Integrated Systems of Insuring Customer Objectives in Construction Industry - Literature review Example

? Integrated Systems towards the insurance objectives in the Construction Industry In the field of construction, as well as any other highly technical institution or operation requiring an extensive hierarchical and organizational structure there exists a perennial problem of achieving objectives while satisfying clients or constituents. The twin parameters of efficiency and satisfaction drive the success or failure of any organization that must have dealings with the general public, or a specialized selection of clients. This investigation will explore these endemic challenges common to many organizations, but in this instance with a focus on the construction industry. Statement of Problem For any Corporation, as well as government or other service institutions the challenge is to deliver specialized services to a particular clientele yet in doing so in an efficient manner. It might be possible for a company to offer extremely favorable terms and financially unsustainable discounts on goods and services in order to attract customers in the short term, but there is a limit to the amount that can be given away as a gesture of goodwill. A company must also demonstrate inefficiency in its operations and organization in order to remain profitable and viable. On the other hand, an operation thinking only of the efficiency and interest of itself and its highest ranking members will be unable to draw new clients/customers competitively. With concern only for the interest of the operation internally, it becomes a virtual impossibility to be attractive to outside customers. Therefore, such an operation will be unable to grow – and will suffer the loss of new business to competitors. There are numerous variations on this theme, but ultimately the construction organization – for any other company providing services to clientele must strike a balance between these extremes. An operation must be efficient enough that the company is able to pay employees while still retaining profit for itself, yet at the same time it must have sought after products or services that it can offer under attractive terms for customers. Achieving this balance is the fundamental factor determining the rise and fall of businesses. Even organizations with only a small number of clients, perhaps a single investor or another company contracting a second company to perform some specific task is not immune to these challenges. Whoever the customers or clients are, they must be sufficiently satisfied to permit repeat business, and yet the organization itself must remain internally viable so that it is able to continue doing business. Neither of these factors can be ignored. Achieving this balance requires the deliberate establishment of management structures to ensure the efficient delivery of client objectives through a process of knowledge management (Anumba et al. 2005). In some respects, these twin factors can intertwine in terms of viable solutions to either issue. If a company is able to resolve issues of internal management sufficiently, that its own of viability is insured – it is then able to address the issue of client satisfaction. The reverse also applies; achieving client satisfaction in a sustainable way allows the organization to devote more attention to internal bookkeeping. This investigation will explore the potential of administrative models to address challenges in the delivery of client objectives and services. Fulfilling this dimension of business operations is integral to the success of the enterprise, and ongoing research permits new possibilities to achieve efficiency for client services. Specifically, this investigation will focus on integrated systems for the delivery of client objectives. The balance between customer service and efficiency is hypothesized to be enhanced by a theory of integrated systems for complex project management to achieve the delivery of client objectives. Analysis of the Problem Initially, it is helpful to discuss the systems themselves in order to foster an understanding of the means of integrating them. In a broad sense; a system can be defined as an assembly of inter-related elements comprising a united whole. There are two essential strategies that describe system design: Hard systems are those with a tangible existence bound by objective physical boundaries; such as a computers, or the Pacific Ocean. These operate under discrete rules with definable, physical causalities. More relevant to this discussion is the Soft System. The Soft system refers to a concept that exists by definition. The Soft system does not have external reality that is physically detectable, it is described as a system by fiat as a tool for human understanding (Checkland & Poulter, 2006). Most corporations operate this way, as well as organizations such as a government, church, or Top-ten movies of the Summer. This discussion will explore ways to unite multiple soft-systems into a more cohesive framework. This is necessary in the interest of efficiency. For complex systems there are a series of categories describing the degrees and levels of complexity. Such as structural complexity, dealing with various categories of mathematical functionality. Unattended and changing environment complexity corresponds to a dynamic system that alternates between the degree to with outside forces do or do not influence the whole. In the new model of international business, different factions and departments in the same corporation or organization exhibit relationships with each other that cause emergent properties to arise in the system, this makes most international corporations and many construction firms complex systems, as opposed to non-complex systems without these emergent properties (Bar-Yam, 2003). The essential functions of a soft system of this type, such as building a building in the case of the construction company, or performing functions of government becomes prohibitively difficult where organizations operate inefficiently. In order to survive, corners must be cut, client needs may go unmet and the organization will leave itself vulnerable to competitors. In a democratic government, this is represented by lost elections in extreme cases, for the purposes of the construction industry – there are always. Competing firms that exist or may exist in the future able to take place of an organization without effective client services delivery systems. As technology continues to advance, it is reasonable for customers and clients to expect whole the organizations with which they do business to keep pace. A serious organization with interests in long-term viability may find it impractical to not maintain a website, and customers expect to be able to contact representatives through phone and e-mail from the website or some form of business communication such as business cards. Achieving success and customer satisfaction will require a policy of regularity and consistency where new information is communicated through the available technological media as it becomes relevant to potential clients. Moreover, as the global economy creates opportunities for larger and more complex businesses, it is also a necessity to be able to communicate with other companies through modern means as well. This is likely to be the case at any level, from the small business 'mom and pop' operation to an international conglomerate. These media can be described as engagement technologies, to the extent that they allow communication and thus engagement between customers/clients and the company itself. Therefore, it is necessary to remain current in these areas not simply as a means of providing customer satisfaction, but also for the purposes of successful integration in negotiation within the world of business itself. These engagement technologies (phone or Internet options) are therefore an essential component for the delivery of client services and must be included in a management or integration strategy pursuant to this objective. A system assisting in the delivery of the services must also be able to process information concerning engagement technologies in various communication options. An organization must develop a strategy based upon how often customers interact in what way and under what circumstances. How much business does the company do over the phone? How likely is it that important clients will prefer to do business in person? Some companies may discover that the majority of business for inquiries may occur beyond normal office hours. Under the circumstances, it is therefore essential to expand and diversify information and functionality over the company's website, at the expense of office hours. Yet a business organization providing services to customers that live in rural areas may find that Internet access is inconsistent, and more engagement might occur over the phone. The effective organization should not ignore the necessity of gathering this sort of data, and thus prioritizing the preferred engagement strategies used by the clients they are most dependent on. Features such as this are integral to the determination of what project delivery method should be utilized by the construction firm. There exists a range of strategies for owners and managers during the course of the planning phase of construction. With a thorough understanding of the needs and expectations of the customers, it is possible to devise a strategy most conducive to the needs of the company in question. What is needed is a theory of management, or a management system. An integrated management system can be described as a series of interconnected or interacting components for establishing policies and procedures to enable the completion of specific objectives in an efficient and effective manner. Integrated systems for management purposes where was a culmination of a stepwise process of corporate improvement in terms of the overall quality of services rendered. The fundamental basis is one of quality control, the process whereby clearly flawed offerings are rejected or corrected before they can be offered to the customer, and potentially damage customer relations. The next step would be a form of quality assurance, whereby more proactive measures are taken to investigate circumstances that may lead to harmful or sub par offerings or products and take steps to prevent them. This culminates in a process of quality management, where the strategies used for quality assurance are more formalized and structured for greater efficiency. Further refinement of the system resulting integrated management systems, where in a hierarchy of managerial structures bring together multiple disciplines and departments in order to ensure the completion of the project in an efficient manner. Ideally, the logical progression of this scheme is more than simply catching a bad product before it is delivered to customers, and integrated system is both proactive and inclusive. Steps will be taken to alleviate the conditions that might give rise to the bad product in the first place, while at the same time streamlining all tangential operations in the interest of safety and efficiency. Integrated systems assist with the delivery of client services by assembling the elements of a normal organizational structure into a coordinated unit. In integration system includes the available resources, any and all technical processes involved, in addition to the equipment. It must also factor in the relevant personnel when estimation of their core competencies, all under the umbrella of effective and well documented policies and operating procedures guiding all elements. These components are integrated to achieve the overall objectives of the organization, in this case to enhance the delivery of client objectives. This integration must also include safety functions, as well as the initial quality concerns that precede integrated management in most cases. In order to prevent a bad product being delivered to the customer, simple quality control alone is not enough. An integrated system combining as many elements as possible is necessary in order to optimize performance of the entire organization to achieve greater efficiency, as well as greater safety. This integration by necessity requires a unification of organizational processes to achieve harmonization with the overall objectives of the organization, in this case the delivery of client services. Integration is necessary as a matter of both safety and efficiency. In any complex corporate hierarchy, the possibility exists of confusion which may result from differing policies overseen by a different managers with separate ideas on service delivery and different departmental objectives. Especially in heavy industry and construction it is probable that attempts to address safety issues separately and in isolation will overall cause a negative impact on those issues as a whole. If individual departments do not have a valid appreciation for the needs of the others, different managers may work at cross purposes and interfere with one another. Without this integration, it is not difficult to perceive the difficulties that would result in a construction site. In developing an integrated management system, there are a number of requirements that must be achieved in order to graduate a simple quality control system into an integrated framework. Initially, documentation is necessary describing the organizational hierarchy proposed, and the new operating procedures that the disparate organizational elements will be structured under. To this end, a statement of purpose and scope is useful for the new hierarchy. A statement describing the core elements included in the new procedures is necessary, in addition to a statement of purpose. The purpose statement should convey the need to ensure product and service quality based on the expectations of customers or clients. The statement should inspire workers to perform their actions to the highest possible standard while abiding by safety procedures. Furthermore, the initial statement of an integrated system should also describe the scope of the new organizational structure, and describe the various departments that fall under its purview, such as manufacturing or marketing, etc. Procedure should be written up with a convenient guide explaining how each employee can locate the relevant information. Sections must be dedicated to a set of common and terminologies and definitions as well as abbreviations specific to the system at hand. At this point regulations should be described which are common to all workers, as well as performance and safety policies relevant throughout the organization. In addition, corporate communications and documentation should also be regulated both the purposes of record keeping, and to the extent that information security is considered important. In addition to a statement describing the overall functions of each employee and their respective departments, a description of the management structure should also be provided. Accountability and authority for executive decisions should be clearly designated and accessible to anyone in any level of the organization based on agreed-upon procedures for document control. In the construction industry, the need for planning and design before hand is well understood, but for a larger operation the organizational structure itself should also be subject to the same level of planning in order to ensure the adequate delivery of client objectives. The construction process itself is highly dynamic, and it is not uncommon to experience cost overruns and scheduling delays. Therefore, contingencies must be factored into the initial planning process. The effective delivery of client objectives requires construction superintendents and project managers to devise an organizational structure with the ability to plan for the unplanned (Mincks & Johnston, 2010). Using data effectively organize from prior projects, combined with a detailed understanding of the organization's own integrated systems, it is possible – and often necessary to create buffers in terms of time and money during the implementation of a major project under the expectation that the unexpected will occur. Management integration will require a reevaluation of business modalities that have existed for more than a century. Traditionally, construction management often depended upon a single point contractor. This method depends upon the expertise of one or more master builders responsible for the entire physical assembly of the structure in question. But the simplistic approach to construction management became less viable during the latter part of the 20th century. Increased specialization and technical sophistication created the necessity for an increased division of labor. More complicated electrical systems to support computerization, in addition to large-scale amenities such as ventilation and air-conditioning in addition to plumbing requirements created the necessity for a wider range of experts able to bring the greatest level of sophistication to the project in question. The tendency towards specialization is common in a diverse city of industries, and and is a relevant illustration for the necessity of integrated systems management. A single builder in the 19th century might have been perfectly capable of correcting various small and comparatively simple structures (DVPM.co.za., 2013). But the modern advances of our technological infrastructure demands greater sophistication, a level of sophistication that a single expert is highly unlikely to replicate working alone. The greater complexity of modern building needs requires trained professionals skilled in specialized areas, all of which must successfully integrate their aptitudes and labors under an organizational whole. Many of these specialties include the support for IT and digital media (Kazi, 2005). While the job of construction itself is usually divided between multiple specialties, this doctrine of specialization also applies to the planning and management phases. In the modern industry, there exists a split between the functions of design and construction. The singular master builder is virtually unheard of, with architects, engineers, and owners making the planning decisions regarding what the structure should look like – in the manner in which it should be constructed. But this fragmentation process also creates the risk of different departments operating at cross purposes, as described above. It is not uncommon for the construction delivery apparatus to stumble under its own complexity (Hendrickson, 2008). While there are a variety of diverse specialties all contributing both in terms of labor and design, the modern doctrine is one of unity. Not unity in the form of a single master builder, but the integration of various departments into a bureaucratized collective with a singular authority for procedures and decision-making. This is the fundamental objective behind integration systems; the unification of complex organizations. Conclusions & Recommendations The modern era requires a tech-savvy strategy for communication with both clients and other businesses in order to function in the modern economy. To remain competitive it is necessary to achieve a balance between customer satisfaction in terms of delivery of objectives and operational efficiency. Neither factor can sustain a business alone, and both are essential to remain competitive and productive. This increasing technological sophistication underscores the new reality of functional fragmentation. This also reveals the overarching benefits of integration: converting disparate factions into a singular system of more regularity. Through integrated systems as a management strategy, the regularity of a hard system can be approximated through a series of departments bound together into a cohesive whole for the benefit of the project in question. Once a single designer could be expected to design and perform the majority of a construction project essentially alone (DVPM.co.za., 2013), but increased specialization is essential in an advanced economy. This requires a combination of diverse specialties; marketing in the interest of customer satisfaction, in addition to successful delivery of the objectives. This is the justification for integrated systems management - essentially a process that unites all relevant departments and specialists into a new structure as cohesive as possible. In this manner, the new bureaucracy of integrated systems seeks to restore some of the simplicity possible from the age of the old 'master builders', by uniting disparate factions into a new whole. The chief benefit (and the most pressing problem to avoid) is miscommunication between construction managers. Working at cross-purposes is a principle drawback of the new model of fragmentation in the business world. The best strategy in terms of recommendations for future projects is a series of common procedures and terminologies for the largest construction projects and their managerial needs. A secondary recommendation is the preparation for delays and scheduling issues. Complex construction projects are united in the likelihood of errors. Cost overruns, delays and unforeseen labor issues cannot be predicted, but must be accounted for by a practical, realistic construction management team. A necessary preventative measure is to work into the budget additional time and money above and beyond the minimal projected requirements under ideal conditions. This is a possibility for a larger organization, and a necessary precaution whenever possible. References Anumba, C.J., Eqbu, C., Carrillo, P. 2005. Knowledge Management in Construction. ISBN-10: 1405129727 | ISBN-13: 978-1405129725 Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. Bar-Yam, Y. 2003. When Systems Engineering Fails– Toward Complex Systems Engineering, IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 2003., Volume: 2, pages 2021- 2028. Checkland, P.B., Poulter, J. (2006) Learning for Action: A short definitive account of Soft Systems Methodology and its use for Practitioners, teachers and Students, Wiley, Chichester. ISBN 0-470-02554-9. DVPM.co.za 2013. CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AS A VIABLE PROCUREMENT OPTION IN COMPARISON TO TRADITIONAL ‘SINGLE-POINT’ CONTRACTING. Project Management Specialists in Construction. http://www.dvpm.co.za/images/CONSTRUCTION_MANAGEMENT.pdf. Accessed: 10/17/2013. Hendrickson, C. 2008. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA l52l3 Copyright C. Hendrickson 1998First Edition originally printed by Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-731266-0, 1989 withco-author Tung Au.Second Edition prepared for world wide web publication in 2000.Version 2.2 prepared Summer, 2008. http://www.scribd.com/doc/28202582/Project-Management-for-Construction-Book-2008 Kazi, A.S. 2005. Knowledge Management in the Construction Industry: A Socio-Technical Perspective. March 22, 2005 Idea Group Publishing. | ISBN-10: 159140360X | ISBN-13: 978-1591403609 Mincks, W.R., Johnston, H. 2010. Construction Jobsite Management. June 10, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1439055734 | ISBN-13: 978-1439055731. Read More