An evaluation methodology for the tangible and intangible assets of city-regions : the 6K1C framework

Together with hard and soft networks tangible and intangible regional assets play an important role in the knowledge-based development of competing city-regions. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to investigate the best ways of managing invaluable tangible and intangible assets of city-regions. The paper explores the importance of asset management of city-regions by giving special emphasis on their knowledge asset base. This paper develops and introduces a theoretical framework to conceptualise a new approach to articulate the strategic planning mechanism, so called the 6K1C framework. The 6K1C framework is part of the strategic planning process of continuous improvement of overall public sector performance. The framework provides a proactive check-list approach integrated for managing and harnessing tangible and intangible assets of the post-industrial city-regions.

Knowledge transfer in project-based organisations : the need for a unique approach

Effective knowledge transfer between infrastructure projects plays a significant role in organisational success and discovery of new technologies, helping to achieve and maintain competitive advantage and, in effect, sustainable infrastructure development. Knowledge is recognised as an important organisational asset that adds value while being shared. To date, research on knowledge transfer has focused on traditional (functional) types of organisations. However, existing knowledge transfer approaches fail to address the issue of unique characteristics of project-based organisations, and the fact that functional and project-based organisations significantly differ in terms of structure, processes, and characteristics. Therefore, there is a need for a different, separate approach for managing knowledge in the project environment. The aim of this chapter is to highlight this need. An extensive literature review is provided on the areas of project management, knowledge management, and organisational structure; this is further supported by empirical evidence from interviews with project management practitioners. Conducting a ‘cross-field’ literature review provides a better understanding of the knowledge transfer mechanisms and its application to projects, and of the importance of knowledge transfer across projects. This research is crucial to gaining a better understanding of knowledge transfer in the project environment. It stresses that there are dissimilarities between project-based organisations and functional organisations in terms of organisational structure, duration of processes, viewpoint of time, response to change, and mobility of people, and that there is a need for a unique strategic approach in order to achieve effective transfer of knowledge. Furthermore, findings presented in this chapter reveal key elements that play an important role in across project knowledge transfer. These elements include: social communication, lessons learned databases, and project management offices.

Selection-adaption-retention dynamics and variety in organisational routines

The notion of routines as mechanisms for achieving stability and change in organisations is well established in the organisational theory literature (Becker, 2004). However the relationship between the dynamics of selection, adaptation and retention and the increase or decrease in the varieties of routines which are the result of these processes, is not as well established theoretically or empirically. This paper investigates the processes associated with the evolution of an inter-organisational routine over time. The paper contributes to theory by advancing a conceptual clarification between the dynamics of organisational routines which produce variation, and the varieties of routines which are generated as a result of such processes; and an explanation for the relationship between selection, adaptation and retention dynamics and the creation of variety. The research is supported by analysis of empirical data pertaining to the procurement of engineering assets in a large asset intensive organisation.

Damage localisation in beams and plates using vibration characteristics

Dynamic computer simulation techniques are used to develop and apply a multi-criteria procedure, incorporating changes in natural frequencies, modal flexibility and the modal strain energy, for damage localisation in beams and plates. Numerically simulated modal data obtained through finite element analyses are used to develop algorithms based on changes of modal flexibility and modal strain energy before and after damage and used as the indices for assessment of the state of structural health. The proposed procedure is illustrated through its application to flexural members under different damage scenarios and the results confirm its feasibility for damage assessment.

Diesel engine condition monitoring and simulated diesel knock

This paper discusses diesel engine condition monitoring (CM) using acoustic emissions (AE) as well as some of the commonly encountered diesel engine problems. Also discussed are some of the underlying combustion related faults and the methods used in past studies to simulate diesel engine faults. The initial test involved an experimental simulation of two common combustion related diesel engine faults, namely diesel knock and misfire. These simulated faults represent the first step towards a comprehensive investigation and analysis into the characteristics of acoustic emission signals arising from combustion related diesel engine faults. Data corresponding to different engine running conditions was captured using in-cylinder pressure, vibration and acoustic emission transducers along with both crank angle encoder and top-dead centre (TDC) signals. Using these signals, it was possible to characterise the effect of different combustion conditions and hence, various diesel engine in-cylinder pressure profiles.

Project-based organisations : overcoming lack of trust and social networks within small and medium project teams

In sustainable development projects, as well as other types of projects, knowledge transfer is important for the organisations managing the project. Nevertheless, knowledge transfer among employees does not happen automatically and it has been found that the lack of social networks and the lack of trust among employees are the major barriers to effective knowledge transfer. Social network analysis has been recognised as a very important tool for improving knowledge transfer in the project environment. Transfer of knowledge is more effective where it depends heavily on social networks and informal dialogue. Based on the theory of social capital, social capital consists of two parts: conduits network and resource exchange network. This research studies the relationships among performance, the resource exchange network (such as the knowledge network) and the relationship network (such as strong ties network, energy network, and trust network) at the individual and project levels. The aim of this chapter is to present an approach to overcoming the lack of social networks and lack of trust to improve knowledge transfer within project-based organisations. This is to be done by identifying the optimum structure of relationship networks and knowledge networks within small and medium projects. The optimal structure of the relationship networks and knowledge networks is measured using two dimensions: intra-project and inter-project. This chapter also outlines an extensive literature review in the areas of social capital, knowledge management and project management, and presents the conceptual model of the research approach.

Using decision trees in economizer repair decision making

The economiser is a critical component for efficient operation of coal-fired power stations. It consists of a large system of water-filled tubes which extract heat from the exhaust gases. When it fails, usually due to erosion causing a leak, the entire power station must be shut down to effect repairs. Not only are such repairs highly expensive, but the overall repair costs are significantly affected by fluctuations in electricity market prices, due to revenue lost during the outage. As a result, decisions about when to repair an economiser can alter the repair costs by millions of dollars. Therefore, economiser repair decisions are critical and must be optimised. However, making optimal repair decisions is difficult because economiser leaks are a type of interactive failure. If left unfixed, a leak in a tube can cause additional leaks in adjacent tubes which will need more time to repair. In addition, when choosing repair times, one also needs to consider a number of other uncertain inputs such as future electricity market prices and demands. Although many different decision models and methodologies have been developed, an effective decision-making method specifically for economiser repairs has yet to be defined. In this paper, we describe a Decision Tree based method to meet this need. An industrial case study is presented to demonstrate the application of our method.

Remaining useful life prediction using elliptical basis function network and Markov Chain

This paper presents a novel method for remaining useful life prediction using the Elliptical Basis Function (EBF) network and a Markov chain. The EBF structure is trained by a modified Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm in order to take into account the missing covariate set. No explicit extrapolation is needed for internal covariates while a Markov chain is constructed to represent the evolution of external covariates in the study. The estimated external and the unknown internal covariates constitute an incomplete covariate set which are then used and analyzed by the EBF network to provide survival information of the asset. It is shown in the case study that the method slightly underestimates the remaining useful life of an asset which is a desirable result for early maintenance decision and resource planning.

Population-based survival estimates for childhood cancer in Australia during the period 1997–2006

Background: This study provides the latest available relative survival data for Australian childhood cancer patients. Methods: Data from the population-based Australian Paediatric Cancer Registry were used to describe relative survival outcomes using the period method for 11 903 children diagnosed with cancer between 1983 and 2006 and prevalent at any time between 1997 and 2006. Results: The overall relative survival was 90.4% after 1 year, 79.5% after 5 years and 74.7% after 20 years. Where information onstage at diagnosis was available (lymphomas, neuroblastoma, renal tumours and rhabdomyosarcomas), survival was significantly poorer for more-advanced stage. Survival was lower among infants compared with other children for those diagnosed with leukaemia, tumours of the central nervous system and renal tumours but higher for neuroblastoma. Recent improvements in overall childhood cancer survival over time are mainly because of improvements among leukaemia patients. Conclusion: The high and improving survival prognosis for children diagnosed with cancer in Australia is consistent with various international estimates. However, a 5-year survival estimate of 79% still means that many children who are diagnosed with cancer will die within 5 years, whereas others have long-term health morbidities and complications associated with their treatments. It is hoped that continued developments in treatment protocols will result in further improvements in survival.

Effects of opening in the cross girders of the flat bottom rail wagons to the load transferring mechanisms when used as road bridge deck

A Flat Bed Rail Wagon (FBRW) has been proposed as an alternative solution for replacing bridges on low traffic volume roads. The subject matter for this paper is to investigate the impediment to load transfer from cross girders to main girder, through visually identifiable structural flaws. Namely, the effect of having large openings at close proximity to the connection of the main girder to the cross girder of a FBRW was examined. It was clear that openings locally reduce the section modulus of the secondary members; however it was unclear how these reductions would affect the load transfer to the main girder. The results are presented through modeling grillage action for which the loads applied onto the FBRW were distributed through cross girders to the main girder.

EduBuilding: material selection from life cycle costing sensitivity

Life Cycle Cost Analysis provides a form of synopsis of the initial and consequential costs of building related decisions. These cost figures may be implemented to justify higher investments, for example, in the quality or flexibility of building solutions through a long term cost reduction. The emerging discipline of asset mnagement is a promising approach to this problem, because it can do things that techniques such as balanced scorecards and total quantity cannot. Decisions must be made about operating and maintaining infrastructure assets. An injudicious sensitivity of life cycle costing is that the longer something lasts, the less it costs over time. A life cycle cost analysis will be used as an economic evaluation tool and collaborate with various numbers of analyses. LCCA quantifies incurring costs commonly overlooked (by property and asset managers and designs) as replacement and maintenance costs. The purpose of this research is to examine the Life Cycle Cost Analysis on building floor materials. By implementing the life cycle cost analysis, the true cost of each material will be computed projecting 60 years as the building service life and 5.4% as the inflation rate percentage to classify and appreciate the different among the materials. The analysis results showed the high impact in selecting the floor materials according to the potential of service life cycle cost next.

Delivering value for money in the procurement of public sector major infrastructure : a new first-order decision making model

The significant challenge faced by government in demonstrating value for money in the delivery of major infrastructure resolves around estimating costs and benefits of alternative modes of procurement. Faced with this challenge, one approach is to focus on a dominant performance outcome visible on the opening day of the asset, as the means to select the procurement approach. In this case, value for money becomes a largely nominal concept and determined by selected procurement mode delivering, or not delivering, the selected performance outcome, and notwithstanding possible under delivery on other desirable performance outcomes, as well as possibly incurring excessive transaction costs. This paper proposes a mind-set change in this particular practice, to an approach in which the analysis commences with the conditions pertaining to the project and proceeds to deploy transaction cost and production cost theory to indicate a procurement approach that can claim superior value for money relative to other competing procurement modes. This approach to delivering value for money in relative terms is developed in a first-order procurement decision making model outlined in this paper. The model developed could be complementary to the Public Sector Comparator (PSC) in terms of cross validation and the model more readily lends itself to public dissemination. As a possible alternative to the PSC, the model could save time and money in preparation of project details to lesser extent than that required in the reference project and may send a stronger signal to the market that may encourage more innovation and competition.

The key to successful implementation : project management of sustainable infrastructure provision

Delivering infrastructure projects involves many stakeholders. Their responsibilities and authorities vary over the course of the project lifecycle - from establishing the project parameters and performance requirements, to operating and maintaining the completed infrastructure. To ensure the successful delivery of infrastructure projects, it is important for the project management team to identify and manage the stakeholders and their requirements. This chapter discusses the management of stakeholders in delivering infrastructure projects, from their conception to completion. It includes managing the stakeholders for project selection and involving them to improve project constructability, operability and maintainability.

Reference bias : presentation of extreme health states prior to EQ-VAS improves health-related quality of life scores. A randomised crossover trial.

Background: Clinical practice and clinical research has made a concerted effort to move beyond the use of clinical indicators alone and embrace patient focused care through the use of patient reported outcomes such as healthrelated quality of life. However, unless patients give consistent consideration to the health states that give meaning to measurement scales used to evaluate these constructs, longitudinal comparison of these measures may be invalid. This study aimed to investigate whether patients give consideration to a standard health state rating scale (EQ-VAS) and whether consideration of good and poor health state descriptors immediately changes their selfreport. Methods: A randomised crossover trial was implemented amongst hospitalised older adults (n = 151). Patients were asked to consider descriptions of extremely good (Description-A) and poor (Description-B) health states. The EQ-VAS was administered as a self-report at baseline, after the first descriptors (A or B), then again after the remaining descriptors (B or A respectively). At baseline patients were also asked if they had considered either EQVAS anchors. Results: Overall 106/151 (70%) participants changed their self-evaluation by ≥5 points on the 100 point VAS, with a mean (SD) change of +4.5 (12) points (p < 0.001). A total of 74/151 (49%) participants did not consider the best health VAS anchor, of the 77 who did 59 (77%) thought the good health descriptors were more extreme (better) then they had previously considered. Similarly 85/151 (66%) participants did not consider the worst health anchor of the 66 who did 63 (95%) thought the poor health descriptors were more extreme (worse) then they had previously considered. Conclusions: Health state self-reports may not be well considered. An immediate significant shift in response can be elicited by exposure to a mere description of an extreme health state despite no actual change in underlying health state occurring. Caution should be exercised in research and clinical settings when interpreting subjective patient reported outcomes that are dependent on brief anchors for meaning. Trial Registration: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (#ACTRN12607000606482) http://www.anzctr. org.au

Using Web 2.0 tools to facilitate knowledge transfer in complex organisational environments : a primer

An often neglected but well recognised aspect of successful engineering asset management is the achievement of co-operation and collaboration between various occupational, functional and hierarchical levels present within complex technical environments. Engineering and technical contexts have been well documented for the presence of highly cohesive groups based around around functional or role orientations. However while highly cohesive groups are potentially advantageous they are also often correlated with the emergence of knowledge and information silos based around those same functional or occupational clusters. Improved collaboration and co-operation between groups has been demonstrated to result in a number of positive outcomes at an individual, group and organisational level. Example outcomes include an increased capacity for problem solving, improved responsiveness and adaptation to organisational crises, higher morale and an increased ability to leverage workforce capability. However, an essential challenge for organisations wishing to overcome informational silos is to implement mechanisms that facilitate, encourage and sustain interactions between otherwise disconnected groups. This paper reviews the ability of Web 2.0 technologies and mobile computing devices to facilitate and encourage knowledge sharing between “silo’d” groups. Commonly available tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Wiki’s and others will be reviewed in relation to their applicability, functionality and ease-of-use by engineering and technical personnel. The paper also documents three case examples of engineering organisations that have successfully employed Web 2.0 to achieve superior knowledge management. With a number of clear recommendations he paper is an essential starting point for any organization looking at the use of new generation technologies for achieving the significant outcomes associated with knowledge transfer.