Value Management in UK Construction

Value Management in UK Construction Abstract This dissertation of project will investigate how the value management is being utilised in todays construction industry in United Kingdom and to investigate how the value management was used in the UK construction industry. The project will consider how the connection between the size of the project and the level of use of value management. The project will also aim to discover whether there is a connection between the size of a company and the level of value management utilization. It is so hard to find the company as complete however the level of importance of value management in a company places can be judged to a certain by the level of its use within a company, and also whether an organisation provides its employees with vale management training and as such this piece of work shall aim to uncover if there is a n association between the size and type of a business, and the level of training which it provides. The main things involved were about the business and the projects. The data will be collected through questionnaire sent to a sample of construction professionals in Dubai, Srilanka and in UK. The study will conclude that there is an association between the size of a project or business and the level of use of value management. It will also conclude that there is no any association between the type of construction organisation and the level of training provided to employees; however there is a association between the size of an organization and level of training provided to employees. Chapter 1: Problem Statement and structure of Dissertation 1.1 Problem Statement The value management is the thing which is prepared for the estimating and the classification of the project scope and the means which there can be obtained by the value for money using a specialist facilitator and workshop techniques. According to the institute of value management, the value management has their principles of approaches; A continuous awareness of value for the organization, establishing measures of estimates of value, monitoring and controlling them; A focus on the objectives and targets before seeking solutions; A focus on function, providing the key to maximize innovative and practical outcomes The concept of value is on the association between the satisfaction of many differing needs and the resources used and the most satisfaction of needs, more the value. Stake holders, internal and external clients may all hold different view of what the value is. The aim of the value management is to resolve these differences and enable an organization to achieve the greatest progress towards its stated goals with the use of minimum resources which you can (see the figure below) What is necessary for desired user Satisfaction of needs Use of resources = Value Everything that is required to satisfy needs It is very important to understand that value may be better by more the satisfaction of need even if the resource used in doing so increase provided that the satisfaction of need increases more than the increase in use of resources. Nowadays in construction, customers are mostly concerned with achieving value for money in their construction projects. In response to this demand, a developed number of companies claim to offer the value management as a service, however there is a confusion what actually comprise what actually comprise the value management with some commentators going as far as questioning whether value management differ from the established produce of cost management (Green, 1992) The previous day the value management is not that it is a cost cutting exercise, or a methods which is to be budgeted within a projects, rather as a mean of achieving best value for money to client value management may raise procurement costs and the price of a project up front, If it means it will increase the value/function ration (Kelly et al, 2002) Ahsworth and Hogg (2000), claim that for a 1% fee on construction cost, it is possible that a total saving between 10%-15% on construction costs can be achieved. It is hard to prove how accurate this estimate is, however the benefit to client are widely touted, with the Egan report of 1998, also claiming a saving of up to 10% possible. However other the commentators such as palmer (1996) say that the effectiveness of value management depends mostly on the personalities involved, the timing of the study, the interaction of the team and the role of the client and the input of the design team, whilst going on to say that as functional analysis often gets ignored the whole value management process is often no more than a cost cutting exercise. Most professionals would agree however that value management does have its merits. What this in mind it would seem senseless were value management not to be utilised to its full potential. However difference sources were seem to suggest that the case is that not all, or really very few organisations use value management its full potential ( Fong,2005) This is because of lot of understanding of value management or it is being realize at the wrong time. Kelly (2002).States that the previous value management is realising that the more effective it will be. If the limits of the construction scheme are clear from the Inception, then the design and briefing can be associated with the time, cost and quality constraints of the customer. With all these points in mind this piece of work aims investigate how value managements being utilised in todays construction industry in the UK. Furthermore, to investigate the views of organisation and individuals in the industry with regard to value management. 1.2 Aims The aim of this dissertation is to investigate how the value management is being utilised in todays construction industry in UK, and to investigate the views of companies and industrials in the industry with regards to value management, by examining how it is spread widely the use of value management, It will be useful to spread projects up into categories based on size to determine whether there is a connection between the project value and the probability of value management being used, and as such test the suggestion, S1: Value management is important in larger projects. The scope of this piece of work furthering work by Hogg (1999) and Hander son (2006) whether there is a relationship between the size of a company and the level of value management utilization and in doing so testing the suggestion. S2: Value management was not utilised in smaller UK construction industry rather than the larger companies. It is hard to measure the view of a company entirely even though the level of importance a company places on value management can be judged to a certain extent by the level of its use with a company, and also the company should need the employees with value management training to design between companies, they will be separated into groups based on size and type and as such the following suggestion can be tested; S3: There is no any group between the type of a company and whether value management training is given. S4: There is no any group between the size of company and whether value management training is given. 1.3 Objectives The objectives can be realised in meeting some of these intends are; To expose whether the value managements basic principles are understand amongst construction professionals in the UK, and to employ a testable definition to make it possible to distinguish whether authentic value management is being employed. To research an investigate the distinguish of boundaries between small, medium, large and very large companies in order to investigate whether there is a connection between the companies size and utilisation of value management. To research an investigate the distinguish of boundaries between small, medium, large and very large projects in order to investigate whether there is a connection between the companies size and utilisation of value management. 1.4 Structure of dissertation Chapter 2 of this research will aim is to carry out a comprehensive critical review of literature and past research, incorporation with both accepted and historic literature but also the most up to date material relevant to the topic the literature, in particular the methodologies, data, analytical techniques etc. So as to ensure the objectives evaluation takes place. A different views and theories will be presented through synthesis and evaluation this section of the research will aim to provide a theoretical framework by; Essential of topic and terms Noting items of theory Noting major references Executing searches for literature appropriate to the topic and problems Obtaining and reviewing a range of sources Produce a review of the material This research will aim investigate whether or not value management is being fully utilised in the construction industry, in the learning of a range of professionals from differing background s in the construction industry .To measure a general opinion on the topic, it will be necessary to gather research which is relevant to the aim, objectives and the suggestion . This research was done by the journals, books, e-journals, the internet and publications such as building magazine. Chapter 3 will assessed by the possible mean of data collection, which is that the most appropriate method can be implemented this chapter of the research will be to find the most suitable method of measure the thoughts and views of construction professionals from different backgrounds, to determine whether value management is there knowledge of experience is being used fully in the construction industry. In this chapter will also evaluate the type of data that will be collected. There are two types of data which can be collected in order to test the assumptions namely quantitative data and qualitative data which is a combination of both plan may help to achieve a more conclusive end result; Naoum (2003) describes qualitative research as subjective with an emphasis on meanings, experience and description with (Fellows and Liu, 2003) describing qualitative research as subjective whilst providing a richness of data that cannot be obtained from quantitative data. And finally this section of the dissertation will measure of formal inference to determine which method is most appropriate given the type of data to be collected. In the chapter 4 of this dissertation the method which we discussed before will be implemented to produce and analyse a primary data, and enabling the earlier outlined aims and objectives to be met. When the results have been fully examined and checked, they will be visually presented in the form of tables, charts, diagrams and graphs. This will allow the answers of results of the tests to be visually conveyed. Statistical inference is employed which is to be done by the applicability of the results to the issues under examinations. The results will be use to prove or disprove the suggestion. In chapter 5 will be the results to conclude in the context of the theory to conclude in the context of the theory and literature review, and in light of the aims objectives set out at the beginning of the project. The finding will be considered in light of theory with the scope by advancement of knowledge. A critical review of what has been achieved throughout the course of the study will be carried out. This will allow the recommendation to make for the further works to be carried out. 1.5 Principal related work Ashworth and Hogg K (2000) Added value in construction. Essex, Pearson Education Ltd Hogg K (2000) Factors inhibiting the expression of value methodology in the UK construction sector : SAVE international conference proceedings available at; http://www.value-eng.org/pdf_docs/conference_proceedings/2000/2012.PDF Male, S Kelly, J (1998) the value management Benchmark; A good practise framework for clients and practitioners. Thomas Telford. Chapter 2: theory: Secondary Data 2.1 Introduction This was originally came from the manufacture Industry in the 1950s,The value analysis tool has came through different names and concepts into value management process as we all know it today which the key industry drivers was used to manage that of cost, time and quality. Value management include design management concepts of whole life costing, risk management and human resource management (Green, 2002) and is principally aimed at achieving the best value of money (in terms of both, decision arising from the process of value management, the following product and the process itself) to certify a best use of time and resources. Research and development work was brought out by Kelly and male (1998) together with Green (1990) and palmer (1992) which gave consideration to the application of the philosophy and the process within value management in the UK construction industry. Value management at this time was addressed commonly with passion and seen to have significant importance in the development of a move efficient and reasonable construction industry (hogg, 2000) Certainly in later years the UK construction industry has came under heavy scrutiny and has received high analysis from major sources. In 1994 the Latham Building the team Identified the inefficient built in an adversarial construction industry setting a challenge for change and developments. These analysed coupled with clients increasing demand for achieving value for money have seen designed and contractors take up the gauntlet and improve different types of business relationships and evolved new methods of good practices, and methodologies to develop effectiveness and value to the client. The meaning of value management was more highlighted when another government endorsed report, Rethinking Construction, (Construction Task Force.1998) Which also criticised ineffectiveness in the UK construction industry was presented the deputy prime minister. The report highlighted value management as a mean developing performance describing it as: A structured method of eliminating waste form the brief and the design before binding commitments are made.value management can also reduce costs by up to 10% (Construction task force;1998, P13) 2.2 What is Value Management? The value management was defined in order to which the idea of value must be understood firstly. The idea of value relies on the relationship between the satisfaction of many differing needs and the resources used in doing so. The less of the resource used or the greater the satisfaction of needs, the greater the value. Stakeholders, internal and external clients may all hold differing views of what represents value. The scope of value management is to reconcile these differences and enable an organization to achieve the greatest progress towards its stated goals with the use of minimum resource (which you can see in figure below) What is necessary for desired user = Satisfaction of needs Use of resources Value Everything that is required to satisfy needs It is important to understand that value may be improve by increasing the satisfaction of need even if the resources used in doing so increase, provided that the satisfaction of need increases more than the increases in used of resources(I.V.M. 2007) Value Management has a variety of meaning, but the basic principal of adding a value to the project in terms of the customer to remain the same. Kelly and Male (1998) defined value management as a service which maximises the functional value of a project by a managing its development from concept to completion and commissioning through the audit (examination) of all decisions against a value system determined by the client.They advice that the value system of the customer might be made explicit using functional analysis to expose the relationship between time, cost and quality. Value management is a planned approach to the recognition and valuation of project objectives and of the means by which these may be achieved is order to obtain value for money using a specialist facilitator and workshop techniques. According to institute of value management, the value management approach involves in three root principles; A continuous awareness of value for the organization, create measure or estimates of value, monitoring and controlling them; A focus on the objectives and targets before seeking solutions; A focus on function, providing the key to maximize innovative and practical outcomes. Value management utilizes workshop techniques, in which the customers and their advisors seek to identify the customers needs and objectives. These workshops, help by a value manager use brainstorming techniques and functional analysis to increase value in light of the clients need and requirements by certify that design solutions evolve in accordance with the agreed objectives. A consistent and chronological path is achieved through the use of job plan these workshops, following a five step process: The workshop begins with an information phase n which details of the project are presented in participants. This phase should give a clear due to all parties as to what the clients needs, wants and limits are the smart method of value management may be utilized at this stage. SMART value management is based upon technique known as the simple multi-attribute rating technique SMART value management understand that it is not sufficient merely to achieve the required function cost-effectively firstly it is necessary to ensure that the key project stakeholders have developed a share understanding of the strategic objectives, with is both the sound in its theory and practical in its implementation (Green, 2003) The next phase is the speculation phase, which involves generating alternative solutions and ideas. This phase of the workshop is usually performed with the aid of brainstorming and other creative thinking techniques such as the Gordon Technique to encourage the contribution of suggestion to improve value. The evaluation phase is used to assess the merits of the ideas generated during the creative phase, and compare the various ideas, which have been put forward. A list of best ideas is then carried forward for further development. The improvement phase considers in detail all of the ideas accepted from the evaluation phase to determine whether or not an idea should become a firm proposal. It should be developed in detail which is of ideas and then need to be priced in order to make a decision whether to present the ideas. The completion stage is the presentation phase which the teams proposals are presented to the client and their representatives. Diplomacy is an essential part in proposing changed to the original design. The ability of the catalyst is central to the success of the value management process. The success of the value management process. The facilitators role is to advising upon the selection of value management team, co-ordinating pre-workshop activities (E.g. issue of relevant information to selected value management participants), deciding upon the timing and duration of workshops, managing the workshop process and preparing reports. The management of the workshop can be a difficult task requiring a variety of skills. These include; the ability to adhere to an agenda; identifying the strengths and weakness of team members and promoting their positive interaction; motivating and directing activity; overseeing functional analysis; promoting an atmosphere conducing a disciplined structure (Ashworth Hogg, 2000). Which the test created by Kelly and male (1998) where the test created by Kelly and male (1998) where the outlines of a member in criteria, which is to be met, in order to conclude the authentic value management is being carried out .Those criteria are as follows; The workshop should consist of a multi disciplinary team. It use of a qualified value management as a facilitator. Implemented the brainstorming techniques. Implemented of functional analysis (as detailed below) Observance to a job plan (as detailed below) In this piece of work the above test together with the proceeding definition. Shall be use to define whether value management is being carried out. 2.3 Functional Analysis Functional analysis will mainly give the idea of identifying the common functions of an item, and in terms of construction, It identifies the clients need in terms of function. It is simple and effective with underlying the principle of functional analysis. when the technique applied to a building component on element it invites the question what does it do as opposed to what is it with this in mind, when searching for alternatives, we look for something that will perform the required function rather than attempt to find a substitute for the previous solutions (Palmer, 1992) FAST is an analysis process that was developed by Charles Bythway. It builds upon work by miles and allows functional analysis to be modelled and used as a means of multi disciplined communication. The application of fast is universal. It is based upon logic and allows aims and objectives to be translated into action Green (1994) indicates that the functional analysis system technique(FAST) is best used for the hard technical problems associated to value engineering which are normally carried out at later stage in the design process than more strategic SMART model used in value management functional analysis, which is central to the FAST technique, forces conciseness and eliminates ambiguity. FAST were also examines the cost Vs worth aspect, allowing full consideration of varying functions of one component. The aim of FAST is identifying the clients wants in terms of function not things (Bythway, 1992) One method of carrying out FAST analysis is use of a FAST diagram. This is a power ful technique in identifying the functional requirements of a project. 2.4 Value Management in Practice The recent years the UK construction Industry has come under heavy research, and has got heavy criticism from major sources. During the 1990s the Lathan and Egan reports Building the team and Rethinking construction identified the inefficiency inherent in an adversarial construction industry. In particular Rethinking construction set a challenge for change and improvement. These criticism coupled with clients increasing demand for achieving value have seen designers and contractors take up the gantlet and develop different types of business relationships and evolved new methods of good practice, and methodologies to improve efficiency, and value to the client. To this end, a growing number of companies claim to offer value management as a service, incorporating design management concepts, whole life costing, risk management and human resource management ( Kelly and Male, 2002) and is principally aimed at achieving best value for money (in terms of both, decisions arising from the value management process, the ensuring product and the process itself) to ensure best use of time and resources. However there could appear to be some confusion as to what actually constitutes value management. The modern day agreement for value management is not that it is a cost cutting exercise, or a method of keeping projects within budget, rather as a means of achieving best value for money to the client. Kelly and Male (2004) describe value management as the process by which the functional benifits of a project are made explicit and appraised consistent with a value system determined by the client value engineering, on the other hand, is concerned with achieving a given function at minimum cost. This there is some confusion between the vaue engineering and the value management. That as the value management will do achieve a high value to the client, in terms of meeting client objectives, which the value engineering will contrast looks to improve value in monetary terms by reducing cost, after analysis of function. In other words its aims are to achieve the function, at the least possible cost. That it may not lead to the greatest added value to the client. (DellIsola 1982) This confusion in terms has the lead some commentators to go so for as to question whether the value management differs from the established procedures of cost management (Green, 1992) The lot of majority of material studied however, were of the opinion that value management is a useful tool in identifying the clients needs, and utilising functional analysis to formulate a plan how best to meet these needs. In 1995 the RICS publication, Improving value for money in construction It is stated value management must be undertaken as part of the part of the process of establishing the clients business case in to ensure that the project address real needs and adds value. In todays UK construction industry, the use of value management is touted as having increased competition and encouraged growth by allowing better, more informed decisions to be made by IVM (Institute of Value Management,2000) In project delivery opportunities for such improved decision making exist through a project inception, design, construction and disposal (Kinnan and Martin,1997). Allowing value management to be introduced at any stage of project, with the later stages being used to assist project Integrating and procurement, often through the use of builadability concepts and partnering (Hyan,1997) without value management, however, significant additional costs can be incurred in late design changes (DellIsola,1982) as well as; Outcomes that represent poor value for money; In appropriate strategic for providing service need; Poor definition of service needs; An asset operation that cannot support service delivery; In effective communication among client/owners; Deficient project briefs; and Lack of project ownership by end users and managers. (Daddow and Skit more, 1993). Therefore to find the unsurprising the value management in construction industry has received attention and support from the government since the early 1990s (Institute of value management, 2000) and for more it use in becoming a requirement in the development and assessment of projects. whether this will ultimately lead to value management being a mandatory requirement in similar way to quality management in the 1980s is not yet known.(Daddow and Skitmore,1993) Indeed the RICS voice that value management should be made mandatory. Stating value management should be an automatic part of every project and not be an option in the 1995 publication, Improving value for money in construction. (RICS, 1995, P29) In the USA for example, a system of incentives and rebates, referred to as value management incentive and rebates, referred to as value management incentive clauses, are increasingly being introduced into contracts to formalise the arrangements between parties, for sharing the costs involved in implementing value management (Thiry,1997). The degree of success, which value management is touted to achieve is also varied. That the most easy source to quote is Sir John Egans report (1998) rethinking construction; presented to the deputy prime minister, in which a figure of a 10% saving on the contract sum, being forecast as figure to reasonable expected. As previously mentioned, this particular report was damming in assessing the UK construction industry current state, with regards to inefficiency and waste. However value management in particular was singled out, as one of the ways to address these problem, describing value management as a structured method of eliminating waste from the brief and from the design before building commitments have been made(Egan, 1998; p13) Ashworth Hogg(2000) to back this figure up somewhat, claiming that for a 1% be on construction cost, It is possible that a total saving of up to 10%-15% on construction costs can be achieved, should the correct procedures take place. How accurate the es timates are, is hard to prove, and in all likelihood vary from case to case, with many variables determining the success of the value management process. There are various differing reports from other leading commentators such as Palma (1992) who although not rejecting the advantages of value management, suggest that is not as clear at as deciding to implement value management. Palmer states that effectiveness of value management depends largely on the personalities involved, the timing of the study the interaction of the team and the role of the client and the input of the design team, whilst going onto say that as functional analysis often gets ignored the whole value management process is often no more than a cost cutting exercise. That of man paper seems to agree that there are numbers variables which affect the success of the value management process. Koo et al (2005) suggest the success the key reasons for failure of a value management exercise being; Lack of experience and skill of the facilitator. Improve use of functional analysis. Lack of purpose of purpose of FAST diagramming and no description of FAST diagrams. Unsatisfactory and impromptu function analysis of the value engineering project was performed in order to get results quickly, easily and superficially. The table below illustrates the causes and reasons for unsuitable FAST analyse according to Koo et al (2005) Causes and reasons of the unsuitable function analysis Description Causes Reasons Functional Analysis Function Definition Unrelated function definition for the project Deficiency of purpose and methodology of function analysis Unsuitable function definition Lack of recognition of function analysis Lack of community between function definition and follows Lack of education an experience of value engineering team members Job plan Unsatisfactory understanding of value engineering project Function Classification Classification confusion of the main and secondary function definitions Lack of understanding of value engineering object Lack of objectives for function selection Too much or too little secondary and function description relating to the main function Fast diagramming Lack of purpose of FAST diagramming Difficulty and lack of expertise for diagramming No description of FAST diagram. Lack of adaption value engineering diagramming logic

Decision Making Stages Essay

Decision making (decision from Latin decidere â€Å"to decide, determine,† literally â€Å"to cut off,† from de- â€Å"off† and caedere â€Å"to cut†) can be regarded as the mental processes (cognitive process) resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice.[1] The output can be an action or an opinion of choice. * | Decision making stages Developed by B. Aubrey Fisher, there are four stages that should be involved in all group decision making. These stages, or sometimes called phases, are important for the decision making process to begin Orientation stage – This phase is where members meet for the first time and start to get to know each other. Conflict stage – Once group members become familiar with each other, disputes, little fights and arguments occur. Group members eventually work it out. Emergence stage – The group begins to clear up vague opinions by talking about them. Reinforcement stage – Members finally make a decision, while justifying themselves that it was the right decision. It is said that critical norms in a group improves the quality of decisions, while the majority of opinions (called consensus norms) do not. This is due to collaboration between one another, and when group members get used to, and familiar with, each other, they will tend to argue and create more of a di spute to agree upon one decision. This does not mean that all group members fully agree — they may not want argue further just to be liked by other group members or to â€Å"fit in†.[12] Q2 A management information system (MIS) is a system that provides information needed to manage organizations effectively. Management information systems are regarded to be a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Applications of MIS ———With computers being as ubiquitous as they are today, there’s hardly any large business that does not rely extensively on their IT systems. However, there are several specific fields in which MIS has become invaluable. Strategy Support While computers cannot create business strategies by themselves they can assist management in understanding the effects of their strategies, and help enable effective decision-making. ï  ¶ MIS systems can be used to transform data into information useful for decision ma king. Computers can provide financial statements and performance reports to assist in the planning, monitoring and implementation of strategy. MIS systems provide a valuable function in that they can collate into coherent reports unmanageable volumes of data that would otherwise be broadly useless to decision makers. By studying these reports decision-makers can identify patterns and trends that would have remained unseen if the raw data were consulted manually. ï  ¶ MIS systems can also use these raw data to run simulations – hypothetical scenarios that answer a range of ‘what if’ questions regarding alterations in strategy. For instance, MIS systems can provide predictions about the effect on sales that an alteration in price would have on a product. These Decision Support Systems (DSS) enable more informed decision making within an enterprise than would be possible without MIS systems. Q3 Information Resources Management (IRM) is an emerging discipline that helps managers assess and exploit their information assets for business development. It draws on the techniques of information science (libraries) and information systems (IT related). It an important foundation for knowledge management, in that deals systematically with explicit knowledge. Knowledge centres often play an important part in introducing IRM into an organization. Identification:- * Identifies gaps and duplication of information * Clarifies roles and responsibilities of owners and users of information * Provide costs saving in the procurement and handling of information * Identifies cost/benefits of different information resources * Actively supports management decision processes with quality information Development :- 1. Understand the role of Information. Information can add value to your products and services. Improved information flows can improve the quality of decision making and internal operations. Yet many managers do not fully understand the real impact of information – the cost of a lost opportunity, of a poor product, of a strategic mistake – all risks that can be reduced by using the appropriate information. 2. Assign Responsibility for Leading your IRM Initiative. Developing value from information resources is often a responsibility that falls between the cracks of several departments – the user departments in different business units, and corporate planning, MIS units or librarians.. 3. Develop Clear Policies on Information Resources Policies for ascertaining information needs, acquiring and managing information throughout its life cycle. Pay particular attention to ownership, information integrity and sharing. Make the policies consistent with your organisational culture. 4. Conduct an Information Audit (Knowledge Inventory). Identify current knowledge and information resources (or entities), their users, usage and importance. Identify sources, cost and value. Classify information and knowledge by its key attributes. Develop knowledge maps. As knowledge management gains prominence, this is sometimes called a knowledge inventory â€Å"knowing what you know†. 5. Link to Management Processes. Make sure that key decision and business process are supported with high leverage information. Assess each process for its information needs. 6. Systematic scanning. Systematically scan your business environment. This includes the wider environment – legal and regulatory, political, social, economic and technological – as well as the inner environment of your industry, markets, customers and competitors. Provide selective and tailored dissemination of vital signs to key executives. This goes beyond the daily abstracting service provided by many suppliers. 7. Mix hard/soft, internal/external. True patterns and insights emerge when internal and external data is juxtaposed, when hard data is evaluated against qualitative analysis. Tweak your MkIS system to do these comparisons. 7. Optimize your information purchases. You don’t have to control purchasing, but most organisations do not know how much they are really spending on external information. By treating consultancy, market research, library expenses, report and databases as separate categories, many organisations are confusing media with content. 8. Introduce mining and refining processes. Good information management involves ‘data mining’, ‘information refining’ and ‘knowledge editing’. You can use technology such as intelligent agents, to help, but ultimately subject matter experts are needed to repackage relevant material in a user friendly format. One useful technique is content analysis, whose methods have been developed by Trend Monitor International in their Information Refinery, and are used in our analysis services. The classifying, synthesising and refining of information combines the crafts of the information scientist, librarian, business analyst and market researcher/analyst. Yet many organisations do not integrate these disciplines. 9. Develop Appropriate Technological Systems Continual advances in technology increase the opportunities available for competitive advantage through effective information management. In particular, intranets, groupware and other collaborative technologies make it possible for more widespread sharing and collaborative use of information. Advances in text retrieval, document management and a host of other trends in knowledge management technologies have all created new opportunities for providers and users alike. 10. Exploit technology convergence. Telecommunications, office systems, publishing, documentation are converging. Exploit this convergence through open networking, using facilities such as the World Wide Web, not just for external information dissemination but for sharing information internally. 11. Encourage a Sharing Culture Information acquires value when turned into intelligence. Market Intelligence Systems (MkIS) are human expert-centred. Raw information needs interpretation, discussing and analysing teams of experts, offering different perspectives. This know-how sharing is a hall-mark of successful organisations. Q4 Mis use in financial management: Management Information Systems (MIS) in Finance have been widely adopted both by corporations as well as governments. They are information systems with capacity to maintain large data bases enabling organizations to store, organize and access financial information easily. 1. General Ledger * The main use of a management information System (MIS) in finance is that it automatically updates all the transactions in the General Ledger. The General Ledger is the core component of all financial information systems. Financial transactions are simultaneously posted on the various accounts that comprise the organization’s â€Å"Chart of Accounts†. Simultaneous updating of accounts such as sales, inventory and accounts receivable, reduces errors. It also provides an accurate and permanent record of all historical transactions. Cash Management * Cash flow management is an important use of MIS in Finance. Cash Management refers to the control, monitoring and forecasting of cash for financing needs. Use of MIS in Finance helps companies track the flow of cash through accounts receivable and accounts payable accurately. Accurate records also help in monitoring cost of goods sold. This can help pin point areas that eat up cash flow such as inventory costs, high raw material costs or unreliable sales. * Sponsored Links * CFP Certification course ICICIdirect experts help you become a Certified Financial Planner.Apply www.icicidirect.com/CFP Budget Planning * Financial budget planning uses proforma or projected financial statements that serve as as formal documents of management’s expectations regarding sales, expenses and other financial transactions. Thus financial budgets are tools used both for planning as well as control. MIS in finance helps organizations evaluate â€Å"what if† scenarios. By modifying the financial ratios, management can foresee the effects of various scenarios on the financial statements. MIS thus serves as a decision making tool, helping in choosing appropriate financial goals. Financial Reporting * The use of MIS systems in Finance enables companies to generate multiple financial reports accurately and consistently. Generation of financial statements both for internal reports as well as for shareholder information takes less effort because of the automatic updating of the General Ledger. Compliance with Government regulations as well as auditing requirements is also easier because the records are accurate and provide a permanent historical map of transactions that can be verified. Financial Modeling * A financial model is a system that incorporates mathematics, logic and data in the form of a large database. The model is used to manipulate the financial variables that affect earnings thus enabling planners to view the implications of their planning decisions. MIS in Finance enables organizations to store a large amount of data. This helps managers develop accurate models of the external environment and thus incorporate realistic â€Å"what if† scenarios into their long-range planning goal. PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT: Production means transformation of Raw materials into finished products for sale. According to E. L. Brech, â€Å" Production Management is the process of effective planning and regulating the operations of that section of an enterprise which is responsible for the actual transformation of materials into finished products†. 1.Statergic planning 2 tactical planning 3 operational procedure. Q5 computer programs that are derived from a branch of computer science research called Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI’s scientific goal is to understand intelligence by building computer programs that exhibit intelligent behavior. It is concerned with the concepts and methods of symbolic inference, or reasoning, by a computer, and how the knowledge used to make those inferences will be represented inside the machine. Of course, the term intelligence covers many cognitive skills, including the ability to solve problems, learn, and understand language; AI addresses all of those. The Building Blocks of Expert Systems Every expert system consists of two principal parts: the knowledge base; and the reasoning, or inference, engine. The knowledge base of expert systems contains both factual and heuristic knowledge. Factual knowledge is that knowledge of the task domain that is widely shared, typically found in textbooks or journals, and commonly agreed upon by those knowledgeable in the particular field. Heuristic knowledge is the less rigorous, more experiential, more judgmental knowledge of performance. In contrast to factual knowledge, heuristic knowledge is rarely discussed, and is largely individualistic. It is the knowledge of good practice, good judgment, and plausible reasoning in the field. It is the knowledge that underlies the â€Å"art of good guessing.† Knowledge representation formalizes and organizes the knowledge. One widely used representation is the production rule, or simply rule. A rule consists of an IF part and a THEN part (also called a condition and an action). Example: Robotics Use of robots: for example, in industry, health, warfare, airlines, space, underwater exploration Q6 An integral part of any eBusiness system is its database. However, an advanced study of implementing databases is beyond the scope of this course. Here, for now, we are concerned with understanding the role that a database plays in an ebusiness system and in gaining an appreciation for the relational approach to managing data. A relational database turns raw data into persistent structured collections of information. In addition to managing information a database defines the relationships within an ebusiness system. The MIS is supported by database in its endeavor to support the management in decision making. The database models be it the NDBM, the HDBM or the RDBM, play the same role in the MIS. With the latest computer hardware and software capabilities the RDBMS have become popular. The concept of the end user computing can be implemented easily with the database approach to the information system. With the database approach, considerable data processing efforts, which were spent in the approach of the conventional system, are saved. The data is made independent of its application. The MIS designs have become more dependable due to the database and the SQL. The rigidity of the design is replaced by the flexibility of the design. It is now possible to review the applications more frequently from the point of view of utility and have them modified, if necessary. The database has strengthened the foundations of the MIS due to the following: * The database can be evolved to the new needs of the MIS. * The multiple needs can be met with easily. * The data design and the output design is flexible * Open system design of the MIS is possible. * The query handling becomes easier due to the Standard SQL. * User-friendly end user computing is possible. * The data is freed from its ownership and its use has become universal. * The Information Technology provides tools to handle distributed multiple databases making the MIS richer.

Healthcare Management Essay

Executive Summary There are over 850,000 physicians practicing in the United States today, covering every imaginable specialty and sub-specialty (Young, Chaudhry, Rhyne, & Dugan, 2011). According to the World Health Organization (2000), even though our country spends more money per capita than any other country in the world, the USA ranks 37 out of the top 191 countries in the world in terms of overall health system performance. Although there are many reasons for this poor performance, several experts cite the lack of emphasis on primary care and true preventative medicine in the US (The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, 2011). This is a proposal to create a community ambulatory health center in a suburban community that would provide the setting for training family medicine residents. The establishment of such a center would allow a hospital to provide better primary care services to the uninsured and underinsured patients in its community. It may also help reduce unnecessary emergency room visits as well as hospital readmissions by providing quality care to these patients. A training program would also improve the hospital’s ability to recruit and retain actively admitting primary care physicians. The proposal discusses the process for choosing the center’s location, funding models, administrative structures, as well as staffing and architectural requirements. Strategy of Service Lines and Location As mentioned in the executive summary, it is well known that many communities in the US could benefit from increased access to primary care services (Commonwealth Fund Commission, 2011). Even within suburban communities that may appear seemingly affluent, there are often significant socioeconomically challenged populations. The parent hospital would have to conduct a SWOT analysis, to identify its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Longest & Darr, 2008). In this case, the presence of a family medicine residency program is a great strength, both in clinical and economic ways. Family medicine residents (and their faculty) are well versed in current, best standards of care. Graduate medical education often provides significant revenue streams, as described below. Up to four residents can work under the supervision of a single faculty  physician; often the number of patients seen in a residency clinic far exceeds that of a private office. Weaknesses include the presence of other residency clinics in the region, as well as difficulties recruiting quality residents to a new training program that has no established reputation. It can also be difficult to recruit and retain skilled and motivated faculty physicians for progams, as the compensation for such academic positions is often less than that of purely clinical posts. Threats to this proposal include changes in GME funding (external environment) and the possibility of the residency program losing its accreditation (internal and external environment). In scanning the external environment of the organization, it is possible to identify specific geographic locations that have significant numbers of uninsured/underinsured patients (but still within the hospital’s catchment area). It would also have to be convenient to public transportation, such as bus stops, subway stations, or railroad stations. Analysis of the various economic, political, demographic, and regulatory sectors would also identify the best time and location to create such a clinic. Significant forecasting would also have to confirm that the current external environment would not change in a way that would significantly worsen the chances for the clinic’s success. The creation of this new community health center would fall under the hospital’s directional strategy, as most hospital’s mission and vision statements include caring for the needy in their communities (Longest & Darr, 2008). Management and Personnel Structure Being a hospital-owned facility, a hospital administrator would be the senior manager / liaison; this would most likely be the Vice President for Ambulatory Affairs or Chief Medical Officer. The organization itself would have two chief administrators reporting to the hospital liaison; an Administrative Director (who would be the middle manager responsible for the overall management and vision of the center) and a Medical Director (who would be responsible for clinical activities, supervision, and initiatives). The Medical Director might well be the hospital’s department Chair of Family Medicine. The family medicine residency program would require a full-time physician serving as both Director of Medical Education and residency Program Director. The residency itself would have 24 residents.  In order to maintain an appropriate ratio of preceptors to trainees, there would need to be at least 4 full-time faculty attending physicians (American Osteopathic Association, 2011) An office supervisor (first-level manager) would be responsible for the day-to-day operations in the front (reception) and back (finance) portions of the office. In the front office, the practice would need 3 receptionists who would register patients upon their arrival and answer telephone calls. They would also verify patients’ insurance status. The back office would require 2 coders who would be responsible for verifying correct coding for practice visits, submit claims, and process payments from both patients and third-party payors. Another clerical staff member would be needed to process pre-authorizations and referrals (both incoming and outgoing). Finally, a charting person would be needed (even in an electronic medical record-equipped practice) to accommodate incoming paper / faxed documents. The middle (clinical) part of the office, would require 2 medical assistants who would be responsible for bringing patients from the waiting room into the appropriate area (exam room, laboratory, or procedure room) and triage them (taking and recording vital signs, documenting the chief complaint, and verifying medications and allergies). A registered nurse and licensed practical nurse would be needed to administer vaccinations and medications. Finally, a phlebotomist / lab assistant would be needed to perform venipuncture’s, prepare specimens, and perform CLIA-waived tests. The registered nurse would also serve as the Clinical Supervisor (first-level manager) for the clinical support staff. Funding Model Medicare is the primary formal financier of graduate medical education programs, contributing 72 percent of all tax-financed support. Other federal payors include Medicaid (11 percent), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (10 percent), the U.S. Department of Defense (3 percent), and the Bureau of Health Professions (3 percent) (Young & Coffman, 1998). A teaching hospital will receive direct medical education (DME) payments cover the cost of resident and faculty stipends and benefits, and overhead costs that are directly related to the teaching programs, such as ambulatory  office space. Hospitals also receive funding for indirect medical education (IME) costs because teaching hospitals have more complex case mixes, more uninsured patients, and provided services that were costly but not necessarily well reimbursed, such as trauma centers and transplants units (Cymet & Chow, 2011). These payments are, on average, total $100,000 per resident per year. However, over the last 20 years, the federal government has either frozen GME funding or in some cases, reduced it significantly (especially under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997) (Phillips, et al., 2004). Currently, the family medicine residents in this proposal do result in a net gain for the hospital. With an average salary of $45,000 plus $20,000 in benefits, the hospital stands to net $35,000 per resident. For a program of 24 residents (8 in each year), the hospital would have a net income of $840,000 from Medicare GME funding. Each of the faculty physicians would have their own clinical practice (about 0.25 FTE), so they would bill Medicare and third-party payors for their services. They would have a productivity plan whereby each month they would receive 25% of their revenue after fulfilling their monthly salary/benefit costs. Physical Characteristics / Layout of the Facility Because of the educational nature of the practice (i.e. a residency teaching clinic), the physical layout of the facility has specific needs. In the front portion of the office, the waiting room needs to have ample seating to allow for extended wait times associated with teaching clinics. The waiting room would also have to be child-friendly, with easily disinfected toys (i.e. no stuffed animals). Because many potential patients will have to apply for Medicaid or hospital-based charity programs, it would be ideal to have an office (or at least a kiosk) where a financial coordinator could meet with patients in a private area. Since this would be a multi-specialty practice with dozens of residents and attending physicians, there would need to be a large number of exam rooms, perhaps 18, all with exam tables equipped with stirrups to accommodate pelvic exams, Pap smears, and STD testing. There would also need to be a large procedure room to accommodate the need for various gynecological (colposcopy, endometrial biopsy, IUD placement/removal, etc.) and other types of procedures (suturing, biopsies. etc.). The center would also have a spacious area dedicated to residents for  charting and research, as well as two precepting rooms where clinical cases can be discussed with faculty physicians. There would be a conference room equipped with a computer and LCD projector for presentations and discussions. Numerous computer workstations throughout the clinic would allow access to an electronic medical records system. One exam room could be equipped for videotaping that is used (with the patient’s permission) to observe residents as they demonstrate the core competencies while providing patient care. The center would need a laboratory for the collection and processing of blood and other specimens. In order to avoid the same stringent regulations and testing associate with a hospital or reference laboratory, the center would only perform CLIA-waived tests such as finger-stick blood glucose testing, throat cultures, and urine dipstick analysis (CDC and CMS, 2006). The building would al so ideally have offices for each of the faculty attending physicians, as well as for administrative and support staff. Clinical Practice As mentioned previously, this community health center would offer multiple specialties. The main service would be primary care. Family medicine residents, under the supervision of faculty preceptors, would provide general internal medical, pediatric, obstetric (pre- and post-natal), and gynecologic care to patients of all ages. Additionally, other specialty physicians would be available for special â€Å"clinics†: obstetrics (perinatal) and advanced gynecology twice a week, dermatology once a week, and general surgery, gastroenterology, pulmonology, cardiology, and urology once a month. These specialty services are essential in serving the needs of the target population: uninsured and underinsured (i.e. Medicaid) patients who are unable to see these specialists in private practice. Credentialing The Chair of Family Medicine is responsible for maintaining records of each attending physician’s credentials. These would include a New York State Medical License (with updated registration), DEA registration (to prescribe controlled substances), copies of medical school and residency diplomas, proof of board certification (and maintenance), records of continuing  medical education, and CPR/Advanced Cardiac Life Support training cards. The Director of Medical Education / Residency Program Director is responsible for maintaining records for each resident physician such as their medical school diplomas/transcripts, licensing examination transcripts, ACLS training, and signed residency contracts. Local zoning and legal concerns Consideration must be given as to the choice of commercial property for this ambulatory health center. The ideal location would be a pre-existing medical office building that has already been zoned for a medical practice, and has the required number of parking spaces (especially handicapped) and adequate access in and out of the building. A multi-level building must have elevators that are compliant with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) regulations. In County, a Certificate of Need must be granted before a new healthcare facility can be built. There are also village and town zoning ordinances that must be considered when modifying or creating a medical office building . The center would fall under the jurisdiction of the same regulatory bodies as that of its parent hospital, and would be setup as a not-for-profit organization, since a significant portion of its care would be uncompensated.

Nature Of Nature And Nurture - 906 Words

Nature verses nurture is a topic that everyone is going to have their own thoughts and opinions about. I think that nature and nurture both play a huge role is a person’s life. I have a bother and a sister and they are twins. They are two years older than me but only one year grade difference. We were raised the same way for the most part. The only difference is my Step-dad had a bigger influence on my life than my brother and sister. You can tell where I do things different from my sibling because of the influence my step-dad had on my life. I got into 4h and show animals where my sibling did not. With extra practice I think children can catch up but timing is important. Children develop at different times and ages. There a different stages in development. Children began to crawl then walk and then talk and you don’t see a child talking in full sentences before the child can walk. Children develop at different rates, but they go through the same stage for the most part . The brain is so complex. Teachers and parents play a huge role in someone’s life. Parents and teachers are pushing and helping children grow mentally. On page 34 in chapter two is says â€Å"supporting brain development studies of the brain indicate that stimulating environment and meaningful interactions with parents and teachers likely support better brain development.† Teachers are so important because teaching can change the organization and structure of the brain. There are so many different learningShow MoreRelatedNature And Nurture : Nature Nurture2195 Words   |  9 PagesRUNNING HEAD: NATURE NURTURE ON BEHAVIOUR NATURE This refers to all those characteristics and abilities that are determined by your genes. This is not the same as the characteristics you are born with, because these may have been determined by prenatal environment. In addition some genetic characteristic only appear later in development as a result of the process of maturation. 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