Matching Items (9)
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- Creators: Kashiwagi, Jacob
- Resource Type: Text
Description
The construction industry in India suffers from major time and cost overruns. Data from government and industry reports suggest that projects suffer from 20 to 25 percent time and cost overruns. Waste of resources has been identified as a major source of inefficiency. Despite a substantial increase in the past few years, demand for professionals and contractors still exceeds supply by a large margin. The traditional methods adopted in the Indian construction industry may not suffice the needs of this dynamic environment, as they have produced large inefficiencies. Innovative ways of procurement and project management can satisfy the needs aspired to as well as bring added value. The problems faced by the Indian construction industry are very similar to those faced by other developing countries. The objective of this paper is to discuss and analyze the economic concerns, inefficiencies and investigate a model that both explains the Indian construction industry structure and provides a framework to improve efficiencies. The Best Value (BV) model is examined as an approach to be adopted in lieu of the traditional approach. This could result in efficient construction projects by minimizing cost overruns and delays, which until now have been a rarity.
ContributorsNihas, Syed (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Although there are some key qualities that all good leaders employ, variations in effective leadership approaches are evident across different cultures. This project sought to compare and analyze the differences and similarities in leadership principles between Chinese and American business cultures, with emphasis on the divergence caused by the influences of history, culture and politics.
ContributorsLe Tourneur, Maxine Archondakis (Author) / McKinnon, David (Thesis director) / LePine, Marcie (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Industry is changing. Businesses are plagued with problems of inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and waste. Many of these issues arise from some common mistakes within established management structures; these issues include lack of expertise in leadership positions, lack of unity across the organization, and imbalance within the business. Using Information Measurement Theory, the Kashiwagi Solution Model, and leadership theories, this thesis presents a simple approach to creating a business structure through explaining the basic tenets of a successful modern business. It was determined that the first and most important task of a business is to set realistic long-term goals for the organization. This thesis proposes that the basic needs of a successful business also includes having the right individuals, team formation, positive leadership, and the proper alignment of resources. It was found that it is best to hire individuals that exhibit some Type A characteristics because those individuals are likely to effectively carry out the goals of the business. Forming these individuals into small teams increases their processing speeds and encourages a balance of accountability, innovative solutions, and a network of learning. Furthermore, consistent, positive leadership that lives the company culture is a key element to successfully maintaining the business vision and maximizing associate effectiveness. It was also determined that aligning the organization to work towards the business vision can be performed through implementing a flat structure, placing individuals in roles that maximize effectiveness, and establishing the right business goals so that there is a consistent business vision at all levels of the organization. This thesis also provides guidance on how to implement these tenets in a simple, dominant way. Ultimately, the four proposed tenets working in unison towards business goals can lead to a successful and adaptable modern business.
ContributorsMeade, Payton Drew (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Abstract The purpose of this project is to utilize the models and concepts from Information Measurement Theory (IMT) to help minimize future decision making with respect to my career path. When I began this project, my future was clouded, my initial conditions were unknown, my stress over future career-path decisions was high, and I had eight possible career paths in mind. I have narrowed my career-path options from eight to four. In addition, I have determined a one-year plan that enables me to be prepared to pursue any of the four career paths that I have found align with me. In this project, I explored my dominant initial conditions with respect to my career path. I tracked the job history of my grandparents and parents. These efforts allowed me to identify the strengths and weaknesses that I was exhibiting by the age of three. Natural law dictates that the strengths and weaknesses of my younger self will be the same strengths and weakness that I excel at and struggle with today. I then used my understanding of natural law and the event model process to map the strengths and weaknesses of my parents and grandparents and to compare and contrast these to my strengths and weaknesses, including those that were apparent by the time that I was three years old. Focusing in on what I really want from a job, four main goals were established to grade the various future career-path options. Finally, I documented my transition from uncertainty to clarity. It began with my sobriety and ended with a milestone one-year plan that will give me information that I need to commit to my career path. This transition has had significant impact. The elusive "who am I" has been addressed, not completely but addressed sufficiently so that the question no longer plagues me. I know from where I have come. I have gained significant insight from those around me who know me. All of this has been documented for my own personal use, and for my children someday. This process permitted me to eliminate outliers from my eight original career paths, reducing them to four. In addition, application of IMT models and concepts has allowed me to see one year into the future. With my new-found knowledge, I will listen and watch the doors close on three of the remaining four career paths, as there is only one path I am meant to take.
ContributorsRichardson, Trevor Woods (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Del E. Webb Construction (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This paper focuses on the various types of Theories and Models that are designed to help managers and leaders influence others. Specifically, for this paper I will be exploring these Theories and Models to determine the most promising method of influence. Then I will conduct an experiment to measure the effectiveness of a methods ability to influence within Phi Kappa Theta. I will then compare the increase or decrease of service hours to the Inter Fraternal Council (IFC) at Arizona State University to judge our performance and determine whether the chosen method is effective or not.
ContributorsPetersen, Charles Casper (Author) / Baer, Michael (Thesis director) / Wynn, Bridgette (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The purpose of this research is to define significant explanatory factors behind differences in work preferences across country of origin, gender, and generation. We conducted a survey through Qualtrics, which consisted of 45 questions. The survey was administered to men and women who were U.S. citizens and non-US citizens and who were from two pre-defined generational groups: Generation X and Generation Z. Furthermore, the questions were intended to determine different work preferences in Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions (Power Distance, Masculinity/Femininity, Individualism/Collectivism, Uncertainty Avoidance), McClelland's Motivational Theory, Alpha/Beta Work Values, and Leadership Traits from the GLOBE study. We also had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo, Japan in December 2016 to gather qualitative research data regarding individuals' opinions and experiences in cultural and gender differences in the workplace. We were able to support hypotheses regarding Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, Alpha and Beta Values, and Leadership Traits specifically across our gender and generational cohorts. Findings from the study indicate significant variations between all three cohorts. Our literature and hypotheses review, methodology, limitations, practical implications in addition to future research to expand our study will be discussed within this text. We hope to provide context and insight into how businesses of the twenty-first century can be inclusive, fair, and profitable amidst a changing workforce and a host of global factors that are constantly refining the multinational company.
ContributorsJirak, Matthew (Co-author) / Vogliotti-Simental, Hector (Co-author) / LePine, Marcie (Thesis director) / Lee, Peggy (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
This thesis presents a literature research analyzing the cost overrun of the construction industry worldwide, exploring documented causes for cost overrun, and documented parties responsible for the inefficiency. The analysis looks at a comparison between the metrics of construction projects in different continents and regions. Multiple publication databases were used to look into over 300 papers. It is shown that although construction demands are increasing, cost overrun on these projects is not decreasing at the same rate around the world. This thesis also presents a possible solution to improve cost overrun in the construction industry, through the use of the Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BV PIPS). This is a system that has been utilized in various countries around the world, and has documented evidence that it may be able to alleviate the overrun occurring in the construction industry.
ContributorsGoyal, Abhinav (Author) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Thesis advisor) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / Chong, Oswald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
ABSTRACT
The current Saudi Arabian (SA) procurement system leads to many losses in money and benefits in projects. Also, the use of the traditional procurement system in SA has been identified as one of the causes for poor performance in the delivery of construction and the major risk to the SA government. A questionnaire has been developed and carefully designed based on literature review. The purpose of the survey was to identify the validity of the recent claims that the procurement system in SA is broken and to improve the current SA procurement system. The questionnaire was sent out to 1,396 participants including included 867 engineers, 256 consultants, 93 contractors, 35 owners and 132 architects and 13 academics.
All participants have been registered and licensed professionals at the SA Council for professional engineers, who work in both private and public sectors. The participants are interested in the SA procurement and contracts system with experience ranging from one to more than twenty-five years with the majority of twenty-five years of experience in common construction sectors such as; residential and commercial buildings, healthcare buildings, industrial building and heavy civil construction.
Most of the participants from both private and public sectors agreed with the survey questions subject matter regarding: zone price proposals, contractors' evaluation, risks, planning, projects' scope, owners concern and weekly risks reports (WRR). The survey results showed that the procurement system is the major risk to projects, affects construction projects negatively and is in need of improvement.
Based on the survey and literature review, a model, called Saudi government performance procurement model (SGPPM), has been developed in which the most expert contractor is chosen through four phases: submittals& education, vendors selection, illustration and execution. The resulting model is easy to implement by SA government and does not require special skills or backgrounds.
The current Saudi Arabian (SA) procurement system leads to many losses in money and benefits in projects. Also, the use of the traditional procurement system in SA has been identified as one of the causes for poor performance in the delivery of construction and the major risk to the SA government. A questionnaire has been developed and carefully designed based on literature review. The purpose of the survey was to identify the validity of the recent claims that the procurement system in SA is broken and to improve the current SA procurement system. The questionnaire was sent out to 1,396 participants including included 867 engineers, 256 consultants, 93 contractors, 35 owners and 132 architects and 13 academics.
All participants have been registered and licensed professionals at the SA Council for professional engineers, who work in both private and public sectors. The participants are interested in the SA procurement and contracts system with experience ranging from one to more than twenty-five years with the majority of twenty-five years of experience in common construction sectors such as; residential and commercial buildings, healthcare buildings, industrial building and heavy civil construction.
Most of the participants from both private and public sectors agreed with the survey questions subject matter regarding: zone price proposals, contractors' evaluation, risks, planning, projects' scope, owners concern and weekly risks reports (WRR). The survey results showed that the procurement system is the major risk to projects, affects construction projects negatively and is in need of improvement.
Based on the survey and literature review, a model, called Saudi government performance procurement model (SGPPM), has been developed in which the most expert contractor is chosen through four phases: submittals& education, vendors selection, illustration and execution. The resulting model is easy to implement by SA government and does not require special skills or backgrounds.
ContributorsAlofi, Ahmed Abdulrahman (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This thesis will analyze the operations of two nonprofit organizations located in different parts of the world. One local and one international nonprofit organization was chosen for this thesis/creative project because of the diverse culture, customs and regulations in each setting. The paper will discuss the operations of St. Vincent de Paul, the Chandler Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, and Sri Sai Darshan Trust (SSDT). The paper begins with a brief history of nonprofit organizations followed by a detailed background on both organizations. The management (organizational structure), finances, marketing, and legalities will be discussed of each nonprofit. The paper will then examine the specialized projects of each organization throughout the year. A PEST, SWOT, value chain, Kraljic, spend, and demand analysis were conducted based off of the research on each nonprofit. The paper will then discuss the problems each organization exhibits and the potential solutions the nonprofits can implement into their daily operations in order to resolve them. This section analyzes the similarities and differences within each business area of the nonprofit organization. Short-term solutions to current business problems and long-term solutions to organizational problems will be discussed in this section. The conclusion is the final element of the thesis. In this section, a balanced scorecard will be created for each nonprofit organization. In addition, the authors will discuss what they learned throughout the entire process. The goal of this thesis/creative project was to integrate the knowledge and concepts from business (marketing, finance, management, accounting, supply chain management, and computer information systems), and find an application for each within nonprofit organizations around the world.
ContributorsPatel, Nisha (Co-author) / Sivakumar, Akila (Co-author) / Maltz, Arnold (Thesis director) / LePine, Marcie (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05