Political Environment And Social Environment Marketing Essay

Political Environment And Social Environment Marketing Essay We have chosen Nestle as the company that we would analyse in this assignment because Nestle is a big and well known company in todays era of globalization and very much people-oriented, and committed to understanding its consumers needs throughout the world in order to provide the best products for peoples lives which would make it easier for us to obtain and analyse the information about their marketing segmentation, market environment, marketing mix and background of Nestle. Furthermore, all our members, Chia Poh Ling, Lee Yue Xhing, Leow Jo Yee and Yvonne Tay are more familiar with this company, which would help to make analysing and discussions go more smoothly. Nestlà © S.A. is the largest food company in the world. It is a Swiss multinational nutritional, snack food, and health-related consumer goods company headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. The worlds leading food manufacturer and the market leader in both coffee and mineral water, produces a wind range of products. As the leading Food, Nutrition, Health and wellness Company, Nestlà © is the provider of the best food for whatever time of day and for whatever time of your life. Nestlà ©s products include baby food, bottled water, breakfast cereals, coffee, confectionery, dairy products, ice-cream, pet foods and snacks. The main shareholders of worlds largest cosmetics company, LOrà ©al is Nestlà ©. The objectives of the Nestlà © S.A. are to be recognized as the world leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness, trusted by all its stakeholders, and to be the reference for financial performance in its industry.  Ã‚  [1]   Nestlà © S.A is the worlds leading nutrition, health and wellness company with an unmatched portfolio of more than 2,000 global and local brands. It has 468 factories spread over 86 countries, and employs around 330,000 people. Its products are sold in every country in the world.  [2]  Its agricultural services provide assistance to improve the quality and yield of the raw materials it uses. In 1867, the infant began to take the milk food supplement Henri Nestlà © had developed, and a life was saved. The product, called Farine Lactà ©e Nestlà ©, was soon marketed throughout much of Europe, and a new brand name began to take on life. Henri Nestlà © adopted his own coat of arms as a trademark in 1867. Translated from German, Nestlà © is universally understood to represent nurturing and caring, security, nourishment and family bonding which is little nest and the now-famous symbol. The company Henri Nestlà © founded as it fulfills its commitment to Good Food, Good Life. In 1905, the Nestlà © Company merged with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, the first condensed milk factory which opened in Switzerland in 1866. Nestlà © entered into the milk chocolate business in 1904 when Peter Kohler Swiss General Chocolate Company produced milk chocolate under the Nestlà © trademark. The chocolate company later joined the Nestlà © Group in 1929. While the original business was based on milk and dietetic foods for children, the new Nestlà © grew and diversified its range of products, through acquisitions and mergers with the better known brands of the time.  [3]   Nestlà © began in Malaysia in 1912 as the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in Penang and later, growth and expansion made a move to Kuala Lumpur necessary in1939. Since 1962, with  its first factory in Petaling Jaya, Nestlà © Malaysia now manufactures its products in 7 factories and operates from its head office in Mutiara Damansara. The Company was publicly listed on the KLSE now known as Bursa Malaysia Berhad on 13 December, 1989. Today, the Company employs more than 5000 people and manufactures as well as markets more than 300 Halal products in Malaysia. Its brand name such has MILO, NESCAFE, MAGGI, NESPRAY  and KIT KAT  have become trusted household names and enjoyed for generations.  [4]   Market Segmentation, targeting and positioning Market segmentation involves aggregating of prospective buyers into groups, or segments that have common needs and will respond similarly to a marketing action.  [5]  Nestle provide a wide range of nutritious food and beverages for everyone to practice a balanced and healthy diet and lifestyle. There are four types of major segmentation variables for consumer markets which include geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral. Segment marketing has given the company a clearer picture of their customers and competitors so that the company can come up with a more fine-tuned products and services that satisfied customers needs. Through market segmentation, targeting and positioning, Nestle can reach out to their customers more easily and serve their customers more effectively and efficiently. Segmentation We found out that Nestle classify their market by using geographic, demographic and psychographic segmentation based on consumer characteristics. In geographic segmentation, Nestle has divided their market into urban areas (cities) and rural areas (villages). Besides that, Nestle also uses demographic factor to segment its market, it consists on income level and educational level. The income level and educational level can be categorized as low, middle and high level consumers. Apart from that, Nestle uses psychographic factor to differentiate the market. The segmentation variables that Nestle uses are personality, social class and lifestyle. Nestle can groups individuals according to their personalities such as extrovert, self-disciplined or energetic. Nestle divides their customers into low social class, medium social class and high social class. Targeting A target market is a potential market that a company has decides to concentrate its marketing efforts and resources to enter those markets. Nestle segments its market by regions, income level, educational level, personalities, social class and lifestyle. By applying the information and observations that we get, we can simply identify the target market of Nestle. In this case, we found out Nestle focuses on urban areas rather than rural areas. The consumption of Nestle products is often in cities as compared to villages. This may be due to income and educational level. The people in rural area mostly could not afford the products of Nestle as it is considered as luxuries. They do not have strong sense of health consciousness due to educational background. This makes them the less attractive buyers. For segmentation by income level, Nestle has been targeting on those consumer who earn middle income and high income. People will purchase healthy and nutritious food and beverages when they have enough monetary resources to back up them. Those consumers with higher income tend to be the potential buyers for Nestle because they bring most profit into the company. Furthermore, for educational level Nestle tends to pay more attention to those consumers who has an education background. They will be more concern of their health and they will do more to maintain it. Through education, we can improve our knowledge and develop life skills which can contribute to individual and community health. Those people with an education background are more likely to practice and maintain a healthy and balanced diet as they know health is more important than wealth. For personality segmentation, Nestle is targeting consumers who are more outgoing and outdoorsy. It is because they require more energy and nutrition that they have lost during their activities. By adapting nutritional input to physical needs, they can get the most from their body.  [6]  These people wish to maintain their energy level and quick recovery after a hectic day by adapting a balanced diet that provides them with essential nutrients and energy. In addition, from the social class and lifestyle segments, Nestle is targeting consumers who are belong to the higher social classes. They have high purchasing power so that they can afford more luxuries such as Nestles products. These people are the target market of Nestle because they tend to be more health conscious. Nestles products often emphasize on nutritional value and health benefits that can improve ones lifestyle and health issues. As conclusion, Nestle is able to reach out to their customers that it can serve best and most profitably. Through segmentation and targeting market, Nestle can enhance the profits for their company and increase effectiveness in their marketing campaigns. Positioning Product positioning refers to the place an offering occupies in consumers minds on important attributes relatives to competitive products. Nestle positioned itself as  the world leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness, trusted by all its stakeholders, and to be the reference for financial performance in its industry.  Ã‚  [7]  Nestle uses the slogan Good Food Good Life to enhance lives, throughout life, with good food and beverages.  [8]  Nutrition content in their products is the main focus to strengthen their leadership in nutrition industry. To remain their position in that industry, they must identify their competitive advantages against their competitors. Nestle has listed out four competitive advantages of their company that may help their company to compete with their competitors, that are unmatched product and brand portfolio, unmatched research and development (RD) capability, unmatched geographic presence and lastly people, culture, values and attitude  [9]   . For unmatched product and brand portfolio, Nestle provide the largest range of food and beverages among all the food company. Their products range from global icons to local favourites that can adapt to consumer needs, tastes and preferences, making Nestle as a global brand that relevant to everyone and everywhere. Besides that, it is supported by unmatched RD capability that improves the products through innovation and renovation so that it can meet consumer needs and enhances consumer benefits. Nestle spent over billions of dollar on its RD just to ensure its consumer gets the essential nutrition that their body needed. Nestle has an unmatched geographic presence competitive advantage due to the number of countries where they presence. They have been in most countries for over decades and successfully created a strong relationship between their brands and their consumers.  [10]  This also means that they have has plenty of time to study about the local preferences and behaviors to improve their products taste to match the locals preferences. The most important competitive advantage for Nestle is their people, culture, values and attitude. The Nestle culture created a strong bond between their people with a shared set of behaviors and values into a single way of doing business. Their people are determined to deliver their goals as while as creating value to the public.  [11]   Marketing environment Marketing environment consists of microenvironment (internal environment) and macroenvironment (external environment). It embraces all the marketing team inside a firm and includes all the outside factors of marketing that affect the teams ability to develop and maintain successful customer relationships with their targeted customer group.  [12]  Nestle is using it to improve customer relationship management and adapt new strategies when it comes to challenges and opportunities. Microenvironment Suppliers Suppliers are the one who delivered the resources needed by the company to produce the products or services to the consumers. Any problems that incurred in supplier can greatly affect the company sales and damage customer relationship. We can divide the suppliers of Nestle into two groups that are labour suppliers and material suppliers.  [13]  Labour suppliers are in charge of the supply of labour required by the company to optimize their production level. Labour strikes and labour relations are the most important factor to maintain labour satisfaction for company to improve their efficiency. For material suppliers, they deal with the materials needed by the company to place the finished goods on rack. The quality of the material is everything that the company focuses on as Nestle is in the food and beverages industry. By maintaining the quality and quantity of these two supplies, Nestle is able to produce high quantity product to uphold their sales volume and customer satisfact ion in the long run. Marketing intermediaries It helps the company to promote, sell and distribute its product to the final buyers.  [14]  The physical distribution firms design the delivery chain for the company products to reach their final destination. The firms also in charge with the products safety without getting any damage while storing them temporarily. Marketing service agencies of the company helps to target and promote its products to the right market.  [15]  It acts as a communication channel between the customers and the company by explaining the features of the product and providing feedback with the help of survey for the company to improve the quality of the product.  [16]  Banks and insurance companies are financial intermediaries that help to provide monetary resources and protection to the product and company against risk that may be occurred during the operation of the company. Nestle works together with all marketing intermediaries to ensure their valuable customers have a clear image of their p roducts features. Customer Nestle sells its goods to reseller markets that provide the goods to final user at a reasonable profit. Nestle also deals with customer markets which consists of individuals and households that buy a wide range of its products. Nestle works hard on making the product available whenever the customer needs them to maintain customer satisfaction. Macroenvironment Political environment and Social Environment Nestle adhere to the laws and regulations that involve in its activities and the environment. The government may set quotas on the quantity of the products that it can supply and set the amount of taxes that the company must pays in order to conduct the business. To achieve a balance between them, Nestle participates in legislative and regulatory discussions between international organizations, government representatives, industry, scientific community and consumer associations.  [17]  In 2000, Nestlà © and other chocolate companies created the World Cocoa Foundation. The WCF takes control of the issues that cocoa farmers facing, which is ineffective farming techniques and poor environmental management. The WCF aims to increase farmer income, promote sustainable farming techniques, and launch environmental and social programmes.  [18]   Economic environment Customer purchasing power is majorly affected by a range of economic factors such as income levels, inflation, taxes, unemployment, exchange rates and mortgage rates  [19]  . The disposable income and living standard of a country may bring big business opportunities for Nestle or the other way round. Cultural environment Before Nestle start its operation in any country, it mainly focus on studying the societys cultural value, preferences and behaviors. This is because Nestle hopes its products can be accepted by the local with warm welcome and be competitive among other companies that operating at the same level.  [20]   Technological environment Technologies are the vital part of Nestle RD. Investment in technology will definitely help the company to reduce production cost and improve product quality. For example, Nestle have developed technologies that allow them to use natural vegetable oils instead of partially hydrogenated fats in Maggi  bouillon cubes and seasonings.  [21]  With the help of technology improvement, Nestle can create healthier products across their product range and thus improve health and quality of life in a country. Product We choose Nestlà ©Ã‚ ® since it is a brilliant and well known example of where as the superior quality, patented technology and basically selling directly to consumers and this whole business is growing rapidly.  [22]  The certified Halal status for all Nestlà © Malaysia products provides assurance and pledge that Nestlà © products are manufactured, imported and distributed under the strictest and tightest hygienic and sanitary condition in accordance, match to the Islamic faith.  [23]   The beverages offered by Nestlà ©Ã‚ ® is Milo, a jam packed with the natural goodness of malt, skimmed milk and cocoa for that great chocolatey taste loved by Malaysians from all walks of life as a Tonic Food Drink. MILO 3in1 offers the great taste of MILO in a more convenient format that easily prepare for your breakfast. Have a delicious goodness of a can of Milo whenever you go to keep energized. There are original, Mocha and Hi-Cal flavors of Milo Can. Bring home the cold delicious taste of the MILO Sejuk, just add cold water, its that easy. Milo UHT, MILO with the same energy-packed, rich chocolatety taste also comes in handy ready to drink packs escpecially during festival. Nestlà © has employed a wide-area strategy for Asia that involves producing different products in each country to supply the region with a given product from one country such as Nestlà © produces soy milk in Indonesia, coffee creamers in Thailand, soybean flour in Singapore, candy in Malaysia, and cereal in the Philippines, all for regional distribution. Product Features Why do you like Milo? This is because Milo contain varying features and benefits, such as: Natural Goodness~ of malt, skimmed milk, and cocoa. ACTIGEN-E~ a combination of 8 vitamins and 4 minerals which helps in theoptimal release of energy. PROTOMALT~ a malt extract with a mixture of different Carbohydrates thatprovides energy and nutrients the body needs  [24]   Product Branding It is very important and vital because a brand is a term, name, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of these, that identifies the products or services of one seller or group of sellers and distinguishes them from those of competitors.  [25]  Branding helps the seller to segment markets, helps buyers and consumers identify products that might benefits them. For example, rather than just offering one general product to all customers, Nestlà ©Ã‚ ® can offer the different Koko Krunch, Honey Star, Nestle Bliss, Nescafà ©, Maggi, Nestle La Cremeria, Tropicana, and Kit Kat. In line with the Nestlà © position as a trusted food, nutrition and wellness company, Nestlà ©Ã‚ ® also focused on nourishing Malaysians to achieve overall wellness and deliver their promise to bring Good Food, Good Life to the people from all walks of life.  [26]   Packaging In todays era of globalization, for consumers, refreshing, ready-to-enjoy drinks are part of an dynamic and energetic lifestyle whether at play, home or work. Going beyond healthy refreshment, convenience, and quality, Nestlà © works hard to ensure that all packaging including drinks packaging respects the environment. In 2009, Nestlà © was able to save 58995 tonnes of packaging  material (paper, board, plastic, glass, metal) through its efforts to prevent food waste, guarantee their high quality. The approach includes many steps such as: decrease the volume and weight of packaging materials using recycled making material in packaging content wherever realistic supporting local packaging recycling and energy recovery activities helping customer to understand and take action to recycle more packaging  [27]   Labeling Label, is a part of packaging to perform several functions like identifies the product or brand, describe several things about the product who made it, where it was made, when it was made, its contents, how it is to be used, and how to use it safely, and lastly is to promote the brand, support its positioning, and connect with customers.  [28]  Nutritionists and scientists  has corporate responsibility through food labeling, like Nestle has provided the details of the nutrients that the average person needs to consume each day, so that consumers could easily understand. The symbols on the Appendix were designed to show the amount of nutrition contains of Milo. Product Support Service Customer service is another element of product strategy, which can be a minor part or a major part of customer service.  [29]  Nestle, one of the worlds largest food and nutrition company, has been a popular food brand in India for nearly a century, which include head office, manufacturing plants and branch offices spread all over India. Nestle offers excellent customer support for their products and if you need any assistance from their customer support team, following information through browsing internet will help you to get in touch with Nestle customer care division easily and more quickly. Approach Nestle customer-care via online Visit  http://www.nestle.in/  and you can find information about many brands and products like Milk products and baby food, prepared products, beverages, chocolate and confectionaries, yogurts, drinks etc. If you have any request, query, interest, concern or complaint, submit the form at http://www.nestle.in/contact_us.aspx. You can submit Maggi related information at  http://www.maggi.in/contact_us.aspx. You can visit  http://www.starthealthystayhealthy.in/, which is a site special to mothers and new born babies. Place Place, also known as distribution and it involves company activities that make the product available to target consumers. It must be as conveniently available as possible that the customers want the product and service. Choosing the right product channel of distribution is key to the success of an organization because it will affect the sales volume of a company. This shown that selecting a place is very important and challenging for every company. Distribution Channel Nestle are subject intensive distribution where a firm tries to place their products into outlets as many as possible to meet the needs of consumers whenever. Nestle has developed distribution channels which to make sure the provision of products that the consumers able to purchase it whenever and wherever.  [30]  Hence, Nestle attempts to provide as many outlets as possible and expand it. Nestle uses two types of channel intermediaries that are wholesaler and retailer and it is convenient for Nestle because both channels have a lot of advantages in high number of ordering, short period of time to shipment, and have a large number of customers.  [31]   Retailer and wholesaler as their intermediaries between a producer and consumer where the products from the producer to the consumer through the retailer or wholesaler.  [32]  Nestle as the producer and distribute their products to wholesaler or directly to retailer then retailer sells the goods and products to consumer. Location Convenience Stores A small store which is located near a residential area or along the roadside and it usually open 24 hours such as 7-eleven, petrol stations, rest stops, and so on. Consumers can buy Nestle products at the convenience stores because Nestle tries to ensure the availability of products so that the consumers able to purchase it whenever and wherever. Consumers are more convenience and easily to buy Nestle products. Supermarkets A large, low-cost, low-margin, high-volume, self-service operation designed to serve the consumers total needs for grocery and household products such as Jusco, Tesco, Carrefour, and so forth. Supermarkets have a huge selection of products available for consumers at low prices. So, consumers can choose Nestle products which based on their needs then purchase it at low prices because supermarkets offer many choices for Nestle products compare with other small stores. Superstores A store much larger than a regular supermarket that offers a large assortment of routinely purchased food products, nonfood items, and services such as Walmart. Superstores stock huge stocks Nestle products purchasing them in large lots. So, the prices of products are cheaper. Consumers can take advantage of these price savings with buy a lot of various kinds of Nestle products such as Milo, Nescafe, Nestea, and so on. Consumers are saving greatly on time, effort, and money. Price A product price influences wages, rent, interests, and profits, of course some prospective customers are interested in low prices, where as another segment is more concerned with other factors, such as service, quality, value, and brand image. Nestlà © estimated and predicted the cost by doing accumulated production as if they produced mass production so it reduced their labored cost and other cost for production process its a big advantages and benefits of the Nestlà © company who produce large quantity of units. With the help accumulated and estimated the production Nestlà © Company has a low cost of production and high profit margin and Nestlà © Company selecting a price method of going rate price because their pricing near the competitor pricing. A good example is Nestle juices have a market leader in beverage industry and lastly Nestlà © set the final pricing related to their market competitors so Nestlà © price do not have impact on the company policy, and other marketing activities.  Ã‚  [33]   Flexible and elastic prices are the key factors of victory of Nestlà © in global market, for example Milkpak being the largest selling brand is being sold out at the same price as that of other lower quality products while maintaining its quality. Their marketing strategy includes a wide range of pricing strategy, and by doing this they can retain and keep their product rates at a sustainable position. Prices are affordable and have enough money to buy to almost all types of consumers as they have wide range of single product as in the case of beverages, fruit juices are affordable to low economy class and expensive tin packed beverages are also doing business in the market. Bulk purchase discount is also provided at the whole sale markets as well as at the market stores and besides seasonal price variations are also seen, especially in the case of chocolate products, either by upsizing at the same price or reducing the sale price.  [34]   Price Strategy Price strategy is a basic, long-term pricing structure, which creates the initial price for a product and the intended direction for price movements over the product life cycle. There are three type of pricing strategy which is Market-Skimming Pricing, Market-Penetration pricing. Nestle Malaysia at present practicing penetration pricing to market Milo which is away where Nestle charges a relatively low price for a product (Milo) at the beginning as a way to reach the mass market. Establishing Price Goal Marketers have two choices whether to use profit towards profit maximization or satisfactory pricing. The marketer need to have an understanding of trends and changes in the market place to set a goal, mission and vision. If Nestle Milo has decided to go for profit maximization objective, they must be able to afford large amount of investment. It is not difficult to follow competitors pricing but they may not have the best to think about cost, demand and changes in Product Life Cycle. So they have to require a careful and thoroughgoing analysis before setting the price.  [35]   Price Tactic Diagram 34-9c9f2ae321 Product Bundle Pricing In United States and Canada,  Hà ¤agen-Dazs products are produced by Nestlà © and come in several traditional flavors. The example of price bundling is Haagen-dazs, a company which is famous as

Theodore Dreiser Essay examples -- essays research papers fc

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Dreiser was born August 27, 1871 in Terre Haute, Indiana. The younger brother of Paul Dresser, a well-known songwriter, Theodore was a famous novelist known for his outstanding American writing of naturalism. He was also a leading figure in a national literary movement that replaced the observance of Victorian notions of propriety with the unflinching presentation of real-life subject matter. Even though a majority of his works were about his life experiences, he also wrote about new social problems that had risen in American at the time as well as things sexual in nature. Dreiser was born the ninth of ten surviving children in a family that was stricken with life-long poverty. His father was a German immigrant that was mostly an unemployed mill worker with a strict attitude because of his narrow Roman Catholic belief. His mother had a Czech Mennonite background and she was a fair lady that was always compassionate to her son. Because of the family’s severe degree of poverty, they moved frequently between small Indiana towns and Chicago in search of a better cost of living. Dreiser did not have much of an education in his lifetime. He attended parochial and public schools including a year at Indiana University in 1889-1890 throughout his academic years. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Chicago in 1892 before working his way to the East Coast. While living on the East Coast in 1894, Dreiser found a job working for a Pittsburgh newspaper. In the same year, he move to New York City and started working for several newspapers and magazines. Dreiser would soon meet a woman named Sara White and they would get married in 1898. The marriage did not last that long due to his roving affections and resulting infidelities causing their divorce in 1912. Dreiser began writing his first novel, Sister Carrie, in 1899 at the suggestion of a newspaper colleague. Doubleday, Page and Company published the novel the following year, than ks in part to the great enthusiasm of the firm’s novelist, Frank Norris. The story line of the novel was about a young kept woman whose "immortality" goes unpunished. The publisher was not fond of the story line and decided to limit the book’s advertising. Because of the limited advertising, the book sold only 465 copies and Dreiser made less than $100 dollars on the deal. In 1890, the dis... ...erty level. He always spoke and wrote of his mother being affectionate and caring at all times. Theodore Dreiser was born in Terre Haute and lived in Indiana until the age of eighteen. He was born into a family that was stricken with poverty and he had little hope of making it big in the real world. Dreiser did not have much of an education nor any experience in writing. Through hard work and dedication, he ended getting a job in Chicago for a newspaper and then moving to New York a few years later. In New York, Dreiser also got many jobs for magazines and newspapers. While living in the city, he wrote a majority of his famous works. Dreiser’s most famous works were Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy. In 1938, he moved to Los Angeles with his mistress, Helen Richardson. Dreiser continued on writing literary works until his death in 1945. Theodore Dreiser was a well-known novelist and a great man as well as a historic member of the Terre Haute area. Bibliography Bibliography Gerber, Phillip. Theodore Dreiser, Chicago, Woodford Publishing., 1986, pp. 34-75 Warren, Robert Penn. Homage to Theodore Dreiser: His World and His Novels, New York, Coleman Publishing., 1975, pp. 82-140

The Benefits Of Online Classes Essay -- Essays Papers

Breaking news just in, it has been confirmed that â€Å"in support of creating standards for online learning, the U.S. Department of Education [will be] providing 1.8 million dollars to the National Center for Accessible Media† (Bricout 4). This seems to be an appropriate announcement that could have been made on any news channel back in 2001. As most do not realize, the internet and education have been linked together extensively for a period of time. In fact, online classes have already assumed a role in college bound student’s lives. The question is whether professors and universities are willing to take the extra step in making the internet the primary source of communication for the classes they teach. This piece will provide an insight to the benefits of online classes from several different points of views. Despite the few cons that exist, there are many benefits of an online course, most of which contradict the factors used to belittle it. Using the internet as a primary source of communication is faster, simplistic, and can pertain to each individual or group (Bricout 1). Provided there are no technical problems, using the internet seems to be â€Å"less hectic† (Caris 3) and allows a certain type of freedom. For example, students who are shy are no longer scared to participate in discussions because their identity is somewhat anonymous. However, not all is anonymous because the constant responses from a professor create a sense of presence that keeps the student on task and concerned with their own work. Many students enjoy working online because their thoughts are written previously and they have time to edit or prepare before sharing instead of being put right on the spot. According to T H E Journal... ...d October 3, 2004 from http://itdl.org/journal/Jan_04/article03.htm Daughenbaugh, R., Ensminger, D. Frederick, L. & Surry, D. Does personality type effect online versus in-class course satisfaction? In Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference. Retrieved Octover 3, 2004 from http://www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/ proceed02/3.html Lavelle, E., Theordore, P., & Yuliang, L. (2004). Experimental effects of online instruction of teacher’s concerns about technology integration. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Muhammad, E.E. (n.d.). To tech or not to tech that is the question. Retrieved October 3, 2004 from http://servercc.oakton.edu/~tingxiu/octe/octe1/Proceedings /Muhammad.htm Wade, William (2004). Why I teach online. T H E Journal. Retrieved October 3, 2004 from http://www.thejournal.com/magazone/vault/A5009C.cfm

Aircraft Carriers: A Global Force Essay -- Military Science

In history though many countries share the same essential technologies they employ them in different manners which may be affected by military aims, geography and potential foes.   In particular in the Second World War this can be seen in the use of the aircraft carrier and the aircraft they transported.   Prior to World War II the major navies of the world did not view the aircraft carrier as a strategic weapon; instead the battleship was seen as the major force multiplier of the navy. This belief was because of the enormous firepower the battleship brought to the fight however; by the end of World War II the aircraft carrier would cement its place as the navy’s strategic projection platform. I will demonstrate this by explaining how Britain, Japan and the United States all developed and used their aircraft carriers in different manners, how the transition of the airplane from a scout to a fighter played a pivotal role in the use of aircraft carriers and how the battleship proved not to be the projection platform it was thought to be. The use of carriers by Britain, Japan and the United States was vastly different.   That these 3 nations developed and used carriers in different manners can be accredited to their own history and geographic placement.   Britain and the United States entered the Second World War with the premise that the battleship still ruled the waves and all doctrines were based on that principle.   Britain used hers to escort warships and track U-boats but most importantly they were used to ferry planes to Africa and Malta, the unsinkable aircraft carrier of the Mediterranean.   The impact they had on Axis operations in Africa was significant.   The greatest contribution of British carriers was in the hunt for th... ...o protect her vital mercantile trade.   Japan being the aggressor and needing imports had to take the war to the enemy by using her carriers in an aggressive manner. The aircraft carrier became the most important ship in every navy because of its ability to project air power over a much larger area than the battleship. Navies were now capable of destroying enemy navies without ever coming within range of the ships main guns. Works Cited Howarth, D. The Dreadnoughts. Time Life Books. Illustrated History of WW2. (1969). Readers Digest Association . Leckie, R. (1998). The Wars of America. Castle Books. Spurr, R. (1981). A Glorious Way To Die. New Market Press. Writer, S. (2010, 11 5). USS Enterprise (CV-6) Conventional-Powered Aircraft Carrier. Retrieved from Military Factory: http://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=USS-Enterprise-CV6 Aircraft Carriers: A Global Force Essay -- Military Science In history though many countries share the same essential technologies they employ them in different manners which may be affected by military aims, geography and potential foes.   In particular in the Second World War this can be seen in the use of the aircraft carrier and the aircraft they transported.   Prior to World War II the major navies of the world did not view the aircraft carrier as a strategic weapon; instead the battleship was seen as the major force multiplier of the navy. This belief was because of the enormous firepower the battleship brought to the fight however; by the end of World War II the aircraft carrier would cement its place as the navy’s strategic projection platform. I will demonstrate this by explaining how Britain, Japan and the United States all developed and used their aircraft carriers in different manners, how the transition of the airplane from a scout to a fighter played a pivotal role in the use of aircraft carriers and how the battleship proved not to be the projection platform it was thought to be. The use of carriers by Britain, Japan and the United States was vastly different.   That these 3 nations developed and used carriers in different manners can be accredited to their own history and geographic placement.   Britain and the United States entered the Second World War with the premise that the battleship still ruled the waves and all doctrines were based on that principle.   Britain used hers to escort warships and track U-boats but most importantly they were used to ferry planes to Africa and Malta, the unsinkable aircraft carrier of the Mediterranean.   The impact they had on Axis operations in Africa was significant.   The greatest contribution of British carriers was in the hunt for th... ...o protect her vital mercantile trade.   Japan being the aggressor and needing imports had to take the war to the enemy by using her carriers in an aggressive manner. The aircraft carrier became the most important ship in every navy because of its ability to project air power over a much larger area than the battleship. Navies were now capable of destroying enemy navies without ever coming within range of the ships main guns. Works Cited Howarth, D. The Dreadnoughts. Time Life Books. Illustrated History of WW2. (1969). Readers Digest Association . Leckie, R. (1998). The Wars of America. Castle Books. Spurr, R. (1981). A Glorious Way To Die. New Market Press. Writer, S. (2010, 11 5). USS Enterprise (CV-6) Conventional-Powered Aircraft Carrier. Retrieved from Military Factory: http://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=USS-Enterprise-CV6

Value Management in Construction and Property

BRE 533 Value Management in Construction and Property Final Report Propose Development of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Phase 8 Development 30 April 2010 Content Executive Summary| | Introduction| Background to the value management study| Function of the value management workshop| Project objectives| Value management workshop objectives| | Information Phase| Overview of presentations| Q&A of the presentation| | Function Analysis Phase| List of functions of FCLU| Functional matrix| FAST diagram| | Creativity Phase| List of brainstormed ideas to satisfy selected functions of FCLU| |Evaluation Phase| Criteria for evaluation of brainstormed ideas| List of P1, P2, P3 ideas| Weighted evaluation technique| | Development Phase| Action Plan| | Presentation Phase| | Summary and Conclusion| | Reflective journals| | Appendices| Appendix A| List of roles of participants| Appendix B| Workshop agenda| Appendix C| Photo of VM Workshop| Executive Summary As Phase 8 development of Polytechnic U niversity is proceeding actively. To ensure all stakeholders’ needs were accounted for, a one day value management workshop was held at Polytechnic University Room W610 to discuss the use of campus, at no. 5 Wylie Path. Representative of various interested groups, government departments and stakeholders were present. The representatives were carefully selected by due process as the success of the value management workshop is dependent upon the input of participants. The workshop followed the Lawrence Miles approach which was widely accepted in international standards and all groups, departments and stakeholders thus gone through all major stages: 1. Pre-workshop Phase namely information phase, 2. Workshop Phase – function analysis phase, creativity phase, evaluation phase and 3.Post workshop Phase – reporting/development phase to input new ideas and rule out any unnecessary functions These three phases were worked by the team members in order to achieve better v alue for money for FCLU. The information stage of the workshop comprised, in addition to the presentations by participants, a structured question and answer session and a functional analysis section, which identified forty areas or objectives to be idea generated in relation to option 5; the first ranked option.The idea generation produced which ultimately were converted into a series of working lists. This included seven design notations which represented stakeholders’ needs and were, by consensus, to be included as part of the preliminary concept design. A preliminary assessment of risk associated with the project was undertaken following the value management process. This will form an introduction to a full risk assessment which will be done when a preferred proposal is announced.The participants were well familiar with the issues surrounding the project and this step has provided preliminary information for that later During the workshops, all participants have expressed their ideas and all information are recorded through the interactive value management software. To enhance sustainable development concept of whole project scheme, evaluation criteria were identified, defined and rated. These evaluation criteria were applied to each agreed alternatives and were rated on the scale of 1 -10.The idea generation stage of the job plan produced ideas for the refinement of sustainable design and were developed into action plans which are found in the body of the report. Introduction 1. 1 Background to the value management study The Phase 8 development is formerly design to be located at â€Å"former Livestock Depot†, northwest of the existing campus. The anticipated move in date is at the end of 2012. Upon completion, the development will provide approximately 25,600m2 net floor area for implementation of the new academic system and other academic development.However, upon completion of the design of Phase 8, the government would like to donate the lot no. 15 Wylie Path to the PolyU for expansion of the campus. To minimize the occurrence of abortive design, it is intended to relocate the Phase 8 development to no. 15 Wylie Path with additional facilities to ensure fully utilized of the land piece. The Associate Dean of FCLU, requested to conduct a VM workshop for the briefing process of this new project scheme to gain wider public consultation. 1. 2 Function of the value management workshopThe workshop provides the vehicle for bringing together the groups, departments and key stakeholders in a forum which: * Maximizes their contribution; * Draws on the combined knowledge of people from a variety of disciplines; * Takes advantage of group dynamics, rather than relying on input from individuals in isolation; and * Helps to bring into perspective the project as a whole, rather than as a collection of independent elements. Therefore, the number of participants should be actively managed so as to not become unwieldy, while maintain ing a wide representative.The list of role of participant is attached in Appendix A. While the workshop should be properly managed due to time constraint, an agenda is required and is enclosed in Appendix B. 1. 3 Project objectives The objectives of the project are: * Expansion of new campus to cope with the new â€Å"3+3+4† academic system. * Avoid abortive design due to relocation of Phase 8 development to no. 15 Wylie Path with additional facilities to make full use of the piece of land. * Facilitate green building design. * Enhance the concept of sustainable development. Improve the image/reputation of the university. * Minimize impact to the public and adjoining community. 1. 4 Value management workshop objectives The value management workshop objectives are: * To provide a forum to discuss the use of the land no. 15 Wylie Path to achieve sustainability and value for money. * To discuss the functions of FLCU in order to make adjustment to the former design of Phase 8 for locating at no. 15 Wylie Path. * To determine the additional facilities to be located in no. 15 Wylie Path apart from Phase 8 development. . 5 Workshop strategy The Workshop followed began in the five-stage Job Plan identified in Value Management Literature. Information stage The development project workshop began in the room W610 at the PolyU campus where presentations and keynotes speeches provided information on various aspects of development. Analysis stage The rationale behind a Value Management study is that the functions under study are analyzed to determine whether they can be carried out more efficiently and cheaply without reducing either quality or performance.With the large number of participants, analysis was not as rigorous as to determine the functions Over lunch in the staff canteen in the PolyU of the day of the workshop, we were set a task of identifying key areas of importance, which were then combined into a workshop-wide list. The necessary functions were deter mined through asking the participants what was important to them. This was carried out in a rolling approach. First, each participant was asked to think of the important aspect, then discuss them amongst their team and finally promote them to the whole workshop.Later, a mixture of functions and evaluation markers resulted in the whiteboard. The result was then used to direct the creative thinking and evaluation sessions. Creative stage The number and diversity of creative ideas that emerged from the workshop were satisfying, as to be expected from the value management process. Majority of the creative thinking process have run smoothly. Evaluation stage At the end of the creative thinking session, teams were asked to present their ideas. This allowed a certain amount of evaluation to take place before the presentation as teams only presented their best ideas.The further evaluation and development of ideas took place with all the participants in the workshop together. Development sta ge The workshop ended with an action plan which set out tasks that were required for the ideas raised in the workshop to be taken forward. This action plan is seen as an important step to change the workshop from a talking shop to one with a definable outcome. Information Phase Overview of presentations Presentations were carried out in the order of the following functions: * Project design teams – including architect, building services engineers, landscape architects, etc. o present their roles, the available preliminary design, concept of their design and how their design can meet with the sustainable development goal and the new academic system. * Government departments – including Buildings Department, Highways Department, Architectural Services Department, etc. to present their roles, the current and necessary statutory requirements imposed on the project and the views in terms of government. * End users or related interested groups – including different fa culties, student union, planning office, etc. o present their roles, their concerns of the project, their needs and expectations from the project in view of the new academic system. * Potential contractors – including main contractor and subcontractors to present their roles, the anticipated planning of works and their expectations in terms of design, waste management and contractual arrangement. Some participants make use of the computer facilities to deliver their ideas/expectations through Microsoft Powerpoint slides while the majorities are presented via general speech and causal discussion.The content of the presentations is based on the context of the background papers prepared by all participants. After the general introduction by the facilitator, speakers gave several presentations on the major issues surrounding the project. They were as follows: Speaker| Topic| President| Aim to meet the need for providing the use of the land No. 15 Wylie Path to achieve sustainabil ity and value for money. | Consultant Architect| Review of permissible land use, deliver of preliminaries project design and type of contract procurement. | Campus Planning Officer| Introduce the preliminaries planned requirement. Associate Dean of FCLU| Role of Associate Dean of FCLU| Facility Management| The importance of Facility Management| Head of BSE| Sustainability development| Head of CSE| Role of Head of CSE| Student Union| Role of Student Union| Landscape Architect Project Manager| Review of statutory requirement, deliver of preliminaries landscape design concept. | Consultant Landscape Architect| Review of statutory requirement, deliver of preliminaries landscape design concept. | Building Services Consultant| Self promotion| Fire Safety Engineer| The importance of Fire installation| Quantity Surveyor| Role of QS in the project|Lands Department| Land Use of Site| Architectural Services Department| Role of ASD on Public Building Projects| Environmental Protection Departmen t| Potential Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures| Electrical & Mechanical Services Department| Monitoring the Quality and Workmanship of Lifts and Escalators and Administrate Registers of Registered Electrical Workers (REW) and Contractors (REC)| Buildings Department| Statutory Standards of Buildings| Contractor| Time, Cost and Quality Construction| Building Sub-contractor| Sustainable Development and Value for Money| Overview of PresentationsThe key points of the presentation listed in the table above are found as follows: President President of PolyU presented the aim of this VM workshop and such approach is to meet the need for providing the use of the land No. 15 Wylie Path to achieve sustainability and value for money. The development phase describes how to relocate the Phase 8 development to no. 15 Wylie Path with additional facilities to make full use of the piece of land was briefly conducted. Also, background information about the project had been clearly presente d during the VM workshop. â€Å"The Phase 8 development is proceeding actively.It is originally design to be located at â€Å"former Livestock Depot†, which is in the northwest of the existing campus. The anticipated move in date is at the end of 2012. However, upon completion of the design of Phase 8, the government would like to donate the lot no. 15 Wylie Path to the PolyU for expansion of the campus. So, intent to avoid abortive design, the Associate Dean of FCLU (Faculty of construction and land use) suggested conducting VM workshop for the briefing process of this new project to gain wider public consultation. † Consultant Architect Consultant Architect clarified the current land use of the land denoted from overnment and the mechanism of the land use change under current statutory requirement. He also presented his preliminaries design of the project including the project scope and nature in accordance with the statutory outline zoning plan. Typical design consi derations were also reviewed by him and he also further adopts various forms of energy efficient features:- (a) Water-cooled chillers and evaporative cooling towers; (b) Rotary heat wheel for primary air-handling units; (c) Demand control of fresh air supply with carbon dioxide sensor; (d) Occupancy and daylight sensors for lighting control; e) Light-emitting diode (LED) type exit signs; and (f) Automatic lighting and ventilation control for lifts. Finally, the contract procurement by means of design and build contract was introduced. Campus Planning Officer Campus Planning Officer reviewed the necessaries of shuttle buses between the old and new campus and introduced the overall project development time frame. They also planned that the development shall provide approximately 25,600m2 GFA for general teaching facilities including lecture theatres and classrooms, teaching and research laboratories, conference facilities, office accommodation and amenities facilities.Associate Dean o f FCLU * Associate Dean of the Faculty is responsible for the promotion of whole-person development of undergraduates in the Faculty and is responsible for matters in relation to the development of undergraduate curriculum, including general education, transition to the 4-year normative degree, and outcome-based teaching and learning. * * As the president of HKIVM who initials the use of VM workshop in facilitating with over years experiences of being facilitator in VM workshop.Being a Certified Value Analysts (CVA) recognized by the UK IVM and also the certified facilitator (List A) in HKIVM, Associate Dean of the Faculty is used to be secretary, editor and vice president of HKIVM. Facility Management Facility Management is the process by which an organization integrates its people, work process and physical assets to serve its strategic objectives. As a discipline, facility management is the science and art of managing this integrative process from operational to strategic levels for promoting the competitiveness of organizations.The HKIFM hence recognises Facility Management as both a process and a discipline. It also affirms the integrative approach adopted in Facility Management world-wide and promotes the synergy of effective people and building/ asset management that can enhance a corporation’s competitiveness. In addition, HKIFM accords Facility Management to the highest professional level whereby facility managers are instrumental in the strategic decision making of an organization. * * Head of BSE As the head of BSE, they would introduce sustainability development.Sustainable development is a pattern of using resource that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only at the present, but also for future generations. Engineering plays a crucial role to the success of this new technologies and applications. The various aspects of sustainable design have to be considered which consists of enhanc ed of the physical environment, energy conservation, visual and noise impacts, indoor environmental quality, water management, solid waste management, operation and maintenance.Energy conservation- There should be integration of architectural design to enhance energy efficiency. Building orientation and building envelope design, including sunshades and glazing should be considered to adopt the overall thermal transfer value and the overall energy approach. Energy consumption display panel can be used as educational facilities to promote awareness of building occupants. Visual and noise impacts- The cultural and heritage values of a building should be well considered in order to reduce the visual impact.The noise impact can also be reduced through building envelope design, provision of noise barriers and introduction of noise prevention measure, etc. Indoor environment quality- Natural ventilation is recommended to use and the indoor air quality can be maintained by specifying materi als and products with low volatile organic compound emission as well as by air treatment and filtration. The use of daylight should be maximized while visual privacy from exterior is maintained. Both glare and light pollution should also be minimized. Water management- Reduce, reuse and recycle can be applied.The use of low-flow spray taps with sensor operation can reduce water consumption while being more hygienic. Development of biotechnology enables maximizing the recycle of grey water by using micro-organisms. Recycled grey water can be reused for toilet flushing and irrigation of plants. Solid waste management- During the design stage, space should be allocated for the disposal of domestic waste from building occupants and allowed for sorting and storage. The use of prefabricated building construction system and the adoption of re-usable metal or fibreglass formwork are good to use.Operation and maintenance- As the design and construction stages of a building is shorter than op eration and maintenance stage, sustainable design can save a lot of wasteful alterations and excessive consumption of energy during the life span of a building. A good example can be adequate metering for measurements and performance monitoring of the building. Head of CSE As the Head of Department of Civil Services Engineering, they need to prepare a proposal to employ some best academic professions and other supporting staffs, budget, and others auxiliary facilities to our senior management for approval.And the important role is to implement PolyU Strategic Plan to proceed. * Head of Student Union The Students' Union organizes a wide range of activities every year for its members. These include sports, recreational, academic and cultural functions, ranging from aquatic and athletic meets, students' festivals, orientations to Open Days for the public. Union representatives serve as members on a number of University committees, thus maintaining an effective link between the Universi ty Management and the student body. Consultant Landscape Architect / Project ManagerConsultant Landscape Architect clarified the procedure about the preparing of master landscape plan compliance with statutory requirements. Typical landscape design considerations were also review by him and he also further adopts various forms of landscape design concept for D&B contractor to follow:- 1. Communal sky garden; 2. Communal podium garden; 3. Green Planting at all floor balconies 4. Water feature fountain at the main entrance 5. Trees planting along the Boundary/Fence wall 6. Lawn at non-accessible public areaBuilding Service Consultant BSE Asia  is in a position to offer the benefits of a strong local base with a staff compliment of around 390 within the region together with the ability to support any major development in  Asia with both specialist engineering expertise and technology from an international forum through our group companies. Currently BSE Asia is actively  involved in various large scale  projects located in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Philippines, Vietnam and the Middle East. We have extensive experience in most Asian countries.Our experts and engineers have been responsible for large number of landmark infrastructure and building projects throughout Asia. Our clients have been able to take full advantage of our comprehensive regional presence in the knowledge that this can be further supplemented by world class resources from our other world-wide offices. Our range of work sectors covers the whole field of the building environment for the design of large retail scheme, office building, private housing, factories and  leisure facilities to the civil engineering of roads, railways, bridges, ports or communication systems.Our range of skills covers the whole industry of building and construction  from structural and building services design to the civil engineering and the design of environmental management programme ranging from contamin ated sites to noise and vibration control. * BSE Asia is confident  to successfully deliver engineering design and implementation of the project due to our extensive experience and knowledge and deep understanding of the local culture in Asia. * Fire Safety Engineer The reliable fire protection system is very important to safety of the properties and the occupants in a building.The fire services installations, including the fire detection; fire alarm and fire-fighting systems shall be designed to comply with the regulations of the Fire Services Department as a minimum. A sensitive but reliable early fire warning system and effective fire suppression system is very important to make sure that the fire is detected when it is still in its smoldering stage, to put out or retard the development and spread of the fire and smoke when the fire is still its early stage.On the other hand, the fire detection and alarm system shall be accurate as not to result in high volume of false alarms t hus causing undue panic and serious disturbance to the tenants. The fire alarm system shall be fully interfaced with other building services installations, including electrical, mechanical ventilation and smoke control, emergency announcement, and lift installations, etc. such that the entire services installations will operate as an integrated system in response to the emergency situation.The fire services installation equipment including fire detection, fire alarm and fire fighting system shall be designed to comply with the regulations according to Fire Services Department requirement. Quantity Surveyor Quantity Surveyor introduced their roles in the project and the important of cost planning for project development. Lands Department Lands Department (LD) presented the administrative procedures and relevant regulations on land use. LD reminds the VM workshop members that the requirements of planning application under Section 16 of the Town Planning Ordinance.LD expressed that she would give corresponding feedback from their enquiry about the issue of land use. They would carry out detail assessment on review, consideration and approval for lease modification. If necessary, LD will incorporate other departments such as Buildings Department and Architectural Services Department for solving relevant technical issues Environmental Protection Department Environmental Protection Department (EPD) presented their role on preparing plans, programmes and legislation for environmental protection and overseeing the conduct of studies, investigation and surveys.They liaison with other government departments, educational and professional institutes, public organizations (such as District Councils) and other private sectors on environmental protection task. EPD concerns the construction site environmental and sustainability issue of the Project. Their concern as stated follows: 1. Noise Impact & management 2. Air quality impact 3. Waste management 4. Green and Sustainable Buildings 5. Green Procurement and Supply Chain Environmental Management 6. Avoid & Reduce Waste in construction site Electrical and Mechanical Services DepartmentRegarding to the PolyU Phase 8 Development, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) would monitor the quality and workmanship of the lifts and escalators to be installed in the project, by certification system of Lift and Escalator Engineers and worker, providing advisor services of life safety and approving the use of lifts and escalators. EMSD administrate registers of registered electrical workers (REW) and contractors (REC) and monitor their performance. They remind the Contractor shall employ REW and REC to carry out any electrical works in the Project.EMSD reminds all VM workshop members that all the fixed electrical installation shall be in accordance with the Code of Practice for the Electricity (Wiring) Regulation, published by our department. The electrical system shall be registered in the departme nt by form WR1 signed by REW. They would also carry out spot check to these registered electrical systems. During the operation stage, EMSD would perform checking and endorsement of Periodic Test Certificate and inspecting fixed electrical installations in the building.Buildings Department Buildings Department (BD) presented their responsibilities in the workshop is to provide expertise to ensure all proposals for the expansion of Phase 8 Development will meet with all statutory standards, safety and other requirements. In case of any breach of statutory provisions and missing of relevant documents are identified, suggestions will be provided for the project team and other stakeholders allowing revision of design in the initial stage.On the other side, BD expressed the progress of the project. The original layout and design of Phase 8 development is upon completion, all plans are ready to submit for approval by Buildings Department. They are then to advise the project team any fores eeable objections will be raised by other Government Departments regarding the original design and suggest how to re-layout or revise the design not to breach any statutory requirements and in full compliance of Building Ordinance for the expansion development proposal.BD expects that their advice can probably help the project team to minimize the time spending on checking with the compliance of Building Regulations so as to speed up the whole project not only in initial stage but also the construction stage as well as the whole process. Contractor One of the potential contractors, Hong Kong First Class Contractor Limited (HKFC), presented their staff arrangement, time, cost, quality, safety and environment management and site layout planning in this phase.HKFC will allocate sufficient competent personnel at head office and site for maintaining the standard of works on site and co-ordination with project stakeholders including clients, consultants and sub-contractors. HKFC provided a proposed master schedule of the project. They shall begin the project commencing from the date for procession in April 2009 and complete the project by March 2012. Based on the tender documents provided by the consultant quantity surveyor, HKFC estimated the tender price is HKD 1,128 million for this projectHKFC expressed that they would adopt ISO 9001 and ISO 14000 international management systems for this project to achieve client requirements and statutory standards. HKFC presented their safety plan for this project specifying that two potential safety risks are identified – deep excavation and finishing works at external walls. They have taken positive actions to reduce the impacts of those risks including provision of temporary scaffolding and monitoring system. For site layout planning, HKFC pointed out that the site area is sufficient large to locate all facilities.Building Sub-contractor The building sub-contractor, A & G Building Construction Ltd. (A&G), attended t his VM workshop and expressed views on this project in respect of waste reduction, buildability enhancement, project procurement system improvement and construction innovation. A&G recommends several solutions on above issues. For waste reduction, they suggested to solve the problems in three aspects: design, site management and procurement method. For buildability enhancement, they recommended to improve the design and site operations.Questions Raised as a Consequence of the information Phase Following the presentation, the VM workshop participants, had the opportunity to ask the relevant questions through a structured process. As the presentations of all participants were able to express the concern and important issues of the project, there were no questions raised on the presentations. There was only one debate when end users group presented their ideas on drainage system, the secretary of the workshop had posed a query on the feasible of such idea.The question was satisfactoril y solved through the facilitator stimulation and discussion between parties. Function Analysis Phase During the workshop, we learned the concept of function analysis and its use at the strategic briefing stage of a project to derive the project’s mission through function diagramming. One of the objectives of the use of function analysis at the strategic briefing stage is to lay the foundation for the â€Å"best value for money† solutions to the project problems.The function analysis technique relies upon the discovery of all relevant information through the issue analysis and the structuring of that information in a way that leads to the recognition of the primary objective of the project. There are three steps to the construction of a function diagram: 1) GENERATION OF FUNCTIONS A function is the specific purpose or intended use for a product, it is the characteristic that makes it work, sell, generate revenue, or meet requirements (Dell’Isola,1982).The generat ion of functions starts with the facilitator leading the teams to creatively explore the functions required by the project. These functions may be high order executive functions or relatively low order ‘wants’. All functions are explored as an active verb plus a descriptive noun, and are recorded on sticky notes and scattered randomly across the wall mounted white board.. The facilitator was continually prompt the teams to generate functions by referring back to the information from the issue analysis, timeline and REDReSS. A typical list of creatively explored functions is shown in Table A ) SORTING OF FUNCTIONS / CONSTRUCTING PROJECT FUNCTION —-PRIORITY MATRIX After the completion of the brainstorming session, the teams are invited to sort the notes into the more organized form by putting the highest order ’needs’ into the top right – hand corner of the white board and the lower order ‘’wants’ into the bottom left â€⠀œ hand corner. ‘Needs’ are the fundamental requirements that the project must possess to serve the client’s basic intentions and ‘wants’ are the embellishments which it would be nice to have but are not necessarily needed.The project function priority matrix is constructed from responses gleaned from each â€Å"sticky notes† function as to whether that function is technical or strategic and whether it constitutes a need or a want. The note is transferred to the appropriate box in the matrix where its position is ordered relative to the other function in the box (Table B). The higher priorities are listed at the top of the respective boxes. It should be emphasised to the team that this procedure is an iterative process and one of our team member was entitled to move a previously ordered sticky note.Although this activity sounds confrontational but there was disagreement to occur and the correct ordering of all the functions were achieved. TABL E A: TYPICAL LIST OF CREATIVELY EXPLORED FUNCTIONS FOR THE PHASE 8 DEVELOPMENT 3) CONSTRUCTION OF FUNCTION DIAGRAM A strategic or customer oriented FAST diagram is constructed by focusing on the strategic needs and wants The highest order needs tend to form the mission of the project with supporting functions being positioned to the right. The strategic wants tend to be positioned below the centerline of the mission statement.The mission statement will require to be word crafted to make it read as a flowing statement. It is important to have unanimous team agreement that the statement truly reflects the mission of the project, the mission at this stage does not necessarily imply a building. TABLE B: A PROJECT FUNCTION PRIORITY MATRIX Describe the Function Analysis and how to use this technique? Function analysis as used here is the process of analyzing the functional, rather than the physical, characteristics of a system. A function may be stated in the form {verb,noun}.It is an act ion upon something. Eat food, go to work, and cash paycheck are very important functions in the life of most of us. Akiyama (1991) notes that †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. The aim of function analysis is to reveal each of these actions and thus identify the nature of the products and services to which they belong. All products and services are endowed by their creators with certain purposes. Function analysis reveals the intentions or purposes behind the creation of a product or service and thereby identifies the nature of that product or service.Although products and services exist as physical objects or systems, they are not created out of nothing. They are preceded by an idea – a concept – which is the basis of their creation. Function analysis identifies the nature of products and services by revealing these concepts. Having determined the nature of an object, one can then conceptualize many physical realizations which serve the purpose and choose the realization with the best value. In this manner breakthroughs are designed.Functional decomposition is the process of asking â€Å"how† for each higher level function to derive lower level functions. Functional composition is the process of asking â€Å"why† for each lower level function to derive higher level functions. The result is a tree or systematic diagram of functions which fall under some ultimate top level function. Function analysis is also a primary tool for quality function deployment, requirements engineering, and value engineering. Function Analysis System Technique Function Analysis System Technique is an evolution of the value analysis process.FAST permits people with different technical backgrounds to effectively communicate and resolve issues that require multi-disciplined considerations. FAST builds upon Value Analysis by linking the simply expressed, verb-noun functions to describe complex systems. FAST is not an end product or result, but rather a beginning. It describes t he item or system under study and causes the team to think through the functions that the item or system performs, forming the basis for a wide variety of subsequent approaches and analysis techniques.FAST contributes significantly to perhaps the most important phase of value engineering: function analysis. FAST is a creative stimulus to explore innovative avenues for performing functions. The FAST diagram is an excellent communications vehicle. Using the verb-noun rules in function analysis creates a common language, crossing all disciplines and technologies. It allows multidiscipline team members to contribute equally and communicate with one another while addressing the problem objectively without bias or preconceived conclusions.With FAST, there are no right or wrong diagrams or result. The problem should be structured until the product development team members are satisfied that the real problem is identified. After agreeing on the problem statement, the single most important o utput of the multi-disciplined team engaged in developing a FAST diagram is consensus. Since the team has been charged with the responsibility of resolving the assigned problem, it is their interpretation of the FAST diagram that reflects the problem statement that's important.The team members must discuss and reconfigure the FAST diagram until consensus is reached and all participating team members are satisfied that their concerns are expressed in the diagram. Once consensus has been achieved, the FAST diagram is complete and the team can move on to the next creative phase. The importance of the FAST approach is that it graphically displays function dependencies and creates a process to study function links while exploring options to develop improved systems. Value analysis and its more robust cousin, Function Analysis System Technique, are important analysis tools.These methodologies lead to improved product designs and lower costs by: †¢ Providing a method of communication within a product development team and achieving team consensus †¢ Facilitating flexibility in thinking and exploring multiple concepts †¢ Focusing on essential functions to fulfill product requirements †¢ Identifying high cost functions to explore improvements The strategic fast diagram for development of POLYU phase 8 development Creativity Phase The purpose of the Creative Phase is to develop a large number of ideas for alternative ways to perform each function selected for further study.The two approaches to solving a problem are analytical and creative. In the analytical approach, the problem is stated exactly and a direct, step-by-step approach to the solution is taken. An analytical problem is one that frequently has only one solution that will work. The creative approach is an idea-producing process specifically intended to generate a number of solutions, each of which solves the problem at hand. All solutions could work, but one is better than the others; it i s the optimum solution among those available.Once a list of potential solutions is generated, determining the best value solution is an analytical process. Creative problem-solving techniques are an indispensable ingredient of effective VE. By using the expertise and experience of the study team members, some new ideas will be developed. The synergistic effect of combining the expertise and experience of all team members will lead to a far greater number of possibilities. The subsections that follow describe the activities in the Creative Phase. Once the value study determines the frame, creativity process begins.When a team is present, high-performing team processes are in full affect by now. We usually use at least four creativity techniques. Two brief ones actually occur during the information phase. Two very extensive ones occur during this phase. In the creative phase the value management team put forward suggestions to answer the functions which have been selected for study. T here are a number of creative techniques, for example: brainstorming, the Gordon technique, the synaptic technique and many more. The main features as below: * ? Purpose and need * ? Managing divergent thinking * ?Brainstorming techniques * ? Unrestricted idea generation * ? Large quantity of ideas is the goal * ? Suspending judgment until the The team develops a broad array of ideas that provide a wide variety of possible alternative ways to perform the function(s) to improve the value of the project. After the FAST diagram and/or cost models have been completed, the VE Team should begin to generate ideas for each of the poor value basic functions. The objective of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible that could conceivably be developed into alternatives to the original concept.The typical brainstorming session consists of the VE Team spontaneously producing ideas related to the performance of the required function. The Facilitator’s role during brainstormi ng is to encourage creative, divergent thinking by the team members. This may be especially critical when the team members, who have been selected for specialized technical expertise, have difficulty considering innovative or unique technical applications. The team leader must enforce the need to defer judgment on ideas until as many as possible are generated. Every idea must be recorded for future evaluation, even those which initially seem absurd.Generate Alternative Ideas In this phase of the study, it is important to generate a free flow of thoughts and ideas for alternative ways to perform the functions selected for study, not how to design a product or service. While creativity tools are available for problem-solving situations, no specific combination of techniques is prescribed for all VE efforts, nor is the degree to which they should be used predetermined. The selection of specific techniques and the depth to which they are used is primarily a matter of judgment and varies according to the complexity of the subject under study.The following describes some idea-generation techniques commonly used in the VE context: a) Brainstorming. Brainstorming is a free-association technique groups use to solve specific problems by recording ideas individuals in the group spontaneously contribute. Brainstorming is primarily based on the premise that one idea suggests others, and these suggest others, and so on. Brainstorming could be done by an individual, but experience has shown that a group can generate more ideas collectively than the same number of persons thinking individually.Spelling has suggested combining group and individual brainstorming. He found that after the group brainstorming process was complete, individual brainstorming can generate additional ideas of comparable quality. There are various rules which apply to the management of a brainstorming session of which the two most important are: firstly, no criticism of any suggestion by word, tone of v oice, shrug of shoulders or any other method of indicating rejection is allowed. Secondly, the exercise is one of generating as many suggestions as possible. The good suggestions will be randomly scattered amongst all suggestions. In workshop has indicated that in any sample, the number of good suggestions remains fairly constant as proportion of wild suggestions, so the more suggestions that there are, the more good suggestions will be obtained. ) All suggestions are recorded and none are rejected on the grounds of apparent irrelevance. b) Gordon Technique. The Gordon technique is closely related to brainstorming. The principal difference is that no one except the group leader knows the exact nature of the problem under consideration. This difference helps avoid premature ending of the session or egocentric involvement.A participant may cease to produce additional ideas or devote energy only to defending an idea if convinced that one of the already proposed ideas is the best soluti on to the problem. It is more difficult to select a topic for such a session than for a brainstorming session. The subject must be closely related to the problem at hand, but its exact nature must not be revealed until the discussion is concluded. c) Checklist. This technique generates ideas by comparing a logical list of categories with the problem or subject under consideration. Checklists range in type from the specialized to the extremely generalized. ) Morphological Analysis. Morphological analysis is a structured, comprehensive system for methodically relating problem elements to develop new solutions. In this approach, the problem is defined in terms of its dimensions or parameters, and a model is developed to visualize every possible solution. Problems with too many parameters rapidly become intractable. e) Attribute Listing. This approach lists all the various characteristics of a subject first and then measures the impact of changes. By so doing, new combinations of charac teristics (attributes) that will better fulfill some existing need may be determined. ) Input-Output Technique. The input-output technique (1) establishes output, (2) establishes input as the starting point, and (3) varies combinations of input/output until an optimum mix is achieved. In the creative thinking stage, the workshop participants are divided into groups, each of which is asked to resolve issues identified in the information stage. The spokespersons of each group are then asked to present the findings from their group to all study participants so that further ideas can be created from the other participants.All ideas are welcome, as even those which are seemingly unsuitable, may spark the creative thinking process. Using focused creative lateral thinking process, list, for the select functions, the numerous alternative ideas or options for performing existing or proposed functions. A large quantity of ideas should be generated and recorded at this stage, without ant stopp ages for judgment or criticism. Brainstorming is a creativity technique extensively used in value management and much can be found written about it in value management literature.Essentially a brainstorming session is a short-term intensive group exercise, where a team of individuals will generate as many ideas as possible for risk events that may adversely affect the project. In a sense, this may be termed â€Å"negative brainstorming† as the team of individuals is trying to determine all the things that may go wrong with the project i. e. the downside risks, as compared with more conventional value management brainstorming where the team is trying to generate ideas for fulfilling functions.Evalution phase The main tasks in this phase inculdie setting up criteria, evaluating and selecting alternatives generated during the creativity phase. Various models and techniquees, such as, cost models, energy models, LCC models and weighted evaluation technique may used during this ph ase. n this phase, the question â€Å"what does each alternative cost and how does it perform? Will be answered. Evalution of Ideas Generated Screening Ideas into Categories: -Realistically possble (P1) -Remolely possible (P2) -Fantasy (P3)Weighted Evaluation Technique is relevant in Value Mznagement, and particularly value management exercises in situations where a decision needs to be made in selecting an option from a number of competing options where the best option is not immediately identifiable. The first stage in the weighting and scoring methodology is to determine the criteria by which the options are to be judged. In selecting criteria it is important not to select criteria which are highly correlated, for example, when judging between floor finishes , we should not includ criteria such as ease of cleaning with cost of cleaning since the two are highly correlated.For example, when considering internal partitions setiing upbetween the different spaces, a number of options are suggested. In determining the criteria for judging the optons the following are agreed. * The ability of demountable. * Good noise attenuation. * Attractive finish. * Ability to conceal services. * Ability to support fittings and fixturees. * Cost. * Reliability of supply over a period of years. A paiired comparison exercise is then held to determine the weighting to be given to each attribute as shown in the Figure A. The weights are carried forward to the scoring matrix and entered under their respective attributes Figure B.The scoring exercise then determines how well option meets the attributes based on a scale of 1 to 5. These score are entered in the top left triangle in each cell of the matrix. The score is multiplied by the weight in each cell and the amount entered in the bottom right triangle. all amouts are summed for each option and the total entered. Based upon the decisions taken by the team a traditional stud and plastered blockwork a close scond. the proprietary partitins did not score well in the exercise and this may require a second look.Indeed a sensitivity analysis should take place by changeing some of weights and some of scores to see the impact. In the exercise below the team gave a high weight to sound attenuation against which some of the proprietary partitions scored poorly. In the evaluation process,the weighted evaluation technique is used to more formally organize the process. Weighted evaluation ensures optimm decisions. good decisions are made by placing the proper emphasis on all criteria. During evaluation, it is impotant to discuss and weigh the following areas: * Needs Vs desires Important Vs Unimportant * Design tradeoffs Vs requireed function. On the other hand, the Value of the weighted evaluation technique are: * Information / Knowledge sharing * Consensus building * Number of criteria and options Limitatons of the weighted evaluation technique are: * May be very time – consuming * Consistency in the process * Use of other methods such as Analytical Herarchy Process (AHP) may be the possible ways of mitigating the limitations. Since the optimum time to conduct a value review is after the preliminary submittal stage and before working drawng are started.The principal reasons for reistance to changes recommended by VM studies are lack of understanding of VM. On the contrary, VM is designed to be an additional technique for economy and for promoting greater cost effectiveness, but there always generally lack of knowledge of the priniciples and application of VM in the construction area. To overcome the limitations, initially, it was recognized that the preferred place to do VM was during the design phase. Next, all the available information, including cost data, was gathered. Finally, a VM study team wass assembled.The team checked the cost estimate, and then conducted the information and speculative phases of the job plan. The obective was to verify cost and to develop a list of ideas of probable savings without expending too much time and money. Development Phase When completed the above four stages (Information, Financial analysis, Creativity and Evaluation phases ) then we will reach a critical phase is Development phase. Because the main task of this phase is included investigate selected alternatives in depth, developing them into written recommendation for mplementation and establishing an action plan with action to be taken and present responsible. This stage is not only to let our client to know all technical and economical evaluation. We should also consideration of the probability and operability of successful implementation, such as availability of labour and materials, capability of building contractor and his sub-contractors. During this stage, we should only tight monitoring the job progress and also periodically review the progress to make the project can reach the optimal result and include client’s requirement and expectation.Action Plan Upon completion of VM shop, ideas and suggestions have been sought from the VM team members regarding to the development of this Phase 8 – Land No. 15 Wylie Path Project. To facilitate the fore coming preliminary design of the projects, an action plan has worked out. We believe this action plan can be utilized as a guideline for the members to carry out follow-up action and also presented as a clear list for subsequent counter-parts to undertake the detail design and even giving indications and advices for future construction works. Item| Action Description| | Environment Issue| | Liaise with BEAM and seek their advice for the building design| 2| Investigate the feasibility of planting more trees around the development| 3| Consult from the designer about the natural night design| 4| Investigate the feasibility of using recycle construction materials| 5| Encourage the use of modular building designs and precasting of building components| 6| Encourage the use of lean construction à ¢â‚¬â€œ the use of lean construction design such as using thinner walls| 7| Prompt good handling of raw materials during construction| 8| Advise the designer to use of automatic-switching system for air-conditioning and lighting devices. 9| Consult from environmental specialist to minimize the noise during construction| 10| Undertake tree survey to preserve the existing trees as many as possible. Avoid tree felling. | | General Recommendation| 11| Assess Traffic impact to the public during construction| 12| Encourage better cater service to the new development| 13| Incorporate more amenities area to the campus | 14| Improve the accessibility of the location. Liaise with relevant public transport company. 15| Investigate whether hair cutting service to be established inside campus| 16| Equip with better wi-fi service| 17| Investigate the feasibility of school bus service| 18| Incorporate with wide diversify cater service| 19| Plan for more hall bed | 20| Encourage with more activitie s rooms| 21| Consider planning for better IT equipment in the campus| 22| Investigate the possibility of introducing beauty workshop for the girl student| 23| Consider planning for an equipped fitness centre| 24| Encourage students to participant more extracurricular activities in this campus|Presentation Phase During our presentation phase on 10 April 2010, Dr. Fan – Technical Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Value Management had been invited as our group facilitator and he had also given some critical idea. During the presentation phase, we have divided into four small groups and each person should also show their name and party involved, such as Client’s representative, construction team members, professional consultant, user’s departments and relevant government departments etc.During the presentation phase, each parties had been introduce their contribution on the VM workshop and some members also raise-up some questions when they have queries, and th e concerned members will explain his/her opinion and we want to solve all queries on the workshop or change proposal usually include a statement of the follow-up procedure which are necessary to ensure the implementation We found that be a competent value management specialist is not easy but it is valuable to find a VM specialist to hold a meeting, especially in some large construction project.During the presentation phase, we had learnt that the subject aims to all student that he/she should be able to use some value management methods more efficiently to hold the meeting, such as: 1. To understand the value management methodology; 2. To use value management tools/techniques such as functional analysis in workshop; 3. To organize and manage value management workshop in different phase of a project life cycle; 4. To exercise practical creativity skills and work with a team of stakeholder to arrive at innovative solution; 5.To ensure value for money for project by applying value man agement in business and/or technical situations; 6. To implement the value management methodology and technique in real-life projects. If we can follow all steps and apply suitable technique and lead the value management workshop then I believe that we can reach client requirements. Besides, Hong Kong government also support value management methodology apply in some large public project and this instruction also written on the technical circular 16/98 by Works Bureau in 1988 and technical circular 35/2002 by environment transportation and works bureau in 2002.Finally, if we want the value management workshop more effectively that a value management specialist must be a smart, full of tactic and fully understand the whole construction procedure then he/she can ensure to achieve value for money methodology and also fulfilled client’s requirement. Summary and Conclusion With the help of Mr. Shen in the morning and Jacky in the afternoon, acting as the facilitator, the VM worksh op was completed successfully in early of April.With a brief introduction, we had a clear idea of objectives for the project as well as the VM workshop. Different phases such as information phase and function analysis phase were carried out during the workshop, some key features were learned from each phase. In the Information phase, a short brief was carried out by core team members (i. e. chairman, contractors, consultant, government bodies, etc. ). As such, team members could know more about the projects as well as different roles acted by team members.The main tasks in this phase including collection of historical cost data; identifying client’s needs, wants and requirements; clarifying project givens and assumptions; obtaining design standards as well as specifications; having a thorough understanding of the project. In the functional analysis phase, the main tasks in this phase are to identify and classify functions and select elements for detailed studies. Techniques s uch as Function Analysis, FAST Diagram, Function Hierarchy, Priority Matrix may be used during this phase. In our workshop, FAST Diagram and functional matrix were used to determine the function of the Phase 8 Development.Team members understood the use of FAST Diagram and selected suitable functions for further analysis. In the creativity phase, the main task in this phase is to generate a large number of alternative solutions for accomplishing basic functions required by the clients. This task is normally supported by creativity stimulating techniques, such as Brainstorming, Golden Technique, Synectics, Lateral Thinking. Alternative solutions to the selected functions were proposed in our workshop. Selections of score from 1 to 5 were elected through team members’ choices.In the evaluation phase, the main tasks in this phase include setting up criteria and evaluating and selecting alternatives generated during the creativity phase. Various models and techniques, such as, co st models, energy models, LCC models, and weighted evaluation technique may be used during this phase. In our workshop, WET is used for evaluation and 3 functions were chosen In the development phase, the main tasks include investigating selected alternatives in depth, developing them into written recommendations for implementation, and establishing an action plan with actions to be taken and persons responsible.This involves not only detailed technical and economic evaluation but also consideration of the probability and operability of successful implementation. Through the VM workshop, we can understand and be able to select appropriate projects for VM studies. Besides, we learn to manage critical success factors to ensure successful execution of VM studies. Furthermore, we can understand project under-performance and how VM can address this issue. The last but not the lease, we can know the benefits of VM applications in property and construction.The following are some benefits a nd advantages that could accrue to a development if VM is utilized: – It provides a forum for stakeholders – Generally the team spirit is enhanced – It provides an overall review of the project which many stakeholders previously may not have had access to – It identifies constraints, issues and problems which might not otherwise be obvious or have been considered – It provides an optimum value for money project with improved functionality – It identifies any deficiencies, omissions or superfluous items and any unnecessary costs – Assists in crystallizing a client’s brief Creates a large return for a minimal investment in the VM study. VM generally pays for itself Apart from the academic view points, many team members express their opinions during the last session in which a numbers of good ideas are inspired. Most of the team members agreed that many techniques for VM have been learnt in the VM workshop, and such outcomes are u seful in the construction industries and also daily life. Some special opinions are also raised in this session such as ‘keeping silence is equal to agree, voice out is more proactive in selecting score for functions’.Besides, some members pointed out that in selecting the functions, there is no specific guideline or judgment in evaluating the score, making the score is not subjective. Reflective journals Fong, P. S. W. and Shen, Q. (2000), â€Å"Is the Hong Kong construction industry ready for value management? † International Journal of Project Management, 18, pp. 317-326. Grosvenor, R. (1997), â€Å"Introduction to Value Management. † Value Manager, 3(4), pp. 4-6. Hill and Bowen (1997), â€Å"Sustainable construction: principle and a framework for attainment. † Construction Management and Economics, 15(3), pp. 223-239.SAVE International, Value Methodology Standard, â€Å"The Value Society†, 1998. http://www. value-eng. org/pdf_focs/monogra phs/vmstd. pdf Shen, Q. P. and Liu, G. W. (2004), â€Å"Applications of value management in the construction industry in China. † Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 11(1), pp. 9-19. The website of The Hong Kong Institute of Value Management http://www. hkivm. com. hk/ Ann T. W. Yu, Geoffrey Q. P. Shen, John Kelly and Kirsty Hunter. A How-To-Guide to Value Briefing. The Hong Kong Polytechnis University and Glasgow Caledonian University 2006 VM in Hong Kong: Research and Development Geoffery QP ShenBoddy, D. (2002) Managing Projects – Building and Leading the team, Pearson Education, UK. BSI (2000) Value Management, BS EN 12973:2000 Dell’ Isola A. J. (1982) Value Engineering in the Construction industry, 3rd edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New Work Construction Industry Board (1997) Brief the team, Thomas Telford Publishing , London Gallupe, R. B. and Cooper, W. H. (1993) Brainstorming Electronically, Sloan Management Review, Fall pp. 27-36 General Condition of Contract for Building Work 2005 http://www. hkbeam. org. hk/fileLibrary/_BEAM%20Plus%20NB. pdf SAVE International (1998) Function: Definition and AnalysisShen, Q. O. (1993) A knowledge-based structure for Implementing Value Management in the Design of office Building Thiry, M. (1997) Value Management Practice, PMI Publications, Philadelphia Appendix A – List of roles of participants NO. | Student Name| Student No. | Party| 1| CHAN Chun Ming| 08585004g| EMSD| 2| CHAN Ho Man| 08534329g| SU| 3| CHAN Wai Hung| 08569551g| Bldg sub-contractor| 4| CHAN Wa