Implementing Total Quality Management in Construction Firms

As building projects get larger and more complex, clients are also increasingly demanding higher standards for their delivery. Total quality management (TQM) has been recognized as a successful management philosophy in the manufacturing and service industries. TQM can likewise be embraced in the construction industry to help raise quality and productivity. Two case studies of construction companies showed how TQM can be successfully implemented in the construction industry. The benefits experienced include reduction in quality costs, better employee job satisfaction because they do not need to attend to defects and client complaints, recognition by clients, work carried out correctly right from the start, subcontractors with proper quality management systems, and closer relationships with subcontractors and suppliers. TQM performance measures were also reflected through top management commitment, customer involvement and satisfaction, employee involvement and empowerment, customer–supplier relationships, and process improvement and management. Finally, a framework for implementing TQM in construction is recommended.     

Total quality management: achieving service excellence

Total Quality Management (TQM) provides a philosophy and a method for organizational renewal and redesign. It is based on the principle that productive work is accomplished through processes. Improving these processes requires the office team to objectively measure performance, discover root causes of problems, take corrective action, determine the effect of these actions, and secure achievements. TQM is a technique that provides a series of steps and set of tools. Through staff involvement and a desire for quality improvement, organizations involved in total quality note the accompanying satisfaction in taking constructive action, improving patient relations, and achieving service excellence. In today's competitive delivery environment, implementation of TQM can result in more satisfied patients, higher staff morale, and a more effective office team.     

Total Quality Management Implementation in the Egyptian Construction Industry

Total quality management (TQM) has been recognized as a successful management philosophy that can be successfully implemented in the construction industry. By examining the Japanese contractors working in Egypt and comparing their managing systems to the local ones, a comparative analysis of the two contractors working in the Egyptian field is presented in this paper to illustrate how TQM can be implemented effectively in the Egyptian construction industry. Bearing in mind the location bound nature of the production process, the competitive bidding, which emphasizes cost and the absence of the quality culture of the clients, subcontractors and site operatives are some of the constraining factors for implementing the quality policy. Based on the research findings, the paper presents some features of the Japanese construction industry that could be implemented in the Egyptian field in addition to a new model for TQM implementation that appropriates the Egyptian construction industry.     

Enhancing Total Quality Management by Partnering in Construction

Total quality management (TQM) has increasingly been introduced into the construction industry across many countries as an improvement strategy, but there are many barriers impeding its effectiveness in implementation. Many researchers pointed out that partnering can facilitate TQM application, yet the quintessential nature on the linkage between the two techniques is still not clear due to a lack of rigorous verifiable empirical evidence. With support of the data collected from a survey of the Chinese construction industry, together with a case study of the Three Gorges Dam Project, this study reveals the mechanism of how partnering, associated with incentives, can enhance the implementation of TQM into the construction industry. It is concluded that partnering can enhance TQM largely due to enhancing the links across the boundaries of organizations within a trust environment; and the impacts of incentives on TQM are through both aligning strong motivations to encourage participants using the established links efficiently and aligning the necessary financial resources for participants to directly assist the investment on improving TQM. Further studies should be conducted to build optimum links and alignments among all project participants to ensure intraorganizational TQM activities are congruent with the interorganizational interactions, which require future project organizations to change in order to fit this.     

Empiricist Framework for TQM Implementation in Construction Companies

As a management philosophy, total quality management (TQM) is implemented differently in firms. This study investigates the implementation level and the types of TQM practices adopted in construction companies. Eight elements had been identified from both organizational-/management- and construction-related studies to represent the TQM spirit. These elements are top management leadership, customer management, people management, supplier management, quality information management, process management, organizational learning, and continual improvement. A questionnaire survey was conducted to solicit the implementation level of the identified TQM elements. The survey findings indicate that customer, process management, and top management leadership were implemented at a higher level than the remaining elements with quality information management implemented at the lowest level. Important practices that constitute each element were also identified. Based on the findings, we propose a TQM implementation framework for construction companies.     

Survey of TQM in Construction Industry in Upper Midwest

The acceptance of total quality management (TQM) within the construction industry is an issue that is difficult to quantify. A survey of construction firms in the upper Midwestern United States was conducted in order to quantify the application and use of the TQM philosophy. A questionnaire was developed and mailed to 1,500 construction firms in the Midwest who are involved in various types of construction activities (general contracting, road and highway construction, subcontracting, homebuilding, electrical and mechanical contracting, etc.). The results of the survey indicate that there are substantial economic benefits that can be attained through the implementation of TQM techniques. However, there are several key educational and operational issues that must be addressed prior to, and after, implementing a TQM program.     

Identification of Effective Management Practices and Technologies for Lessons Learned Programs in the Construction Industry

Organizations in the construction industry cannot afford to make repetitive mistakes on major projects. Conversely, there are great benefits to repeating positive experiences from past projects. This need for institutional memory is amplified by the reality that in the course of normal turnover and retirement, people with years of experience leave their organizations. An effective lessons learned program is a critical element in the management of institutional knowledge; it will facilitate the continuous improvement of processes and procedures and provide a direct advantage in an even more competitive industry. This paper describes a research study that aimed to identify effective management practices and technologies for lessons learned programs in the construction industry. Data from 70 organizations that participated in this study are presented. Research found that even though more lessons learned programs are being initiated, the potential for savings and improvement has not been fully met. The study has also identified seven crucial characteristics of a successful program and verified that most organizations are stronger in some categories and weaker in others. The key to an effective program is to address all seven areas and guidance is provided for those wishing to implement lessons learned programs.     

Community health centers and quality of care: a goal to provide effective health care to the community

The uniqueness of community health centers provides for a sound environment for total quality management (TQM). Structure, process, and outcome are valued equally under TQM. With strong management leadership and a framework for quality of care, community health care specialists (e.g., advanced practice nurses) can easily incorporate the TQM measurement criteria in their daily practice routines. By applying the principles of TQM, the community health center will advance toward its goal of enhancing the effectiveness of health care delivery to a community and its members in partnership with the community.     

The Roma birthing wheel: 1 year clinical experience in a specialty hospital]

In recent years, there has been significantly increasing interest in the application of continuous quality improvement (CQI) and total quality management (TQM) in the health care arena. This case analysis is designed to identify and assess the strategies and processes that led to the successful implementation of CQI in the Emergency Care Center at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI.     

Strategic Management in Construction

The traditional philosophy of management in construction, both in academia and in industry, places great emphasis on the ability to plan and execute projects. In contrast, a similar emphasis on strategic management has received less attention in the construction industry. Although the pressures of project performance can often obscure the broader social, economic, and professional context in which strategic management is undertaken, it is these broad contextual areas that make strategic management an essential issue for construction organizations. Rapidly changing social and technological issues are creating a professional environment that will look very different in the coming decades from that experienced in today's organizations. This paper introduces a study of the current strategic management practices of construction organizations. This paper also introduces the concept of strategic management and the areas that organizations must address to compete in the global marketplace. A summary of an industry survey is documented together with the background research that prompted the investigation of these topics.     

Impact of Property Management Services on Affordable Housing Residents in Atlanta, Georgia

Several challenges and complexities are involved in managing affordable housing properties, including social programming, meeting financial goals, budgeting, complying with governmental and local housing regulations, decreasing tenant turnover and vacancy rates, and maintaining the physical building structure. Nonprofit organizations have recently taken on the task of housing the nation’s less privileged, lower-income households. Most nonprofit owners contract property management services to private management companies. This research measures how satisfied residents are with property management services at Defoors Ferry Manor, a nonprofit multifamily affordable housing community owned by Atlanta Mutual Housing Association. Of the thirteen variables, residents were least satisfied with expediency in which property management staff addressed their issues. A plausible explanation for this finding is the high turnover rate in property management staff. This research provides recommendations for successfully transitioning between property management staff.     

Does psychology need its own philosophy of science?

Discusses the relevance to psychology of contemporary "philosophy of science," a formal discipline that critically examines the procedures of respective sciences and sets rules for their operations and communications. The problem with this philosophy is that it mainly relates to the physical sciences. Although quantum theory rendered the causal principle useless and relativity theory subordinated time to space, psychologists do give attention to causal relationships and operate with temporal sequence in the behavior of organisms. The analysis of observer vs. observed situation of physics also offers little enlightenment. It is concluded that behavioral scientists should develop their own philosophy of science, related to their particular epistemological and methodological problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of neonatal handling on anxiety, corticosterone response to stress, and hippocampal glucocorticoid and serotonin (5-HT)2A receptors in Lewis rats

The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) literature presents a confused picture of what 'equivalence' in the cross-cultural use of HRQoL questionnaires means and how it can be assessed. Much of this confusion can be attributed to the 'absolutist' approach to the cross-cultural adaptation of HRQoL questionnaires. The purpose of this paper is to provide a model of equivalence from a universalist perspective and to link this to the translation and adaptation of HRQoL questionnaires. The model evolved from reviews of the HRQoL and other literatures, interviews and discussions with researchers working in HRQoL and related areas and practical experience in the adaptation and development of HRQoL instruments. The model incorporates six key types of equivalence. For each type of equivalence the paper provides a definition, proposes various strategies for examining whether and how types of equivalence can be achieved, illustrates the relationships between them and suggests the order in which they should be tested. The principal conclusions are: (1) that a universalist approach to the cross-cultural adaptation of HRQoL instruments requires that six types of equivalence be taken into account; (2) that these are sufficient to describe and explain the nature of the cross-cultural adaptation process; (3) that this approach requires careful qualitative research in target cultures, particularly in the assessment of conceptual equivalence; and (4) that this qualitative work will provide information which will be fundamental in deciding whether to adapt an existing instrument and which instrument to adapt. It should also result in a more sensitive adaptation of existing instruments and provide valuable information for interpreting the results obtained using HRQoL instruments in the target culture.     

Impact of Total Quality Management on Home-Buyer Satisfaction

Providing superior quality and keeping customers satisfied are rapidly becoming the ways construction companies differentiate themselves from competitors. Many companies are, however, frustrated in their efforts to improve quality and customer satisfaction through the implementation of total quality management (TQM). The primary objective of this study was to increase understanding of how TQM affects home-buyer satisfaction. For the first time an empirical study has confirmed that implementation of TQM is positively associated with home-buyer satisfaction. Supplier quality management has emerged as the most important factor in shaping home-buyer satisfaction, but it is the area in which home builders do not practice extensively.     

谈如何加强财务管理

随着科学技术的迅速发展和市场竞争的日趋激烈,特别是中国加入WTO以后,企业已经完全从计划经济走向了市场经济.如何遵守市场规则,把企业做大做强,成为摆在企业家面前的最大难题,历经多年经营的中外成功企业为我们提供了企业管理的法宝,即企业管理的中心是财务管理,财务管理则以资金贯穿始终.     

Understanding and Improving Your Risk Management Capability: Assessment Model for Construction Organizations

Implementing risk management in construction projects and organizations may bring a number of benefits and therefore it is necessary to have risk management as an integral part of a construction organization’s management practice. The aim of this paper is to develop a risk management maturity assessment model for construction organizations. The paper describes the development process of a Web-based RM3 (risk management maturity model), including its contents, its validation and testing, as well as its applications. The RM3 developed has five attributes namely, management, risk culture, ability to identify risk, ability to analyze risk, and application of standardized risk management process/system. These attributes are measured against four levels: initial, repeated, managed, and optimized. It is found that the proposed RM3 was suitable and useful. Using the RM3, it is found that the Australian construction industry’s overall risk management maturity level was relatively low (where 32% rated at Level 2 and 52% rated at Level 3). Furthermore, it is found that the weakest attribute was “analyzing risks” followed by “application of standardized risk management process.” It is therefore necessary to provide more training on qualitative and quantitative risk analysis to construction personnel and to develop and apply standardized enterprise risk management. It is concluded that the proposed RM3 is suitable for construction organizations to assess their risk management maturity levels and find ways for improvement.     

Strategic Management in Design Firms

The traditional philosophy of management in the architecture-engineering-construction (AEC) industry, both in academia and in industry, places great emphasis on the ability to plan and execute projects. In contrast, a similar emphasis on strategic management has received less attention in the AEC industry. Although the pressures of project performance can often obscure the broader social, economic, and professional context in which strategic management is undertaken, it is these broad contextual areas that make strategic management an essential issue for AEC organizations. Rapidly changing social and technological issues are creating a professional environment that will look very different in the coming decades than that experienced in today's organizations. This paper introduces a study of the current strategic management practices of design-based firms. The paper introduces the concept of strategic management and the areas that organizations must address to compete in the global marketplace. A summary of an industry survey is documented together with the background research that prompted the investigation of these topics.     

Retracing the footsteps of Wilhelm Wundt: Explorations in the disciplinary frontiers of psychology and in V?lkerpsychologie.

In 1927, Wilhelm Wundt’s daughter, Eleonore Wundt, compiled and published a comprehensive catalogue of her father’s works and works in translation. We use this catalogue as a starting point for an examination of the breadth of Wundt’s contributions, the reaction to his works from the international psychological community, and the overall trajectory of his academic career. Two areas of particular interest are Wundt’s view on the nature of psychology and its relationship to other disciplines, and his discussion of the nature of V?lkerpsychologie and its role in psychology. A close examination of original sources reveals that Wundt anchored psychology in the realm of mental sciences. He regarded “psychology [to be] in relation to natural sciences the supplementary, in relation to the mental sciences the fundamental, and in relation to philosophy the propaedeutic empirical science.” The accomplishments and limitations of Wundtian V?lkerpsychologie are viewed stereoscopically through the lenses of its explicated conceptions, goals, and methods, on one hand, and of the contemporary advancements in psychology, on the other. Current implications of Wundt’s works and further developments of his ideas are related to Davidson’s theory of epistemology and to present-day deliberations on the biocultural coconstruction of human development. We conclude by considering the continuing relevance of Wundt’s intellectual legacy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Project Management Process Maturity (PM)2 Model

This paper presents the project management process maturity (PM)2 model that determines and positions an organization’s relative project management level with other organizations. The comprehensive model follows a systematic approach to establish an organization’s current project management level. Each maturity level consists of major project management characteristics, factors, and processes. The model evolves from functionally driven organizational practices to project driven organization that incorporates continuous project learning. The (PM)2 model provides an orderly, disciplined process to achieve higher levels of project management maturity.     

Review of Healing psychiatry: Bridging the science/humanism divide.

Reviews the book, Healing psychiatry: Bridging the science/humanism divide by David H. Brendel (see record 2006-07160-000). Early in his book, David Brendel asks, “Is psychiatry an empirical science that aims to diagnose and treat abnormal human behavior, or is it a form of humanism that addresses the inner workings and meanings of people’s subjective experiences and existential concerns?” (p. 3). He thus signals clearly, from the very beginning, that he is engaging a debate that has been hotly pursued by advocates of one stripe or another under a wide range of terms and rubrics—with one side characterized by labels such as positivism, empiricism, or evidence-based practice, and the other under banners such as hermeneutics, postmodernism, or narrativism. In contrast to the more strident advocates on either side of what is often portrayed as an unbridgeable divide, Brendel offers a quieter, calmer look at the issues, seeking to understand what is valid and sensible on each side and to consider when one or the other perspective is useful in the effort to help suffering patients. His approach is at once rigorous and capacious, attentive both to the findings of empirical research and the subjective experience of living, breathing human beings. The criterion of utility, of what we can do with a theory, is central to David Brendel’s analysis of the state of psychiatry today. Both a psychiatrist and a philosopher, Brendel takes on the venerable mind–body problem—a problem even more powerfully insistent on being addressed given the remarkable advances and discoveries associated with neuroscience in recent decades. His guide through the thickets is pragmatism, the philosophy associated with such thinkers as Peirce and, for Brendel’s purposes, especially William James and John Dewey. Brendel centers his conceptualization of clinical pragmatism on what he calls the “four Ps”: (1) the practical dimensions of all scientific inquiry; (2) the pluralistic nature of the phenomena studied by science and the tools that are used to study these phenomena; (3) the participatory role of many individuals with different perspectives in the necessarily interpersonal process of scientific inquiry; and (4) the provisional and flexible character of scientific explanation. Despite some minor cavils noted by the reviewer, Brendel demonstrates the positive consequences of a more open-minded, dialectical, pragmatic approach that looks closely at what works to serve the patient’s needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)