivers of social performance and measuring and managing the broad effects of both good and bad performance on the corporation’s various stakeholders, managers can make a significant contribution both to their company and to society† (Epstein & Roy 2001: 585). Vision of the Tata Steel is to be the world’s steel business bench mark through the excellence of its citizens, its modern approach and overall conduct. Supporting this vision

The Lady and Her Five Suitors - A 1001 Nights Assignment - 17

The Lady and Her Five Suitors - A 1001 Nights - Assignment Example On receiving the news, she nearly loses her wits. She arises, dons herself with her richest attire and perambulates to the household of the police chief. She greets him and presents to him a written petition that purports that the lad had been imprisoned wrongfully. She claims that the youth was her provider and the only one who would come to her where she then appeals to the mercies of the police chief to have him released. To this point, the lady has used deception, and she uses her dressing and donning to lure the police chief into succumbing to her wishes. It is easy to see her line of trickery in saying â€Å"..and I have none other to come to me..† (Byatt), which appears like a sexual appeal in that she has no one to come into her, making the chief to start thinking in those lines. On reading the piece of paper, the magistrate casts an eye on this women and immediately falls in love with her, a classical reaction we find in all her five suitors. She has learned of her charm on men, and she uses it to trick her way through to have them make decisions in her favour. When the magistrate preempts that she has to come into his place, she uses wits, tricking the magistrate again to come into her lodging, as she would do to all her five suitors. She then leaves leaving his heart entirely taken with love for her. She then proceeds to the Kazi of that city to present her case. The woman leaks of cunningness and goes ahead to protest the arrest of the lad, but this time, she says it’s her brother. Sure of her capabilities to mesmerize men, she airs her complaints and as expected, the Kazi casts his eyes on her and falls in love with her, even offering that he would, out of his purse, pay the fine imposed on the woman’s brother. On the request that she comes in, she gives him a date in a place and at a time the same as with the magistrate. She then goes to the Wazir, The king, and a carpenter, doing the same charm and tricking all of them to cooperate to have the youth released.  Ã‚