Using data mining to improve building life cycle

The building life cycle process is complex and prone to fragmentation as it moves through its various stages. The number of participants, and the diversity, specialisation and isolation both in space and time of their activities, have dramatically increased over time. The data generated within the construction industry has become increasingly overwhelming. Most currently available computer tools for the building industry have offered productivity improvement in the transmission of graphical drawings and textual specifications, without addressing more fundamental changes in building life cycle management. Facility managers and building owners are primarily concerned with highlighting areas of existing or potential maintenance problems in order to be able to improve the building performance, satisfying occupants and minimising turnover especially the operational cost of maintenance. In doing so, they collect large amounts of data that is stored in the building’s maintenance database. The work described in this paper is targeted at adding value to the design and maintenance of buildings by turning maintenance data into information and knowledge. Data mining technology presents an opportunity to increase significantly the rate at which the volumes of data generated through the maintenance process can be turned into useful information. This can be done using classification algorithms to discover patterns and correlations within a large volume of data. This paper presents how and what data mining techniques can be applied on maintenance data of buildings to identify the impediments to better performance of building assets. It demonstrates what sorts of knowledge can be found in maintenance records. The benefits to the construction industry lie in turning passive data in databases into knowledge that can improve the efficiency of the maintenance process and of future designs that incorporate that maintenance knowledge.

Literature Review Value Alignment Process for Project Delivery

The objective of the project “Value Alignment Process for Project Delivery” is to provide a catalyst and tools for reform in the building and construction industry to transform business-as-usual performance into exceptional performance. The outcomes of this project will be beneficial to not only the construction industry, but to the community as a whole because a more sophisticated industry can deliver more effective use of assets, financing, operating and maintenance of facilities to suit the community’s needs. The research project consists of a study into best practice project delivery and the development of a suite of products, resources and services to guide project teams towards the best approach for a specific project. These resources will be focused on promoting the principles that underlie best practice project delivery, rather than on identifying a particular delivery system. The need for such tools and resources becomes more and more acute as the environment within which the construction industry operates becomes more and more complex, and as business and political imperatives shift to encompass or represent diverse stakeholder interests. To this end, this literature review looks at why it is essential to achieve transformation in the Australian construction industry in the context of its importance to the Australian economy. It seeks to investigate the concepts of ‘alignment’ and value’ as they pertain to construction industry processes and relationships. It comprehensively reviews drivers of project excellence and best practice project delivery principles and looks at how clients approach selection of project delivery systems. It critiques existing project delivery strategies and gives an overview of recent best practice initiatives. The literature review represents a milestone against the Project Agreement and forms a foundation document for this research project

Regulating Multi-National Corporations Through State-Based Laws : Problems with Enforcing Human Rights Under The Alien Tort Statute

Under the Alien Tort Statute United States of America (“America”) Federal Courts have the jurisdiction to hear claims for civil wrongs, committed against non-American citizens, which were perpetrated outside America’s national borders. The operation of this law has confronted American Federal Courts with difficulties on how to manage conflicts between American executive foreign policy and judicial interpretations of international law. Courts began to pass judgment over conduct which was approved by foreign governments. Then in 2005 the American Supreme Court wound back the scope of the Alien Tort Statute. This article will review the problems with the expansion of the Alien Tort Statute and the reasons for its subsequent narrowing.

Enforcing minimum labour standards in Australia from 2010 : correcting or compounding problems

Fair Work Australia is to provide the institutional framework for the Australian industrial relations system from January 2010. Its creation provides the opportunity to improve minimum labour standards’ enforcement in Australia. However, the experience of the past must be appreciated and traditional assumptions about the operation of the Australian enforcement system discarded if the new institution is to be effective in its role. This paper focuses on the role of unions in enforcement as well as institutional location issues to expose a number of central enforcement problems that those seeking to establish new systems and processes should consider. A number of recommendations in respect of the structure of Fair Work Australia and the continuing role of unions are suggested.

Value creation and value capture fro open source software publisher : a new business model based on mutualisation

Key topics: Since the birth of the Open Source movement in the mid-80's, open source software has become more and more widespread. Amongst others, the Linux operating system, the Apache web server and the Firefox internet explorer have taken substantial market shares to their proprietary competitors. Open source software is governed by particular types of licenses. As proprietary licenses only allow the software's use in exchange for a fee, open source licenses grant users more rights like the free use, free copy, free modification and free distribution of the software, as well as free access to the source code. This new phenomenon has raised many managerial questions: organizational issues related to the system of governance that underlie such open source communities (Raymond, 1999a; Lerner and Tirole, 2002; Lee and Cole 2003; Mockus et al. 2000; Tuomi, 2000; Demil and Lecocq, 2006; O'Mahony and Ferraro, 2007;Fleming and Waguespack, 2007), collaborative innovation issues (Von Hippel, 2003; Von Krogh et al., 2003; Von Hippel and Von Krogh, 2003; Dahlander, 2005; Osterloh, 2007; David, 2008), issues related to the nature as well as the motivations of developers (Lerner and Tirole, 2002; Hertel, 2003; Dahlander and McKelvey, 2005; Jeppesen and Frederiksen, 2006), public policy and innovation issues (Jullien and Zimmermann, 2005; Lee, 2006), technological competitions issues related to standard battles between proprietary and open source software (Bonaccorsi and Rossi, 2003; Bonaccorsi et al. 2004, Economides and Katsamakas, 2005; Chen, 2007), intellectual property rights and licensing issues (Laat 2005; Lerner and Tirole, 2005; Gambardella, 2006; Determann et al., 2007). A major unresolved issue concerns open source business models and revenue capture, given that open source licenses imply no fee for users. On this topic, articles show that a commercial activity based on open source software is possible, as they describe different possible ways of doing business around open source (Raymond, 1999; Dahlander, 2004; Daffara, 2007; Bonaccorsi and Merito, 2007). These studies usually look at open source-based companies. Open source-based companies encompass a wide range of firms with different categories of activities: providers of packaged open source solutions, IT Services&Software Engineering firms and open source software publishers. However, business models implications are different for each of these categories: providers of packaged solutions and IT Services&Software Engineering firms' activities are based on software developed outside their boundaries, whereas commercial software publishers sponsor the development of the open source software. This paper focuses on open source software publishers' business models as this issue is even more crucial for this category of firms which take the risk of investing in the development of the software. Literature at last identifies and depicts only two generic types of business models for open source software publishers: the business models of ''bundling'' (Pal and Madanmohan, 2002; Dahlander 2004) and the dual licensing business models (Välimäki, 2003; Comino and Manenti, 2007). Nevertheless, these business models are not applicable in all circumstances. Methodology: The objectives of this paper are: (1) to explore in which contexts the two generic business models described in literature can be implemented successfully and (2) to depict an additional business model for open source software publishers which can be used in a different context. To do so, this paper draws upon an explorative case study of IdealX, a French open source security software publisher. This case study consists in a series of 3 interviews conducted between February 2005 and April 2006 with the co-founder and the business manager. It aims at depicting the process of IdealX's search for the appropriate business model between its creation in 2000 and 2006. This software publisher has tried both generic types of open source software publishers' business models before designing its own. Consequently, through IdealX's trials and errors, I investigate the conditions under which such generic business models can be effective. Moreover, this study describes the business model finally designed and adopted by IdealX: an additional open source software publisher's business model based on the principle of ''mutualisation'', which is applicable in a different context. Results and implications: Finally, this article contributes to ongoing empirical work within entrepreneurship and strategic management on open source software publishers' business models: it provides the characteristics of three generic business models (the business model of bundling, the dual licensing business model and the business model of mutualisation) as well as conditions under which they can be successfully implemented (regarding the type of product developed and the competencies of the firm). This paper also goes further into the traditional concept of business model used by scholars in the open source related literature. In this article, a business model is not only considered as a way of generating incomes (''revenue model'' (Amit and Zott, 2001)), but rather as the necessary conjunction of value creation and value capture, according to the recent literature about business models (Amit and Zott, 2001; Chresbrough and Rosenblum, 2002; Teece, 2007). Consequently, this paper analyses the business models from these two components' point of view.

Traps for the unwary : reform stories of private sector managers entering public service

The purpose of this research is to capture and interpret the stories of “outsider” managers who make the transition to the public sector. These experiences are considered in the context of efforts to shift public management culture in a direction consistent with meeting contemporary demands placed on public sector organisations. It is often noted that an important strategy for changing culture is the infusion of outsiders. Outsiders are thought to bring new perspectives that, through a dialectical process (Van de Ven 1995), create the potential for change. While there have been cross-sector comparisons (Broussine 1990; Silfvast 1994; Redman 1997), little attention has been given to the experience of those who make the transition in the context of efforts to reform public sector management culture. Not only is the infusion of private sector managers into the public sector a potential culture change strategy, it is also a personal experience for those who make the transition. Boundary crossing is typically an anxiety provoking experience (Van Maanen & Schein 1979) and the quality of this experience influences decisions to commit, engage, disengage or exit. The quality of the experience is likely to be affected by how the public organisation responds to people making this transition, that is, their investment in people processing (Saks 2007). The cost of recruitment and selection processes at middle and senior management levels warrants a greater research focus on this transition. In this paper we argue that the experiences of those who make the transition from private to public sectors has much to tell us about the traps that transition managers experience in making this change, the implications for injecting outsider managers as a strategy for achieving public management culture change, and how reform-oriented public organisations can manage the transitions of outsider managers into the public sector in order that best value might be achieved for both the individual and organisational change goals.

Final report : feasibility study linking best value procurement assessment to outcome performance indicators

This feasibility study was established to investigate the application of the concept of ‘best value’ in construction procurement in Australia. In the case of ‘best value’ in the business enterprise, ‘best value’ is that which returns greatest value to the business enterprise’s shareholders. However, in the case of the public sector, ‘best value’ is more complex. For that reason, this research project focuses mainly on public sector construction project procurement.

Best value second interim report

This first interim report on ‘best value’ reviewed the academic literature relating to ‘best value’ and illustrated the varying interpretations that the concept of ‘best value’ has attracted. It also examined current state of the literature on best value in construction project procurement. ‘Best value’ was explored from the perspective of both the business enterprise and public sector. It was concluded that ‘best value’ in the public sector is considerably more complex. This second interim report explores how ‘best value’ has been implemented in the UK. Focus is directed towards the UK, particularly Scotland’s approach to examine the complexity of implementation of ‘best value’ in the public sector context. Scotland has been recognised as a leader in the field of ‘best value’ in the public sector (Curry, 1999; Wisniewski and Stewart, 2001, 2004; Jaconelli and Sheffield, 2000)

Students' and teachers' perceptions of adolescents' problems and coping strategies

In an investigation of the problems and coping strategies of Australian high school students, comparisons were made between the responses of 1664 students enrolled in years 8 to 12 in 1988, 1620 students enrolled in the same year levels in 1993, and 178 high school teachers in 1993. The subjects completed the High School Stressors Scale and the Adolescent Coping Strategies Scale. Data analyses using MANOVAs, ANOVAs, and t- tests revealed close similarities between the responses of the 1993 students and those of the 1988 students, but a considerable amount of incongruence between the responses of the students and those of the teachers. In particular, the teachers generally seemed to regard their students' problems as being more serious than was acknowledged by the students, and the teachers generally seemed to project a less positive view of adolescents' coping strategies than did the students. These discrepancies are discussed in terms of the different orientations that students and teachers bring to the student- teacher relationship. It is suggested that teachers and counsellors need to take cognisance of the differences between adolescents' perspectives and their own if they are going to be effective in assisting students to develop positive coping strategies and in creating more positive learning environments.

Stem cell technologies : regulation, patents and problems

Human embryonic stem cell research promises to deliver in the future a whole range of therapeutic treatments, but currently governments in different jurisdictions must try to regulate this burgeoning area. Part of the problem has been, and continues to be, polarised community opinion on the use of human embryonic stem cells for research. This article compares the approaches of the Australian, United Kingdom and United States governments in regulating human embryonic stem cell research. To date, these governments have approached the issue through implementing legislation or policy to control research. Similarly, the three jurisdictions have viewed the patentability of human embryonic stem cell technologies in their own ways with different policies being adopted by the three patent offices. This article examines these different approaches and discusses the inevitable concerns that have been raised due to the lack of a universal approach in relation to the regulation of research; the patenting of stem cell technologies; and the effects patents granted are having on further human embryonic stem cell research.

What value do users derive from social network applications?

Research on social networking sites like Facebook is emerging but sparse. This exploratory study investigates the value users derive from self-described ‘cool’ Facebook applications, and explores the features that either encourage or discourage users to recommend applications to their friends. The concepts of value and cool are explored in a social networking context. Our qualitative data reveals consumers derive a combination of functional value along with either social or emotional value from the applications. Female Facebook users indicate self-expression as important motivators, while males tend to use Facebook applications to socially compete. Three broad categories emerged for application features; symmetrical features can both encourage or discourage recommendation, polar features where different levels of the same feature encourage or discourage, and uni-directional features only encourage or discourage but not both. Recommending or not recommending an application tends to be the result of a combination of features and context, rather than one feature in isolation.

Identifying developmental problems in young children

Although some developmental disabilities may be identified soon after birth (e.g. Down Syndrome) many problems do not become apparent until much later. The first indication of a significant disorder may be the infant's failure to achieve early developmental milestones at the expected ages, but the variability and subtlety of symtoms in many developmental disorders often makes them difficult to recognise. Clearly itis desirable to identify developmental problems as early as possible to ensure the provision of appropriate support and intervention services and to lessen the impact on subsequent development.

Selection method for sustainable building

For a sustainable building industry, not only should the environmental and economic indicators be evaluated but also the societal indicators for building. Current indicators can be in conflict with each other, thus decision making is difficult to clearly quantify and assess sustainability. For the sustainable building, the objectives of decreasing both adverse environmental impact and cost are in conflict. In addition, even though both objectives may be satisfied, building management systems may present other problems such as convenience of occupants, flexibility of building, or technical maintenance, which are difficult to quantify as exact assessment data. These conflicting problems confronting building managers or planners render building management more difficult. This paper presents a methodology to evaluate a sustainable building considering socio-economic and environmental characteristics of buildings, and is intended to assist the decision making for building planners or practitioners. The suggested methodology employs three main concepts: linguistic variables, fuzzy numbers, and an analytic hierarchy process. The linguistic variables are used to represent the degree of appropriateness of qualitative indicators, which are vague or uncertain. These linguistic variables are then translated into fuzzy numbers to reflect their uncertainties and aggregated into the final fuzzy decision value using a hierarchical structure. Through a case study, the suggested methodology is applied to the evaluation of a building. The result demonstrates that the suggested approach can be a useful tool for evaluating a building for sustainability.