Benchmarking the implementation of continuing professional development in the Victorian construction industry

In the state of Victoria, the state government has taken a leadership position on the potential benefit of introducing voluntary continuing professional development (CPD) for registered building practitioners (RBPs) in the construction industry. Benefits are believed to accrue to the Victorian community through a more highly skilled and managed SME construction sector, improved quality buildings with fewer defects and greater efficiencies gained by a reduction in industry internal and external operating costs. This research has identified appropriate industry and community benchmarks to enable a quantification of the costs and benefits that result from this policy. These benchmarks will enable the policymaking body of Victoria, the Building Commission (BC) to evaluate the effects of the implementation of its policy and contribute to informing the debate about the merits and possible drawbacks of such a policy in the construction industry in Victoria.

The proposed Victorian CPD policy will affect a whole industry sector. This pioneering policy approach is already being viewed as a touchstone for other jurisdictions in Australia and abroad. Consequently, this research project is considered by our industry partner to be pivotal in the leadership position that they are taking in Victoria. This investigation is being conducted by the research team under the auspices, guidance and with the cooperation of the Building Commission (BC) and the Building Practitioners Board (BPB) of Victoria. This policy research evaluation is necessary to assess the proposed implementation of CPD in the Victorian construction industry. The identification and creation of agreed and significant industry benchmarks are crucial to evaluating this policy initiative. These benchmarks will serve as independent yardsticks for assessing the impact of the new policy and are described and discussed in this paper.

Staff and students views on industry-university collaboration in engineering

The university-learning environment in engineering is not sufficient for students to become engineers. The practical role of engineering is working on real world problems in an industry environment. Industry-university collaboration seems to be actively increasing in the development of engineering education in various parts of the globe. The close relationship between industry and university is a vital component of engineering pedagogy in Australia. This research paper is focuses on analyzing staff and students views on industry-university collaboration in engineering. The staff and students are playing vital role in industry-university collaboration. It is always worth analyzing staff and students’ views about their experience on industry-university collaboration. This research inclined to conduct a paper based survey with a cohort of students in second year undergraduate engineering course and also conduct face-to-face interview with staff members in the School of Engineering at Deakin University.

Trade policy in CARICOM: overview of the main trade policy measures

Includes bibliography

Analysing green supply chain management practices in Brazil's electrical/electronics industry using interpretive structural modelling

Industries need to adopt the environmental management concepts in the traditional supply chain management. The green supply chain management (GSCM) is an established concept to ensure environment-friendly activities in industry. This paper identifies the relationship of driving and dependence that exists between GSCM practices with regard to their adoption within Brazilian electrical/electronic industry with the help of interpretive structural modelling (ISM). From the results, we infer that cooperation with customers for eco-design practice is driving other practices, and this practice acts as a vital role among other practices. Commitment to GSCM from senior managers and cooperation with customers for cleaner production occupy the highest level. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Incentives Embedded in Institutions: The Case of Share Contracts in Ghanaian Cocoa Production

Providing price incentives to farmers is usually considered essential for agricultural development. Although such incentives are important, regarding price as the sole explanatory factor is far from satisfactory in understanding the complex realities of agricultural production in Africa. By analyzing the share contracts widely practiced in Ghana, this article argues that local institutions such as land tenure systems and agrarian contracts provide strong incentives and disincentives for agricultural production. Based on data derived from fieldwork in the 1990s, the study analyzes two types of share contracts and the incentive structures embedded in them. The analysis reveals that farmers' investment behavior needs to be understood in terms of both short-term incentive to increase yield and long-term incentive to strengthen land rights. The study concludes that the role of price incentives in agricultural production needs to be reconsidered by placing it in wider incentive structures embedded in local institutions.

Analysis of road safety incentives applied in PPP road = Análisis de incentivos a la seguridad aplicados en concesiones de carreteras

En este artículo se recoge cómo se ha regulado este aspecto tradicionalmente en concesiones y cómo se viene haciendo más recientemente, comparando para tres concesiones europeas puestas en servicio en los últimos años, las bonificaciones con el beneficio social que corresponden a cada nivel de reducción de la accidentalidad en la carretera. Los resultados arrojan que los incentivos aplicados, tanto antiguamente como los más recientes, son anodinos por dos motivos: porque son muy inferiores al beneficio social derivado de ellos y porque aparentemente son muy inferiores al coste de las actuaciones de mejora de la seguridad vial. Road safety is one of the most important issues in PPP roads. At this respect, to achieve a property regulation it is necessary to introduce objective and explicit incentives in the contracts. Besides, these incentives must be focused at the net social benefit. This paper explains how road safety has been introduced traditionally in PPP road contracts and how it is been doing it nowadays, comparing for three recent concessions of Europe, the bonuses and the social benefit associated to each reduction of accidents in the roads. As a result, it can be affirmed that the incentives applied, both traditional and the most ones, are unremarkable for two reasons: because they are much lower than the social benefit derived from them and because they apparently are well below the cost of measures to improve road safety.

Report of the Industrial Commissioner to the Confectionery Minimum Wage Board relating to wages and other conditions of employment of women and minors in the confectionery industry, New York State.

Mode of access: Internet.

Corporate boards and incentives: empirical evidence from the UK in 1935

We investigate boardroom governance using UK historical data for 1935. We demonstrate that there is a negative relationship between risk and incentives in this year. Prior research has produced anomalous results (Prendergast, 2002). Second, we show that average (median) board ownership of ordinary shares is about 7.95% (2.88%). Heuristically this figure is less than previously reported estimates for the US also using 1935 data. Finally, we show the phenomenon of multiple board membership. UK directors in 1935 hold many directorships – sometimes exceeding 10 concurrent memberships.

DesignWorld : a tool for team collaboration in high band virtual environments

Current software tools for documenting and developing models of buildings focus on supporting a single user who is a specialist in the specific software used within their own discipline. Extensions to these tools for use by teams maintain the single discipline view and focus on version and file management. There is a perceived need in industry to have tools that specifically support collaboration among individuals from multiple disciplines with both a graphical representation of the design and a persistent data model. This project involves the development of a prototype of such a software tool. We have identified multi-user 3D virtual worlds as an appropriate software base for the development of a collaborative design tool. These worlds are inherently multi-user and therefore directly support collaboration through a sense of awareness of others in the virtual world, their location within the world, and provide various channels for direct and indirect communication. Such software platforms also provide a 3D building and modelling environment that can be adapted to the needs of the building and construction industry. DesignWorld is a prototype system for collaborative design developed by augmenting the Second Life (SL) commercial software platform1 with a collection web-based tools for communication and design. Agents manage communication between the 3D virtual world and the web-based tools. In addition, agents maintain a persistent external model of designs in the 3D world which can be augmented with data such as relationships, disciplines and versions not usually associated with 3D virtual worlds but required in design scenarios.

Rivalry within and between strategic networks : an investigation of the United States Automotive Industry

As a consequence of the increased incidence of collaborative arrangements between firms, the competitive environment characterising many industries has undergone profound change. It is suggested that rivalry is not necessarily enacted by individual firms according to the traditional mechanisms of direct confrontation in factor and product markets, but rather as collaborative orchestration between a number of participants or network members. Strategic networks are recognised as sets of firms within an industry that exhibit denser strategic linkages among themselves than other firms within the same industry. Based on this, strategic networks are determined according to evidence of strategic alliances between firms comprising the industry. As a result, a single strategic network represents a group of firms closely linked according to collaborative ties. Arguably, the collective outcome of these strategic relationships engineered between firms suggest that the collaborative benefits attributed to interorganisational relationships require closer examination in respect to their propensity to influence rivalry in intraindustry environments. Derived in large from the social sciences, network theory allows for the micro and macro examination of the opportunities and constraints inherent in the structure of relationships in strategic networks, establishing a relational approach upon which the conduct and performance of firms can be more fully understood. Research to date has yet to empirically investigate the relationship between strategic networks and rivalry. The limited research that has been completed utilising a network rationale to investigate competitive patterns in contemporary industry environments has been characterised by a failure to directly measure rivalry. Further, this prior research has typically embedded investigation in industry settings dominated by technological or regulatory imperatives, such as the microprocessor and airline industries. These industries, due to the presence of such imperatives, are arguably more inclined to support the realisation of network rivalry, through subscription to prescribed technological standards (eg., microprocessor industry) or by being bound by regulatory constraints dictating operation within particular market segments (airline industry). In order to counter these weaknesses, the proposition guiding research - Are patterns of rivalry predicted by strategic network membership? – is embedded in the United States Light Vehicles Industry, an industry not dominated by technological or regulatory imperatives. Further, rivalry is directly measured and utilised in research, thus distinguishing this investigation from prior research efforts. The timeframe of investigation is 1993 – 1999, with all research data derived from secondary sources. Strategic networks were defined within the United States Light Vehicles Industry based on evidence of horizontal strategic relationships between firms comprising the industry. The measure of rivalry used to directly ascertain the competitive patterns of industry participants was derived from the traditional Herfindahl Index, modified to account for patterns of rivalry observed at the market segment level. Statistical analyses of the strategic network and rivalry constructs found little evidence to support the contention of network rivalry; indeed, greater levels of rivalry were observed between firms comprising the same strategic network than between firms participating in opposing network structures. Based on these results, patterns of rivalry evidenced in the United States Light Vehicle Industry over the period 1993 – 1999 were not found to be predicted by strategic network membership. The findings generated by this research are in contrast to current theorising in the strategic network – rivalry realm. In this respect, these findings are surprising. The relevance of industry type, in conjunction with prevailing network methodology, provides the basis upon which these findings are contemplated. Overall, this study raises some important questions in relation to the relevancy of the network rivalry rationale, establishing a fruitful avenue for further research.

Australian cinema’s dark sun : the boom in Australian horror film production

There has been a boom in Australian horror movie production in recent years. Daybreakers (2010), Wolf Creek (2005), Rogue (2007), Undead (2003), Black Water (2008), and Storm Warning (2006) among others, have all experienced varying degrees of popularity, mainstream visibility, and cult success in worldwide horror markets. While Aussie horror’s renaissance is widely acknowledged in industry literature, there is limited research into the extent of the boom and the dynamics of production. Consequently, there are few explanations for why and how this surge has occurred. This paper argues that the recent growth in Australian horror films has been driven by intersecting international market forces, domestic financing factors, and technological change. In so doing, it identifies two distinct tiers of Australian horror film production: ‘mainstream’ and ‘underground’ production; though overlap between these two tiers results in ‘high-end indie’ films capable of cinema release. Each tier represents the high and low-ends of Australian horror film production, each with different financing, production, and distribution models.

Biological monitoring of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in prebake smelting

In 1984, the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that working in the primary aluminium production process was associated with exposure to certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are probably carcinogenic to humans. Key sources of PAH exposure within the occupational environment of a prebake aluminium smelter are processes associated with use of coal-tar pitch. Despite the potential for exposure via inhalation, ingestion and dermal adsorption, to date occupational exposure limits exist only for airborne contaminants. This study, based at a prebake aluminium smelter in Queensland, Australia, compares exposures of workers who came in contact with PAHs from coal-tar pitch in the smelter’s anode plant (n = 69) and cell-reconstruction area (n = 28), and a non-production control group (n = 17). Literature relevant to PAH exposures in industry and methods of monitoring and assessing occupational hazards associated with these compounds are reviewed, and methods relevant to PAH exposure are discussed in the context of the study site. The study utilises air monitoring of PAHs to quantify exposure via the inhalation route and biological monitoring of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in urine of workers to assess total body burden from all routes of entry. Exposures determined for similar exposure groups, sampled over three years, are compared with published occupational PAH exposure limits and/or guidelines. Results of paired personal air monitoring samples and samples collected for 1-OHP in urine monitoring do not correlate. Predictive ability of the benzene-soluble fraction (BSF) in personal air monitoring in relation to the 1-OHP levels in urine is poor (adjusted R2 < 1%) even after adjustment for potential confounders of smoking status and use of personal protective equipment. For static air BSF levels in the anode plant, the median was 0.023 mg/m3 (range 0.002–0.250), almost twice as high as in the cell-reconstruction area (median = 0.013 mg/m3, range 0.003–0.154). In contrast, median BSF personal exposure in the anode plant was 0.036 mg/m3 (range 0.003–0.563), significantly lower than the median measured in the reconstruction area (0.054 mg/m3, range 0.003–0.371) (p = 0.041). The observation that median 1-OHP levels in urine were significantly higher in the anode plant than in the reconstruction area (6.62 µmol/mol creatinine, range 0.09–33.44 and 0.17 µmol/mol creatinine, range 0.001–2.47, respectively) parallels the static air measurements of BSF rather than the personal air monitoring results (p < 0.001). Results of air measurements and biological monitoring show that tasks associated with paste mixing and anode forming in the forming area of the anode plant resulted in higher PAH exposure than tasks in the non-forming areas; median 1-OHP levels in urine from workers in the forming area (14.20 µmol/mol creatinine, range 2.02–33.44) were almost four times higher than those obtained from workers in the non-forming area (4.11 µmol/mol creatinine, range 0.09–26.99; p < 0.001). Results justify use of biological monitoring as an important adjunct to existing measures of PAH exposure in the aluminium industry. Although monitoring of 1-OHP in urine may not be an accurate measure of biological effect on an individual, it is a better indicator of total PAH exposure than BSF in air. In January 2005, interim study results prompted a plant management decision to modify control measures to reduce skin exposure. Comparison of 1-OHP in urine from workers pre- and post-modifications showed substantial downward trends. Exposure via the dermal route was identified as a contributor to overall dose. Reduction in 1-OHP urine concentrations achieved by reducing skin exposure demonstrate the importance of exposure via this alternative pathway. Finally, control measures are recommended to ameliorate risk associated with PAH exposure in the primary aluminium production process, and suggestions for future research include development of methods capable of more specifically monitoring carcinogenic constituents of PAH mixtures, such as benzo[a]pyrene.

Marketing VM services to achieve competitive advantage in the Malaysian Construction Sector

Value Management (VM) has been proven to provide a structured framework, together with supporting tools and techniques that facilitate effective decision-making in many types of projects, thus achieving ‘best value’ for clients. It is identified at International level as a natural career progression for the construction service provider and as an opportunity in developing leading-edge skills. The services offered by contractors and consultants in the construction sector have been expanding. In an increasingly competitive and global marketplace, firms are seeking ways to differentiate their services to ever more knowledgeable and demanding clients. The traditional demarcations have given way, and the old definition of what contractors, designers, engineers and quantity surveyors can, and cannot do in terms of their market offering has changed. Project management, design and cost and safety consultancy services, are being delivered by a diverse range of suppliers. Value management services have been developing in various sectors in industry; from manufacturing to the military and now construction. Given the growing evidence that VM has been successful in delivering value-for-money to the client, VM would appear to be gaining some momentum as an essential management tool in the Malaysian construction sector. The recently issued VM Circular 3/2009 by the Economic Planning Unit Malaysia (EPU) possibly marks a new beginning in public sector client acceptance on the strength of VM in construction. This paper therefore attempts to study the prospects of marketing the benefits of VM by construction service providers, and how it may provide an edge in an increasingly competitive Malaysian construction industry.

Motivation toward financial incentive goals on construction projects

Construction industry observers tout the use of financial incentives as promoters of motivation and commitment on projects. Yet, little empirical evidence exists concerning their effectiveness. What are the drivers of motivation on construction projects? The reasons that construction project participants are motivated to pursue voluntary incentive goals are examined through four Australian case studies. The results demonstrate the critical role played by project relationships and equitable contract conditions in promoting the effectiveness of financial incentives. In the context of a construction project, this study finds financial incentives to be less important to motivation and performance than relationship enhancement initiatives. This finding is unexpected and has implications for the design of project procurement strategies. These results suggest if project clients ignore the importance of relationship quality between participants, the impact of any financial incentive will be compromised.

Business process management education in academia: Status, challenges, and recommendations

In response to the growing proliferation of Business Process Management (BPM) in industry and the demand this creates for BPM expertise, universities across the globe are at various stages of incorporating knowledge and skills in their teaching offerings. However, there are still only a handful of institutions that offer specialized education in BPM in a systematic and in-depth manner. This article is based on a global educators’ panel discussion held at the 2009 European Conference on Information Systems in Verona, Italy. The article presents the BPM programs of five universities from Australia, Europe, Africa, and North America, describing the BPM content covered, program and course structures, and challenges and lessons learned. The article also provides a comparative content analysis of BPM education programs illustrating a heterogeneous view of BPM. The examples presented demonstrate how different courses and programs can be developed to meet the educational goals of a university department, program, or school. This article contributes insights on how best to continuously sustain and reshape BPM education to ensure it remains dynamic, responsive, and sustainable in light of the evolving and ever-changing marketplace demands for BPM expertise.