Denise Ann Brady, Patricia Tzortzopoulos, John Rooke, Carlos Torres Formoso and Algan Tezel
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a production planning and control model known as the Lean construction management (LCM) model, which applies a number of visual tools in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a production planning and control model known as the Lean construction management (LCM) model, which applies a number of visual tools in a systematic way to the planning and control process. The application of the visual tools in this way facilitates the flow of information, thus improving transparency between the interfaces of planning, execution and control.
Design/methodology/approach
Design Science research is adopted for this investigation, which analyses the original development of the model and reports on its testing and refinement over different types of projects. The research is divided into three parts, each part focussing on a different stage of development and construction project type.
Findings
The main findings are related to the benefits of visual management in the construction planning and control process, such as maintaining consistency between different planning levels, so that feasible execution plans are created; control becomes more focussed on prevention rather than correction, and creates opportunities for collaborative problem solving. Moreover, the physical display of the visual tools in a discrete planning area on-site encourages a regular exchange between participants on actual work progress as it unfolds, leading to more timely reaction to the problems at hand.
Originality/value
The problem of a lack of transparency in construction planning and control leads to communication issues on-site, poor process orientation and high levels of waste. LCM improves process transparency by making information related to system-wide processes more readily available to project participants. This enables them to foresee problems in a timely manner and to take necessary measures to resolve them or to adapt the process to current circumstances. The LCM model proposes a new way of applying visual tools and controls systematically to improve transparency in construction planning and control.
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One of the several claims that Seligman makes for Rooke is that he should be accorded priority in the discovery of the correct, that is Ricardian, doctrine of rent:there seems…
Abstract
One of the several claims that Seligman makes for Rooke is that he should be accorded priority in the discovery of the correct, that is Ricardian, doctrine of rent:there seems little doubt that the doctrine of rent was developed practically simultaneously by Malthus, West, Torrens and Rooke in 1814, but so far as the priority of actual publication is concerned, the above list should be reversed. And in the interests of historical accuracy, Rooke and Torrens must hereafter be accorded the position which they deserve. (Seligman, 1903, p. 512)1
This paper describes some current research into the impact of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) on the culture of the industry. The intention is to explain the purpose of this…
Abstract
This paper describes some current research into the impact of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) on the culture of the industry. The intention is to explain the purpose of this research, describe the methodology used and report on some early findings. In the early sections, the authors outline the thinking behind the research and some of the difficulties involved and briefly consider the limitations of a conventional approach and compare it with an outline of the authors' own. They then look at the analysis of data, with reference to some findings of this and a previous study. In doing so, the authors focus on some cultural patterns which may be resistant to the changes the NEC is intended to promote and they go on to discuss some of the ways in which culture is transmitted between individuals, since, if the NEC is to be successful, it will involve changes in these patterns. In the final section, the authors discuss some implications for the future of the NEC.
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Joseph Dorfman in his introduction to the 1966 edition of Ravenstone's A Few Doubts on the Subjects of Population and Political Economy argued that Ravenstone was Rev. Edward…
Abstract
Joseph Dorfman in his introduction to the 1966 edition of Ravenstone's A Few Doubts on the Subjects of Population and Political Economy argued that Ravenstone was Rev. Edward Edwards, a major contributor on political economy to the Quarterly Review and Blackwood's Magazine. The case Dorfman made was circumstantial but nonetheless a strong one. First there was the fact that ‘articles in these Tory organs [were] roughly speaking in accordance with the views of “Ravenstone”’ (Dorfman, 1966). Both Ravenstone and Edwards were, for example, strongly critical of Malthusian population theory and its implications. Furthermore, on the basis of a reading of the 1821 work, Dorfman opined that Ravenstone was a trained theologian, something consistent with Edwards' clerical status, and that both had a predilection for historical reflection. Dorfman also believed he had found evidence in the files of John Murray, the publisher of the Quarterly Review, to substantiate his identification. Thus he cites a letter from Murray to William Gifford, a member of the publishing house, dated 3 November 1820, which makes reference to a manuscript sent to Murray shortly before A Few Doubts was published by another house. Moreover, Murray's correspondence files show that Edwards thought highly of Henry Brougham, and there is a copy of A Few Doubts in the Goldsmiths' Library in London, which is inscribed from the author to him (Dorfman, 1966, p. 20).
Nigel F.B. Allington and Noel W. Thompson
Seligman is an important and ironically somewhat neglected figure today in the history of American economic thought. However, an examination of his scholarly achievements reveals…
Abstract
Seligman is an important and ironically somewhat neglected figure today in the history of American economic thought. However, an examination of his scholarly achievements reveals that he had a considerable impact on the development of professional economics in America and could count the most influential economists in Europe as personal friends and collaborators (Moss, 2003; Rutherford, 2004; Mehrotra, 2005). Asso and Fiorito (2006), in their introduction to Seligman's autobiography (1929) argue that ‘his personal influence as an academic economist, as a teacher and as a central figure in the dissemination of economic knowledge was second to none and perhaps more meaningful than any single work he wrote’ (p. 1). They also record (quoting his student, Alvin Johnson) that ‘with Seligman…American economics began to acquire a distinctive professional reputation, some very high scholarly standards and a sort of “moral magnificence”’ (p. 2). What this means is that through Seligman's work and guidance economics came to encompass a moral dimension that fed through into social policies, many of which were adopted by American legislatures. The major influences on his method included the German Historical School and a number of heterodox Continental writers that informed Seligman's in great Whig interpretation of the development of economics. He also engaged critically with the more abstract methods of contemporary economic analysis of the early twentieth century.
Civil wrongdoings with consequent financial and other loss or damage to employers, employees and third parties may result in the course of various trade union activities. These…
Abstract
Civil wrongdoings with consequent financial and other loss or damage to employers, employees and third parties may result in the course of various trade union activities. These day to day trade union activities take a variety of forms. The most common ones are inducement of breach of contract, conspiracy, trespass, nuisance, and intimidation. Each of these activities constitutes a tort which, unless the statutory immunities apply, would normally give rise at common law to an action for damages or, as is more frequent, enable the aggrieved party to obtain an injunction.
March 17, 1967 Trade Dispute — Act in furtherance of — Trade union official threatening to induce strike action by employees unless workman rejoins union — Whether threat to…
Abstract
March 17, 1967 Trade Dispute — Act in furtherance of — Trade union official threatening to induce strike action by employees unless workman rejoins union — Whether threat to induce breach of contract of employment — Employers dismissing work‐man by notice under his contract of service — Whether dismissal resulting from unlawful conspiracy — Whether act of inducement actionable at suit of dismissed work‐man when based on intimidation — Whether protected by section 3 of the Trade Disputes Act, 1906 — Whether justifiable — Trade Disputes Act, 1906 (6 Edw. VII, c. 47) ss. 3, 5.
The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act…
Abstract
The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:
February 22, 1973 Industrial relations — Unfair industrial practice — Jurisdiction of High Court — Non‐union lighterman sent home on full pay to avoid threatened strike — National…
Abstract
February 22, 1973 Industrial relations — Unfair industrial practice — Jurisdiction of High Court — Non‐union lighterman sent home on full pay to avoid threatened strike — National Dock Labour Board's refusal to consent to his dismissal — Alleged conspiracy and unlawful intimidation by union and its officials — Purpose of threatened strike to induce unfair industrial practice by employers against lighterman — Whether “industrial dispute” — Whether “unfair industrial practice” — Whether jurisdiction of High Court retained — Industrial Relations Act, 1971 (c.72), ss. 5(2), 33(3), 132, 167(1).