Lean Principles in Construction

Lean Principles in Construction Executive Summary Toyota is a name that when seen brings an image of high quality, durability, cost/fuel efficient and best value for money in the car industry. The reason for such a high standard is that Toyota Production System has Pioneered and Implemented Lean Principles in Production system. These principles didnt have the effect immediately in the start but at the last stages, it proved to have a greater worth for it. By implementation of Lean Theories and Philosophy, Toyota had got rid of much wasteful activities using Just In Time approach. The understudy report consists of the Implementation of Lean Principles on a Construction Project which was significantly delayed due to lack of managerial qualities. The Client built a new Head office to shift all the activities from the previous offices in to the new one, but a delay to all activities was observed. It has been analyzed that the construction companies fail to give proper time to the initial Pre-Design and Design Phases and are more reluctant towards starting their construction. The current method of working of the company is mapped and explained with the possible issues and problems are being enlisted. The Design Build approach of Procurement was appraised and further improvements have been suggested. The second part of the report consists of the major and applicable Lean Principles and how they can be implemented in Construction Projects. This not only reduces the wasteful activities but also prove to be cost efficient as mapped. Lastly some merits of Lean Implementation on the construction project have been enlisted and conclusions are drawn. NEW HEAD OFFICE OF COMMERCIAL BANK OF KUWAIT (CBK) Introduction The Commercial Bank of Kuwait is a well known Bank in Kuwait having its roots back in 1960s. It began with a simple minded policy from just a small part of the property with the aim to handle the financial burden on the main bank of Kuwait; the National Bank of Kuwait. Being an old player in the country, the CBK decided to shift its old head office to the new location as the old building had many issues like less working space creating hurdles in modernizing the banking facilities. The old office was in the region of Maidan Hawally which is considerably famous for foreigners living in the region. The new head office of CBK is in the Centre of Kuwait i.e. Kuwait City which is the economic hub of overall State of Kuwait. In this project, Commercial Bank of Kuwait was the main funding source. The Project began in January 2007 and the construction of the Bank lasted till March 2009. Although the project was expected to be completed by June 2008 whereas only the construction phase had jus t finished till March 2009 and the final building being handed over by September 2009. The study of the project indicated that the Project was not only delayed yet was significantly over budgeted. The Project was approximately 30 % over budget and 15 months delayed. Moreover not only these issues affected the project but too many changes by the client were also a reason for the delay. The delay in the completion of the CBK Project was due to two reasons. One being that the Chief Executive Officer of the CBK resigned due to some personal issues with Managing Director of the Bank and the other reason was due to the Financial Crunch throughout the globe. These two reasons caused changes in the project after a long halt to the construction till the new CEO was assigned as the requirements of the project were altered accordingly. Therefore only one person cannot be held responsible for the overall delay caused in the CBK Project. According to Tucker (1998), a high level of management in Construction is very much essential for smooth flow of project. Thus it can be said that there were flaws in the design phase of the project and the lack of good management resulted in overall failed on-time delivery of the project. The Procurement method of the project was Design Build keeping in view the needs and outcomes of the project. The Client (CBK itself) had future plans for further development which all seemed to be left in vain of further initiation due to such a mess created. There fore the Client took keen interest to map the overall processes of the project in order to learn the flaws that delayed the Project so as to further smoothen up its activities. Working Philosophy in the CBK Project Being appointed as an Assistant Project Manager by the Client (Commercial Bank of Kuwait), the task allocated was to analyze the overall performance of the CBK Headquarters project and prepare a report to learn the flaws and outcomes of the project. Such an exercise was done in order to generate preventive measures so that future projects may not be delayed much. The report consists of a comprehensive analysis of methodology used for the Development of Headquarter of CBK and the maximum emphasize is given to the changes in the design i.e. the overall management of the design. The first step taken into consideration is the feasibility report or the outline of the project which is the first process in a project. A detailed approach in investigation is taken therefore, the Contractor (Ahmadiah Contracting-Kuwait), the team of Client (CBK), stakeholders and other parties involved in the project were consulted. All the processes are shown are Appendix 1. Method of Procurement The method of procurement in this project was Design and Build. It is very much necessary to understand what this approach is by analyzing the method. From the clients point of view, the success of the project is nearly decided by choosing appropriate method of procurement in the beginning. The common layout of the system can be seen in the figure below. Fig.2 indicates that this system is very much suited for clients who typically pass their risk to the contractor and a close coordination is developed between the design and the contractor team. This enables to synchronize the time, cost and quality of the project in the true sense of good project management perspective. As the cost is pretty much decided in the beginning, the client is confident that all the further process is smoothen up. But the point to be concerned is that all teams should have proper knowledge of design and build approach. Mostly clients which have Design Build approach new into their project end up with the sentence that the contractor has made a lot of money out of this project. This can be true only if the client finds that the things mentioned in the proposal are not same as they should have been. According to Morledge et.al (2006), client should be in notice that: * Design and Build method may change the formal aspect of most of the parties involved throughout the project. * The contractual accountability of the involved parties can change according to the environment and need of the project. Therefore according to Morledge et.al (2006), the client should study the procurement route to be selected from the technical, financial and legal angle, well in advance before the commencement of the bidding stage. By this not only the client but also the other stakeholders involved in the project can proceed safely which having loose much money. From the explained context it can be seen that before initiating any step into the start of the project, if the client spends some time in understanding the possible pros and cons of the selection of procurement method, much discrepancies can be tackled easily. Moreover, the early involvement of the clients design team can lend a helping hand to the client in correct decision making. This type of activity seems to be very scarce in the CBK Project. Processes of CBK Project The working of the CBK Project can be seen in the form of a process map with each activity corresponding to a task. It can be seen that the working standard of the overall project is in the form of a three phase Design Build method. The three phases can be as: a. Pre-Tender Phase b. Tendering Phase c. Implementation Phase The three phases of the project are mapped as processes and sub processes and the roles of different parties involved in the overall project are elaborated (Appendix -1). This exercise enables to understand the whole process easily. Detailed Analysis of Processes The main processes of the New Headquarters of Commercial Bank of Kuwait are discussed as follows:  § Concept of the Project The Chief Executive of Commercial Bank of Kuwait had a vision towards modernization in the country and the Bank it self. Therefore in order to compete the competitive banks in Kuwait the decision was taken to develop a state of the art building which will serve as an headquarter and economic backbone for the organization. Modernization was in the sense that latest high performance computers with ultra high-tech security were to be operated in the building.  § Financial Issues The Commercial Bank of Kuwait being the client as well as the funding authority finalized the concept of the project in order to have a brief overview of required budget of the project. For this, closed group meetings and seminars were arranged in order to clear any queries in the mind of the staff of the bank.  § Planning Phase The top management of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait was keen to modernize its new headquarters. For this to happen, special sessions were arranged in collaboration with Ministry of Planning, Kuwait and State Bank of Kuwait. International Banks like Barclays and HSBC were taken as role model and one model being finalized for the future development. This was a good step as to bring Western standards into an Arab Country.  § Consultant Team The consultant team (Al-Injaz Architects and Engineers) selected by the client was through competition and the team selected was an experienced one in modern construction.  § Feasibility Report A feasibility report was made in order to study the potential outcomes of the project and what could be the difficulties faced by the teams.  § Integrating Clients Objective The Consultant team enlisted the requirements of the client and steps were taken to meet the clients goals. Mainly the clients focus was a state of the art modern building and the whole project to be finished quickly without compromising Quality Standards. Therefore quality standards were also a must for the client. Through critical analysis of the data, the consultant team came out with the Design Build approach of procurement.  § Design Phase The consultant team started their work in the perspective of Design Build approach so that the tendering process can take place on time. Initial plan setup, architectural designs along with structural designs, cost estimation; all were done right on time.  § Project Documents The Projects brief long with all the details of the project including deadline of the project, estimated cost, drawings and plan etc are documented.  § Document Review The first document review meeting was held in which the top management of the CBK took part. All the project documents were critically analyzed and the Chief Executive and Chairman of Commercial Bank of Kuwait were briefed by the Project Manager about the findings of the report. It was decided that the design of the bank was little more luxurious as per the standard set and was exceeding the budget. So minor changes were made and final documents were setup.  § Tendering Process After finalizing the Project documents, pre-qualification of contractors was done and tenders were called for the development of New Headquarters of Commercial Bank of Kuwait. This was done by the Bidding Committee assigned by the Client which was in close contact with the client during the tendering process.  § Bidding Documents Confidential bidding documents were received before the deadline and handed over to the client.  § Bid Evaluation The client selected the contractor with the lowest bid and consulted the consultant team and the project management team in order to approve the bid. Upon the approval from the teams, the client approved the Contractor (Ahmadiah Contracting, Kuwait) and informed the bidding committee.  § Contract Sign The Bidding Committee arranged a contract signing session in which the contract was signed between the two parties. It was assured that the detailed design would start immediately and the project would be finished on time and in budget.  § Initial Design The design team of the Contractor (Ahmadiah) started the initial design of the development of New Headquarters of Commercial Bank of Kuwait. The consultant team and the project manager of the client were also involved in this phase and regular meetings with the client were taking place. During this phase proper site survey and investigation was done and the design aspects were altered accordingly.  § Interior Design The interior designing of the CBK was given much more importance in order to meet the quality standards set by the client. The other reason was to meet the maximum security levels of the requirements of the project.  § Provision for restaurant In order to serve the employees of the CBK, it was mentioned in the objectives of the client to provide the catering service to the staff so that at lunch time, the staff can enjoy the atmosphere and have a chat and meeting at the same time along with lunch.  § Design Proposal After finalizing the initial design of the CBK, a design proposal was prepared along with the time and cost estimates for approval from the Client.  § Final Review The client, consultant team and the project manager set up a meeting in order to critically analyze the proposal and upon approval from the client, the contractor proceeds further.  § Final Design Plan Layout Once the proposal was finalized, the design team of the contractor started to work on the detailed and comprehensive design of the project. The HVAC, electrical works, the building services including CCTV arrangements, the infrastructure of the building, all were done according to the sub-contractors co-ordination. The final layout of what is to be developed appeared on drawing charts and Auto-Cad drawing were prepared. The Step wise proceedings of the design phase of the CBK project starting from the Clients input and ending at the Contractors output can be seen in the Fig.3.  § Final Agreement With slight alterations in design and requirement by the client, the contract was review and the construction phase was to be started.  § Construction Phase The first step of the construction phase was the site acquisition, construction of temporary offices for the staff as well as design team. For this to happen the sub-contractors were put on job and the heavy construction machinery was brought on site.  § Final Drawings Implemented on Site With the start of working on the construction site, the first step was to excavate the area to be constructed upon. The construction phase started to be as smooth as predicted.  § Time Quality Checks The project manager of the client (CBK) had frequent visits to the site which resulted in strict control over the time and quality issues. A few incidents took place in which the contractor was not up to the mark as stated in the detailed drawing specifications. For instance, the project manager managed to have a look at the steel standards adopted and found that in the beams, low quality steel was used and was further sent for testing in the laboratory. The overall view of the working of the teams in the CBK Project can be seen in Fig.3.  § Documentation and Review A very important aspect of the CBK project was that every thing was documented and latest computer software such as Primavera was used on the site. The Clients project manager had an access to it. Some clashes went up due to delay in the project beyond the critical path which was referred to the client. Possible Issues with the Current Method of Working Different types of issues arose during the project life cycle that lead to certain unexpected failures during the project. Following table enlists the main issues: The above mentioned issues were found to have a significant impact on the working of the CBK project. The need of the future and to be successful in the field of construction is by analyzing the short comings of previously done processes. To enhance the working and construction processes by the client in the future, the forth coming recommendations in the form of Lean perspective in construction have been defined. All the working can be seen in Appendix -1. ENHANCED WAY OF HANDLING COMMERCIAL BANK OF KUWAIT PROJECT Introduction to Lean According to Egan (1998) and Latham (1994), the construction industry has changed significantly in the past decade, especially the UKs construction industry. Much emphasis is now given to improve the construction industry by analysis the working methodology of the industry. By analyzing, one can rectify the short comings and further improve that to make a win-win situation. According to Koskela (1997), construction industry cannot be a regarded as a â€Å"rich cultured† industry, because the way of doing work, the procedures and outcomes are nearly same as they were years ago. To improve this, the construction industry had to be linked with production and manufacturing industry. The reason is that although the end product of both the industries is entirely different, yet if the working principles of both industries are studied, they can be regarded as identical. According to Egbu (2010) and Towill (1997), construction industry can be regarded as a manufacturing industry. If we look at the production or manufacturing industry, for instance a car industry, the end product is a car, which was the project of the factory (Muhlemann et al., 1992). In construction industry, the end product is a building, house, a dam etc, which is the project for the construction factory/industry. Taking this, approach, Koskela (2000) introduced Lean principles in construction industrys perspective. He argued that the manufacturing industry has set of production theories which when applied to the construction industry, the results can be significant. When seen the time-line of the car manufacturing industry, for instance, we can see that the car manufacturing has changed drastically over the past century. The reason being that the working principles adopted by production industry has polished itself over time again and again, when such principle be defined and impl emented on construction industry, the end product can be enhanced (Koskela, 1992). Lean thinking is the concept put forward by Womack and Daniel (1996) in which he describes to think every possible aspect in a leaner way. Thus by minimizing single repetitive step can be a step forward towards implementing lean in our daily life. Lean production system was adopted and implemented by Toyota Production System through out its time-line of production activities. Liker (1998) recognizes Toyota as the pioneers of lean principles which have brought a revolution in its production activities for more than a century. This is done by proper planning the supply chain activities, minimizing the wasteful activities, etc. By the introduction of 5S technique, Kanban and others, Toyota has flourished significantly in the production industry, whereas, the construction industry is far away from these concepts. Summary of 14 points as set by Toyota Production System and enlisted by Liker (2004), are as follows: 1. Base Your Management Decisions on a Long-Term Philosophy, Even at the Expense of Short-Term Financial Goals. 2. Create Continuous Process Flow to Bring Problems to the Surface. 3. Use â€Å"Pull† System to Avoid Overproduction. 4. Level Out the Workload (Heijunka). 5. Build a Culture of Stopping to Fix Problems, to Get Quality Right for the First Time. 6. Standardizes Tasks are the Foundation for Continuous Improvement and Employee Empowerment. 7. Use Visual Controls so no Problems are Hidden. 8. Use Only Reliable, Thoroughly Tested Technology That Serves your People and Processes. 9. Grow Leaders who Thoroughly Understand the Work, Live the Philosophy, and Take it to Others. 10. Develop Exceptional People and Teams who Follow your Companys Philosophy. 11. Respect Your Extended Network of Partners and Suppliers by Challenging Them and Helping them Improve. 12. Go and See for Yourself to Thoroughly Understand the Situation (Genchi Genbutsu). 13. Make Decisions Slowly by Consensus, Thoroughly Considering All options; Implement Decisions Rapidly (Nemawashi). 14. Become a Learning Organization Through Relentless Reflection (Hansei) and Continuous Improvement (Kaizen). Thus by closely looking and understanding the above mentioned principles, we can judge that how successful a company can be when adopted such principles. By using Kanban, much of the waste can be removed. The fact is to carefully see and analyse the company performance and take out the shortcomings. Integrating Lean with the CBK Project Construction industry is now in a phase of adapting new procedures and methods for its improvement and to increase its efficiency. This can easily be done by integrating lean philosophy in the construction industry (Jorgensen and Emmitt, 2008 2009). Liker (2004) has condensed the above enlisted 14 key principles of Toyota Production System into 4 main categories/sections according to their nature. These are: 1. Long-Term Philosophy 2. Selection of Right Process 3. People and Parners development can lead to value generation 4. Gradually problem solving These 14 points of Toyota Production System are very well condensed in the above mentioned four points. When thinking about construction, Long-term philosophy can very much help in implementation of lean principles. According to Arbulu and Zabelle (2006), to standardize work it is very much necessary to follow a guideline. The five stages vision, skills, incentives, resources and action plan can be idealized according to the CBK Project. Thinking Lean while keeping in view these 5 stages can very well prove to be successful in the project. Vision Defining a vision is the first step towards the start of a project. These not only assist in the further journey, but also remove any questions that may arise in the overall team in the project. This exercise was found to be completely during the construction of New Head office of Central Bank of Kuwait Project because everything was mixed and jumbled up during the last stages of the project. Defining a vision thus give a road map towards success and the vision is usually giving for the next couple of years, which elaborates the broad thing of the company in front of others. Only thing that matters is the top management team to be strong to take decisions which lacked through out the CBK Project. Skills Skills come first after a vision is set. In fact a vision cannot be defined without the proper knowledge of the skills that a company possesses. In order to be successful in implementation of Lean in the construction industry, the company has to design or upgrade its staff development program. Thus skills very much distinguishes between the current adopted working methodology with the new working method i.e.; Lean. Furthermore, proper knowledge of the companies profile is also very beneficial in perusing successful projects. Although the staff of the CBK Project is very much skilled yet some lack in understanding of basics in construction industry is found, for instance the top management dealing first time with the Design Build procurement method. Incentive Incentives are good in the sense that they keep the workers at work motivated. The incentives can be in the form of money or by applauding someones good work, this make the worker feel happing. To implement lean into the construction industry is something to make a great change into the system, thus by introducing incentives can encourage workers at work and be happy to work and accept the change. Resources Resources can be regarded as the backbone of a project. Insufficient resources and funds may load to a halt during a project. In order to smoothen the working and progress of the project, it should be made assure well in advance that there are enough funds to support the working. The financial crunch appeared during the construction of the CBK project which significantly halted the progress of construction activities. Action Plan Like setting up a clear vision right in the start of the project, a good action plan is also equally important as a right action plan sets up guidelines for the project team. Working on the correct action plan, incorporates any unsubstantial changes and alterations in a project. A good action plan cannot be seen in the CBK project which lead to some unwanted results in the last stages of the project. Improvement by Implementation of Lean Principles The 14 principles of Lean Production system used by Toyota Production System and stated by Liker (2004) are being implemented into the CBK Project which gives a more Leaner and good value of money look to the project. Not only the cost of the overall project is properly utilized but also it is a quicker approach Womack and Daniel (2005). The enlisted problems in the CBK Project (as stated in the start) can be resolved using the Lean Principles. Following are the Lean principles directly implemented to the improvement of CBK Project. 1. Long-Term Philosophy The long term philosophy in the context of lean can be explained as: I. Base Your Management Decisions on Long-Term Philosophy Long term philosophy gives a plate form for an organization to initialize the start of future prospects. Long term approaches are usually declared in the form of upcoming 5, 10, 15 or 20 years in which it is clearly briefed about the future plans of the organization. Commercial Bank of Kuwait should introduce this approach right from the start of future projects. This will enhance the managerial skills of the organization and an approach to solve all the problems will be upgraded (Carroll, 2002) and hence shown in Fig.4 after application. 2. Process Improvement The process improvement section of the Lean principles consists of following aspects: II. Create Continuous Process Flow to Bring Problems to the Surface This principle of Lean suggests that the working criteria of the company should be such that it is running smoothly, fast and in an accurate manner. In this way any problem that arises during the process, may be handled quite easily. This principle can be implemented in the design and the planning phase as it removes many problems which are caused by starting different activities at same time. Such exercise was completely missing in the CBK Project. Multiple tasks were started at the same time, which lead to misunderstandings in the project. Smooth flow of work was least found and by implementing this technique the smooth flow of work can be seen. III. Use â€Å"Pull† System Pull system helps to reduce the un-necessary work that is done during the project. The use of pull system can be used in the pre-project and pre-construction phases during the design phases as this will help to control the time lapsed between the completion of the drawings and the designing. Un-necessary meetings and suggestions were found during the execution of the Pre-Tender phase whose burden, the overall project planning had to face. By introducing Pull system, much waste full activities can be overcome. IV. Level out the Workload The workers at work shouldnt be overburdened at any time of the project. This not only applies to the Labor but also to the Design Team. When it comes to the labor, it should be taken care off that every labor has equal work allocated to him and work load should be calculated according to the time available. Similarly the Design team should be Lean Principles in Construction Lean Principles in Construction Executive Summary Toyota is a name that when seen brings an image of high quality, durability, cost/fuel efficient and best value for money in the car industry. The reason for such a high standard is that Toyota Production System has Pioneered and Implemented Lean Principles in Production system. These principles didnt have the effect immediately in the start but at the last stages, it proved to have a greater worth for it. By implementation of Lean Theories and Philosophy, Toyota had got rid of much wasteful activities using Just In Time approach. The understudy report consists of the Implementation of Lean Principles on a Construction Project which was significantly delayed due to lack of managerial qualities. The Client built a new Head office to shift all the activities from the previous offices in to the new one, but a delay to all activities was observed. It has been analyzed that the construction companies fail to give proper time to the initial Pre-Design and Design Phases and are more reluctant towards starting their construction. The current method of working of the company is mapped and explained with the possible issues and problems are being enlisted. The Design Build approach of Procurement was appraised and further improvements have been suggested. The second part of the report consists of the major and applicable Lean Principles and how they can be implemented in Construction Projects. This not only reduces the wasteful activities but also prove to be cost efficient as mapped. Lastly some merits of Lean Implementation on the construction project have been enlisted and conclusions are drawn. NEW HEAD OFFICE OF COMMERCIAL BANK OF KUWAIT (CBK) Introduction The Commercial Bank of Kuwait is a well known Bank in Kuwait having its roots back in 1960s. It began with a simple minded policy from just a small part of the property with the aim to handle the financial burden on the main bank of Kuwait; the National Bank of Kuwait. Being an old player in the country, the CBK decided to shift its old head office to the new location as the old building had many issues like less working space creating hurdles in modernizing the banking facilities. The old office was in the region of Maidan Hawally which is considerably famous for foreigners living in the region. The new head office of CBK is in the Centre of Kuwait i.e. Kuwait City which is the economic hub of overall State of Kuwait. In this project, Commercial Bank of Kuwait was the main funding source. The Project began in January 2007 and the construction of the Bank lasted till March 2009. Although the project was expected to be completed by June 2008 whereas only the construction phase had jus t finished till March 2009 and the final building being handed over by September 2009. The study of the project indicated that the Project was not only delayed yet was significantly over budgeted. The Project was approximately 30 % over budget and 15 months delayed. Moreover not only these issues affected the project but too many changes by the client were also a reason for the delay. The delay in the completion of the CBK Project was due to two reasons. One being that the Chief Executive Officer of the CBK resigned due to some personal issues with Managing Director of the Bank and the other reason was due to the Financial Crunch throughout the globe. These two reasons caused changes in the project after a long halt to the construction till the new CEO was assigned as the requirements of the project were altered accordingly. Therefore only one person cannot be held responsible for the overall delay caused in the CBK Project. According to Tucker (1998), a high level of management in Construction is very much essential for smooth flow of project. Thus it can be said that there were flaws in the design phase of the project and the lack of good management resulted in overall failed on-time delivery of the project. The Procurement method of the project was Design Build keeping in view the needs and outcomes of the project. The Client (CBK itself) had future plans for further development which all seemed to be left in vain of further initiation due to such a mess created. There fore the Client took keen interest to map the overall processes of the project in order to learn the flaws that delayed the Project so as to further smoothen up its activities. Working Philosophy in the CBK Project Being appointed as an Assistant Project Manager by the Client (Commercial Bank of Kuwait), the task allocated was to analyze the overall performance of the CBK Headquarters project and prepare a report to learn the flaws and outcomes of the project. Such an exercise was done in order to generate preventive measures so that future projects may not be delayed much. The report consists of a comprehensive analysis of methodology used for the Development of Headquarter of CBK and the maximum emphasize is given to the changes in the design i.e. the overall management of the design. The first step taken into consideration is the feasibility report or the outline of the project which is the first process in a project. A detailed approach in investigation is taken therefore, the Contractor (Ahmadiah Contracting-Kuwait), the team of Client (CBK), stakeholders and other parties involved in the project were consulted. All the processes are shown are Appendix 1. Method of Procurement The method of procurement in this project was Design and Build. It is very much necessary to understand what this approach is by analyzing the method. From the clients point of view, the success of the project is nearly decided by choosing appropriate method of procurement in the beginning. The common layout of the system can be seen in the figure below. Fig.2 indicates that this system is very much suited for clients who typically pass their risk to the contractor and a close coordination is developed between the design and the contractor team. This enables to synchronize the time, cost and quality of the project in the true sense of good project management perspective. As the cost is pretty much decided in the beginning, the client is confident that all the further process is smoothen up. But the point to be concerned is that all teams should have proper knowledge of design and build approach. Mostly clients which have Design Build approach new into their project end up with the sentence that the contractor has made a lot of money out of this project. This can be true only if the client finds that the things mentioned in the proposal are not same as they should have been. According to Morledge et.al (2006), client should be in notice that: * Design and Build method may change the formal aspect of most of the parties involved throughout the project. * The contractual accountability of the involved parties can change according to the environment and need of the project. Therefore according to Morledge et.al (2006), the client should study the procurement route to be selected from the technical, financial and legal angle, well in advance before the commencement of the bidding stage. By this not only the client but also the other stakeholders involved in the project can proceed safely which having loose much money. From the explained context it can be seen that before initiating any step into the start of the project, if the client spends some time in understanding the possible pros and cons of the selection of procurement method, much discrepancies can be tackled easily. Moreover, the early involvement of the clients design team can lend a helping hand to the client in correct decision making. This type of activity seems to be very scarce in the CBK Project. Processes of CBK Project The working of the CBK Project can be seen in the form of a process map with each activity corresponding to a task. It can be seen that the working standard of the overall project is in the form of a three phase Design Build method. The three phases can be as: a. Pre-Tender Phase b. Tendering Phase c. Implementation Phase The three phases of the project are mapped as processes and sub processes and the roles of different parties involved in the overall project are elaborated (Appendix -1). This exercise enables to understand the whole process easily. Detailed Analysis of Processes The main processes of the New Headquarters of Commercial Bank of Kuwait are discussed as follows:  § Concept of the Project The Chief Executive of Commercial Bank of Kuwait had a vision towards modernization in the country and the Bank it self. Therefore in order to compete the competitive banks in Kuwait the decision was taken to develop a state of the art building which will serve as an headquarter and economic backbone for the organization. Modernization was in the sense that latest high performance computers with ultra high-tech security were to be operated in the building.  § Financial Issues The Commercial Bank of Kuwait being the client as well as the funding authority finalized the concept of the project in order to have a brief overview of required budget of the project. For this, closed group meetings and seminars were arranged in order to clear any queries in the mind of the staff of the bank.  § Planning Phase The top management of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait was keen to modernize its new headquarters. For this to happen, special sessions were arranged in collaboration with Ministry of Planning, Kuwait and State Bank of Kuwait. International Banks like Barclays and HSBC were taken as role model and one model being finalized for the future development. This was a good step as to bring Western standards into an Arab Country.  § Consultant Team The consultant team (Al-Injaz Architects and Engineers) selected by the client was through competition and the team selected was an experienced one in modern construction.  § Feasibility Report A feasibility report was made in order to study the potential outcomes of the project and what could be the difficulties faced by the teams.  § Integrating Clients Objective The Consultant team enlisted the requirements of the client and steps were taken to meet the clients goals. Mainly the clients focus was a state of the art modern building and the whole project to be finished quickly without compromising Quality Standards. Therefore quality standards were also a must for the client. Through critical analysis of the data, the consultant team came out with the Design Build approach of procurement.  § Design Phase The consultant team started their work in the perspective of Design Build approach so that the tendering process can take place on time. Initial plan setup, architectural designs along with structural designs, cost estimation; all were done right on time.  § Project Documents The Projects brief long with all the details of the project including deadline of the project, estimated cost, drawings and plan etc are documented.  § Document Review The first document review meeting was held in which the top management of the CBK took part. All the project documents were critically analyzed and the Chief Executive and Chairman of Commercial Bank of Kuwait were briefed by the Project Manager about the findings of the report. It was decided that the design of the bank was little more luxurious as per the standard set and was exceeding the budget. So minor changes were made and final documents were setup.  § Tendering Process After finalizing the Project documents, pre-qualification of contractors was done and tenders were called for the development of New Headquarters of Commercial Bank of Kuwait. This was done by the Bidding Committee assigned by the Client which was in close contact with the client during the tendering process.  § Bidding Documents Confidential bidding documents were received before the deadline and handed over to the client.  § Bid Evaluation The client selected the contractor with the lowest bid and consulted the consultant team and the project management team in order to approve the bid. Upon the approval from the teams, the client approved the Contractor (Ahmadiah Contracting, Kuwait) and informed the bidding committee.  § Contract Sign The Bidding Committee arranged a contract signing session in which the contract was signed between the two parties. It was assured that the detailed design would start immediately and the project would be finished on time and in budget.  § Initial Design The design team of the Contractor (Ahmadiah) started the initial design of the development of New Headquarters of Commercial Bank of Kuwait. The consultant team and the project manager of the client were also involved in this phase and regular meetings with the client were taking place. During this phase proper site survey and investigation was done and the design aspects were altered accordingly.  § Interior Design The interior designing of the CBK was given much more importance in order to meet the quality standards set by the client. The other reason was to meet the maximum security levels of the requirements of the project.  § Provision for restaurant In order to serve the employees of the CBK, it was mentioned in the objectives of the client to provide the catering service to the staff so that at lunch time, the staff can enjoy the atmosphere and have a chat and meeting at the same time along with lunch.  § Design Proposal After finalizing the initial design of the CBK, a design proposal was prepared along with the time and cost estimates for approval from the Client.  § Final Review The client, consultant team and the project manager set up a meeting in order to critically analyze the proposal and upon approval from the client, the contractor proceeds further.  § Final Design Plan Layout Once the proposal was finalized, the design team of the contractor started to work on the detailed and comprehensive design of the project. The HVAC, electrical works, the building services including CCTV arrangements, the infrastructure of the building, all were done according to the sub-contractors co-ordination. The final layout of what is to be developed appeared on drawing charts and Auto-Cad drawing were prepared. The Step wise proceedings of the design phase of the CBK project starting from the Clients input and ending at the Contractors output can be seen in the Fig.3.  § Final Agreement With slight alterations in design and requirement by the client, the contract was review and the construction phase was to be started.  § Construction Phase The first step of the construction phase was the site acquisition, construction of temporary offices for the staff as well as design team. For this to happen the sub-contractors were put on job and the heavy construction machinery was brought on site.  § Final Drawings Implemented on Site With the start of working on the construction site, the first step was to excavate the area to be constructed upon. The construction phase started to be as smooth as predicted.  § Time Quality Checks The project manager of the client (CBK) had frequent visits to the site which resulted in strict control over the time and quality issues. A few incidents took place in which the contractor was not up to the mark as stated in the detailed drawing specifications. For instance, the project manager managed to have a look at the steel standards adopted and found that in the beams, low quality steel was used and was further sent for testing in the laboratory. The overall view of the working of the teams in the CBK Project can be seen in Fig.3.  § Documentation and Review A very important aspect of the CBK project was that every thing was documented and latest computer software such as Primavera was used on the site. The Clients project manager had an access to it. Some clashes went up due to delay in the project beyond the critical path which was referred to the client. Possible Issues with the Current Method of Working Different types of issues arose during the project life cycle that lead to certain unexpected failures during the project. Following table enlists the main issues: The above mentioned issues were found to have a significant impact on the working of the CBK project. The need of the future and to be successful in the field of construction is by analyzing the short comings of previously done processes. To enhance the working and construction processes by the client in the future, the forth coming recommendations in the form of Lean perspective in construction have been defined. All the working can be seen in Appendix -1. ENHANCED WAY OF HANDLING COMMERCIAL BANK OF KUWAIT PROJECT Introduction to Lean According to Egan (1998) and Latham (1994), the construction industry has changed significantly in the past decade, especially the UKs construction industry. Much emphasis is now given to improve the construction industry by analysis the working methodology of the industry. By analyzing, one can rectify the short comings and further improve that to make a win-win situation. According to Koskela (1997), construction industry cannot be a regarded as a â€Å"rich cultured† industry, because the way of doing work, the procedures and outcomes are nearly same as they were years ago. To improve this, the construction industry had to be linked with production and manufacturing industry. The reason is that although the end product of both the industries is entirely different, yet if the working principles of both industries are studied, they can be regarded as identical. According to Egbu (2010) and Towill (1997), construction industry can be regarded as a manufacturing industry. If we look at the production or manufacturing industry, for instance a car industry, the end product is a car, which was the project of the factory (Muhlemann et al., 1992). In construction industry, the end product is a building, house, a dam etc, which is the project for the construction factory/industry. Taking this, approach, Koskela (2000) introduced Lean principles in construction industrys perspective. He argued that the manufacturing industry has set of production theories which when applied to the construction industry, the results can be significant. When seen the time-line of the car manufacturing industry, for instance, we can see that the car manufacturing has changed drastically over the past century. The reason being that the working principles adopted by production industry has polished itself over time again and again, when such principle be defined and impl emented on construction industry, the end product can be enhanced (Koskela, 1992). Lean thinking is the concept put forward by Womack and Daniel (1996) in which he describes to think every possible aspect in a leaner way. Thus by minimizing single repetitive step can be a step forward towards implementing lean in our daily life. Lean production system was adopted and implemented by Toyota Production System through out its time-line of production activities. Liker (1998) recognizes Toyota as the pioneers of lean principles which have brought a revolution in its production activities for more than a century. This is done by proper planning the supply chain activities, minimizing the wasteful activities, etc. By the introduction of 5S technique, Kanban and others, Toyota has flourished significantly in the production industry, whereas, the construction industry is far away from these concepts. Summary of 14 points as set by Toyota Production System and enlisted by Liker (2004), are as follows: 1. Base Your Management Decisions on a Long-Term Philosophy, Even at the Expense of Short-Term Financial Goals. 2. Create Continuous Process Flow to Bring Problems to the Surface. 3. Use â€Å"Pull† System to Avoid Overproduction. 4. Level Out the Workload (Heijunka). 5. Build a Culture of Stopping to Fix Problems, to Get Quality Right for the First Time. 6. Standardizes Tasks are the Foundation for Continuous Improvement and Employee Empowerment. 7. Use Visual Controls so no Problems are Hidden. 8. Use Only Reliable, Thoroughly Tested Technology That Serves your People and Processes. 9. Grow Leaders who Thoroughly Understand the Work, Live the Philosophy, and Take it to Others. 10. Develop Exceptional People and Teams who Follow your Companys Philosophy. 11. Respect Your Extended Network of Partners and Suppliers by Challenging Them and Helping them Improve. 12. Go and See for Yourself to Thoroughly Understand the Situation (Genchi Genbutsu). 13. Make Decisions Slowly by Consensus, Thoroughly Considering All options; Implement Decisions Rapidly (Nemawashi). 14. Become a Learning Organization Through Relentless Reflection (Hansei) and Continuous Improvement (Kaizen). Thus by closely looking and understanding the above mentioned principles, we can judge that how successful a company can be when adopted such principles. By using Kanban, much of the waste can be removed. The fact is to carefully see and analyse the company performance and take out the shortcomings. Integrating Lean with the CBK Project Construction industry is now in a phase of adapting new procedures and methods for its improvement and to increase its efficiency. This can easily be done by integrating lean philosophy in the construction industry (Jorgensen and Emmitt, 2008 2009). Liker (2004) has condensed the above enlisted 14 key principles of Toyota Production System into 4 main categories/sections according to their nature. These are: 1. Long-Term Philosophy 2. Selection of Right Process 3. People and Parners development can lead to value generation 4. Gradually problem solving These 14 points of Toyota Production System are very well condensed in the above mentioned four points. When thinking about construction, Long-term philosophy can very much help in implementation of lean principles. According to Arbulu and Zabelle (2006), to standardize work it is very much necessary to follow a guideline. The five stages vision, skills, incentives, resources and action plan can be idealized according to the CBK Project. Thinking Lean while keeping in view these 5 stages can very well prove to be successful in the project. Vision Defining a vision is the first step towards the start of a project. These not only assist in the further journey, but also remove any questions that may arise in the overall team in the project. This exercise was found to be completely during the construction of New Head office of Central Bank of Kuwait Project because everything was mixed and jumbled up during the last stages of the project. Defining a vision thus give a road map towards success and the vision is usually giving for the next couple of years, which elaborates the broad thing of the company in front of others. Only thing that matters is the top management team to be strong to take decisions which lacked through out the CBK Project. Skills Skills come first after a vision is set. In fact a vision cannot be defined without the proper knowledge of the skills that a company possesses. In order to be successful in implementation of Lean in the construction industry, the company has to design or upgrade its staff development program. Thus skills very much distinguishes between the current adopted working methodology with the new working method i.e.; Lean. Furthermore, proper knowledge of the companies profile is also very beneficial in perusing successful projects. Although the staff of the CBK Project is very much skilled yet some lack in understanding of basics in construction industry is found, for instance the top management dealing first time with the Design Build procurement method. Incentive Incentives are good in the sense that they keep the workers at work motivated. The incentives can be in the form of money or by applauding someones good work, this make the worker feel happing. To implement lean into the construction industry is something to make a great change into the system, thus by introducing incentives can encourage workers at work and be happy to work and accept the change. Resources Resources can be regarded as the backbone of a project. Insufficient resources and funds may load to a halt during a project. In order to smoothen the working and progress of the project, it should be made assure well in advance that there are enough funds to support the working. The financial crunch appeared during the construction of the CBK project which significantly halted the progress of construction activities. Action Plan Like setting up a clear vision right in the start of the project, a good action plan is also equally important as a right action plan sets up guidelines for the project team. Working on the correct action plan, incorporates any unsubstantial changes and alterations in a project. A good action plan cannot be seen in the CBK project which lead to some unwanted results in the last stages of the project. Improvement by Implementation of Lean Principles The 14 principles of Lean Production system used by Toyota Production System and stated by Liker (2004) are being implemented into the CBK Project which gives a more Leaner and good value of money look to the project. Not only the cost of the overall project is properly utilized but also it is a quicker approach Womack and Daniel (2005). The enlisted problems in the CBK Project (as stated in the start) can be resolved using the Lean Principles. Following are the Lean principles directly implemented to the improvement of CBK Project. 1. Long-Term Philosophy The long term philosophy in the context of lean can be explained as: I. Base Your Management Decisions on Long-Term Philosophy Long term philosophy gives a plate form for an organization to initialize the start of future prospects. Long term approaches are usually declared in the form of upcoming 5, 10, 15 or 20 years in which it is clearly briefed about the future plans of the organization. Commercial Bank of Kuwait should introduce this approach right from the start of future projects. This will enhance the managerial skills of the organization and an approach to solve all the problems will be upgraded (Carroll, 2002) and hence shown in Fig.4 after application. 2. Process Improvement The process improvement section of the Lean principles consists of following aspects: II. Create Continuous Process Flow to Bring Problems to the Surface This principle of Lean suggests that the working criteria of the company should be such that it is running smoothly, fast and in an accurate manner. In this way any problem that arises during the process, may be handled quite easily. This principle can be implemented in the design and the planning phase as it removes many problems which are caused by starting different activities at same time. Such exercise was completely missing in the CBK Project. Multiple tasks were started at the same time, which lead to misunderstandings in the project. Smooth flow of work was least found and by implementing this technique the smooth flow of work can be seen. III. Use â€Å"Pull† System Pull system helps to reduce the un-necessary work that is done during the project. The use of pull system can be used in the pre-project and pre-construction phases during the design phases as this will help to control the time lapsed between the completion of the drawings and the designing. Un-necessary meetings and suggestions were found during the execution of the Pre-Tender phase whose burden, the overall project planning had to face. By introducing Pull system, much waste full activities can be overcome. IV. Level out the Workload The workers at work shouldnt be overburdened at any time of the project. This not only applies to the Labor but also to the Design Team. When it comes to the labor, it should be taken care off that every labor has equal work allocated to him and work load should be calculated according to the time available. Similarly the Design team should be

Absolute beginner’s guide to databases Essay

Decision Making Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Decision is very crucial in every business and the success of every business is attributed to effectiveness of the decision which is made. If the managers make sound decision ultimately the company will perform while bad decision making will only make things worse for the company or business. In that relation, it is important to note that sound decision is paramount in everyday life not only in business. A good decision calls for a calculated thought and that’s why there is success and failure. Failure is attributed to bad decision while success is attributed to sound decision making. In the same breath, it quite difficult to define business decision since every business is governed by specific ethical theories and at the same time there are some ethical considerations which should be taken into account when one is making and formulating a decision. In defining good decision making, good and sufficient information is paramount as we ll as experience in making the decision. Consultation goes hand in hand with information since one has to get sufficient information before making the decision. When making the decision, consultation involves seeking advice from different people especially the experts since their knowledge is pivotal to effective knowledge. Moreover, there are various aids which facilitate making information better and clear as analyzed. Numerical facts are at times very crucial when making a major business decision making since it reduces the cases of subjectivity and at times it enhances free thinking (Goleman et al, 2000, p.67).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Managers can be trained to better decision makers through following stipulated procedures which are in line with the training marks. Supportive environment is also crucial in attempt to make managers effective decision makers. It should be supportive in the sense that they should not be criticized when they make certain decision in as much as it is not very right. Proper support should be granted especially when the managers err and it paramount to ensure they get to know where they erred. Climate of ridicule and criticism creates unfair environment of reduced creativity and low chances of risk taking. Therefore managers will always avoid situation which need tough decision making as well as risk taking so that they can avoid being criticized. Such decisions will only diminish the chances of expanding the business and this means that growth will not be experienced. Also, adopting this kind of strategy means that the manager may spends a lo t of time trying to pass the blame from one person to the other hence turning out to be a blame game business (Greco, 2012, p.35-43).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A skill in decision making escalates at all levels of business and the board of directors may be very crucial at some stages of decision making. For instance, decisions that involve the future of the company, may borrow a lot from the directors hence terming it as the ultimate stage of decision making. On the other hand, managers will only solve the tactical challenges which will emanate from their departments or areas which they are allowed to supervise. Moreover, employees and junior staff should make decisions concerning the conduct of the tasks which they operate. However, in such cases, careful selection and training is paramount in ensuring that the right thing is done (Goleman et al, 2000, p.57). Types of business decisions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Programmed decisions .These are the standard decision which are always follow the same routine now and then. In the same breathe, they can be written down into various series which have fixed steps that can be followed by anyone. These decisions could even be written as computer programs. The idea of programmed decision was formulated by H.A Simon in his book† The new science of management decisions.† the programmed decisions were al defined as the repetitive decisions which were normally undertaken in the organization on a repeated procedure. Commonly, the related daily activities were relatively simple and relying on the data and solutions that were offered previously. The reordering of the standard inventories and preparing monthly newsletters which handle discipline and factors to determine the salary of a new employee are all inclusive (Goleman et al, 2000, p.38).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Second we have the non-programmed decisions which are normally non-routine and non standard. Each decision is not actually the same as any previous decision. This decision involves those which are made in response to novel and unique situations. The decisions usually develop extended geographical scope of the company, introducing a new product in the market or even entering a new service to the market. More also, cases of relocating headquarters to another country could also be an example of non-programmed decisions. The decisions require senior managers to evaluate the intricate problems and analyses the alternatives and finally make strategic decisions that have significant consequences to the organization (Goleman et al, 2000, p. 46).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Third, it is the strategic decision which affects the long term direction of the business. For instance, taking over company A or Company B involves strategic decision making. Strategic decisions are those which are concerned with long-term policies and the general direction of the business. The far and wide reaching decisions may affect the long-term as well as the short-term goals of the organization. Strategic decisions exhibit high risk factor since their outcomes are extensively unknown. It mainly involves steering the company into a completely different procedures and also acquiring the new procedures. Strategic decisions making is heavily employed in areas of finance, marketing, product technology and production changes and integration. Vesa Savollanen in his book† perspectives of information systems†, the strategic decision is unstructured, structured or c semi structured. The investment targets are usually unstructured strategic decisions and pricing decisions are some of the most semi-structured goals (Savolainen 1999, p.34).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tactical decision is the fourth type of decision making and it involves medium term decisions that help in implementing strategy. For instance, the kind of marketing to have or the extra staff that needs to be recruited. Mostly the decisions here are predictable in terms of outcome. They are usually shorter in the scope than the strategic decisions. Tactical decisions are often needed when answering some strategic decisions. John V. Petersen in his book â€Å"Absolute beginner to the Database† affirms that strategic decisions usually focus on the main goals of the company. The fifth type of decision making is the operational decision making that normally involves short-term goals and decisions. Such decision involves the administrative decisions. For instance how to implement a particular task i.e. allocating duties to the supporting to staff. The criterion to use here is known as operational decision making (Petersen 2002, p. 45). Levels of decision making   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In as much as we have types of business decision making process, there are also levels which are involved in the decision making process. The levels are important since they indicate whether the steps involved are following the right format. First if employees feel that they want to make a particular decision concerning an issue, all that they do is communicating to the manager. The manager then evaluates the threshold of the issue and later forwards to the CEO who later tables it to the board. The board is formed by the owners of the company and they are very instrumental in the process of decision making. Many companies usually follow these principles when there making decisions in attempt to ensure that they are involving every party. Following the format ensures that every party is represented in the right way hence contributing to the growth of the business (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 23-28). Factors necessary for wise business decision   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When managing the business, it is possible that one will be encountered with pertinent issues which may impact in the future of the company or any business. It may seem stressful but considering the following tips may help in improving the process of making a sound decision. First one should define as much as possible the decision that needs to be made. Is it your original idea or it is an idea from another person? More also, you ask yourself whether a decision is basically essential if not then you should make any decision at all. Also ponder why the decision is important or helpful to you in any way, how will the company or the business benefit. Brainstorming through writing as many as solutions as possible and come up with alternatives which could solve the problem. Checking out from friends and other people is also important since people will give different ideas some of which may be very clear and valid. Visualizing the outcome is als o another issue that one should take into account whenever making any decision.try to imagine how the impact would be, Will it be fruitful? Or will it bring more complications to the business? These issues should be pondered over and over again. The option that gives much satisfaction should be followed and finally stand at that. Moreover, reality check is paramount since one will get to know what can happen and what will not happen. Upon making the decision, it is important to get moving on it. Worrying or second guessing will only continue increasing stress yet you have delivered your best (Savolainen, 1999, p.74). Common mistakes in decision making   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many mistakes people do when they are making decisions and they should be note to avoid regrets and miscalculations. For instance, people tend to rely too much on expert information and they fail to apply their knowledge and skills to make a sound decision. Often people tend to place too much emphasis on experts assertion forgetting that they have their bias and prejudice which prompt them to make some decisions while leaving out the others. Therefore, to avoid this, seeking information from many sources will help one overcome the challenge. Secondly, overestimating and underestimating the value of information is also another factor that should be taken into account. For instance, the people in authority, parents and experts tend to prompt people to make negative decisions since they believe everything they say is right which not the case. When faced with this kind of problem, you should ask yourself whether they know as much you do especially in that kind of information. More also, you should ask yourselves whether they have ever encountered such kind of challenge before. After pondering over the issues, then one can make the decision based on the premises proven to be right (Savolainen 1999, p.42).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Understanding the value of information received from other people also contributes to erroneous decisions. Whether we agree or dispute it, it’s possible that people usually discount and discredit information which is received from other people and this ends up violating the process of making effective decision. For instance, some of the information that people tend to overlook is the information that usually comes from children and people who work in the blue collar jobs. It’s very wrong because these people may at times paint the right picture of you at the other end of the problem. In these case people may use entirely different perceptions and values in attempt to answer your question. The result is usually a larger perspective of the issues (Savolainen, 1999, p. 51).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The other mistake people do is hearing what they want hear and seeing from the perspective they want to see. For instance, if you tell somebody to close his eyes and then later you ask them the color of the forest, he will say green yet he s red. The same way people want to see things from their perspective. They want to see things from their point of view which is not correct always. Erroneous decisions may culminate from the same and it means that if followed it result to drastic results since the person is basing the fats on his or her cocoon (Fitzgerald, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It’s always important to listen to your feelings but not reactions or the guts. At times one may make a decision and it is later followed by headaches and stomachaches simply because you did not do the right thing. When such a thing happens you should know that it is your body talking to you since the brain is able to store very huge piece of information. Though it is not possible to retrieve information, the body stores until such a time it is needed. When we want to do something, our bodies will always provide clues and answers through feelings and gut reaction. However, the society we are living in today teaches to ignore such feelings yet they are very important ant in our lives today. Therefore, it is paramount to turn to your intuition and you will find that by the end of the day the decision is right (Savolainen, 1999, p. 64). Steps of decision making   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first step in decision making is identifying the purpose of the decision. In this case the problem is analyzed thoroughly and determined whether it is worth. Moreover, several questions are formulated to ascertain whether the decision will be fruitful and they include the following: The exact problem The scene of solving the problem Who will be affected by the problem? Whether the problem have a deadline or specific time line   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second step involves gathering the information. For instance, an organization problem will end up having many stakeholders and the more the people the possible the decision. Moreover, there can be dozens of factors to be involved and which are affected by the problem. The process f solving problems will end up gathering as much information which is related to the factors and the stakeholders who are involved I the problem solving. For the process of gathering information tools and checklists are mainly used to promote the latter (Goleman et al, 2000, p. 49).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The third step involves the principles to be judging the alternatives. In this particular step, brainstorming in attempt to list the possible ideas is usually the best option .Prior generation of idea, the step is crucial in attempt to understand the main causes of the problem and the ultimate prioritization of the causes. For instance, companies do not make decision which reduce profit, instead the decisions which increase the productivity of the company. However, in exceptional cases such decisions would be made in honor of something or somebody. It should be noted that the baseline principles should be identified and related to the problem which is usually at hand. In this stage using cause and effect relationship is accepted and also the Pareto Chart tool. The cause and effect relationship diagram helps to identify the possible problems of the company (Goleman et al, 2000, p. 62).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fourth stage is principles for judging the alternatives that should be set up. For instance, when it comes to the goals of the organization, corporate culture should be adopted and take into consideration. For instance, profit is among the organizational goals where corporate culture is usually taken into account. For instance, profit is one of the main concerns which should be taken into account in every company and the decisions made should be oriented to the latter. The fifth stage is whereby one uses judgments principles to make decisions in attempt to evaluate each alternative and value its credibility. After evaluating them all, you ultimately end up with the best solution and finally implement that particular decision. The sixth step involves selecting the best after going through all the other procedures. After doing all these it is possible to come up with a good decision. Next it’s the executive decision which is the seven th stage; it involves converting the decision or plan into sequence of activities. It also involves executing the plan yourself with the help of the subordinates. Next in the stage is the evaluating result which involves evaluating the outcomes of your decision and seeing whether there is anything it should be learnt in attempt to make correct decision in future. The procedure is one of the best practices it usually improves the skills needed in decision making. Following the above procedure it becomes easy to make decisions in the long run. Business decision making is important since it makes work easier I the long run (Goleman et al, 2000, p. 85). Strategies of decision making in Business   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Systematic analysis affirms that analysis it is good not good to assume analysis and information in attempt to make decisions quickly. Basically, systematic analyses involves collecting a lot of information as one can and later analyzing it in ordered and logical way and find the best option. Managers can actually prepare themselves in attempt to make to make quick decisions through practicing pre-decision making. The analysis and intuition should not match though at times they do not match (Fitzgerald, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Second, it’s the principle based decision making though it is not widely used in these days. It relies heavily on personal beliefs and principles especially ethics. Unlike the ethical or moral; decision making, the principles used in these case may be unethical or else to unethical outcomes. The two step stats with beginning of the communication process and it ends with application of such principles. Company missions, statements and goals usually provide the principles which the process of decision making. Such principles are vital since they help the business to cope with challenges that happen over time. Such challenges may include, shifting in leaders, fluctuating styles of leadership among others. Strategic style of decision making is also another mode of making decisions. It involves major decisions which affect the entirety of the company. Some of the decisions that the style should adopt include strategic alliances, mergers among other major decisions which are usually handled by the CEO (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 35). Significance of effective decision making in a business   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In each and every action there are repercussions associated. When you make a good decision, it is possible that you will experience good results and the same happens when you make bad decisions. In business good decision is that which improves the business in terms of profit and the same time the welfare of people is taken into account. When a bad decision is made, the business does not only lose revenue but at the same time it leads to collapsing of the business. Mostly, the managers and the chiefs’ executive officer are responsible for making decisions which will help in development of the business. At times business wisdom is actually hard, but at times, it is important to get the employee feedback since it will be useful in implementing core decisions (Petersen, 2002, p. 83).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Therefore, implementing is the best decision upon evaluating all the alternatives that would yield to the best outcome for the company. Work force decision are the most important when it comes to decision which are long-term. These decisions can either make or break the company and therefore, it is important to choose the best decision. For instance, escalating the cutbacks and increasing the workforce is an important issue and it should be taken into account noting that any cases of employees are never easy. There are usually very important questions that managers should ponder through before they make decisions. The same pattern of reasoning and logic should apply to all situations and by doing that; it becomes extremely easy to over thrive in the world of business. Hasty decisions which are made without effective research usually contributes to ruining of the business or organization. Quick decision cannot be done at many cases, and whe n they are high cost is incurred. Moreover, lengthy decisions can contribute to the breaking of the company. Therefore, the best decision is that which can be done within a stipulated amount of time with minimal resources wasted. Moreover, any decision made should be guided by the morality codes or what is commonly known as ethics. When managers implement decision which has less conviction, they end up losing the respect from their employees. However, even if the decision made is wrong but with the conviction of the employees it ultimately becomes accepted. This particular form of leadership does not only promote loyalty but it also stimulates performance in the overall in the organization (Goleman et al, 2000, p. 77).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At normal circumstance, business operates in for phases which include; the start up phase, emerging phase, the growth phases and finally the high growth phase. As the CEO Manager, it is important to acknowledge that the phase of the business which your business or company lies. Young businesses which are growing should be spearheaded by people who what they are actually doing and finally they end up becoming successful in the line of specialization. Business which are slowly clambering through the growth ranks and it has started to emerge is said to be in booming growth stage. On the other hand, high growth business is that which requires the counsel of the executive members in attempt to strategize goals and mission of the company (Petersen, 2002, p 49).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good business decision is that which is involving every party and it leads to increased motivation within the company. When the junior are consulted by the senior staff, it feels good and they can easily be motivated to work for the company more and more. For instance, the issues concerning the workforce, it is good to consult them since they will give good feedback which will promote effective decision making. Moreover, where the decision is good, harmony and understanding is evident and in the long run the business grows without measure. Therefore, consulting the junior staff is paramount in attempt to make wise and effective decisions. Finally, employee input is highly determined by decisions made in the business. When the decision is favoring them, it is possible that the employees will even come up with strategies which will boost the growth of the business. In such a scenario, everybody will be working towards the growth of the enter prise (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 38).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion it’s evident that that business decision making is paramount to sustainability and growth of the business. Good decision often harbor growth and enhance morale and participation among the workers.However inefficient decisions will lead to the detrimental of the company and mostly nothing much will come out of the business. it should be noted that Consultation goes hand in hand with information since one has to get sufficient information before making the decision. It involves seeking advice from different people especially the experts since their knowledge is pivotal to effective knowledge. Moreover, there are various aids which facilitate making information better and clear as analyzed. Numerical facts are at times very crucial when making a major business decision making since it reduces the cases of subjectivity and at times it enhances free thinking. Following god decision making guidelines will ultimately lead to effectiveness and efficiency in business. However, lack of effective consultation will lead to the down fall of the business References Fitzgerald, S. P. (2002). Decision making. Oxford, U.K.: Capstone Pub.. Goleman, D., Kotter, J. P., Heifetz, R. A., Goffee, R. a., & Bennis, W. G. (2000). HBR’s must-reads on leadership. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Pub. Corp.. Greco, S. (2012). Advances in computational intelligence 14th International Conference on Information Processing and Management of Uncertainty in Knowledge-Based Systems, IPMU 2012, Catania, Italy, July 9-13, 2012. Proceedings.. Heidelberg: Springer. Petersen, J. V. (2002). Absolute beginner’s guide to databases. Indianapolis, Ind.: Que. Savolainen, V. (1999). Perspectives of information systems. New York: Springer. Source document

Global communication Essay

The explosion of the internet has improved global communication and created a significant impact in our lives. With the advent of broadband wireless internet access in Singapore, our adolescents are spending intensive hours in cyberspace everyday and everywhere to meet their educational, entertainment, social and emotional needs. While they are going through this transitional stage of their life in seeking the ‘Who am I’ answers, this article reviews and seeks to understand what they do on the internet. It was discovered that both U.S. and Singapore adolescents enjoy interactive cyber communication with their peers and sharing common interest such as on-line games and audio/video downloading. An action research on a group of 35 adolescents in Singapore has revealed some interesting patterns in their internet engagement. This emerging engagement cannot be ignored by parents and teachers as we discuss our roles in protecting and nurturing our adolescents. Literature Review Introduction The Singapore Government is systematically and strongly promoting the use of information technology. One of its strategies is to make it compulsory that 30% of the school curriculum to have an information technology component and to be computer-based by 2002 (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2000). Naturally, the advocacy of Internet use is part of this omnipresent attempt. Young Singaporeans are placed right in the midst of all these changes and soon Internet use will be commonplace given the Government’s ubiquitous promotion. As an academic staff in the Polytechnic, my objective is to study what our adolescent students do on the internet. By having a better understanding of their engagement on the internet, it would help us as facilitators to identify their interests, needs and to understand what motivates them. This literature review covers some surveys on adolescents conducted in the United States, studies on the impact of the internet on adolescents’ be haviour and a regional governmental conference on cyber endangerment. United States Adolescents’ Engagement on the Internet As the U.S. adolescent internet usage grew exponentially in the last decade, a number of correspondent expectations have emerged (Gross, 2000). Gross performed a research to identify the activities that adolescents in suburban California engaged in on the internet and why they perform them. She discovered the following: (1) that gender predicts usage, i.e., boys spend more time online, surfing the web and playing violent games, while girls chat or shop online; (2) that internet use causes social isolation and depression, especially for teens; and (3) that adolescents use the internet for anonymous identity experimentation. By means of highly detailed daily reports of adolescents’ home internet usage and peer-related adjustment, the present research sought to compare these expectations with the actual experiences of early and mid-adolescents in 2000 and 2001. For the most part, adolescent boys’ and girls’ online activities have become more similar than different. On average, boys and girls alike described their online social interaction as (1) occurring in private settings such as e-mail and instant messages, (2) with friends who are also part of their daily, offline lives, and (3) devoted to fairly ordinary yet intimate topics such as gossiping with friends (Gross, 2000). This is an interesting article that relates the conflicts faced by adolescents. According to Erikson, adolescents are experiencing a transitional stage of their life between childhood and adulthood where they need to deal with the conflict between identity attainment and identity diffusion (Berk, 2002). Gross(2000) discovered that adolescents need to explore their identity through identity play and role experimentation. Apparently, the internet serves as an ideal platform for them to play an anonymous role in their email and instant messaging (IM) communications. They tend to take on a role of an older character in attempt to explore their future self and identity (Gross, 2000). Another of their interest at this stage is to relate to their peers more than their parents or teachers. They could engage in intimate and private relationship with their peers on the internet interactively and instantly. Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel and Thickstun (2005) attempted to study the effects of the internet on adolescent sexual behaviours. It was triggered by the fact that adolescents in the United States were engaging in sexual activity at early ages and with multiple partners. The mass media have been shown to affect a broad range of adolescent health-related attitudes and behaviours including violence, eating disorders, and tobacco and alcohol use. The authors wanted to explore the factors that contribute to adolescents’ sexual activity. It was found that the mass media plays a very influential role in shaping adolescents’ attitudes and behaviour towards violence, eating disorders, tobacco, alcohol and sex. Based on their survey, the internet is a significant media that the U.S. adolescents engage in (Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel & Thickstun, 2005). In 2003, 60.8% of the U.S. household have at least one desktop computer at home. The adolescents spend 2 hours online each time for 4 days per week. Of the contact time on the internet, 61% of it is spent on surfing the internet. It is interesting to note that the adolescents consider 14% of what they do in the internet as activities they would not want their parents to know. The authors have summarised some pre-studies of the effects of media on adolescents. They have collected some useful statistics that describe the breakdown of adolescents’ exposure to the media, from radio, television, internet to magazines. The statistics in adolescents’ sexual behaviours have supported their linkages to adolescents’ exposure to sexuality in the media. Regardless of the measure of the correlation, one thing that is apparent is that the media does pose a significant impact on adolescents’ attitude and behaviour in various areas, including violence, eating disorder, tobacco, alcohol and sex (Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel & Thickstun, 2005). How the adolescents were influenced by the media were also analysed in this article. Adolescents learn their behaviour through imitating a character they aspire to be (Bandura’s social learning theory). Other supporting theories include arousal, motivation and super-peer theory. In the latter, adolescents have a tendency to model people older than themselves. This resonates with the earlier findings by Gross (2000) that adolescents like to explore their self and future identity. Singapore Adolescents’ Engagement on the Internet The above studies have surfaced couple of gaps that I could address in my research. Firstly, we need to do a study in Singapore’s context. Secondly, I can learn from the challenges that the authors have shared. It would be an upstream task to measure the specific effects of the media on adolescents. Hence, the key objective of my research would be focusing on finding out and understanding adolescents’ usage of the internet. Moving closer to this region, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State and chairman of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Youth Crime, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee talked about the internet and its impact on Asia (Ho, 2005). He suggested that as nations and governments become increasingly ‘wired’, its youths naturally become more in tune with the cyber world and its hosts of activities. Our youths surf the Internet for information and resources for their schoolwork. They play online games with faceless opponents for their leisure; or to enhance their social life, they may enter chat rooms and journal their thoughts in blogs and make new friends in cyberspace. These are creative and healthy online activities – if done with the right motivations and values, and in moderation. But, as our youths become increasingly cyber-savvy, they are also becoming increasingly cyber-endangered. Hence we need to be cautious of the dark side of internet (Ho, 2005). Besides cyber addiction, we need to be aware that exposure to unhealthy materials on the internet such as violence imageries may lead to increasing violence and anti-social behaviour amongst youths. Apart from preparing our youths to be cyber-savvy and protecting them from becoming victims, we should also be mindful that they are susceptible to the temptations of cyber vices and may end up committing cyber crimes themselves. Once online, a whole new cyber world greets them. Therefore, proper education and programmes need to be in place in society in order to help our youths cope with making informed online decisions, and learning to surf the internet safely and moderately. Professor Ho has started a discussion on the double-edged impact of the internet on our youths. While the internet is a valuable resource basin for their learning and development, it could also pose a threat to their safety, social, emotional and moral developments. There is a need to protect and educate our youth on how they could use the internet safely and responsibly. He shared an important statistic in our youths’ usage of internet. 68% of Singapore youths have frequent access to the internet; that is 18% higher than the regional average of 50% (Ho, 2005). Hence it is critical that we take the leadership role in understanding our youths’ engagement in the internet and taking proactive measures to promote cyber wellness. Research Question The Research Question: What do Singapore adolescents do on the internet? Purpose Why do I want to understand adolescent usage on the internet? Firstly, it is the desire of adults including parents, teachers and mentors, to improve our communication with adolescents. By understanding what they do on the internet, we would be able to identify their interest and needs. According to Ho (2005), it is important that we understand the potential threat based on the activities they engage on the internet. Besides promoting their cyber wellness, it is also our desire as adults to determine effective channels to influence them positively and to support their development. Benefits The results of this survey would be useful for me as an academic staff whose primary role is to facilitate their learning and development in the polytechnic. By understanding their interest and internet activities, it would help me to improve my communications with them and strengthen facilitator-student bonding. I believe that this would in turn increase my effectiveness in preparing them for the industry as they graduate from the polytechnic. The second group of adults that would benefit much from this research are their parents. In the same way, by understanding the paradigm that their children live in, parents could better connect with them and improve family bond. Methodology Research Paradigm Our nation has arrived at this era where youths are playing a more critical role in leading our country. That is why our Ministry of Community Development has added in Youth as an additional portfolio that deserves increased focus and attention. In the recent general election in 2006, the incumbent People’s Action Party has recruited significant number of young leaders who were born after our independence in 1965 (Balakrishnan, 2004). The key reason is to equip the party with leaders who are closer to our youths and adolescents in communication and understanding of their needs and ideology. This group of citizens plays a pivotal role in shaping our future nation as they would be exercising their voting power in future elections, getting involved in national policies and ultimately replacing our current aging population in the long term. With the emergence of information technology and the internet, the learning curve of our adolescents has risen exponentially. As far as communication and information exchange is concerned, the size of our globe has shrunk and distances between countries have become irrelevant with the click of the computer mouse. The internet has emerged to be a major channel of media, especially among the adolescents. The researches done in the U.S. as discussed above have shown that internet pose a significant impact on adolescents. Considering the higher internet penetration in Singapore compared to the U.S. per household, we would not expect the impact of the internet on our adolescent to be any lower. Scope As discussed in the review of Article, it is important that I set a realistic scope of study considering the limited time and resources. As this is the first research, I would be focusing on finding out the activities that adolescents engage in on the internet. I have designed a survey that captures what adolescents use the internet for, the activities they engage in, how much time they spend on them. There were some qualitative question to understand their preferences, interest and reasons for engaging in the internet activities. Subjects and Materials The stakeholders were adolescents. I managed to survey 35 adolescents in my network, of which most of them are polytechnic students between 18 to 19 years old. The materials required for this survey were basically printed copies of the survey questionnaires. They spent about ten minutes each to complete the survey forms. Procedures As this is my first research on the adolescents, it would be practical for me capture a broad span of their activities as a foundation for future or follow-up focused activities. The model of action research used must support continuous improvement and leverage on past findings with an interpretive approach. Hence, the model which I choose to adopt is the Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model. The steps of Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model are: (1) develop a plan of critically informed action to improve current practice. The plan must be flexible to allow adaptation for unforeseen effects or constraints; (2) the group members act to implement the plan which must be deliberate and controlled; (3) this action is observed to collect evidence which allows thorough evaluation. The observation must be planned and the action process and its effects within the context of the situation should be observed individually or collectively; (4) reflection of the action recorded during observation is usually aided by collaborative discussion among the group members. Group reflection can lead to a reconstruction of the meaning of the social situation and provides a basis for further planning of critically informed action, thereby continuing the cycle. I designed a survey questionnaire and printed out multiple copies to the adolescents. Participation was purely based on voluntary basis and their identities were all anonymous. I explained the objectives of my survey clearly to them through both direct verbal communication and highlighting them on the survey form in print. Results and Discussions The Survey forms were given to adolescents in my network as planned. They responded positively and completed the survey with ease. The feedback was that the questions were clear. There were total 35 adolescents who participated in the survey. The gender groups were well represented with 16 males and 19 females. There were some triangulations of the reflection stage of this research as I spent some time after the survey to talk to some of the adolescents to clarify certain information pertaining to some websites or online games which I was not familiar with. It was a meaningful session as they were very open to share with me their interest such as why the males like to play challenging online games like Dota and Warcraft. I then compiled that information gathered into a spreadsheet and studied the pattern of their engagement in the internet. Activities on the Internet It is interesting to note that the adolescents spend more than one-third (an average of 9 hours per day) of their time on the internet. This is supported by the fact that internet access is highly available both at school and at home. First of all, the Polytechnic provides the infrastructure to support the use of Information Technology (IT) in learning. Every student is required to own a notebook computer for administration, curriculum-related communication, research, performing on-line tutorials and submissions of assignments. The entire campus is enabled to provide wireless broadband access. In line with the national adoption of internet access, all the students here have internet access at home. Internet access and cost of IT equipment have become so affordable that most of them (26 out of 35) have wireless broadband access in their homes. [pic] Note: IM : Internet Messaging Games: On-line games on the internet Blog : blogging on the internet Surf : Internet search for information Music : Downloading of audio files Video : Downloading of video files and watching video on-line Chart 1 : Adolescent Internet Usage It is apparent that the adolescents spend most of their time on the internet messaging and chatting. Comparing with the adolescents in the U.S. (Gross, 2000) who spend about 40 minutes in IM per day, Singapore adolescents spend 4.75 hours per day. That is an astounding seven times more. Next in line would be surfing the internet, followed by entertainment such as video and music downloads. Why do they spend almost 5 hours per day internet messaging? Based on the survey, the adolescent revealed that IM is the most convenient and fastest way for them to communicate with their classmates and friends. Besides, it is interactive and free. This is in line with Gross’s analyses of the rationale for adolescents’ affinity to IM (Gross, 2002). Adolescents like to move fast and do not have much patience to wait for response especially when they want to relate to their peers. IM is real-time. They could instantly chat with their peers online and express their emotions immediately. Similar to adolescents in the U.S. as studied by Gross (2000), I also discovered that the adolescent here do not use their real names in their IM image. They like to use emotive roles such as â€Å"I am so scared†¦test is coming†. This also reflects Erikson’s theory on adolescent anonymous identity which teenagers enjoy relating their emotions to their peers in role exper imentation (Suler, 2005). The second most common activity the adolescents engage in is in surfing the internet for information. This is not surprising as they are required to research for information as part of the requirement in projects and assignment in class. [pic] Chart 2 : Favourite Website With reference to Chart 2, it is not difficult to explain the frequent usage of Google and Yahoo as search engines for their studies. However, it is unanimous that Friendster is the most popular website that the adolescent visit. The reasons quoted for visiting this website are to connect with their friends and to update each other of their latest profile. This is in line with Suler’s findings on peer intimacy (Suler, 2005). During adolescence, humans experiment intensely with new intimate relationships, especially opposite sex relationships. They look for comrades and new groups where they can feel a sense of belonging. All these relationships become a big part of exploring one’s own identity. Through communication website like Friendster and Livejournal, there is an almost limitless array of people and groups to interact with – all kinds of people and groups with all kinds of personalities, backgrounds, values, and interests. The adolescents here are curious in discovering both their identity and that of their peers. To reinforce adolescents’ interest, Blogspot and Blogger take up 13.4% of the total favourite websites count. Of the 35 adolescents surveyed, 7 of them have their own blog site and 10 of them are active blogger. They enjoy expressing their emotions and sharing their social life with their peers. One popular site they like to visit, especially among the females is that of a flamboyant 21-year old female XiaXue. The girls like to her blog because it is funny and she shares her social life openly. This confirms that adolescents prefer to interact with people they can identify with (Berk, 2002). Another interest that is significant is that of video watching on the Youtube website. The adolescents’ favourite videos are humorous and entertaining like those of XiaXue and Mr. Brown who is famous for his local political jokes. Gender Comparison [pic] Chart 3: Gender Comparison of Internet Usage Chart 3 above is essentially a breakdown of Chart 1 by gender. It is interesting to note that males spend more time than females in IM. This is also related to their indulgence in on-line games and video downloading. Because of these common interests among their peers, the males derive a sense of achievement as they share information of the latest on-line games and videos using IM. In fact, the more knowledgeable or competent males would co-teach their peers on how they could excel in the on-line game. This phenomenon was highlighted by Suler(2005) in his study. He suggested that adolescents love the sense of mastery and accomplishment as they engage in peer teaching. While females prefer fantasy on-line games like Maple Story and Audition, males indulge in war, strategy and shooting games like Warcraft and Dota. The key reasons are that the males enjoy challenge and like to take risk. Besides, they are also intrigued in connecting with and challenging people in other parts of the world. Males spend substantial time in downloading video over the internet. Their favourites are comedy movies. For females, their favourite are MTVs of their idols. This resonates with the study done by Gross (2000) on adolescents’ tendency in pretending to be someone else. By idolising an older person such as a superstar, they are exploring their future identity (Gross, 2000). Recommendation First of all, as part of the Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model in action research, I would recommend a follow-up to the above research. We have achieved our objective of gaining a general understanding of what adolescent do on the internet. Of the various activities they engage on the internet, the most significant is in IM. Hence, I would propose to do a further action research on why and how they use IM. In doing so, adults could understand them better and even use IM in improving adult-adolescent relationship. Secondly, I would recommend to adults including parents and teachers of our adolescents to be aware of the above findings and take proactive actions to build strong bonding with our adolescents and to protect them from the potential cyber danger. As is true of all adolescent activities, they need at least some supervision to stay on track and avoid trouble (Suler, 2005). Getting involved doesn’t just mean supervising in order to avert trouble. The world of computers also can become an excellent way for parents and adolescents to have fun together, to get to know each other better. There will be a part of the adolescent – maybe even a part that they try to hide – that will love this. Suler suggested a few anecdotes which I think could be applied in Singapore. First, adults could get knowledgeable of the internet and join in with the adolescents. To be most effective in supervising the adolescent’s cyberspace activities, the parent needs to know something about the topic. Parents could talk to their kids about cyberspace and join them in some of their online activities. They could even communicate occasionally with their adolescents through IM to keep in touch with them. It is encouraging to note that our government is supporting the formation of cyber wellness centre such as the PlanetCRuSH which was launched by TOUCH Community Services in August 2006 (Seow, 2006). During the official launch of the centre by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, some parents and their adolescents were playing on-line games together in the E-sports Carnival competition to promote family ties (Seow, 2006). Secondly, adults need to acknowledge the merits and threats of the internet. We should not vilify cyberspace – that will only alienate the adolescent. Instead, we could talk to them openly about both the pros and cons. We should show an acceptance of their cyber life, but discuss some of the dangers and what steps they should take if they encounter unsavoury situations or people. Thirdly, adults should advocate and encourage a balance in cyberspace time and other activities. If there’s something they really enjoy on the Internet, find a way to expand that activity into their in-person life. The idea is to integrate cyberspace into the rest of their life, and encourage them to develop non-Internet activities too. Conclusion Through the above article review and action research, I see Erikson’s psychosocial theory of adolescents’ behaviour in action. What adolescents do on the internet are manifestation of their identity experimentation and exploration, peer intimacy and belongings, separation from parents and venting frustrations. The common activities that both U.S. and Singapore adolescents engage in are IM, emails, audio/video downloads and online games. However, in terms of the length of engagement, Singapore adolescents spend 7 times more than their counterparts, especially in IM. This could be due to the higher broadband internet access rate and availability in Singapore. A further study on how adolescent use the IM is recommended to understand this intense engagement of activity. As parents and teachers, we need to be aware of the intensity of adolescent engagement in the internet and take proactive measures to protect them from cyber danger and be jointly involved in some of their internet activities such as IM and on-line games. By expressing our interest in their lives and communicating with them via their preferred platform, not only could we create a positive impact in their internet experience, we could also foster strong adult-adolescent bonding. Reference List Balakrishnan, V. (2004). Youth Mentoring Convention: Speech by Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Ag Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. In MCYS [on-line]. Available WWW: http://app.mcys.gov.sg/web/corp_speech_story.asp?szMod=corp&szSubMod=speech&qid=863 [2006 November 15]. Berk, L. E. (2002). Infants, Children, and Adolescents (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Escobar-Chaves, S. L., Tortolero, S. R., Markham, C. M., Low, B. J., Eitel, P., & Thickstun, P. (2005). Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors. In Pediatrics [on-line]. Available WWW: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/1/S1/303#F1 [2006 Sep 29]. Gross, E. F. (2000). Adolescent Internet use : what we expect, what teens report. In UCLA Digital Media Centre [on-line]. Available WWW: http://www.cdmc.ucla.edu/downloads/Adolescent%20Internet%20usepdf.pdf [2006 Sep 29]. Gross, E. F., Juvonen, J., & Gable, S. L. (2002). Internet use and well-being in adolescence. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 75–90 Ho, P. K. (2005). The Youth.Net: Developing Cyber Wellness In Conjunction With Asean + 3 Seminar On Urban Youth Work III at Orchard Hotel – Speech by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State (Law And Home Affairs) And Chairman of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Youth Crime (IMYC), 26 July 2005. In News@Home [on-line]. Available WWW: http://www2.mha.gov.sg/mha/detailed.jsp?artid=1614&type=4&root=0&parent=0&cat=0 [2006 Sep 29]. Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (2000). Broad-based approach to make Singapore the location for infocomm manpower and savvy workforce. In IDA [on-line]. Available WWW:http://www.ida.gov.sg/Website/IDAContent.nsf/dd1521f1e79ecf3bc825682f0045a340/7f1eda7f3c633fd1c825689800580dc9?OpenDocument Seow, E. (2006, September 30). Safe Fun and Games at New Cyber Wellness Centre. Keeping in Touch, p. 5.