Enhancing Sustainability Deliverables for Infrastructure Project Delivery

Despite an increasing highlight on the sustainability agenda by the construction industry, sustainable development is often treated with different philosophy, interpretation, and responsibility at various stages of project development by various stakeholders involved. The actual sustainability deliverables from the industry is not substantially tangible, especially at project levels. For infrastructure projects which typically span over long periods of time, achieving consistent sustainability outcomes during various stages of development remains as a formidable task. The absence of common understanding among stakeholders and the lack of appropriate sustainability reporting mechanism are possible causes. Many policies dealing with these issues tend to be too generic and broad-based for practical adaptation. While there had been a plenty of research initiatives on sustainability assessment, there is often a gap between sustainability deliverables during project implementation and the grandeur of promises during project conception. This paper reviews the historical context of sustainable development and its principles, and past studies on sustainable construction, focusing on infrastructure projects. It goes on to introduce a QUT research project aimed at identifying and integrating the different perceptions and priority needs of the stakeholders, along with identifying issues that impact on the gap between sustainability foci and its actual realization at project end level, in order to generate a framework of enhancing sustainable deliverables. It is expected that the research will help promote more integrated approaches to decision-making on the implementation of sustainability strategies and foci during the construction project delivery processes.

Teacher reporting questionnaire : Queensland Government Schools

This instrument was used in the project entitled Teachers Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: Towards Evidence-based Reform of Law, Policy and Practice (ARC DP0664847)

Teacher reporting questionnaire : Queensland Non-Government Schools

This instrument was used in the project named Teachers Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: Towards Evidence-based Reform of Law, Policy and Practice (ARC DP0664847)

Teacher reporting questionnaire : New South Wales Non-Government Schools

This instrument was used in the project named Teachers Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: Towards Evidence-based Reform of Law, Policy and Practice (ARC DP0664847)

Project management governance : a situational approach

The purpose of this paper is to show how project management governance is addressed through the use of a specific meta-method. Governance is defined here on two criteria: accountability and performance. Accountability is promoted through transparency and performance is promoted by responsive and responsible decision-making. According to a systemic perspective, transparency and decision-making involve having information, tacit or explicit knowledge, as well as understanding of the context, the different parameters and variables, their interaction and conditions of change. Although this method of methods was built according a heuristic process involving 25 years of various researches and consulting activities, it seems appropriate to draw its foundations. I clarify first my epistemological position and the notion of project and project management, as Art and Science. This lead me to define a "Be" / "Have" posture to this regards. Then, the main theoretical roots of MAP Method are exposed: Boisot' s Social Learning Cycle, Praxeology and Theory of Convention. Then we introduced the main characteristics of the method and the 17 methods and tools constituting MAP "tool box", thus with regard to the project management governance perspective. Finally, I discuss the integration of two managerial modes (operational and project modes) and the consequence in term of governance in a specific socio-techno-economic project/context ecosystem.

Understanding the very nature of Project Management : a praxiological approach

Foreword: In this paper I call upon a praxiological approach. Praxeology (early alteration of praxiology) is the study of human action and conduct. The name praxeology/praxiologyakes is root in praxis, Medieval Latin, from Greek, doing, action, from prassein to do, practice (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Having been involved in project management education, research and practice for the last twenty years, I have constantly tried to improve and to provide a better understanding/knowledge of the field and related practice, and as a consequence widen and deepen the competencies of the people I was working with (and my own competencies as well!), assuming that better project management lead to more efficient and effective use of resources, development of people and at the end to a better world. For some time I have perceived a need to clarify the foundations of the discipline of project management, or at least elucidate what these foundations could be. An immodest task, one might say! But not a neutral one! I am constantly surprised by the way the world (i.e., organizations, universities, students and professional bodies) sees project management: as a set of methods, techniques, tools, interacting with others fields – general management, engineering, construction, information systems, etc. – bringing some effective ways of dealing with various sets of problems – from launching a new satellite to product development through to organizational change.

Explorations into the Sociology of Criminal Justice and Punishment. Leaving the Modernist Project Behind

Law has been a close partner to sociology from its very beginning, and the partnership often has proven to be extremely prolific for sociology. Grand theories as well as vital conceptual tools can be counted among its offspring. Both disciplines share the common ground of socio-legal studies, which has developed into a nearly independent interdisciplinary enterprise where legal scholars and sociologists happily meander between the normative and the analytical. From the vast array of topics in the field of socio-legal studies I select the sociology of criminal justice and punishment in order to demonstrate the characteristics of this relationship. The partnership between sociology and law emerged as part of the modernization project in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the sociology of punishment was part of this endeavour. Rooted in a strong tradition of old (Durkheim) and new (Elias, Foucault) classics, recent developments in this field are leaving the idea of an `unproblematically modern punishment' (Whitman, 2005a) behind, and new fields of inquiry for comparative lawyers and sociologists are opening up.

Liveable city project : Desktop review of liveability indices

The QUT Centre for Subtropical Design reviewed tools and indices that measure ‘liveability’ on behalf of the Brisbane Development Association. This review provides insight into the concept of ‘liveability’ and how various international and local tools measure or value ‘liveability’ of cities. Liveability is subjective, and can mean different things to different individuals depending upon their situation and lifecycle stage, and is therefore difficult to define. Essentially, the term ‘liveability’ constitutes thoughts of quality of life and wellbeing of residents in urban environments.

Investigating the deployment of project management : a new perspective based on the concept of certification

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary description of the doctoral thesis investigating the field of project management (PM) deployment. Researchers will be informed of the current contributions within this topic and of the possible further investigations and researches. The decision makers and practitioners will be aware of a set of tools addressing the PM deployment with new perspectives. Design/methodology/approach – Research undertaken with the thesis is based on quantitative methods using time series statistics (time distance analysis) and comparative and correlation analysis aimed to better define and understand the PM deployment within and between countries or groups. Findings – The results suggest a project management deployment index (PMDI) to objectively measure the PM deployment based on the concept of certification. A proposed framework to empirically benchmark the PM deployment between countries by integrating the PMDI time series with the two dimensional comparative analysis of Sicherl. The correlation analysis within Hoftsede cultural framework shows the impact of the national culture dimensions on the PM deployment. The forecasting model shows a general continual growth trend of the PM deployment, with continual increase in the time distance between the countries. Research limitations/implications – The PM researchers are offered an empirical quantification on which they can construct further investigations and understanding of this phenomenon. The number of possible units that can be studied offers wide possibilities to replicate the thesis work. New researches can be undertaken to investigate further the contribution of other social or economical indicators, or to refine and enrich the definition of the PMDI indicator. Practical implications – These results have important implications on the PM deployment approaches. The PMDI measurements and time series comparisons facilitate considerably the measurement and benchmarking between the units (e.g. countries) and against targets, while the readiness setting of the studied unit (in terms of development and cultural levels) impacts the PM deployment within this country. Originality/value – This paper provides a summary of cutting-edge research work in the studied field of PM deployment and a link to the published works that researchers can use to help them understand the thesis research as well as how it can be extended.

Seeking inclusion : views from ‘vulnerable’ communities about reporting by the Australian news media

This conference paper reports on the findings of the 'Vulnerability and the News Media’ project about news reporting on communities that are commonly regarded as ‘vulnerable’ by virtue of their issues or circumstances. The project focuses on news reporting of Indigenous and ethnically diverse communities, as well as people affected by mental health issues, people with disabilities, and survivors of crime and traumatic events. Numerous educational initiatives have tried to improve the quality of media reports about these communities and their issues. Despite this, the project’s research with stakeholders from those communities has found that they continue to raise the same concerns that have been expressed about the news media since the 1970s. In focus group research, stakeholders from these communities expressed concern about their continuing under-representation or omission from the news media. They felt that voices, experiences, perspectives and issues from their communities rarely appeared, or if they did appear, it was in limited contexts – often in circumstances that portrayed them as vulnerable or disruptive. They also pointed to ongoing media misrepresentation, such as stereotyping, inappropriate framing, and over-reliance on ‘usual suspects’ to talk about their communities. A common theme that they voiced was their need for greater inclusiveness in the media. Participants wished that journalists would better represent the diversity of life experiences and perspectives within their communities. Stakeholders also wanted an increased in representation of their political frameworks, such as stories about the difficulties they encountered in dealing with social and bureaucratic systems, and their understandings of causes and potential solutions for issues affecting their communities.

Value management in infrastructure project design : unlocking the project team’s creativity

Value Management (VM) is a proven methodology that provides a structured framework using supporting tools and techniques that facilitate effective decision-making in many types of projects, thus achieving ‘best value’ for clients. It offers an exceptionally robust approach to exploring the need and function of projects to be aligned with client’s objectives. The functional analysis and creativity phases of VM are crucial as it focused on utilising innovative thinking to understand the objectives of clients’ projects and provide value-adding solutions at the early discovery stages of projects. There is however a perception of VM as just being another cost-cutting tool, which has overshadowed the fundamental benefits of the method, therefore negating both influence and wider use in the construction industry. This paper describes findings from a series of case studies conducted at project and corporate levels of a current public funded infrastructure projects in Malaysia. The study aims to investigate VM processes practised by the project client organisation and evaluate the effects of project team involvement in VM workshops during the design-stage of these projects. The focus of the study is on how issues related to ‘upstream’ infrastructure design aimed at improving ‘downstream’ construction process on-site, are being resolved through multi-disciplinary team consideration and decision-making. Findings from the case studies indicate that the mix of disciplines of project team members at a design-stage of a VM workshop has minimal influence on improving construction processes. However, the degree of interaction, institutionalized thinking, cultural dimensions and visualization aids adopted, have a significant impact in maximizing creativity amongst project team members during VM workshop. The case studies conducted for this research have focused on infrastructure projects that utilise traditional VM workshop as client’s chosen VM methodology to review and develop designs. Documents review and semi-structured interview with project teams are used as data collection techniques for the case study. The significant outcomes of this research are expected to offer alternative perspectives for construction professionals and clients to minimise the constraints and strengthen strategies for implementing VM on future projects.

Confucius Institutes as innovative tools of China's cultural diplomacy

"Chapter 5 by Hartig introduces Confucius Institutes as an innovative tool of China’s cultural diplomacy. It explains the origins and implications of this new approach to promote China’s culture abroad and thus to shape China’s image globally. The chapter draws on case studies of Con- fucius Institutes in Australia and Germany. It shows how China is adapting a Western instrument of cultural diplomacy, namely an organisation like the British Council or Goethe Institute, in an innovative manner to accomplish its goals in the most effective way. In contrast to British Councils or Goethe Institutes, Confucius Institutes are typically set up as joint ventures between Chinese and international partners. By exploring the advantages and disadvantages of this project for both sides, the chapter illustrates how the outside world shapes China and, in turn, China shapes the outside world in the context of cultural exchange and cooperation. It argues that global influences, namely the general negative perception of China in the West, have forced China not only to become active in the field of cultural diplomacy, but furthermore to strive for an innovative way to be successful."

Sustainable infrastructure procurement in Australia : standard vs. project practices

The Australian Government and most Australian road authorities have set ambitious greenhouse gas emission (GHGe) reduction targets for the near future, many of which have translated into action plans. However, previous research has shown that the various Australian state road authorities are at different stages of implementing ‘green’ initiatives in construction planning and development, with considerable gaps in their monitoring, tendering, and contracting. This study illustrates the differences between procurement standards and project specific practices that aim to reduce GHGe from road construction projects in three of the largest Australian road construction clients, with a focus on the tools used, contract type and incentives for better performance.

WebAIRS - A case study : how the multidisciplinarity of IS can save lives

This paper presents a case study chronicling the development of WebAIRS, an Australasian national anaesthetic incident reporting database for health care practitioners. WebAIRS is an example of the multidisciplinary nature of the IS discipline, incorporating IS theories, tools and principles in the creation of an IT artefact with significant real world application. This case study introduces the background of the project and the motivations for its conception including the need for critical incident reporting in anaesthesia, the process of its development using IT students and the problems identified following its national release among the anaesthetic community. The paper demonstrates the evolution of contemporary IS research and the IT artefact, and how each can be crucial foundations for hospitals of the future

Paper, prices and politics : an evaluation of the Swedish support to the Bai Bang project in Vietnam : a Sida evaluation report

Sweden’s protest against the Vietnam War was given tangible form in 1969 through the decision to give economic aid to the Government of North Vietnam. The main outcome was an integrated pulp and paper mill in the Vinh Phu Province north-west of Hanoi. Known as Bai Bang after its location, the mill became the most costly, one of the longest lasting and the most controversial project in the history of Swedish development cooperation. In 1996 Bai Bang produced at its full capacity. Today the mill is exclusively managed and staffed by the Vietnamese and there are plans for future expansion. At the same time a substantial amount of money has been spent to reach these achievements. Looking back at the cumbersome history of the project the results are against many’s expectations. To learn more about the conditions for sustainable development Sida commissioned two studies of the Bai Bang project. Together they touch upon several important issues in development cooperation over a period of almost 30 years: the change of aid paradigms over time, the role of foreign policy in development cooperation, cultural obstacles, recipient responsibility versus donor led development etc. The two studies were commissioned by Sida’s Department for Evaluation and Internal Audit which is an independent department reporting directly to Sida’s Board of Directors. One study assesses the financial and economic viability of the pulp and paper mill and the broader development impact of the project in Vietnam. It has been carried out by the Centre for International Economics, an Australian private economic research agency. The other study analyses the decision-making processes that created and shaped the project over a period of two decades, and reflects on lessons from the project for development cooperation in general. This study has been carried out by the Chr. Michelsen Institute, a Norweigan independent research institution.