Functionalism

Functionalism is the doctrine that what makes something a mental state of a certain type depends on the way it functions, or the role it plays and not on its internal structure. Simply put, functionalism gives utmost importance to the function or role a mental state plays. They also give prime importance to causal relations because according to the follower of this doctrine any form of mental state is â€Å"†¦determined by its causal relations to sensory stimulations, other mental states and behaviors.† (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries). Let me take â€Å"pain† as an example. For the functionalist, pain is a mental state which arose because of a damage of some kind or because something is wrong with the body. For them, the only beings that could possibly experience pain are those who qualified to meet the condition stated above. However, the functionalists did not claim that there are only limited states of affair on which pain can be experienced. For them, various creatures may experience pain through different kinds of physical or mental states and thus the term multiple realizations came into context. Having defined what functionalism is, let me now move on to another important aspect of this paper-dualism. Dualism came from the Latin word dualis which means two. It is the belief that in everything in this world two important concept, which usually oppose each other exist. Just as there is a night then there must be a day. When there is good, there is evil. Such is the basis on which dualism is grounded.   In the philosophy of mind dualism aims to show the great difference there is between mind and matter. There are many differing points of view between the dualists themselves but they stood on the common ground that mind and matter are indeed distinct objects. According to the dualistic point of view where mind is made up of non-physical substance, our body is made-up of physical ones commonly known as matter. The mind and body dualism can be deduced as substance dualism which argues that mind and body are made-up of entirely distinct substances, and by property dualism which asserts that the mind and body may not be made-up of distinct substances but still, they are distinct and thus we cannot reduce one from the other. Now, how does functionalism differ from dualism? Functionalism is different from dualism because functionalism does not adhere to the idea of interactionism unlike that of dualism. Most believer of substance dualism argues for the sake of interactionism or the belief that mind and body, though distinct from each other, are still capable of causally affecting each other. Believers of the identity theory believe that there are at least some kinds of mental states which are completely identical to those of brain states. One known proponent of this theory is David Armstrong who proposed that â€Å"all mental states are identical with physical states†. This theory argues that the mind is indistinguishable from the brain. Due to their approach and beliefs regarding the mind they received numerous objections among which include the argument from multiple realizability. Believers of multiple realizability argues that mental events differ considerably from one organism to another and thus the idea that certain mental events are the same most of the timeis kind of preposterous. Thus functionalism and identity theory is very different from each other. Functionalism is considered to be more superior to other theories of mind such as dualism and the identity theory. Now, what brought about this superiority? Functionalism argues that everything is physical. The functionalists, unlike the other theories of the mind can do away without knowing how the brain came about its consciousness. The functionalists are satisfied to simply say that the function of our brain is to be conscious or consciousness. They do not put great effort in discovering what causes the consciousness of our brain which made them superior from the other mind theory. Another advantage functionalism may have over the other theories is its ability to equate conscious states with the functions of our brain, thus functionalism allows examination of our conscious states which plagues other theories. I said that it plagues other theories because they give too much privacy to matters of mind, believing that mind is a private matter and thus cannot be compared to other minds (such as the problem in Cartesian dualism). Functionalism, on the other hand faces no such problems because they give way to analyzing other minds or other experiences. The ability to test things empirically offered by functionalism shows its edge against dualism and the identity theory of the mind. Another advantage functionalism has over dualism and the identity theory of the mind is that the theory of functionalism offers understanding of the mind. However, no matter how great functionalism may be as compared to other mind theories it still has its drawbacks. It does not entirely solve the problems of the mind. Functionalism does not give us a clear explanation of the obvious distinction of the physical and conscious states. Besides, another objection arose from their claim that we can really differentiate one mind from the other. Surely, no one can fully understand how other minds work. Besides different people experiences things differently no matter how alike their experience may seem. For example, I may feel deep depression upon losing a pet but then I cannot really say that the depression Anne felt when she lost her dog is the same as mine, now could I? Thus, no matter how more advantageous functionalism may be over dualism and the identity theory it is still not wise to go on believing functionalism as a whole. One must still see the pros and cons of certain thoughts or theories. REFERENCES: â€Å"Assess functionalism† â€Å"Dualism and Mind† â€Å"Identity Theory† http://www.utm.edu â€Å"Functionalism† http://plato.stanford.edu/entries   

Resilience and Adult Development Essay

The word resilience is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as: â€Å"an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change†. This in the psychological world still has the same meaning as Bjorklund states: â€Å"resilience is the maintenance of healthy functioning following exposure to trauma†. In dealing with life and adult development we are either going to become more resilient or breakdown. It is my belief that the more a person goes through and is tested in life it will determine whether they will breakdown or become a more resilient person. My research has determined that faith and spirituality will help a person become resilient in life. I find great value in the ability to help persons find the meaning to their stressful situations. When we usually think of the word value we tend to think on monetary terms. However, there are something’s that are worth more than money. I believe that being able to help people identify, realize, and find fact the root of their stress and then help them with tools to decrease their stress level is something that money cannot hold value over. I am essentially changing someone’s life for the better. I say that because when a person can reduce their stressful situations they are more likely to be positive. Alternately, if they cannot reduce their stress level they will have to either adapt or let the stress consume them. When the stress level is able to be adapted to the person’s lifestyle then it is considered that the person is becoming resilient. If the person cannot handle the stress they can have a breakdown that can lead to many issues ranging from depression and on. As I stated in my Abstract paragraph, the word resilience is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as: â€Å"an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change†. This in the psychological world still has the same meaning as Bjorklund states: â€Å"resilience is the maintenance of healthy functioning following exposure to trauma†. In saying that, if we are dealing with a client who is in stressful experiences and we assist them in finding meaning for that stress; we in turn give them the strength and ability to become resilient. They will not only learn how to manage a stressful event but they will also welcome more challenging events with skills that will not break them as previous experiences have done. Stress is defined as a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation (Bjorklund, 2011). Stress affects humans on different levels and there are many different ways that humans cope with stress. Some adults use a support group of friends or family members that they speak with to work through stress. Another coping mechanism that is also used is when adults choose to fix the problem or the stress itself taking on a role to control the stress personally. While these are only a few of some coping strategies I chose to focus on these two as they are two ways that I also deal with stress in my own life. When I am stressed about school, work, or relationship problems I find that talking to my friends or mom helps me see things clearer than before. When I am doing this, it is referred to in the book as a coping behavior (Bjorklund, 2011). In thinking of one’s development of their intellect and personality as an adult; I believe that each person’s experiences will help to shape who they will be when they reach this age of development. From the readings, we discover that biological and environmental components are mainly what influence our intellect and personality. The biological factors include personal traits and genetics (Bjorklund, 2011, p. 250) while the environmental factors are from a single person’s family history and social structure. As someone who has worked with adults with mental disabilities for over eight years now; I immediately thought of genetic deficiencies as a possible interference of this development in the biological sense. If someone has a genetic disease at birth then that can shape how their childhood and teenage years will be which will influence how they develop their intellect and personality as an adult. If someone is born with the genetic disorder of Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome, they are born with very distinctive facial features, a small head size(microcephaly), intellectual disabilities, and behavioral problems. After going through Erikson’s stages of development, by the time they reach adulthood they may have a very biased view of the world based on if their experiences environmentally were positive or negative. If they were positive then we can expect that this person even with their disabilities will be positive or vice versa. In regards to how the development of one’s intellect and personality can be enhanced I believe that where biological factors may fail; environmental factors can succeed. If I have the above mentioned disorder but throughout my life my environmental factors have been only positive I may have an enhanced view of the world in a positive light and my personality and intellect would reflect that through the way I treated others and how I lived my life. As a psychologist, working with clients I think that this could affect them in both positive and negative ways. If you have both negative biological and environmental factors then you are more likely to present a negative personality as would a all positive personality would have had positive factors. I think that in working with the clients in regards to treatment if nothing but negative traits are presented then the psychologist would see issues of highly negative and possibly aggressive behavior. This would be one of the major issues I could see that the client could possibly be a danger to himself or others. I believe that when working with clients it is in our best interest to lead by example. If I am working with a client and I feel that reading a book is something that the client should do to assist a behavior but I cannot provide a book title I am not being of any help. I believe that some of my ethical impacts such as being honest, respectful, hard-working, provide support, allow me to give the client the most positive model to value and deal with a new person about. The clients will be able to notice my beliefs and will be intrigued by it. This could lead to the client wanting to enter a more positive lifestyle for their own personal gain to assist with their own understanding of what they deem ethical. When thinking of the type of experiences that being resilient is needed I automatically think of death. Death can leave a large gap in a person’s life. Death depending on the adult and their culture can be seen as either highly positive or something to be seen as saddening. While death is a major player in what we experience as a loss, there are other losses that we encounter as adults. For some the loss of their youth could be seen as a stressful time. Some people cannot cope with the feelings of getting older. If a person can learn to cope with things like death and other losses then they will be able to become more resilient. Things that would be a difficult issue when working with clients in this arena would be loss of a parent. As someone who lost their father through a gruesome murder it would be hard for me at first to push my own feelings aside to assist them with their feelings of loss. While I know this area would be difficult I know I would be able to assist them because I was brave enough to get counseling when I lost my father. By admitting that I needed help I gave myself the opportunity to get skills to become the resilient person I am today. Due to that new found resilience I was able to deal with other loss such as loss of jobs. I have lost jobs in this economy and I could be a sounding board for others to let them know that it does get better and I could provide them with resources for assistance. There was a weekly discussion that we talked about in this class about time and how it relates to development I found that discussion to be one of the discussions that plays apart in how we become resilient as well. For example, my physical features from 6 to 16 showed major changes as did my features from 16 to 27. I say that to emphasize that change is inevitable no matter how we try to push it off. Ultimately time is the one thing we cannot dominate. Aging is a natural process. As I stated before the differences I have seen in myself from these ages are quite different and these changes have affected me in positive and negative ways. For example, at age 6 I was a young, energetic, and full of life kid with pigtails and missing teeth. I was not yet at puberty but could see changes in myself. I went up in shoe sizes which made me sad because I had to give away my favorite pair of LA Gear light up sneakers (negative effect), but I got my first pair of Jordan’s (positive effect). As we age, over time our body continues to age and change accordingly. At 16, I had entered adolescence and with that came menstrual cycles, breasts, and braces. I considered all of these as negatives because I was a dancer on my high school’s dance team and extra attention was not something I desired. However, something else I learned at 16 was that doing daring stunts like I did as a child could weigh heavily on me now as a teenager. My bones were not as strong as when I was younger and I ended up breaking my foot. Now at age 27 I wouldn’t dare attempt all of the dance moves that I did in ballet as I have so many aches and pains all signs of the body wearing down or aging. I said all of that to give a personal experience of how we age and now as I near 30 I know that bones break easily, and we are prone to more diseases just from father time continuing to tick. Our book states that a question was posed if primary aging could be stopped by turning back the clock (Bjorklund, 2011). Father time would easily say no. In regards to a professional such as a psychologist; working with patients and knowing the aging process would give the psychologists the ability to not only understand where the person is in their life cycle but also prepare them for their next phase. If a psychologist is working with a 25 year old who is on top of the world and loving life but is afraid of entering their 30’s. The psychologist would be able to explain how the next stage would play out and how there may be some physical changes that may develop but they are simply due to the body adjusting to its new limits. The biggest surprise in the reading was the aging process being affected by our socioeconomic status. If this is true that would mean that lower class persons are sicker, thinner, and more ill than those in richer classes and those monetary values can equate to the value of our aging process and how well it goes. The time and resilient factors are parallel to me in how we develop as adults. It is through our experiences and through time that we learn from our life changes. While one may say that the longer we continue to hide away from things the easier it is to deal. In actuality, by not dealing with issues we are putting more stress in our life that can affect us in negative ways and minimize our chances of becoming more resilient by dealing with our issues head on.

Consolidating Theory and Research: Childhood Studies Essay

Essay This essay will discuss the new theories of Childhood Studies, possible benefits to teachers and children and how it relates to New Zealand early childhood practice. Let’s begin by looking briefly at what childhood studies entails. Childhood studies is a relatively new field of study that seeks to move away from the outdated theory of seeing children with a ‘social construction’ lens, where a child is a product of a particular set of culturally specific norms, to a ‘social constructivist’ lens, which focuses on the child as an individual and how they interact with their own environment. Not as passive earners, but people, with agency, who contribute to their own development (Clark, R. 2010). Childhood studies draw from different fields of study, e. g. , psychology, education, health, anthropology, law, and sociology, and looks at children using a Bronfenbrenner model. Bronfenbrenner saw a child as being within society, within the bounds of first , it’s family and setting, or the micro system. Then of its mesosystem, or the connections between the family and setting. Then of its community, or exosystem, where the microsystem function. Then in the macrosystem, or greater societal makeup of a child’s particular place of origin. Then lastly the cronosystem, or particular time in which a child lives, and the historic and societal factors of that time, that influence children (Clark, R. 2010). Because childhood studies look at childhood from a wider viewpoint, it allows children to be seen as functioning individuals within many different societal norms. It highlights problems with older theories of development e. g. Piaget’s stages of development (Claiborne, L. , & Drewery, W. 2010) Piaget’s stages define children within a narrow beam, with expectations clearly defined. But in reality, using theories in Childhood Studies, you find children with astly different competencies depending on their societal context. E. g. a three year old New Zealand child will be mostly dependant, protected and facing nothing more challenging than kindergarten and play, whereas a three year old child from the Congo or the South American jungle is likely actively participating in serious household chores and contributin g to family survival, undertaking tasks that a New Zealand parent would balk at (Berk, L. 2009). An interesting crossover is Steiner kindergarten’s practice of teaching children through participating in everyday life skills. e. g. , food preparation, cleaning, gardening, and useful echnological crafts like sewing and weaving (Oldfield, L. 2012), in a typically Western European setting of a teacher led service. The discourse that underpins modern European views of ‘normal’ childhoods being vulnerable and needing to be protected (Clark, 2010), run into problems in the new theories of childhood studies. When you look at children as competent individuals and give them agency, empower them and give them room to develop beyond normal expectation, children often preform well beyond ‘normal’ capabilities. Looking at children through a Childhood Studies focus forces teachers and researchers to reassess their philosophies and xpectations of children (Clark, 2010). Although teachers can use normative guides for approximate development, it is too difficult to paint an exact measure of ‘normal’ and fit all children within that expectation (Clark, 2010). Average and ideal competency is relative to societal influences, and even in a small countries like New Zealand, cultural differences in Pacific, Maaori and European cultures provide stunning examples of different levels of competency, agency and expectation in children. For example, a strong focus on tuakana/teina relationships in Maaori whanau, or the xpectation of a larger role in siblings caring for each other (Tomlins-Jahnke, H. , & Durie, A. 2008), and the serious attitude of respect and responsibility afforded to Pacific children relative to community and cultural practice (Pereira, F. 2004) & (Poland, M. , Paterson, J. , Carter, S. , Gao, W. , Perese, L. , & Stillman, S. 2010). Teachers can no longer presume that just because a child is of a certain age or size that the child’s developmental competencies will be at the expected normal level. From personal experience, I have a child who did not meet toileting self management at four, ut excelled in academics, and all my children were frequently mistaken for older children in early childhood settings because of their increased height and size. This often led to unreasonable expectation from other parents of their skill level and behavior. So in conclusion, Childhood studies urge us to know each child as an individual, so that we may cater to that child’s best interests and levels of competency. The best way to do this is work on building sound reciprocal relationships with children and their families (Ministry of Education, 1996), and by using qualitative methods of recording and presenting and valuating children’s learning in Early childhood settings (Ministry of Education, 2009). Childh ood studies allow us to look holistically at a child and its surroundings and work to meet its needs within that setting, shedding typical expectations and working towards strengthening skills and competency. Part two Perspectives of children Sourcing and analyzing seven media examples concerning New Zealand children, I found strong connecting themes. These were overt consumerism in western culture, poverty vs wealth in normal discourse, overwhelming misunderstanding as to best normal development anging from personal to government level, and the frightening tide of misuse of technology in western society threatening children’s development. Children were discussed in all examples, but there was no children’s voice. It seems normal to discuss and analyze children in media, but never to ask them their opinion! Which seems to go against any rights that children have (United Nations. 1989) to be treated equally, and have an agency in their lives and culture. I will break th e articles down to find the main themes underpinning each article, then link over lapping themes that run throughout. Article one â€Å"Kiwi families conned by promise of free childcare† discusses the 20 hours free childcare policy. We see that although the government tries to provide all children with free early childhood education (ECE), centres are charging extra. We ask ourselves is this because government undervalues children in general and doesn’t fund enough? Or is it because children are seen as commodities by EC centres who are trying to make a profit. Either way, children are being given economic value and both parties are struggling to balance books, not develop children. In article two, â€Å"Should preschool be compulsory? two pundits debate compulsory preschool. The article points out the inability of the poor to afford what is in fact not free education for 3-5 year olds under the 20 hours free policy. A topic carried over from the first article. From a child studies point of view it raises these questions; How can government presume all children fit appropriately into services in multicultural society? How can government insure centres meet cultural needs of children attending centres? And who decides the ‘magic’ set of skills a child needs to acquire before starting school? Skills listed in the article do not fit skills

Criminal Victimization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Criminal Victimization - Essay Example In facts these impacts can change the very life-styles of people with permanency and therefore it has to be ensured that justice is always correctly administered. This issue has therefore been discussed and analyzed here in a generalized manner but with logical arguments and counter arguments to convince with justification the following view points. (Callie Marie Rennison, Ph.D. and Michael R. Rand, BJS Statisticians, August 2003, Criminal Victimization 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) The United States Department of Justice summary findings state that twenty three million of their residents over the age of twelve years were criminally victimized in 2005. The breakup of these twenty three million crimes according to the National Crime Victimization Statistics show that 77 percent or eighteen million were subjected to property crimes; 22 percent or five million two hundred thousand were subjected to violent crimes and one percent or two hundred twenty seven thousand to personal theft crimes. Further fatalistic figures show that in the same year for every one thousand residents again over the age of twelve years one rape or sexual assault was committed, one assault with injury was committed and three robberies were committed per every one thousand persons. ... (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Criminal Victimization) Background to Criminal Victimization While the above statistics when brought to attention may appear to be somewhat alarming, especially in view of the post nine-eleven tragedy which have bared nerves to their very cores. This together with the continuous setting off of alarm bells by the administration on the pretext of homeland security against terrorism; these statistics still are in sync with the averages on criminal victimization trends that have set in over the past many years. Assertion When these statistics are compared internationally, their analytic figures prove to be amongst the extreme highs. It therefore has become difficult to assess as to why in a country perceived to be the land of opportunities where the most advanced educational facilities, technologies and social welfare systems are available, this fatalistic criminal phenomena has been able to become so deeply embedded in our societies. Arguments Can it be that the taking of our highest standard of civil liberties so much for granted by our citizens rendered them as meaningless and of such less importance that its true value has value has somehow been lost Or could it that too much of independence and excessive freedom under the impression of living amongst the most advanced and modernized societies of the world started to degenerate our family and humanistic values more and more. The evidently visible overflowing riches which we have yet do not appreciate because we were born with them, leaves much more for us to think over so that we can once again be thankful for who and what we are and begin to contribute for the well being of humanity. The

CRITICALLY EXAMINE RECENT RESEARCH INTO THE INFLUENCE OF GRANDPARENTS Essay

CRITICALLY EXAMINE RECENT RESEARCH INTO THE INFLUENCE OF GRANDPARENTS AS CARERS ON CHILDRENS LIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME - Essay Example he need for extended families is compounded by the rise economic stagnation manifested by reduction in real wages, and overall reduction in jobs offering benefits and a living wage, and government sector retrenchments for single mothers, and working poor (Baker, Silverstein, and Putney, 2008, p. 2).The result is a compromise in the ability of parents to raise their children while increasing the childcare gap. In this case, grandparents are the most reliable guardian in such distressed families as their sons and daughters in the middle-generation are incapable of rearing their children on their own. Baker, Silverstein, and Putney (2008, p. 3) highlight that about 6.5 million children in the United States live with one grandparent causing about 9% of all children nationally. This means that while the parents of these children work, grandparents are used as babysitters, who offer childcare. Consequently, families translate into multi-generational households. The grandparents living with grandchildren can be custodial or non-custodial. With custodial carer, the grandparents care for grandchildren on a full time basis. The grandparents can be relatives or non relatives the grandchildren left to care for children, especially where the motheres return to work after having a baby (Grandparents Plus). Unrelated grandparents are just day carers. Conversely, non-custodial grandparents caring for grandchildren are just day carers who are not the principle source of care for the children since their parents are either co-residents or not. However, the research notes that grandparent carers are unevenly distributed across racial groups and social classes, especially where poor families depend on them as cheap childcare that facilitates both parents to work (Grandparents Plus). Furthermore, amongst African Americans custodial grandparenting rates are very high given the historically high rates of single parenting and poverty (Backhouse 12). Extended familism’s cultural

Risk Management (Probability modeling in finance and economics) Essay

Risk Management (Probability modeling in finance and economics) - Essay Example ARCH and GARCH type models used to estimate volatility are also nonlinear models expressed as a function (linear or not) of past variations in stocks. ARCH-GARCH models and more recently the range process have generated an extensive amount of research and papers. Just as chaos the Hurst, exponent and memory modeling have been topics of interest in many areas outside finance and economics. ARCH and GARCH models, which are important for modeling and estimating volatility, are an important part of modern finance. Since the value of an option depends essentially on its volatility and volatility studies are assuming an important role in financial modeling. A primary feature of the autoregressive Conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) model as developed by Engle (1982), is that the conditional variances change over time. Following the seminal idea, numerous models incorporating this feature have been proposed. Among these models, Bollerslev's (1986) generalized ARCH (GARCH) model is certainly the most popular and successful because it is easy to estimate and interpret by analogy with the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) time series model. ... prominent role in the analysis of many aspects of financial econometrics such as the term structure of interest rates, the pricing of options, the presence of time varying risk premia in the foreign exchange market. The quintessence of the ARCH model is to make volatility depend on variability of past observations. An alternative formulation initiated by Taylor (1986) makes volatility be driven by unobserved component, and has come to be known as the stochastic volatility (SV) model. AS for the ARCH models SV models have also been intensively used in the last decade, especially after the progress accomplished in the corresponding estimation techniques, as illustrated in the excellent surveys of Ghysels ET al (1996) and Shepard (1996). Early contributions that aimed at relating changes in volatility of asset returns to economic intuition include Clark (1973) who assumed that a stochastic process of information arrival generates a random number of intraday changes of the asset price. The Black-Scholes model for instance assumes that the price of the asset underlying the option contract follows a geometric Brownian motion and one of the most successful extensions has been the continuous time SV model. In these models, volatility is not a constant as in the original Black-Scholes model; rather, it is another random process typically driven by a Brownian motion that is imperfectly correlated with the Brownian motion driving the primitive asset price dynamics. In technical terms, the volatility process generated within arch type models converges in distribution towards a well-defined solution of a stochastic differential equation as the sampling frequency increases. One concomitant reason is that the continuous record asymptotics developed for the ARCH models do not deliver

Communication Opinion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communication Opinion - Essay Example In healthcare communication, one-to-one communication is crucial because it can have many advantages as well because the message is not misconstrued. However, it can be dangerous as well because body language and facial expressions can be analyzed instantly. Communication in a can team can harness goals because the diversity of opinions that are present. In team work, appraisal and feedback system was another huge theory that was present in both methodologies. It is crucial to understand that giving feedback to employees that feel that they need to benchmark and leverage their standards. Medical professionals must undertake to understand their patients in order to provide best quality care.The provider can encourage to communicate effectively by propagating for face-to-face interaction and encourage strong team skills. Provide must champion to know teams at a personal level. Stronger team skills are necessary for collaboration and building effective team communication. With stronger team skills, one is able to network and meet the array of people that can be very useful in building networks. Additionally, cohesive research suggests that team skills building are extremely important in making decisions and understanding the scope of the problem itself. Successful team building allows personnel to work through a task with trials and tribulations. Additionally, Team effectiveness is based on collaboration and constant team work. Evidence of effectiveness is portrayed by the seamless integration of collaboration.

Restaurant Industry Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Restaurant Industry - Research Paper Example gross domestic product. The overall economic impact of the restaurant industry is expected to exceed $1.5 trillion in 2008, including sales in related industries such as agriculture, transportation and manufacturing. In addition to being highly competitive, the restaurant industry is often affected by changes in consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns; changes in general economic conditions; public safety conditions; demographic trends; weather conditions; the cost and availability of raw materials, labor and energy; purchasing power; and government regulations. The restaurant industry faced several economic challenges in 2007, including rising food and labor costs and escalating gasoline prices that caused the revenue growth to remain sluggish. The cost of food and beverages account for approximately 33 cents of every dollar of restaurant sales and is one of the most critical items on their income statements (along with labor costs, which also represent about one-third of restaurant sales). Rising corn prices are a matter of concern as it serves as a primary ingredient in most food items and its steady increase sets off a rippling effect that tends to affect all food prices. The rising gas prices remain the biggest concern for the industry which threatens to strike the budget conscious consumers and their dining preferences. The dining-out i The dining-out industry has also fallen prey to the flood of merger and acquisition activities that creates an instability within the industry. The industry is forecast to under perform the broader market over the next several months and hence potential investors are hesitant and may focus on other sectors. However, long term prospects are excellent with increasing exposure to international markets and the mounting popularity of dining out. The Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory was the realization of a dream for Oscar and Evelyn Overton who started their business with baking and selling cheesecakes in Los Angeles. The company began operations in 1972 as a baker and distributor of cheesecakes and other bakery products. They opened the first restaurant in 1978 in Beverly Hills, California and thus started the growth of a global chain of restaurants. Currently the company operates 139 dining restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory mark in 34 states and the District of Columbia and 13 under the Grand Lux Caf mark in nine states. The Cheesecake Factory is an upscale dining restaurant that offers over 200 menu items including pizza, seafood, steaks, burgers, salads, sandwiches and desserts, and over 40 varieties of cheesecake and other baked desserts. The restaurant concept strives to provide a distinctive, high quality dining experience at moderate prices by offering an extensive, creative and evolving menu in an upscale, high-energy casu al setting with efficient, attentive and friendly service. Some of their popular cheesecakes include the Original Cheesecake, Godiva Chocolate, Key Lime Cheesecake, Carmel Pecan Turtle, White Chocolate Caramel Macademia Nut and Fresh Strawberry. Corporate Growth Strategies The business strategy is focused on a prudent allocation of capital intended to enhance overall earnings per share growth and increase returns on invested capital. Operationally, the company strives to improve productivity and efficiency through the use of technology and a

Social Media and the Importance of Good Media Relations Essay

Social Media and the Importance of Good Media Relations - Essay Example This paper approves that the information can be uploaded in the form of articles, bookmarked links, photos, videos or music. The connections made over the social networking sites are interlinked to one another and extend to the greater circle of connections. Due to this, the relations maintained in the social media tools should be carefully moderated. The effects of mass media can be felt on the political processes existing â€Å"in the contemporary advanced democracies†. The news generated by the media and reported on the social media tools are capable enough to create consciousness in the political sphere. For larger institutions, their operations overseas are powerful enough to have a say in the political scenario prevailing worldwide. The lifestyle of the people is also influenced by the social dictums that are reflected in the social media. The political feelings of the people are modified to a great extent through the images reported by the media. This essay makes a conclusion that the term social media has arrived from the concept of â€Å"aggregation of individuals into groups†. The connection between the different users leads to sharing of values along with the ideas and information. This makes the companies to think in more serious terms about the utilization of social media in their business processes. The companies sometimes dismiss the smaller social networking sites in favor of the bigger ones. But these sites in most cases create â€Å"greater amount of noise†. Hence from the above discussion one would agree with Parker’s statement: â€Å"In a social media driven world, the fundamentals of good media relations practice – relevance, authority, engagement and relationship – are more important than ever†.... The various social media platforms are reachable from any place and any time by anyone through the access of internet via a smart phone or a computer. The implications of such a vast reach of social media are reflected on the domains of â€Å"public relations and communications† (CIPR, n. d.). Journalists use social media for collection of news. These social media are a big ‘source’ of news. Thus on the other side of the coin, social media plays a big role in the process of determination of business performance as well as its promotion such as brand recognition. It creates an authority upon the performance of the businesses as is indicated by Parker. Campaigning and advertisement are done on a large scale over the official websites of the different organizations. It helps the company to reach out to a greater number of people and also make an account of the reviews of the existing customers as well as the responses of the potential customers. The organizations nee d to â€Å"deal with the media† (Giancontieri, 2008, p. 1) and make interactions with the reporters in their own interest in order to promote their business. Establishment and maintenance of â€Å"mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organization and its publics† (Tench & Yeomans, 2006, p. 4) is achieved through a very good public relations management strategy. Public relations are a feature of management function in an organization that entails the social media to a large extent. The foundation of public relations as a profession was on the usage of â€Å"mass media and media relations† (Duhe, 2007, p. 99). In the wake of the twentieth century the communication environment was dominated by â€Å"a limited number of mass media with

The importance of statistics and consumer research in marketing Essay

The importance of statistics and consumer research in marketing - Essay Example In this way, both consumer research and statistics are found involved in marketing operation. This study is going to explore of how consumer research and statistics are important to marketing. The importance in terms of application and the outcome will be explored and described in this study. The objective here is to understand the relationships between marketing and consumer research and between marketing and statistics altogether. Importance of Consumer Research and Statistics in Marketing During marketing operation, strategists and marketers are keen to understand their consumers. They are deliberately in search of knowing their consumers’ perception, behaviors and their buying attitudes which help the marketers to bring effective marketing campaigns and strategies (Roosi and Allenby). For this comprehensive knowing and understanding, marketers plan the operation of consumer research which digs out all the information pertinent to consumers and their behaviors. Decisively, consumer needs and wants are uncovered through market consumer research (Mazzocchi). Consumer research basically gives the manifestation about how customers behave and what are their levels of motivations towards specific products or services. This research sets the direction for marketers that they bring a comprehensive marketing strategy, which is closer to consumers’ behaviors and their buying choices (Mazzocchi 10). ... Marketers conduct consumer research in order to understand the dynamics of a particular market. Definitely, each market has a distinctive background and which modifies or changes with the aspect of time and with the changes in attributes and characteristics of consumers present in that market (Mazzocchi). For understanding the varying dimensions of a market, the varying dimensions of consumers are important to be known, which is only possible by conducting effective consumer research and consumer diagnosis. Without studying the market and consumers trends, a marketer cannot devise a sound workable marketing strategy (Roosi and Allenby). The strategy, which can impact the dynamics of a market and can attract diverse market consumer, may certainly require a comprehensive consumer research. For all these reasons, marketers consider consumer research as a significant part of marketing planning. They realize that without consumer research, marketing plans cannot be effectuated or even ini tialized. A well-organized consumer research is actually a source to ideate a well-incorporated marketing plan. This indicates that strategically and distinctively there is a significant relationship between consumer research and marketing. Without consumer research marketing is incomplete and similarly without marketing consumer research is reasonless or futile. This shows a certain sort of connection between marketing and consumer research. Both are part of each other and so are dependent on each other (Mazzocchi 30). In marketing, the core objective of consumer research is to gather consumer related information. This process of information collection in consumer research is made possible by means of statistical models and techniques. There are different

How do Senor Flores, Senora Flores and Dr. Jean View this Situation Essay

How do Senor Flores, Senora Flores and Dr. Jean View this Situation from Totally Different Perspectives - Essay Example He also does not want to listen to the advice of Dr. Jean. The Latino’s belief in machismo makes Senor Flores feel offended if he listens to Dr. Jean’s advice. He thinks that his male ego is insulted. The perspective of Senora Flores on Alejandro’s situation is very fatalistic, or what the Latino’s term as fatalism. She feels that she is being punished by God that is why Alejandro is sick. She is suffering from inferiority complex and feels that she is being discriminated at the hospital for being a Latino and not speaking much. She is afraid that Alejandro will be discriminated too in school because he is sickly. Senora Flores feels overburdened by the responsibility of taking care of Alejandro. But at the same time, she believes that her mother should help her take care of Alejandro. She respects her mother, so much so that when she suggested that Alejandro is taken to an espiritista, she blindly followed her although she probably disagrees with her. Dr. Jean’s perspective of Alejandro’s situation is exactly the opposite of the views of the Flores family. She does not totally understand the Latino culture and beliefs; thus, resulting in misunderstandings with them. The first conflict is with regards to time. She dislikes the Flores’ disregard of time. She also feels that just because she is a woman, Senor Flores does not like to listen to her advice. She does not understand why the Flores’ had to consult an espiritista instead of just following her medical advice and give him his medicines. Dr. Jean is an example of a doctor who is quite detached to the family of her patient. She does not realize that it is important for a Latino family that they see some simpatia from their medical provider. Senora Flores chose to consult an espiritista when Alejandro was not getting better probably through the prodding of her mother.

Effects of Chlorinated Drinking Water Essay Example for Free

Effects of Chlorinated Drinking Water Essay Chlorine is added to drinking water, as a disinfectant, to get rid of harmful bacteria, which are usually present in areas from where the water is obtained. The controversy of this issue is that chlorination can work as an advantage or as a disadvantage to those consuming it. Chlorine is currently the most effective water treatment when compared with other alternatives. However, it also reacts with natural organic compounds present in the water to produce harmful chemicals that on a long-term basis are very dangerous. The most well known adverse effects of contaminated water is shown in the Walkerton crisis in May 2000, where an outbreak of E. Coli contamination occurred in the water system of Walkerton, Ontario. Seven people died, and a further 2300 fell ill after consuming water that was contaminated by farm manure (Walkerton Report, CBC 2008). This could have been prevented if proper chlorination had taken place. Examples of contaminants that chlorine eliminates are microbes such as E. Coli, Salmonella typhi and Shigella. E. Coli grows when the water is contaminated with human and animal waste products. Upon consuming E. Coli contaminated water, an individual suffers from diarrhea, cramps, nausea, renal failure and sometimes even death. Consuming water contaminated with Salmonella typhi causes typhoid fever. Shigella causes severe abdominal cramping with blood and mucus in the stool. Chlorine’s major advantage is that the water remains disinfected until it reaches the point of consuming, unlike other disinfectants such as ozone or ultraviolet light. Chlorine not only purifies water, it also prevents bacterial growth, nitrogenous contaminants and such from growing in water pipes and storage tanks. It also gets rid of odors, unpleasant taste and organisms known as nuisance organisms. Slime bacteria, iron and sulfate reducing bacteria give the water a very unpleasant look and smell. These bacteria do not cause disease but chlorination gets rid of these organisms. Not only is chlorine easy to use, it is also widely available and of low cost. However, chlorine is also associated with producing harmful byproducts as it reacts with chemicals already present in water. These products are known as disinfection by-products. They include chloroform and are known as trihalomethanes or THMs for short. Studies conducted have shown that tested animals that are exposed to high amounts of THM are at a much greater risk for cancer. Even with humans, long-term exposure to chlorination can greatly increase risks of cancer (LaPure Water Inc, 2000). Also, chlorination does not get rid of all nitrate products. It only prevents the nitrates from reaching a toxic form. These nitrates are from manure products that have not been absorbed by plants. This is not particularly dangerous to adults, but with excess levels can cause â€Å"blue baby† disease (methemoglobinemia) in young infants (Nitrate: Health Effects in Drinking Water, McCasland). Chlorinated water also affects its taste and smell. Using chlorinated water to make coffee, tea, soups, etc changes its taste and smell. Even with these disadvantages, it is evident that the benefits of chlorination outweigh the risks. With proper treatment – making sure that chlorine is not added in excess and proper water testing, drinking water would be much healthier. The only major disadvantage of chlorinated water is the long-term effects of THMs. It is known that using a carbon filter actually gets rid of THMs and other chlorination by-products. People should be made aware of this and encouraged to use carbon filters to filter the water out instead of consuming straight from the tap. There are alternatives to chlorination as well, such as ozonation, which is a method of disinfection by adding ozone gas to water and applying an electric current. It is very effective against microbes and only forms by products, which can be removed with further treatment. Another method of disinfectant is by Ultraviolet light treatment. This method is effective against even more microbes than chlorine is but it is also costly. However, these methods can only be used as primary disinfectants, chlorine is required as a secondary disinfectant in order to disinfect water as much as possible. Also, these methods are temporary – the water does not remain disinfected until it reaches point of being consumed. In conclusion, chlorination is the most effective method of disinfecting water from drinking purposes. It’s the only method that keeps the water clean from the point of treatment to the point of consuming it. It is also the only disinfectant that is capable of minimizing all possible health risks caused by contaminated water. The adverse effects of chlorine such as its harmful by-products can be eliminated or reduced with the use of carbon filters.

Law of Supply and Demand | Entry Barriers

Law of Supply and Demand | Entry Barriers The Economic Environment and Anatomy of Business Law of Supply and Demand Headline: Nexus 6 sold out: Google Play Store will have more in stock every Wednesday URL: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/19568/20141105/nexus-6-in-stock-every-wednesday-and-within-minutes-google-phablet-completely-sold-out-again.htm The first economic phenomenon that we are going to look at is the law of supply and demand. In its raw form it states that if the demand for certain product is higher than its availability (supply) then the price for that product goes up and if the vice versa is present then it decreases (Baye, 2010). A current example of this is the lightning fast selling of Google’s latest flagship smartphone Nexus 6. Upon its release in the Google Play Online store, the first shipment was sold out within minutes. After that, when the second shipment arrived, the same situation repeated. This is a clear indicator that the demand of Nexus 6 was way higher than the actual supply. The reasons for such a high demand can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, Google’s Nexus 6 came with the new Android operating system version 5.0 (Code name Lollipop), being the only phone on the market that supports it. Secondly, the price of Nexus 6 was (and currently is) relatively lower than its competitor‘s – it is cheaper than Apple’s IPhone 6, 6Plus and Sony’s Xperia Z3 (Luke Johnson, 7 November, 2014), and approximately same priced as Samsung’s Galaxy S5. This gives an extra layer of appeal to buyers and combined with its high quality, the reason behind the extremely high demand of the Google’s smart phone is justified. The graph below illustrates an example of the current supply and demand of Google’s Nexus 6: We mark the current price level of Nexus 6 with P1, the current quantity that Google can supply with Qs and the current quantity that is demanded with Qd. P* and Q* are our equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity respectively. Setting a lower price for the smartphone compared to the competitor’s and offering the exclusivity of the new Android operating system, has made the demand for the product extremely high. On one hand, this is good indicator, however, in this case Google could not provide an adequate amount of supply to the market. Those two factors led the company to an excess of demand. Assuming, the basic principles of the law of supply and demand are functioning, the rivalry between customers, who want to buy the modern smartphone, will push the price up to the equilibrium point. That point represents the place, where the demand from customers and the supply from Google, meet and form an equilibrium (supplied quantity is equal to the demanded one or our equilibrium price and quantity, conforms). Naturally, another scenario may occur – the demand for Nexus 6 might eventually drop as a result of oversaturation of the market with smartphones from the same class, adoption of the Android 5.0 OS by rival firms (it is predicted that this will happen by the end of 2014 (James Rogerson, Matthew Hanson, October 2014) due to the fact that the Android OS is open-source) or a drop in prices of competitor’s phone offers. In case this happens, the equilibrium point will be achieved at a significantly lower price compared to the first scenario. To summarize, in the base of every modern economy stands the law of supply and demand and it dictates its basic behavior. Companies such as Google and its Nexus 6 smartphone, visualize the stated law perfectly with its clear excess of demand. Entry Barriers Headline: Latest OS share data shows Windows still dominating in PCs URL: http://www.zdnet.com/latest-os-share-data-shows-windows-still-dominating-in-pcs-7000013351/ The second economic mechanism that we are going to focus on is that of entry briers. Entry barriers or barriers of entry by definition are blockades set on a specific market that make it difficult for new firms to enter. The reason of their formation can be due to government laws and regulations (this creates governmental monopolies), to a large company that is taking advantage of economies of scale, to brand loyalty, geographical barriers (the mining industry), high switching costs, sunk costs, high cost for research and development or to patents (Sullivan, A; Steven, M. S., 2003, p.153).. An excellent example for entry barriers is the market of desktop operating systems, which currently is occupied by Microsoft. Since its founding in 1975 the company has walked a long way from a simple garage firm to a global computer giant that, at the present moment, has a monopolistic position on the desktop OS market with more the 90% of it belonging to the Windows operating system (OS) (â€Å"Desktop Operating System Market Share†, 2014). With the recent announcement of the newest member of the Windows family – Windows 10, Microsoft aims to strengthen even more its position and along with that to keep the status quo. Hence, any other company, which wants to enter the market and successfully compete with Microsoft, needs to make a huge investment. Several reasons lie behind that: there is a significant market loyalty to the Windows OS, the know-how for making an OS with such proportions is concentrated within the company and the brand itself is highly recognizable. A ll those factors are barriers for the other companies to enter the market and in order to compete efficiently, they have to apply a lot of effort to popularize their new brand. Moreover, Microsoft has many patents in the software sector, which restrict major part of the information accesses for the rival firms. Furthermore, the switching costs (the cost for switching from one product to another) for a company, which uses the Windows OS, are significantly high. They consist of expenses for buying the new OS, integrating it and teaching its employees to use it and generally such migration will not be undertaken/ launched lightly or even at all. Entry barriers do not always have a positive effect on the market due to the fact they stimulates the creation of a monopolies in a specific sector, which may lead to unreasonably high prices and low quality. This stems from the lack of competitors able to challenge both price and quality of the products offered to the public. With Microsoft, this is not the case, but the probability is always there. To summarize, the barriers of entry are an efficient way for a firm to restrict access to a market segment and generate maximum profit.Microsoft’s monopolistic position in the sector of desktop operating systems is largely attributed to the various imposed entry barriers, which have assured their future dominant position on the market. Economies of Scale and Economics of a Scope Headline: Facebook Has Spent $22 Billion on Acquisitions. URL: http://mashable.com/2014/05/30/facebook-acquisitions/ Thirdly, we are going to look at the following economic concepts economies of a scale and economics of a scope. Economies of a scale is a way for a company to reduce the average cost of its products by distributing the fixed costs onto a larger amount of production (Baye, 2010, p. 185 186). Normally, this is done by increasing the size of the company (growing horizontally – expanding in the current market segment). Economies of a scope, on the other hand, is achieved by expanding the company in other market sectors, where its current know-how can help to produce goods at a relatively lower prices then it normally would do (Baye, 2010, p. 187). Facebook is a company that applies simultaneously both economies of a scale and scope. Since its founding in 2004, the company has spent roughly 22 billion dollars for the goal of acquiring other businesses that range from small companies focused on web or mobile development, through startups that have an astonishing growth rate (WhatsApp), to innovators that are promising to bring a whole new experience to their users (Oculus Rift). Buying small and medium sized companies that can be directly integrated into the development process of Facebook, is clear example of economies of a scale. By doing that, the company is reducing its fixed costs by spreading them onto a larger amount of users. Another benefit from this is the company’s employees specialization into a specific field (social media) and along with that they become more efficient, which increases the general productivity and reduce costs. Another aspect of Facebook’s policy is that of acquiring companies in sectors related to social media. A good example of that is the Oculus Rift deal that happened in the beginning of 2014. Through buying the company, Facebook can combine the virtual reality technology provided form Oculus Rift with its know-how of brining real life social experience, online and the result will be a totally new way that we experience the web. This implies that the Social Media giant will be able to reduce its total cost in the view that it already has experience in the field of software development and social media. Developing applications for the new virtual reality platform or developing the platform itself will be less expensive than for other companies that do not have such experience. Avoidlessly, economies of scale and scope come at a price. Larger firms often experience problems such as miscommunication between its separate parts, difficulties in coordination and their owners loose part of the control over the company due to the necessity to delegate part of their responsibilities to managers, hence they may not always make the most adequate decisions for the best of the company. In conclusion, by using economies of a scale and scope companies such as Facebook can significantly reduce their total costs, optimize productivity and increase production power. Price discrimination Headline: GitHub announces free developer tools for students URL: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/10/07/github-announces-free-developer-tools-students/ The last economic concept that we are going to look at is price discrimination. In its core, price discrimination is a type of pricing strategy, in which the same or largely similar products are sold at different prices depending on various factors. There are several degrees of price differentiation first, second and third, in addition to that, diverse combinations among them can be formed. Typical for the first degree is that a monopolistic company charges the absolute maximum price (reservation price) for its goods or services (perfect price discrimination). The second degree is closely related to quantity demand the larger it is, the lower the prices are (it does not depend on customer’s personality). Conversely, third degree price discrimination can be based on a specific market group (students, teachers, workers etc.), on geographical location or even more in some cases on a specific customer, but not on quantity (Cabral, 2014). A good example of price discrimination, is the recent release of free developer packages from GitHub for people belonging to educational sector students, teachers, administrative staff and researchers, which include waiving of subscription taxes for a private GitHub account and free educational software (third degree discrimination). By taking this step, GitHub attracts more people form the target sector. For instance, students overall have more restricted incomes, making them more price sensitive to changes and the demand they form, relatively elastic (from the graphic bellow: changes in price from P1 to P2 are met with significantly greater change in demanded quantity – Q1 to Q2). In other words, small price changes can have a great impact on the total demand of a certain item. Similarly, GitHub offers the same packages for teachers – which allows them to better educate their students and hence produce a better qualified future workers for the market, benefiting the economy as a whole. Despite the fact that those packages are now free, in long term they can bring more clients and create customer loyalty, which will result positively on the company’s revenue. Moreover, this price discrimination tactic has a beneficial influence on the whole software development sector due to the fact it provides free access to private accounts and free development tools. This contributes to students to develop their ideas, which can eventually grow in startups a effect on the economy. However, attempts for reselling the software provided within the free packages can occur and in order to prevent this the company has taken measures. For students to request such an account, they need to provide their unique university email or school ID as a proof. Teachers and researchers on the other hand need to present a â€Å"proof of affiliation†* in order to install the software on their computers. Providing proof of affiliation is a way of verifying the involvement the academic status. Such packages are allowed per person/ an email account and in addition to that most of the software is licensed under conditions that permit its usage only for academic purposes and any other attempts are punishable by international law. Undoubtedly, ways around such rules exist but generally speaking the company is relatively safe against reselling of their products. To conclude, price discrimination is an efficient way for companies to specifically tailor their products for a particular group of customers. Being one of those companies, GitHub combines the benefits from that, with the opportunity to stimulate the academic process around the world. References: BAYE, M. R. (2009) Managerial economics and business strategy – 7th edition, New York, McGraw-Hill/Irwin CABRAL, L. M. B. (March 10, 2014) Introduction to Industrial Organization – 2th edition, Price Discrimination Sullivan, A; Steven, M. S. (2003). Economics: Principles in action, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-063085-3. Desktop Operating System Market Share (October 2014) (online). Available from:  http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10qpcustomd=0 (Last Accessed 14/11/2014) James Rogerson, Matthew Hanson (13 November, 2014) (online). Android Lollipop 5.0 update: when can I get it? Available from:  http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/android-l-5-0-release-date-when-can-i-get-it1257804 (Last Accessed 15/11/2014) Luke Johnson (7 November, 2014) (online). Nexus 6 release date, rumors, news, specs and price round-up. Available from:  http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/nexus-6-release-date-rumours-news-specs-and-price (Last Accessed 15/11/2014) Social Work: Assessment, Plan, Implementation and Evaluation Social Work: Assessment, Plan, Implementation and Evaluation What is a social work assessment, plan and evaluation? The aim of social work is to protect individuals from harm, and to empower them and improve their lives. Social workers form a human link between the many programs employed to serve the public good and those who are in need. They form the ‘eyes and ears’ of public efforts to combat social ills, so to speak, and they are the practical human element of common sense in their application. It is in this role where new ideas are created and innovative solutions are identified, where existing practices are judged for effectiveness, and, most importantly, where the faceless bureaucracy of government takes human form. In order to accomplish this a critical process of assessment, planning, and evaluation has evolved in the field of social work which allows social workers to effectively achieve their goals. Moreover, it is has found a wide range of applications, from the student-supervisor relationship to practitioners in the field. The process of assessment is aimed first at identifying problems or ‘taking stock’ of a particular situation. Identifying the problems in a situation provides the fundamental raison d’à ªtre for the development and employment of a solution. Past identifying whether there is actually a problem (which is often suspected or reasonably understood before an assessment is undertaken), social work assessment has more to do with determining the particular nature of the problem and its degree. Understanding what kind of problem is being faced, and just how bad it really is, is key to forming a coherent plan to affect a real solution. This requires strong observation and critical analysis skills on the part of the social worker, but it also requires an intimate and experiential knowledge of the field in which the assessment is being undertaken. Once the nature and degree of a problem is understood, different options may emerge each as a possible solution. Each possible solution will have its own strengths and weaknesses, its own advantages and drawbacks. And while the process of assessment may be viewed as excessively tedious at times, it is critical to never underestimate its importance. A study on the need for an assessment model in primary medical care facilities for the elderly noted that: â€Å"When psychosocial needs go unmet through misdiagnosis, lack of detection, lack of treatment and follow up, elderly patients are at risk of further health problems that can lead to physical deterioration, reduced independence, and eventually to the need for more intensive and expensive services. â€Å" (Berkman et al., 1999) The failure of proper assessment not only prevents positive solutions, but also results in negative impacts. Assessment forms a critical foundation for the effectiveness of all other social work efforts. As such, the identification of different solutions requires policy knowhow and creativity on the part of the social worker. Meeting the demands of this important aspect of assessment, in conjunction with the skills of problem identification and critical analysis, will ensure sound and proper assessments which enable the identification of proper solutions. Assessment is a critical component at the basis of all kinds of social work, from medical care and patient treatment to domestic violence and child poverty. All outcomes depend upon an assessment model built upon sound observation and critical analysis combined with creative and informed policy thought. Solid assessment will provide the social worker with a range of options for addressing a particular problem. The selection of an appropriate solution involves properly understanding the nature of the problem, as well as the various impacts of each option at different levels. The skills required to identify the right solution to a problem involve more than simple program literacy or policy analysis. They involve the fundamental ability to not only understand policies, but to weigh them concurrently against previously identified goals. Because many factors involved in determining the impacts of a possible solution are subjective (i.e. individuals, public and private groups, changing laws etc), achieving this is not a matter of simple analysis but of an intuitive understanding of these subjective factors. Too often, someone unfamiliar with, or removed from, these subjective variables enacts a calculated decision based upon what is understood to be sound analysis. The history of social work is filled with this kind of serial miscalculation. Take, for example, a 2005 study on battered women. It found that: â€Å"Safety planning will be most effective if it occurs within a contextualized assessmentprocess that illuminates the deeper struggles and multiple harms that women balance when making decisions about continuing or ending relationships.† (Lindhorst et al., 2005) While a â€Å"contextualized assessment process† is the main focus of the essay, it is the effectiveness of the plan or policy that is identified as the major issue affected by its absence. Assuming the burdens of sound assessment are properly met elsewhere, the ‘contextualization of the process’, or the root of its understanding in the subjective variables which specifically define it, will determine its success. Real planning and policy implementation in response to sound assessment must always be rooted in the day to day reality of the issue it is dealing with. Too much abstraction or beaurocratization of this process distances it from reality, and only serves the employment of solutions which leave critical needs and major goals unmet. Ensuring that this understanding is present, along with the required critical analysis skills and policy knowledge on the part of the social worker, will ensure the right person is making these decisions. A bad decision based upon the best assessment is still an unacceptable outcome. It is never evident, however, that the right plan or policy was chosen or the right assessment undertaken without some kind of evaluation. Success and failure is seldom absolute. More often it exists in degrees. And while success may be met in a number of respects, it may be absent in a number of others. The process of evaluation is designed to measure these degrees. The changes that have taken place since a particular plan or policy was implemented are a major indicator of their effectiveness. Too often, however, not enough attention is paid to whether or not these changes are actually the result of the plans or policies in question. It is the process of evaluation’s primary task to determine the facts of policy impacts and exactly what policies are responsible for certain changes. Furthermore, the process of evaluation is usually synonymous with some kind of accountability. When looking at programs from a financial point of view, this accountability is welcome. Indeed, it is rightly viewed as necessary to their responsible administration. This evaluation is, to a large degree, black and white. Either the numbers add up or they don’t. Either an idea has fundamentally succeeded or it has failed, or else it needs some tweaking. From a personnel perspective, however, â€Å"the words ‘accountability,’ ‘supervision’ and ‘evaluation’ are frightening. They imply having ones feet held to the fire for failure. These processes exist in a paradigm of fear and dread. Educators blame others and blame the circumstances for their lack of effectiveness rather than taking personal responsibility. This phenomenon in human dynamics should not be seen as unique to teachers and administrators in education. It exists everywhere. We all have a tough time taking and giving criticism. We all have that very common fear of failure.† (Mcgrath, 2000) The human dynamic is here identified as a force resistant to the very kind of accountability the process of evaluation is meant to bring about. The study, â€Å"The Human Dynamics of Personnel Evaluation† (Mcgrath, 2000) talks about the judgmental nature and pressure of accountability which needs to be taken into account in the evaluation process. The evaluation process is often viewed as a simple matter of calculation, or arithmetic. We had the goals the reasoning goes, we had the assessment and the plan, and we had what happened – just add it all up. But it’s just not that simple. The human dynamic is woven between virtually every fibre in the assessment and policy process. Viewing accountability through a fiscal lens, or a purely factual lens of objective causes and effects, miscalculates one of the largest and most influential factors in determining the usefulness of social work evaluation: people. Making the evaluation process effective must involve, as with the two other processes discussed in this essay, more than just analysis. It must involve a psychology of responsibility that individuals are confronted with in the process at all levels. It must involve a confrontation of the fear of failure present in the heart of every sincere effort. Perhaps the great compassion which drives the field of social work forward, demanding the investment of nothing less than life itself from thousands of people, is also its greatest weakness. I believe, however, that it is the unawareness of this vulnerability which makes it a liability – nothing the fullness of character and a mature temperament cannot address. Bibliography Berkman et al. (1999) â€Å"Standardized Screening of Elderly Patients’ Needs for Social Work Assessment in Primary Care: Use of the SF-36† Health and Social Work. Vol. 24 Boutin-Foster et al. (2005) â€Å"Social Work Admission Assessment Tool for Identifying Patients in Need of Comprehensive Social Work Evaluation† Health and Social Work. Vol. 30 Burgess, H., Taylor, O., (2004) Effective Learning and Teaching in Social Policy and Social Work. London: RoutledgeFalmer Garcia, J., Floyd, C., (2002) â€Å"Addressing Evaluative Standards Related to Program Assessment: How Do We Respond?† Journal of Social Work Education. Vol. 38 Ginsburg, E., (1990) Effective Interventions: Applying Learning Theory to School Social Work. New York: Greenwood Press Gitterman, A., (2001) Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations. New York: Columbia University Press Lindhorst et al. (2005) â€Å"Contextualized Assessmennt of Battered Women: Strategic Safety Planning to Cope with Multiple Harms† Journal of Social Work Education. Vol. 41 Mcgrath, M., (2000) â€Å"The Human Dynamics of Personnel Evaluation† School Administrator. Vol. 57 Pardeck, J., (2002) Family Health Social Work Practice. London: Auburn House Siebert, D., Siebert, C., Spaulding-Givens, J., (2006) â€Å"Teaching Social Work Skills Primarily Online: An Evaluation† Journal of Social Work Education. Vol. 42

Sub Contracting And Partnering And Framework Agreements Construction Essay

Sub Contracting And Partnering And Framework Agreements Construction Essay This course work talks about the subject of sub-contracting, partnering and framework agreements. It further proceeds to evaluate the benefits and disbenefits and assesses the consequences of a possible return to the more traditional model of contracting and sub-contracting within the industry. The work consists of introduction, case studies review, evaluation and conclusion. Partnering can be referred to many different relationships such as single project partnering; multi project, strategic partnering between a contractor and client; the use of a contractor of the same partnering process over many projects as a key building block in total quality management and contractor-employee partnering in the pursuit of safety goals (Kneeland, 1996). The concepts of partnering are, Partnering is a simple way of avoiding disputes; A dispute in this context refers to existing unsolved problems; Partnering involves proactive step to address project problems (Murphy, et al,. 1996). Individual buildings now have to meet more complex and subtle requirements which in turn demand the use of specialist sub-contractors, as the main contractor cannot and would not hope to carry all the works involved (Rietveld, 2004). Contracting firms exist in many different shapes and forms. It is possible to discriminate between contracting firms in terms of their size as well as by the nature of their business. They range from the very small to the very large. Whatever the size of the individual firm it will fall into one of the following categories: general building; specialist trade; specialist maintenance; building and civil engineering, and civil engineering (Headley and Griffith, 1997). In 1988 standard method of measurement for construction cited about 300 work sections, which reflect massive increase in the use of specialist sub-contractors in present construction projects (Rietveld, 2004). The prime aim of integrating the construction teams as suggests in the Reports of Eg an (1998) and Latham (1994) are to convert unnecessary costs into lower price for the clients and create higher assured profits for the materials and service suppliers (Cain, 2003). Long-term of design, production and supply-side partnerships are essential to the introduction of the supply chain management tools and techniques demanded by the Egan Report. The elimination of waste in the utilization of labour and materials as prescribed by the Latham report, 1994 (Cain, 2003). CASE STUDY REVIEW In a project environment, production and services meet. The location of the role of the project actors and the way in which they are linked are fundamental features for project management system beginning with application of organizational structure and delegation of duties, through some of the more sophisticated analysis and decision-making (Pryke, et al., 2006). The construction industry in UK has being accused for its wasteful, inefficiency, and ineffective execution of projects to meet clients objectives and needs, and how it differ from manufacturing industry. The concerns normally focused on areas regarding profit margin, its clients satisfaction and disintegration of the construction teams and procurement process (Anumba, 2000). Latham report (1994) identifies that low productivity, poor value for money and unsatisfaction of the clients objectives are elements of uniqueness, immobility, and variety causes of fragmentation in the construction industry when compared to manufacturing industries. Comparing the construction industry to other sectors, construction is unsophisticated in its approach to the supply chain. It can learn from the experiences of manufacturing industry, where there are standardization and efficiency to meet the customers demands (Egan, 1998). The need for UK construction companies to become more efficient is to follow the recommended management systems in Egan (1998) and Latham (1994) Reports to become more efficient and to improve productivity. The construction industry must be innovative and respond to change and new challenges before it can have potential improvement in aspects of the construction and design processes (Pryke, 2009). Sub-contracting in its own nature encourages fragmentation (Cox and Townsend, 1998). The uncertainty of the main contractor obtaining continuous work with the need to accommodate the different features and requirements of each project brings separation of the teams. Egan (1998) and Latham (1994) recommend reformation of the construction industry through partnering, when they observe there is disintegration between design and production process. In 1922, the first Standard Method of Measurement (SMM) specified only 16 trades in the text, but in 1988, the seventh edition of SMM (SMM7) included 300 different trades which reflect massive increase in the use of specialist sub-contractors in the present construction projects. This movement in the UK reflects many socio -technical economic movement within the industry (Rietvelde, 2004). Advancement in technology and introduction of sophisticated new materials in the supply organizations, method of production and erection sometimes, require new skills and expertise, hence the evolution of sub-contractors to offer these services to the main contractor (March,2009). In supply chain strategy, what to be sub-contracted and what should be done in-house need to be addressed properly. Activities that should be sub-contracted must be those which are not strategic important of the company and it cannot carry it out better than its competitors and is not anticipated that in the future it will improve its importance (March, 2009). A framework is a general term use for agreements that set out terms and conditions for making specific purchases (Edkins, et al., 2009). Framework Agreement has been design for use in both public and private sectors. It is beneficial to construction procurement system in achieving reduction in transaction costs; long-term relationship improvement; better value and greater wealth and risk solutions. It is the principle of applying Rethinking Construction in developing strategic relationship with the supply chain over a long period (Construction Excellence, 2008). Partnering, framework agreement and supply chain management are potential form of integrating the construction team to improve productivity reduce costs and meet a target time; create value for money and satisfy the clients objectives (Pryke, 2009). Supply chain management involves all parties which will contribute to the execution of a project from raw materials and component suppliers, design and client teams, and service providers, right from inception to commission stages (Cox and Townsend, 1998). Partnering in BAA, T5 project, contractors and suppliers worked closely in an integrated team. The benefits of the approach include the necessity to maintain one set of system record and joint quality control system; improved working condition for workers and higher level of safety on site and it encouraged innovation (Pryke, 2009). The Framework program to partner with suppliers provided them opportunity to learn and they included incentive performance targets which challenged them to make continuous supplies for every year during the five years period of the project. In 1998 BAA recruited Tony Douglas as the group supply chain director when BAA had 26000 suppliers with 23 different processes and 17 different systems for managing the transaction, 24 different architects, 23 costs consultants, and more than 70 external project managers and 340 suppliers (Potts, et al., 2009). In 2002, BAA developed second generation of framework Agreement and achieved more accurate project costs and implemented best practices and worked with suppliers in longer-term relationship which did not exist in UK construction industry during the past decades (Brady, el at., 2006). Lean Thinking by Womack Jones (1996), compared the performance of automobile manufacturing companies, those who were operating under traditional method with those who resolved to the then lean production system. The finding was that Japanese Toyota plant was twice productive and three times as accurate as the US General Motors plant by adopting Just In Time (JIT) system of supply, using 40% less manufacturing space and defects were three times reduced. Because of the success of JIT supplying system carried out by Toyota, which is framework agreement, other manufacturing companies follow their suit. The result demonstrates that JIT is not only about delivering of materials, but also to improve management as a whole (March, 2009). Framework agreement encourages collaboration between all key parties and personnel involved in the program of projects to achieve economic benefits and involve contractors at early stage of the project to develop efficiency of work (McKee, 2005). Initially the agreement may be between the client and the service provider, but the service provider may enter into another framework agreement with other service providers in the supply chain to create web that interwoven the major project participants. it contains provision which determines the rights and responsibilities of all the parties involved in the project. The objectives of framework agreement may not be achieved overnight, but its implementation will improve productivity and integrate the teams in the construction industry (Potts, 2009). The light of integration and collaboration as recommended by Egan Report Rethinking Construction and Latham Constructing the Team is rapidly arising in the construction industry during this mille mium, if maintained may set the industry abreast with manufacturing companies to achieve standard and quality of work (McKee, 2005). BAA is the leading implementer of Egans report (1998) and Latham (1994). BAA reduced costs by 10%, defects by 20% and cutting accidents on site by 20%. Construction time prediction rose to 20% through lean construction in T5 project (BAA, Capital Projects). Through contribution of collaboration and integration of all participating teams in partnering, BAA was able to achieve the Health and Safety Award in 2001 (Pryke, 2006). Perth and Melbourne airports applied the supply chain strategy and linked with UKs supply chain team which corresponds with BAAs primary product categories, and were successful to complete within time and budget ( Lee Richard, al et.2002). Charter Institute of Purchasing and Supply, have identified how BAA used professional purchasing team from seven different purchasing departments. 27 different purchasing processes,11 different accountancy systems and more than 12,000 suppliers which projected BAA to win Kellys Award for excellence in purchasing and supply service. The development, the design and the engineering teams in AMA have recognized the importance of partnering and intended to work together to identify the business needs and focus on solution and developed them and have balance in costs, time and quality of work when they undertake a project (Construction Excellence, 2004). BAA executed the extension of the North Terminal (NT) project successfully on schedule through teamwork and management was flexible with the responsible participants. Partnering and framework agreement was the process which made it possible for the company to work successfully in such confined environment without obstruction and destruction. It could have faced delay in cladding on the outside of the building which coincided with wettest and windiest period, but, because understanding among the teams, the procurement route was changed easily (Potts, et al., 2009). During the past century, construction was procured through the use of separate contracts for design and production. BAA could have 2 years time overrun and 40% costs overrun if it had adopted the traditional approach of project execution, but completed on scheduled time. The T5 project was a complex which added 50% capacity to Heathrow Airport, commenced in December 2002 and completed in March 2008. Professionals were employed to share ideas, knowledge and information with other colleagues in the other professions (Potts, et al., 2009). The agreement signed by BAA with the suppliers was clear and was based on a cost reimbursable form of contract, profits were ring- fenced and BAA retained the risks. The core value of the agreement are team work, trust and commitment, and the team members were encouraged in order to drive out all unnecessary costs, including claims and litigation which boost productivity level (Douglas, 2005). BAA learned from historical events of construction projects, such as British library; upgrading of the West Coast Railway Line; London Underground Jubilee Line extension; the Scottish Parliament building and the new Wembley Stadium, and was armed against the mistakes and difficulties they encountered (Potts, et al., 2009). Slough Estates experimented supply chain management process through executing contracts in 1980s and early 1990s when building designs were becoming sophisticated and new materials and new technology were introduced. Skills from architects and specialist contractors and project management teams were required from outside. New era began when the in-house construction teams were retained to carry out the works, and the caliber of the team was improved in which the company won BCO Award for its work through partnering and frame work agreement which constitute the supply change management (Pryke, 2009). The company experiment all the procurement methods including Traditional, Management Contracting and Construction Management methods which are discussed later. However the overall result was unsatisfactory, because overspending for rectification of unacceptable level of defects developing from its projects was high (Potts, et al., 2009). In 1983, the British Property Federation produced its own procurement system to pioneer reformation in the construction industry through introduction of project management profession and consultants were perceived by majority in construction industry as over- bureaucratic and failed to embrace the industry in collaboration manner ( ). Slough Estates Company failed when it first introduced the supply chain management in 1980s and early 1990s. There was no link between specialist contractors and architects or with the consulting engineers. There was no relationship between the parties except the legal binding instruction as provided for as architects instructions (Rimmer, et al., 2009). The company observed that there is no upstream relationship between the contractors and the client during design stage, the client brief the architects and engineers about what he wants and they convert the information into drawings and specifications and transfer them to the contractor. The projects were won on competitive basis without any prior idea or negotiation, the lowest bid was selected. The contractors have no meaningful upstream relationship with the client to work with their downstream relationships with production and service suppliers and it could not allow in-house to continue (Rimmer, et al., 2009). Supply chain manag ement can be improved if clients are willing to negotiate with the contractors and specialists at the early stage (design stage) of the project. All parties in the supply chain should be consulted during the design and decision making stages. Pryke Stephen, (2009) therefore concluded that UK traditional form of procurement is a weak platform from which to add value and reduce cost through supply chain management. Slough Estates observed that Management Contracting (MC) is similar to traditional method but the management contractor has better opportunity to influence upstream relationship with the clients, particularly at the design stage but has no financial interest in the payment of the contractors. His duty is only to concentrate on programming and planning of the project, and defining the role of each player in the construction teams. It encountered a lot of problems when it experimented MC, and shifted to Construction Management (CM), though it is better than MC, the company did not have constant flow of large projects to maintain the recruitment of large in-house management team. CM was better because it allows early involvement of the package contractors and created an opportunity for all parties to take the initiative to involve their own supply chain in the process (Pryke,2009). The strongest platform from which supply chain management can develop is the Design and Build form of procurement where the contractor has relationship with both upstream and downstream parties and in position to add value to work and reduce costs (reference). Contractors are brought on at the initial stage of the project and can deliberate with the architects, engineers and quantity surveyors for a potential framework agreement and partnering (Pryke, 2009). Supply chain Private Finance Initiative is structured to remove any hindrance that will prevent effective relationship among the participating parties. The contractors have full control over finance and design and facilities management expertise within their own teams. There is continuous and systematic improvement and effective partnering arrangement when contractors are able to work on series of similar projects. Construction industry is now matching with the manufacturing industry in terms of supply chain management. Design an d build and PFI have placed construction industry in a position where it can perform better and unnecessary cost of wastes in rectification is reduced (Pryke, 2009). Research conducted on 300 projects by University of Reading discovered that Design and Build projects delivers better quality of work than Traditional method when the projects are complicated and involves high technology (Bennett, Pothcary and Robinson, 1996). During the innovation of Egan (1994) and Latham (1998) reports, Building Research Establishment (BRE) launched a productivity sampling for construction sites (CALIBRE), Slough Estates employed their services to assess two of its sites, and the result showed that collaboration and better construction methods produced about 55% of value producing hours which was low and the cause was from errors in designs, replacement and repetition of work, defects rectification and delays in supply of materials. Slough Estates has found that implementation of changes required information and knowledge sharing across the supply chain (Pryke ,2009). Construction industry is now realizing the necessity to changes the current working practices and attitudes (Pearson, 1999). Organizations such as Ministry of Defense and Tesco , together with BAA, Balfour and Tarmac have developed supply chain management techniques to improve their supply base which has being practiced by other organizations (manufacturing) long time ago and increasingly improve their competitiveness global market. The supply chain management in manufacturing industry involves all the activities associated with the processing from raw materials to the completion of the finished product for the client customer. Construction industry defers from manufacturing industry by lack of standardization, because it does not consists of stable group of interacting partners to deliberate on improving product quality and efficiency of production (Pryke, 2009). The impact of supply chain on construction sites activities is to reduce the cost and the duration of the activities to b udget and time constraint, through establishing a reliable flow of materials and labour on sites. The application of supply chain management in the construction industry requires serious effort , which entails developing upstream integration in the design and production process and operation to link the process into a chain that would increase the opportunity to add value and reduce total cost. With conventional procurement, which is used in both public and private sectors, the majority of the risk is apportioned to the client. The public sector project team is encouraged to produce a project for the cheapest possible initial cost without regard for the long-term maintenance or running cost (Cartlidge, 2006). The report of Mott MacDonald (2002) states that the public sector procurement managers have been over optimistic and naà ¯ve in their estimates of cost and time of large and complex construction projects. This pattern of inefficiency brings the rationale of introduction of alt ernative form of procurement, with less risk for the public sector (Cartlidge, 2006). This harnesses the private sector expertise such as Public Private Partnership. Private sector organization performances are viewed as more efficient than sector organizations. They are more discipline by market force and competition (Cartlidge, 2006). As common as it is to most large public sector providers the National Health Service (NHS) has suffered from the usual problems of late delivery and cost overruns. One of the main challenges to NHS capital procurement is disintegration of the NHS client base for specific healthcare schemes. Several health trusts have responsibility for the delivery of the schemes with differing level of expertise and experience in capital procurement. The solution to the problem is the departure from the traditional NHS procurement method to a procurement known as NHS ProCure21, which is framework agreement with its materials and services suppliers (Cartlidge, 2006). EVALUATION Evaluation of benefits and disbenefits partnership and traditional model of contracting is carried in terms of time and costs saving, quality control, health and safety on sites, value for money and risk management. BAA T5 project could have two years overrun and 40% costs overrun if traditional approach was followed (Keith, et al., 2009). 10 30% cost was saved to BAA on the budget for mechanical and electrical materials and equipment. The Buy Club was early engaged in design stage which promoted lean manufacturing and installation (Keith, et al., 2009). Early agreement on benchmark prototypes with an open book approach reveal issues before they become problems. Collaborative agreement avoids waste of resources (Standing, 2001). Culture has an impact on supply chain manage. The limiting issues are: clash of cultures; lack of trust; lack of coordination between teams; differing procedures and attitudes, and relational risk associated with self-interest focus (Elmuthi, 2001). Partnering has works for the entire project team in the US Army Corp of Engineering; owners. Contractors and design firms all attest to the benefits. Results have exceeded their expectation over 90% of the time in 100 projects. Schedules were shortened and costs fall. Value engineering opportunities are more likely to be identified and implemented (Davy, et al., 1996). MCI Constructors places a heavy emphasis on efficient project management and on prompt identification and resolution of disputes while attempting to avoid litigation at all cost, state: We found that the most successful way to achieve these goals is to utilize partnering (Mitchell, et al., 1996,.53). in the new handbook on partnering, the American Institute of Architects and the American Consulting Engineers Council note that The benefits are clear: Projects are completed on time, within budget, to high standards, and to the satisfaction of everyone (Davy, et al.,1996, p. 290). Traditional construction is fragmented, w hich is solely defined by organizational boundaries (Pryke, 2002). The management using supply chain approach, improves knowledge for academic and practice, which contributes to the management of projects in construction (Pryke, 2009). Leverage affects the flow of information and knowledge throughout the network of actors who constitute the supply chain. It also has an impact on how risk is been transferred fairly, unlike in the traditional process (Cox, 2001). The potential of supply chain is presented for long-term to develop over time and improve and in so doing provide better business solution for the clients, better project outcome for the stakeholder and higher level of profitability for the supply chain members(Pryke, 2009). The concept of supply chains and their management, helps to assemble groups of suppliers and contractors and manage them in a way that emphasizes on value and cost. The groups collaborate to share information and knowledge. They manage and share risk in a manner that is equitable and transparent (Pryke, 2009). The 1994 Latham Report indicates that the level of unnecessary costs generated from inefficiency of use of labour and materials was around 30% of the initial capital cost. Involvement of the specialist contractors and suppliers in the design from outset, means abandoning all forms of traditional procurement which delay the appointment of the specialist constructors, sub-contractors and manufacturers, until the design is well advanced. The traditional forms of sequential of appointment are replaced with appointment of integrated design and construction supply chain from the inception period (Cain, 2003). Sub-contracting in supply chain management should be revisited, because smaller companies are less likely to offer apprenticeships and who would train for the future. In selecting suppliers and sub-contractor in the supply chain many factors should be considered. The location of the project and its proximity to the supplier. The experience of the sub-contractor working in such environment and if he/she can recruit qualified people living in the area or they may be brought in for the during of the project. Accommodation in close proximity for the imported personnel who would stay on the job for long time ( March, 2009). Many case studies revealed that framework agreement is achieving better value of work year by year during the past decade. Though the process is expensive, it does not re-advertise for applying/bidding and awarding of subsequent contracts, therefore great amount of costs is saved. It is able to establish objectives and targets and monitor performance of project and compare successive projects and transfer lessons from project to project (Constructing Excellence, 2005). Partnering is a management system that is based on collaborative approach to work. It is different style of working when compared to the traditional approach which was formerly common in the construction industry. It achieves greater value for money for the client and higher profit for the companies involved, and improves quality of work and is more predictable for project completion ( Bennett and Jayes, 1998). Some the attributed benefits of partnering are: Improved communication among participating parties; better working environment created; reduction of adversarial relationships; Less litigation; Fewer claims; better control over health and safety issues; Improve decision-making that helps to avoid costly claims and saves time and money (Fryer, 2004). Prime contracting(sub-contracting) has been used effectively for high value complex facility procurement projects for many years. It was selected as the procurement model of construction and maintenance services for the defence estates in the 1997 Strategic Defence Review , when it was decided that a more effective and efficient process was required the billion pounds a that the Ministry of Defence spends on its estates (Fryer, 2004). Benefits acquired by MoD include: Easier fault reporting; continuous improvement and innovation; consistent approach across allestates in England and Wales; greater emphasis on quality control and checking as a direct result of a reduction in bureaucracy (Fryer, 2004) CONCLUSION The involvement of the specialists at design stage enabled BAA to eliminate time overrun and cost overrun (Pryke, 2009). There is no production line in construction, hence the difficulty of transferring of this manufacturing-orientated approach. Nevertheless, all other construction companies have to follow the footsteps of the initiators to improve value for money, meeting time constraints, meet budget and quality and lift the industry in high esteem in terms of investment. Supply chain enhances good relationship among the participating teams through integration (Egan, 1998). Despite the impact of the reports of Egan in 1998 and Latham in 1994 there are traditional barriers to reform is proving unassailable. It is recognized that the clients, especially their internal professional advisors within their procurement groups were refusing to change their traditional, sequential procurement practices (Cain, 2003). The inevitable conclusion of the foregoing is that the construction industry is unlikely to be able to transform itself across the board by using SCM-type technique, unless sufficient private clients are persuaded to provide the leadership such as provide by Slough Estates in the 1990s. furthermore, Government and public sector clients need to keep their nerves and let SCM-friendly process like PFI mature into the world class delivers of projects they are capable of becoming (Pryke, 2009 p. 159). The previous specialized knowledge that are trapped within small specialist sub-contractors and suppliers can now become available to clients and designers in a way that is not previously possible (Bresnen, et al., 2009). From Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) there are indications of problems facing UK construction industry. The problems are fragmentation, adversarial relationships, project uniqueness, separation of design from production and competitive tendering. The use of clusters embedded within a partnered supply chain managing approach is cited as solution to the problem (Gray, (1996). It is an improvement of eliminating waste when specialist sub-contractors are brought in during design stage as it is in supply chain management (Morledge, et al,. 2009). It is suggested that where there is a context in construction, involving routine risk minimization coupled with transaction cost emphasis, and this simply creates a situation where costs are cut to achieve competitive status; value added may also be reduced and continuous improvement is unlikely to flourish (Pryke, 2009). Risk comes to rest in the supply chain at the position where leverage is dominant on the part of transferring out project actor. Edkins et al., 2009) suggested that economic power is not relevant to supply chain members and that the power or leverage exercised is supply chain specific and related to the power of other firms within the supply chain. Construction needs structure that provides collaborative relationship and which will maintain the flexibility demanded by the business environment (Smyth and Pryke, 2008). Supply chain management provides means of managing the players comprising the project coalition without the need to return direct employment and management which has improved unsustainable in the British construction industry of the twentieth century (Latham, 1994). The function of supply chain observes that, network of actors linked by number of sophisticated relational linkages (Pryke, 2006). Communication network is more important to the industry, its firms and its clients in the supply chain than the size of the firm. The distance that information or knowledge must pass to reach the actor wh o would handle such material affects the quality of such material on arrival and attitude of the receiver on arrival (Pryke, 2009). More education and motivation is required to maintain partnering, framework agreement and supply chain in the construction industry. As suggested by the government sponsored committees (Egan,1998 and Latham, 1994) reports, this is only possible way standardization. All construction team should participate in the development of partnering strategy for the project for effective result (Davy, et al., 1995). All stakeholders of a construction project should be committed to partnering. Every stakeholders interest should be considered in creating mutual goals,