Financial decision making about found oil and gas in Ghana : real options vs. traditional methods

This research is a study of the use of capital budgeting methods for investment decisions. It uses both the traditional methods and the newly introduced approach called the real options analysis to make a decision. The research elucidates how capital budgeting can be done when analysts encounter projects with high uncertainty and are capital intensive, for example oil and gas production. It then uses the oil and gas find in Ghana as a case study to support its argument. For a clear understanding a thorough literature review was done, which highlights the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. The revenue that the project will generate and the costs of production were obtained from the predictions by analysts from GNPC and compared to others experts’ opinion. It then applied both the traditional and real option valuation on the oil and gas find in Ghana to determine the project’s feasibility. Although, there are some short falls in real option analysis that are presented in this research, it is still helpful in valuing projects that are capital intensive with high volatility due to the strategic flexibility management possess in their decision making. It also suggests that traditional methods of evaluation should still be maintained and be used to value projects that have no options or those with options yet the options do not have significant impact on the project. The research points out the economic ripples the production of oil and gas will have on Ghana’s economy should the project be undertaken. These ripples include economic growth, massive job creation and reduction of the balance of trade deficit for the country. The long run effect is an eventually improvement of life of the citizens. It is also belief that the production of gas specifically can be used to generate electricity in Ghana which would enable the country to have a more stable and reliable power source necessary to attract more foreign direct investment.

Information integration and management through the design and construction phases of a project life cycle

Information management is a key aspect of successful construction projects. Having inaccurate measurements and conflicting data can lead to costly mistakes, and vague quantities can ruin estimates and schedules. Building information modeling (BIM) augments a 3D model with a wide variety of information, which reduces many sources of error and can detect conflicts before they occur. Because new technology is often more complex, it can be difficult to effectively integrate it with existing business practices. In this paper, we will answer two questions: How can BIM add value to construction projects? and What lessons can be learned from other companies that use BIM or other similar technology? Previous research focused on the technology as if it were simply a tool, observing problems that occurred while integrating new technology into existing practices. Our research instead looks at the flow of information through a company and its network, seeing all the actors as part of an ecosystem. Building upon this idea, we proposed the metaphor of an information supply chain to illustrate how BIM can add value to a construction project. This paper then concludes with two case studies. The first case study illustrates a failure in the flow of information that could have prevented by using BIM. The second case study profiles a leading design firm that has used BIM products for many years and shows the real benefits of using this program.

Improving sixth grade student knowledge of ecology using fish rearing and release as a real-world context

This research project measured the effects of real-world content in a science classroom by determining change (deep knowledge of life science content, including ecosystems from MDE – Grade Level Content Expectations) in a subset of students (6th Grade Science) that may result from the addition of curriculum (real-world content of rearing trout in the classroom). Data showed large gains from the pre-test to post-test in students from both the experimental and control groups. The ecology unit with the implementation of real-world content [trout] was even more successful, and improved students’ deep knowledge of ecosystem content from Michigan’s Department of Education Grade Level Content Expectations. The gains by the experimental group on the constructed response section of the test, which included higher cognitive level items, were significant. Clinical interviews after the post-test confirmed increases in deep knowledge of ecosystem concepts in the experimental group, by revealing that a sample of experimental group students had a better grasp of important ecology concepts as compared to a sample of control group students.