A Ginkgo Trees Profile and Planting Tips

A Ginkgo Trees Profile and Planting Tips Ginkgo is nearly pest-free and is resistant to storm damage. Young trees are often very open but they fill in to form a denser canopy as they mature. It makes a durable street tree where there is enough overhead space to accommodate the large size. Ginkgo tolerates most soil, including compacted, and alkaline, and grows slowly 75 feet or more tall. The tree is easily transplanted and has a vivid yellow fall color which is second to none in brilliance, even in the south. However, leaves fall quickly and the fall color show is short.  See Ginkgo Photo Guide. Quick Facts Scientific name: Ginkgo bilobaPronunciation: GINK-go bye-LOE-buhCommon name(s): Maidenhair Tree, GinkgoFamily: GinkgoaceaeUSDA hardiness zones:: 3 through 8AOrigin: native to AsiaUses: Bonsai; wide tree lawns; recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings in the highway; specimen; sidewalk cutout (tree pit); residential street tree; tree has been successfully grown in urban areas where air pollution, poor drainage, compacted soil, and/or drought are commonAvailability: generally available in many areas within its hardiness range. Form Height: 50 to 75 feet.Spread: 50 to 60 feet.Crown uniformity: irregular outline or silhouette.Crown shape: round; pyramidal.Crown density: denseGrowth rate: slow Ginkgo Trunk and Branches Description Trunk/bark/branches: droop as the tree grows, and will require pruning for vehicular or pedestrian clearance beneath the canopy; showy trunk; should be grown with a single leader; no thorns.Pruning requirement: needs little pruning to develop except during the early years. The tree has a strong structure.Breakage: resistantCurrent year twig color: brown or gray Foliage Description Leaf arrangement: alternateLeaf type: simpleLeaf margin: top lobed Pests This tree is pest-free and considered resistant to gypsy moth. The Ginkgos Stinky Fruit Female plants are wider-spreading than the males. Only male plants should be used as the female produces foul smelling fruit in late autumn. The only way to select a male plant is to purchase a named  cultivar  including ‘Autumn Gold’, ‘ Fastigiata’, ‘Princeton Sentry’, and ‘Lakeview’ because there is no reliable way to select a male plant from a seedling until it fruits. It could take as long as 20 years or more for Ginkgo to fruit. Cultivars There are several cultivars: ‘Autumn Gold’- male, fruitless, bright gold fall color and rapid growth rate‘Fairmont’ - male, fruitless, upright, oval to pyramidal form‘Fastigiata’ - male, fruitless, upright growth‘Laciniata’ - leaf margins deeply divided‘Lakeview’ - male, fruitless, compact broad conical form‘Mayfield’ - male, upright fastigiate (columnar) growth‘Pendula’ - pendent branches‘Princeton Sentry’ - male, fruitless, fastigiate, narrow conical crown for restricted overhead spaces, popular, 65 feet tall, available in some nurseries‘Santa Cruz’ - umbrella-shaped, ‘Variegata’ - variegated leaves. Ginkgo in Depth The tree is easy to care for and require only occasional water and a little high-nitrogen fertilizer that will stimulate the growth of its unique leaf. Apply the fertilizer in late fall to early spring. The tree should be pruned in late winter to early spring. Ginkgo may grow extremely slow for several years after planting, but will then pick up and grow at a moderate rate, particularly if it receives an adequate supply of water and some fertilizer. But do not overwater or plant in a poorly-drained area. Be sure to keep turf several feet away from the trunk to help trees become established. Very tolerant of urban soils and pollution, Ginkgo could be used more in USDA hardiness zone 7 but is not recommended in central and southern Texas or Oklahoma due to summer heat. Adapted for use as a street tree, even in confined soil spaces. Some early pruning to form one central leader is essential. There is some support for the trees medical use. Its seed has been recently been used as both a memory and concentration enhancer with some positive effects on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, Ginkgo biloba has also been suggested as relieving many disease symptoms but  has never been approved by the   FDA as anything but an herbal product.

The Oxford Short List 2015

The Oxford Short List 2015 The Oxford Short List 2015 The Oxford Short List 2015 By Maeve Maddox As I pointed out in a recent post, the Oxford â€Å"Word† of 2015 is a pictogram. In this post, I’ll take a look at eight other words that placed in Oxford’s annual list of frequently used English words and phrases. Of the eight, I had heard of three of them, had written about two of them, and had never heard of five of them. sharing economy Merriam-Webster has an entry for the phrase and defines it as â€Å"economic activity that involves individuals buying or selling usually temporary access to goods or services especially as arranged through an online company or organization† and gives 2007 as the date of its first-known use. Wikipedia defines it as â€Å"peer-to-peer-based sharing of access to goods and services (coordinated through community-based online services).† The phrase does not yet appear in my subscription edition of the OED. It seems to mean â€Å"online bartering.† they The appearance of this ancient word on the 2015 list is in the context of its growing use to refer to a person of unspecified gender. See Gendered Pronouns for a discussion of this usage. on fleek I couldn’t even guess at what this one could mean. According to the Oxford site’s explanation, this phrase originated with the user of a social media called Vine. She uploaded a video in which she displayed her eyebrows and described them as â€Å"on fleek.† The phrase is now taken to mean â€Å"extremely good, attractive, or stylish.† ad blocker This is a type of software that prevents ads from popping up on a web page. I had heard of this one. refugee This has been an English word since the seventeenth century. The renewed interest derives from the frequency that refugee and migrant have appeared in the news this year. I recently wrote about the words in Migrants vs Refugees. Brexit This creation- a combination of Br(itish)+exit- is a term for â€Å"potential or hypothetical departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.† Dark Web I’d heard of the Deep Web, but not the Dark Web. The Deep Web refers to parts of the Internet that can’t be accessed in the usual way with browsers and search engines. The Dark Web â€Å"refers specifically to websites which use encryption tools to hide the identities of hosts and users of a site, often in order to facilitate illegal activities.† lumbersexual I guessed this one to mean the type of man who imagines that beard stubble looks attractive. I was close. It merges lumberjack with metrosexual and refers to urban males who sport checked shirts and facial hair. Mind you, I like beards; it’s the not-quite-shaven-but-not-really-a-beard look that gives me the fantods. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?7 Tips for Writing a Film Review20 Tips to Improve your Writing Productivity

Using Ownership Incentives in China Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Using Ownership Incentives in China - Case Study Example roach, the CEO is well placed in motivating the workers to be responsible and work hard considering that their own success is determined by the company’s success. Additionally, the use of this approach is important in demonstrating to the employees that the company values all stakeholders in it equally, and gives similar treatment to all its employees. As observed in the historical practices in China, however, there could be numerous challenges in implementing this considering that the workforce in China could possibly perceive such approaches by the CEO as forcing the American operational culture onto them, while overlooking the native population’s values. Another way of exporting the ownership culture to the Chinese population could involve sticking with the limiting stock ownership to the initial American team. By doing this, the CEO would be expected to formulate a different ownership culture and payment for the China-based team. However, this practice could prove challenging, especially if some of the staff in China could wish to have stock ownership in the company (Beyster and Economy 24). It could also be practical if the CEO exported the culture of ownership to China by creation of different structures of equity based on the different regions of operation. For instance, the ownership culture operations in China could be executed using different optimized methods of payment that are dependent on the region of operation and the taxation policy involved. Exporting the ownership culture to the Chinese employees could also be accomplished by sending expatriates from the US to China for the purpose of introducing the system, as well as offering the required training to the Chinese staff. The use of this approach could, however, experience culture shock for the foreign employees due to their lack of knowledge of the business traditions of the Chinese community. Ben Freed’s decision to offer the Chinese team similar company ownership as the Silicon Valley

Marketing management- next Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing management- next - Article Example It is a British retailer marketing clothing, footwear, accessories and home products. In India the growth of retail business is at its budding stage. Organized retail business has a grasp of nearly 7% in Indian Market and there is umpteen opportunity for its development. Off late big brands and fashion houses are aiming towards the Indian market. Due to the immense cross culture factor or globalization, trends from across the globe are getting accepted by far and large. Even in India, people are getting influenced by various other cultures and the Indian crowd is happily embracing it. Apparently growth of retail business in Indian market is at its best. Under such circumstances, it would be the accurate time for Next to hit the Indian market. Even though it has three branches in India, it should start eyeing other locations in India. Not many people are aware of Next plc, so Next should keep in mind of having phenomenal launch in India. Lot of retail chains are getting established in India. Indian players like Future Group, RPG Group, reliance Retail, and global players like Wal-Mart, Metro etc are having their presence in India. Still the organized retail sector in India is not very big. Hence Next can enter into Indian market and it has lot of potential to grow with its wide product range. I have considered area of study to be clothing. There is lot of competition in apparel industry because people have started becoming more brand conscious in clothing segment. Hence it is very important to position yourself well in such an industry. B - PLC Stage PLC (Product Life Cycle) is the course of product’s sales and profits over its lifetime. It involves five distinct stages. Product Development Introduction Growth Maturity Decline Clothing is a necessity for every human being. In a country like India the scope for branded product (in clothing) is very high. India is a country which is fast developing and the purchasing power of people in India is increasing. So the share of wallet for branded apparels is surely increasing. That is the reason why all big names in the clothing segment exist in India. But the entry of these companies has happened recently and they have still not captured the market. Next in India is at introduction stage. As it has entered the Indian market recently and at the moment has only three stores in India. As far as Boston’s Matrix is concerned â€Å"next† has low market share but the market they are in has high growth. So â€Å"next† is in the question mark quadrant. C - Target Market India is one of the emerging markets and it is becoming more and more important buyer in our global economy. India has a nice percentage of world total population so if not right now, in few years, India will be one of the most important buyers in the world (sayeconomy.com). Hence it is very important to choose the right segment in Indian market to succeed. â€Å"Next† has three stores in India (Two store s at Delhi/Gurgaon and one store at Mumbai). This clearly shows that the segment they have targeted is the urban/metro segment. The purchasing power of people in these area is comparatively more than those who stay in small cities and villages. â€Å"Next† has also targeted the middle class and upper middle class. When you sell products which are luxurious item and not necessarily necessities, then an organization usually target middle class and

Cryptography Attacks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cryptography Attacks - Research Paper Example This is further compounded by the constant need for government agencies to share information over the common means of communication such as the internet. Additionally, the numerous enemies of the government also use the normal means of communication and the government develops interest in obtaining some of their communications. This led the government to form the National Security Agency, this is a special state agency mandated with overseeing state communication and supervising all communications in the country with a view to averting threats to the country. The agency employs the best brains in communication technology and has some of the best cryptographers in the world. The besides coding government information for communication over the open networks, the agency looks for other strange codes in the American market and breaks them in the pretext of vigilance and the country’s security. Ethics and morality on the other hand refers to sets of behavior governing principles co ncerned with the right or wrong decision. Everyday activities present people with situations that require them to choose between right from wrong and good from bad. There is no universal standard of these but somehow people will always know from the actions of others whether a decision was right or wrong. The media as a means of communicating for the people presents a number of regulatory challenges some of which are ethical. The advent of the internet further worsened these scenarios by presenting virtually everyone with the ability to communicate to others and even become mass communicators. The internet has no assigned gatekeepers or regulators. The users reserve these powers a feature that puts them in very precarious situations. The operations of the National Security Agency and other hackers further worsen the scenario making the decision on wrong and right harder to make. Ethics and morality are behavior guidelines that reduce harm to others. By making an operative and accept able choice between right and wrong or good and bad, a person secures the interest of another thus preventing an unnecessary harm to the other party. Such understandings further put government agencies such as the NSA in challenging situations (James, 2001). The agency searches and breaks millions of coded messages on a daily basis. After breaking the codes, the government official assesses them and those found safe later communicated to their recipients as intended and in the original format. The unsuspecting recipient thinks the message is safe, secure and highly secretive not knowing that government officials had the content before they got to him or her. This presents a great dilemma in the operations of the government since the need to protect the people is equally important to their fundamental right of privacy vested in the bill of rights. The government safeguards the country and every citizen in it. The American government will not allow any ill motive by anybody to cause h arm or deaths of innocent Americans. To keep this promise the government, the government breaks a number of ethical principles such as accessing people private and confidential information. Some of the codes that the agency deciphers normally turn out to be communication between drug barons and not necessarily terrorists. The decoding process was necessitated by the rampant terrorist attack threats in the country. The government uses such information to impound

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

PEST Analysis (Political, Economic, Social & Technical Analysis) Essay

PEST Analysis (Political, Economic, Social & Technical Analysis) A PEST analysis (also sometimes called STEP, STEEP or PESTLE analysis) looks at the external business environment. In fact, it would be better to call this kind of analysis a business environmental analysis but the acronym PEST is easy to remember and so has stuck. PEST stands for Political, Economic, Sociocultural and Technological. (Technological factors in this case, include ecological and environmental aspects - the second E in STEEP and PESTLE, while the L in PESTLE stands for legal). The analysis examines the impact of each of these factors (and their interplay with each other) on the business. The results can then be used to take advantage of opportunities and to make contingency plans for threats when preparing business and strategic plans. You need to consider each PEST factor as they all play a part in determining your overall business environment. Thus, when looking at political factors you should consider the impact of any political or legislative changes that could affect your business. If you are operating in more than one country then you will need to look at each country in turn. Political factors include aspects such as laws on maternity rights, data protection and even environmental policy: these three examples alone have an on impact employment terms, information access, product specification and business processes in many businesses globally. Obviously politicians don't operate in a vacuum...

African Penguins

The topic of my report is african penguins who are also known as black footed penguins . I chose this topic because through out my life i have seen penguins only in Antarctica which made me wander how can they survive on islands. The main characteristics are that they are 26-27 inches in height and there weight is 4-11 pounds. There back is colored black and there front is colored white which has a black stripe. They have large black beak and feet. They sound like donkeys when they communicate with each other. Another interesting haracteristics is they have pink glands above each eye and their average swimming speed is 4-12 MPH. The African Penguin are found in South Africa which is in the southern hemisphere. After penguin choose their partner for life, breeding occurs throughout the year. Although the main breeding begins in February, Nest are constructed and two eggs are laid and they incubate for 38-42 days. When the eggs hatch the parents care for the baby penguins for 8-18 weeks. African Penguins like to hunt in the nutrient rich cold water and like to eat mainly fish such as squid, anchovies and a few other things The major facts about african penguins are that they are only found in south coast of africa. There is no other place in the world where these penguins are found. There is no fixed breeding season it can happen throughout the year. The enemies of penguins are sharks,killer whales and other dangerous marine creatures. In conclusion i very much enjoyed researching about this animal because they have a lot of interesting facts that the penguins in Antarctica don't have. The most interesting fact i learned was they have pink glands above there eyes.

Useful Japanese Adverbs

Useful Japanese Adverbs alwaysitsumo㠁„㠁 ¤Ã£â€šâ€š usuallytaitei㠁Ÿã â€žÃ£  ¦Ã£ â€ž oftenyokuよ㠁  sometimestokidoki時々 seldommettani ( negative verb)ã‚ Ã£  £Ã£ Å¸Ã£  « never, by no meanszenzenå… ¨Ã§â€ž ¶ quite, entirelymattaku㠁 ¾Ã£  £Ã£ Å¸Ã£   certainly, by all meanskanarazuÃ¥ ¿â€¦Ã£ Å¡ absolutelyzettainiç µ ¶Ã¥ ¯ ¾Ã£  « perhaps, probablytabunÃ¥ ¤Å¡Ã¥Ë†â€  indeed, reallyhontouniæÅ" ¬Ã¥ ½â€œÃ£  « completelysukkari㠁™ã  £Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šÅ  surely, certainlykitto㠁 Ã£  £Ã£  ¨ especiallytokuniç‰ ¹Ã£  « extremely, verytotemo㠁 ¨Ã£  ¦Ã£â€šâ€š fairly, considerablykanari㠁‹ã  ªÃ£â€šÅ  slightly, a bit​chotto㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨ about, approximatelyyakuç ´â€ž foreveritsumademo㠁„㠁 ¤Ã£  ¾Ã£  §Ã£â€šâ€š all the time, by farzutto㠁šã  £Ã£  ¨ once, beforekatsute㠁‹ã  ¤Ã£  ¦ not yet, stillmada㠁 ¾Ã£    soonsugu㠁™ã   for a whileshibaraku㠁â€"㠁 °Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£   for the time beingichiou㠁„㠁 ¡Ã£ Å Ã£ â€  anyway, at any ratetonikaku㠁 ¨Ã£  «Ã£ â€¹Ã£   now, well, incidentallytokorode㠁 ¨Ã£ â€œÃ£â€š Ã£  § at first​mazu㠁 ¾Ã£ Å¡ next, thentsuginiæ ¬ ¡Ã£  « finallysaigoniæÅ"ی ¾Å'㠁 « again, alsomata㠁 ¾Ã£ Å¸ suddenlykyuuniæ€ ¥Ã£  « by chanceguuzenniÃ¥  ¶Ã§â€ž ¶Ã£  « just, preciselychoudo㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£ â€ Ã£  © alreadymouも㠁† moremottoも㠁 £Ã£  ¨ most​mottomoæÅ"€ã‚‚ fasthayakuæâ€" ©Ã£   slowlyyukkuriゆ㠁 £Ã£  Ã£â€šÅ  increasinglymasumasu㠁 ¾Ã£ â„¢Ã£  ¾Ã£ â„¢ graduallydandan㠁  Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£   Ã£â€šâ€œ at lastyattoや㠁 £Ã£  ¨ togetherisshoniä ¸â‚¬Ã§ ·â€™Ã£  « separatelybetsubetsuniåˆ ¥Ã£  « insteadkawariniä » £Ã£â€š Ã£â€šÅ Ã£  « quietlyjitto㠁˜ã  £Ã£  ¨ secretlysotto㠁 Ã£  £Ã£  ¨ on purposewazatoã‚ Ã£ â€"㠁 ¨ despite ones effortssekkaku㠁›ã  £Ã£ â€¹Ã£   if possiblenarubeku㠁 ªÃ£â€šâ€¹Ã£  ¹Ã£  

a summary of American Constitution essays

a summary of American Constitution essays The Preamble to the Constitution contains powerful language that is the bedrock of American political tradition. The opening line: We the People of the United States proclaims that the states remain in a unity and that they are not independent of one another. With these words the loose confederation of independent states ceased to exist after ratification of the Constitution. The Preamble also answers the question of the source of power of the government: the power comes from the people, not from the states. The phrase [I]n Order to form a more perfect Union implies that at the time of forming the country, the Articles of Confederation were weak in governing a growing nation. Next come the general goals for the American nation (originally set up by the Framers): establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. The following words: do ordain and establish thi s Constitution for the United States of America pose the formal creation of the new government after the ratification. Article I vests all legislative powers in the Congress and establishes a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It also sets out the qualifications for holding office in each house, the terms of office, methods of selection of representatives and senators, and the system of apportionment among the states to determine membership in the House of Representatives. The Article I, section 8 contains enumerated powers and elastic clause. Article II vests the executive power- the authority to execute the laws of the nation in a president of the United States. Section 1 sets the presidents term of office at four years, explains the electoral college, states qualifications for office and describes a mechanism to replace the president in case of death ...

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 21

Philosophy - Essay Example Ignoring the theft maybe the easiest response to the situation since I do not need to do anything but such response to the situation may not be the most appropriate. Telling the authorities about the incident may be a good thing to do on my part but it will result to having the man arrested and deprived of his freedom. On the other hand, approaching a perfect stranger and telling him that what he is doing is bad may result to some undesirable responses from the man and it could result to some unpleasant incidents. To decide which response is appropriate to promote the rule of law, let us look into the teachings of Immanuel Kant and Aristotle. Under the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, morality can be summed up as an ultimate commandment of imperative or reason from where the duties and obligations of people are derived (Kant, 1785). Kant believes that an imperative action or inaction is necessary to maintain peace and order. For Kant, there are two classifications of imperative action namely the hypothetical imperative and the categorical imperative. Kant defined a hypothetical imperative as a something that compels an action under given circumstances and the categorical imperative as an absolute requirement as an end and justification of an act (Kant, 1785). Kant believes that human free will is the source of all rational action and to treat the action as a subjective end is to deny the possibility of freedom. In applying the ideas of Kant in the case of the man at the grocery store; we can conclude that the act of taking the batteries without paying for them is wrong. Under the categorical imperative of Kant, some actions require absolute responses that serve both an end and justification for the enforcement of the law. Since in the eyes of the law, taking something without the knowledge and consent of its owner is absolutely wrong, the man’s can be categorically described as a wrongful act. According to Kant’s teachings,

Global Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Global Warming - Research Paper Example Global warming is referred to as the recent rise of the standard temperature of the earth’s environment and the oceans and its predictable persistence. In the preceding 100 years, the typical surface temperature of Earth has been increasing at about 0.8  °C (1.4  °F) with almost two thirds of the increase mainly taking place within the last three decades (Houghton, J. T., â€Å" Global Warming: The Complete Briefing†). The global warming takes place when the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide and methane entraps the heat and light from the sun into the earth’s atmosphere leading to the rise in level of temperature of the earth resulting in global warming. It is detrimental both for the earth and for the living objects of the earth such as human beings, plants and animals among others (Maslin, M., â€Å"Global Warming: Causes, Effects, and the Future†). It also hampers the livings organisms of underwater as well. Thus, many people or organisms that become unable to bear the heat of the atmosphere get destroyed and wiped out from the face of the world. Moreover, global warming also elevates the level of the seas, and as a result the low lands are flooded with the water thereby destroying the lives of many plants, animals and people on the islands (Schneider, S. H., â€Å"Global Warming: Are We Entering The Green House Century†). Moreover, it also obliterates the agricultural plantation of the areas thereby resulting in a drought situation. Due to loss of natural plantation or agriculture, the animals as well as plants also die as a result of deficiency in food (Mohr, â€Å"A New Global Warming Strategy†). In addition, due to the loss of shelter and the resources of food, the human beings might also have to perish from the face of the earth. This may result in the breakdown of the food chain thereby affecting the entire ecosystem of the world. It mainly has occurred due to emission of