Construction Procurement In Sweden Construction Essay

Construction Procurement In Sweden Construction Essay Sweden is one of Scandinavian countries located between Norway and Finland in North part of Europe. It has a population of 9.2 million people. Swedish climate in summer but winters bring some heavy snow and low temperatures especially in north regions. It is known as one of the best democratic government examples but even more as a successful and modern economic benchmark. Construction sector plays a very important role in Swedens domestic economy. It is described as a major market or even backbone in terms of importance. According to the Swedish Construction Institute report (1997) and the Swedish Construction Federation data (2008) the construction sector is one of Swedens largest industries and contributes significantly to national prosperity. Being a member of EU, Swedens construction legal framework and procurement legislations (Swedish Public Procurement Act, 2008) tend to concentrate on: non discrimination, equal opportunities, transparency, cost efficiency and value for money etc. Due to conservative cultural approach, Sweden has established a distinctive procurement model based on mutual strategic consideration and trust among construction actors. Nevertheless, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co Operation and Development) in annual reports about Swedish construction industry (2007) and (2009) found that cartels and lack of competition are the main negative features affecting procurement efficiency in Sweden. In 1990 Swedish construction industry was at its peak followed by government funds mainly for roads, bridges etc. Renovation, repairs and maintenance account for 50% of the total construction output (The Swedish Construction Institute, 1997). In 1991 there was a downturn in the industry and total construction volume fell by nearly 25% until 1994. In 1995 together with membership in EU Sweden construction sector has joined ISO 9001 quality and responsibility standards, which led industry to much bigger output. As a member of EFTA (European Free Trading Association), Sweden has been participating actively in European standards making in CEN (European Committee for Standardization) (Atkinson, 1995). Building regulations and control was the main government contribution to growing construction sector. It produced a quality standard high enough to absorb internal market request. The most noticeable Swedish achievements regarding construction quality by Atkinson (1995, p. 149) are: the de legation of ministerial policies on social and technical matters to professionally staffed executive agencies which carry out tasks assigned under legislations within a financial programme, the delegation of central responsibilities for building regulation and associated arrangements for certification and quality assurance to Boverket (The National Board of Housing, Building and Physical Planning), administration of building regulations by local district authorities, helped by a well presented system of approved documentation, regulations the Swedish Building Code in which requirements, expressed in functional or performance terms, are supported by examples of solutions, recommendations and advisory information. Unlike many other countries Sweden has no particular legislation concerning contract relationships for building projects by private clients. Even though private procurement can be performed with less complicated regulations, this must be done not offending public principles for contracts, purchase laws and laws regarding competition. Public procurement regulations are governed by Public Procurement Act directives followed by EU procurement legislation. The Swedish Competition Authority is responsible for supervision of Public Procurement Acts from 2008 (Swedish Competition Authority, Public procurement, 2008). Procurement types available in Sweden are: open, restricted and negotiated (Swedish Competition Authority, Swedish Public Procurement Act, 2007). PPP/PFI has been recently applied in Sweden and this kind of procurement options should gain more attention from private investors. However, according to Osipova (2008) Swedish construction industry has been criticized for high costs which led to lack of competition between contractors as well as low productivity and project delays. The UK has a benefit of wide range of institutional forms of construction contracts. However, a number of government sponsored reports have also highlighted that this has major disadvantages, indentifying duplication of effort and a wasteful use of resources at almost every level of activity (Ashworth, 2006). In the nineteenth century a first standard form of construction contract was introduced in the UK. The form was described as the RIBA until 1977, when the term JCT (The Joint Contracts Tribunal) contract was adopted. The present body responsible for drafting the current form includes public and private sector employers, architects, quantity surveyors, contractors and subcontractors. With different contract forms appearing in the U.K. after 1964, JCT forms reflected different interests of construction parties involved into construction business. The selection of particular form of contract depends on various considerations such as: type of work to be conducted, size of the project, public or private sector, status of designer and procurement types. According to Contracts in use surveys, JCT 98 is the most popular form of contract for building contracts in the UK. It is the Standard Form of Building Contract (SFBC). Table 1 shows all JCT contract forms available in the UK. The Institut ion of Civil Engineers (ICE) form remains the most popular among civil engineer contracts. The UK construction industry has attracted a great deal of criticism in recent years for its inability to meet the needs of its clients (Wood et al., 2005). There was a great need of collaborative procurement type such as partnering. Radically different approach to the procurement offered specific objectives through supply chain maximizing the effectiveness and performance of construction activities. Positive partnering approach in the UK has led Sweden to adopt partnering concept. Hence, partnering procurement type does not have contractual form status. In Sweden, the majority of contracts are based on the general conditions of contracts. New forms of contracting occurring are the performance based contract and partnering. Performance based contracts are improved forms of the design and build contracts. Such contracts tend to provide stimulus for the contractor for development of higher level products. Partnering contracts proved to be successful in the UK are getting more popular in Sweden. Cost reduction and better performance are the main benefits of such contracts. As in Sweden the UK construction industry is strongly fragmented. To improve this many of the best clients use partnering or similar agreements to keep project team together (Sterner, 2002). Lack of competition in Swedish construction sector has been pointed out by OECD (2007) in 1999 and 2004. Survey held by OECD find out that cartels are common within Swedish construction industry. Also barriers are quite high for new construction companies which cannot compete on the bigger projects. The four largest developers, which account for a large share of the market, do not normally purchase construction services in the market as 75% of apartments are built in house (OECD, 2007). This results in higher building costs than for smaller developers, who procure projects to a much higher extent. Swedish construction sector is not competitive in terms of supply chain as large companies are dominating this segment. Sweden has one of the highest levels of construction costs among EU. Swedish construction regulations regarding input materials as well as a lack of EU certified construction codes are preventing new entries into the industry. Some procurement contracts (source does not indicate which) have requirements that disadvantage foreign companies from investment and acts just like protectionism. Other specific indicators creating high costs in constructions are: high construction service prices (over 8% higher, excluding VAT, than the EU average in 2004), labour costs (matter of high taxes), powerful and very influential construction workers union Byggnads activity in collecting extra charges for non member companies. The civil engineering industry is in hands of big societies which also manufacture key materials such as asphalt and ballast. As the import is limited, other companies have to purchase from the market leaders, and the price of building materials is high compared to many other EU countries (OECD, Sweden: achieving results for sustained growth, 2007) Possible solutions From the data provided by OECD, we can state that Sweden should stress construction sector against culture of cartels. By reducing number of cartels the industry will gain more actors involved into construction procurement procedures and cost efficiency should increase accordingly. Stronger competition within sector could be achieved if smaller companies would act together in order to compete against big firms, but government should encourage such competition through procurement acts. It is obvious that high tax policy has made construction costs far too expensive in Sweden. It might be the barrier which naturally protects industry from foreign investment and keeps Swedish companies busy, but also acts against fair competition. On the 7th of October 2009, Swedish Competition Authoritys (Konkurrensverket) official report stated the construction sector is one example where we observe limited foreign presence in this country (Konkurrensverket, 2009, p. 1). In order to satisfy the demands placed on the construction sector in the future, a number of changes must be made to procurement procedures, all of which point to the need of new forms of co-operation among all the actors. The empirical data shows that the currently used procurement procedures involve: specification by the client, open bid invitations, bid evaluations based on lowest tender price, high contract formalisation through standard contracts, fixed price compensation, low usage of collaborative tools and performance evaluation by the client (Eriksson, 2007). Swedish procurement types are focused on price and authority due to lack of social control. According to conceptual model, trust between construction actors should receive bigger attention. Such procedures as: incentive based compensation, limited bid invitation, bid evaluation based on soft parameters, joint selection of sub contractors and contractor self control have reduced the traditional focus on price and autho rity. Therefore, trust and cooperation appeared to play a key role between partners. The benefit of early subcontractor involvement into procurement procedures proved to be important way of partnering concept.

Pizza USA Term Paper Essay

This case involves Pizza USA, a small independent chain restaurant operation that offers both dine-in and carry-out services for customers that has received feedback for a potential change that will require the implementation of design process to add services. Currently, customers have indicated that they are pleased with the food offered by the restaurant but they would increase pizza purchases if a delivery service was available. This dilemma ties into two separate issues. First, in order to remain competitive within the industry, customer wants and preferences need to be heard. After all, if you cannot please your customer base, you will lose them. Secondly, the changes required must be done in a manner that combines data gathering and analysis and implementation of a plan that best suites this particular type of business in order to maximize success. Customer service has been a recurring theme in many discussions regarding business operations and management in recent weeks. The prevailing thought is that in order for your business to grow and be successful, you must identify what your customers want and find a way to deliver it. This paper will analyze and discuss how process design can be implemented to assist this business to achieve its goals. Within the process design analysis and discussion, several factors will be reviewed to include: identification of what customer satisfaction means to the business and how we can identify the things that are most valuable to customers, the potential net yield of achieving a high level of customer satisfaction and efficiency, and the characteristic of developing an efficient pizza delivery (from stove to door) system. The paper will also assess creation of market â€Å"advantages† to not only maintain but grow the customer base. Pizza USA: An Exercise in Translating Customer Requirements into Process Design In the last five years leading up to 2012, the Pizza Restaurants industry has experienced the results of a downturn in economy. Restaurants have been directly affected by changing market conditions such as changes in intense competition, decreasing consumer spending and an increase in overall health consciousness (Kalnins, A., & Mayer, K., 2004). However, despite such overwhelming odds and challenges, businesses were able to overcome economic hard times by reinventing themselves through creative marketing and adjusting their menu’s to adapt to customers preferences (Kelso, 2012). This allowed the industry to recover effectively and consumer spending and market growth returned in 2010. As more consumers returned to the restaurants, overall demand increased. The U.S. Pizza industry averages about 410 million pizzas per year (Kelso, 2012). In 2012 alone, pizza sales are expected to reach an incredible $36.1 billion in revenue which is a 3.8 percent increase from the previous year (Kelso, 2012). This growth is expected to continue at a rate of 2.9 percent per year through 2017. Based on gathered data, 97 percent of U.S. consumers have ordered food from a pizza restaurant or establishment within the past 12 months (Kelso, 2012). No matter how you look at it, pizza consumption is on the rise and creates an exceptional opportunity for success in this industry. According to Gregory Badishkanian, a CITI Analyst, the big three of the pizza industry: Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa Johns are currently in position to increase market share. (Bloomberg, 2012). Although the big three comprise of 30% of the total pizza market, the remaining 70% comprise largely of other large chains with less market coverage and of course the smaller independent chains (Kelso, 2012). While the larger chains are improving profits independent chains are struggling to stay afloat amidst the fierce competition among the larger more established companies such as the big three (Kelso, 2012). Understanding this dilemma, it would be most prudent for any independent restaurant operator to maximize operations by insuring that internal process design enables not only efficient productivity but generates a process that is customer friendly and focused on customer’s needs and preferences (Kalnins, A., & Mayer, K., 2004). This would be critical in the business’ ability to survive in such a monopolistic type market. Successful operation within a smaller independent chain restaurant faces challenges that may not be as apparent to a larger and more established national chains. Pizza USA is a small chain operation that currently provides two services: dine-in and carry-out options. Customers have commented that if delivery services were added to the restaurant offerings, they would potentially buy more pizzas (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Based on this information, it is apparent that the owner needs to assess his business operations and consider a process design that would include adding this service to current operations. The addition of delivery services would potentially require additional capital to finance changes and may involve the hiring of additional staff. However, revenue increases as a result of the added service would off-set the costs associated with these additions. Near and long-term implications would include survivability within such a competitive market. As a customer, the primary focus of my satisfaction with this type of business relates primarily to efficiency and the level of customer service provided. If delivery service was provided, the two areas that would be most prevalent in my mind would be the delivery time and the state of the pizza once received. Far too often, I’ve received delivered food that was warm and in some cases cold. Needless to say, I never contacted that restaurant again. The thing that would create a unique experience would be the restaurant’s ability to not only deliver within an exceptional time period but also to provide a pizza that is piping hot as it would be while dining in. Another aspect would be an incentive to order delivery by way of discounting or some type of rewards service. These are experiences that have not been typical in my experience with pizza deliveries. Method The perceived situational analysis are as follows: Strengths-Due to the smaller nature of the business, It could potentially create a more personal experience for the customers thus increasing customer satisfaction; Weaknesses-As a smaller business entity, they have less resources and limited options in implementing changes to meet customer demands. Also, the business would be less tolerant of negative impacts that may result from changes compared to larger established chains with additional resources available; Opportunities-A stronger customer relationship tends to allow more flexibility due to stronger loyalty among satisfied customers. Loyal customers are willing to wait changes out rather than making an initial determination and moving on to another business; Threats-The primary threats are of course the larger and more established chains such as the big three. Again, due to resourcing issues, these smaller and independent operations have less flexibility and opportunity if changes become less than desirable. The primary causes and effects are business survivability and customer satisfaction. Although these two areas are mentioned separately, they are in fact one. If changes are not made to meet customer needs and preferences, the business risks losing clientele and eventual closure. The term customer loyalty has been described as a process of capturing how well an organization is performing in three critical market measures: customer retention, share of wallet, and price sensitivity relative to competitors (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Studies have shown that customer loyalty relates directly to business success and survivability. There exists a major distinction between product design from the user’s standpoint from what may have been intended by the manufacturer (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). The main difference deals primarily with the intended versus perceived usefulness of a given product. In short, if the customer’s input is not considered, product or process design could potentially be a major waste of time on the from end of the planning cycle with even a worse outcome once in the market. Table-1 below indicates quick-serve satisfaction rates among the top companies in the market to include the big three (Verma, R., & Thompson, G., 1999). As you can see, each of the larger chains has high overall scores in customer satisfaction. Albeit, this is only one of many areas that could potentially be assessed. The independent chains can learn something from this data. The large chains didn’t survive the market and become who they are today without success in this particular area (Verma, R., & Thompson, G., 1999). Table-1 Although the case situation described is consistent with most other business operations, â€Å"what can be done to be more profitable?† it is unique in itself due the detail andlevel of changes discussed. There are probably 100 areas that could be looked at that deals with efficiency and customer satisfaction. However, for the purpose of this paper we will only analyze the above mentioned areas. If assessing profitability and customer satisfaction is an everyday occurrence, which is the case in most businesses, then this case could most certainly be considered as a preexisting situation. However, this paper has little to do with assessing a documented loss in profits or revenue streams so the evolution is unknown at best. There are many course concepts that can be applied to understand this situation. However the two most prevalent areas of operations philosophy that comes to mind are: Chapter 3-Product and Service Design and Chapter 5-Process Analysis. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in chapter 3 discusses the process of getting the customer’s â€Å"voice† involved in design specifications (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). This concept and application relates to any and all industries and organizations. It is directly related a process of studying and listening to customers to improve upon a product or service (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Measuring Process Performance in Chapter 5 primarily deals with how well a particular process is performing. This is accomplished by assessing many different types of metrics such as: productivity, efficiency, flow time, throughput, and value added time to name a few (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). In order to adequately analyze whether your operation is running efficiently, a system of measurement is required to assess the performance. Results/Discussion The problem of addressing the customers’ needs and preferences are easily solved. Immediately implement planning to accommodate your customers’ request for the added feature of delivery service. Consider the most efficient manner of transition to minimize disruption to current business operations while planning the change. Insure that additional feedback is solicited and gathered from customers to re-validate the need to add the additional service and proceed with design process reviews and analysis to achieve goals. This satisfies the earlier discussion regarding identification of what the customer really wants and prefers. The task of developing and implementing the plan is what is the most difficult. Recommend that the owner begins with data gathering methods such as GAP Analysis. This method is used to assess the business’ performance relative to the expectations of its customers (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). An additional form of Gap Analysis includes the benchmarking of certain industry standards and measures the business ‘performance against established standards within the industry (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Questions to be asked would be: What are other smaller independent chains offering? Is delivery service a value added service or just a waste of money? What are the industry standards in regards to delivery times and what is considered acceptable to customers? Do have the resources to provide that type of service or will it require additional equipment, supplies, vehicles and staff? This will allow the owner to see where his restaurant is versus where he wants to be. Moreover, this would be an ideal tool to gather additional information from Customers to obtain additional feedback. It can be accomplished in many ways such as through paper or email mailers and in store surveys. The method selected would primarily depend on the owner’s available resources and preferences and of course size of targeted population The follow-on recommendation is to conduct a cost impact and payoff analysis using a decision tree or what some would call a consequence diagram. This process allows the planner to map out several alternatives with different end results to assess risk (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). In essence it is a risk matrix. When planning or considering restaurant equipment purchases or even additional staff hires, this process could be beneficial in assessing the risks involved with each decision (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Table-2 is a representation of a typical decision tree used to make informed decisions. As you can see, it is a process of identifying the problem (or situation) and working through several COA’s to determine what works best for you. Table-2 Implementation is the next step. I would recommend the utilization of responsibility charts to organize and manage tasks. Again, this particular tool is a type of matrix that lists all the projects and tasks to be completed while identifying certain responsible parties or stakeholders (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). In such a small business environment, it would probably be most beneficial for the owner to get all staff involved with the design process to obtain full buy-in. this can be accomplished through the use of this tool. Of all the steps involved with planning and execution, this is probably the most labor intensive due to the potential resourcing required. After plans are implemented, the owner needs to assess the customer reactions to the added service. Anticipating a given response and getting the actual response are sometimes two different things. Again, the same process used during the Gap Analysis can be used to capture post-implementation feedback from customers (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). The bottom line is that as a small business, you more reliant on customer loyalty than larger chains and operations. As a result, you must pay attention to any feedback received regarding your products and services, In this case we’re talking about pizzas but it applies in many other situations and industries as well. Once the feedback id obtained develop a smart and affordable plan and implement the plan. Once you have transitioned fully into your new plan, solicit additional feedback from customers to see how things are going. You may find other areas of your business operations that require attention. Customer feedback has to be a part of your daily operations. Without it, your business is at serious risk. References Kalnins, A., & Mayer, K., (Dec 2004), Franchising, ownership, and experience: A study of pizza restaurant survival. Management Science Journal, Vol. 50 Issue 12, p1716-1728, 13p, 3 Charts. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.1040.0220 Kohli, A., & Gupta, M., (Apr 2010), Improving operations strategy: Application of TOC principles in a small business. Journal of Business & Economics Research, Vol. 8 Issue 4, p37-45, 9p Verma, R., & Thompson, G., (1999), Managing service operations based on customer preferences. International Journal of Operations and Production Management. Vol. 19 Issue 9/10, p891-908, 18p, 6 Charts Jacobs, F. R., & Chase, R. B. (2011), Operations and   upply chain management. (13th ed.), New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin Kelso, A., (Sep 2012), Survey: U.S. pizza market tops $40 billion, pizzamarketplace.com, Retrieved: 1 Mar 2013 http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/article/200667/Survey-U-S-pizza-market-tops-40-billion AP News, (Sep 2012), Analyst: Big pizza chains could take bigger slice, Bloomberg Business Week News, Retrieved: 1 Mar 2013 http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-18/analyst-big-pizza-chains-could-take-bigger-slice

Top Eugenics Medicine Essay Topics Guide!

Top Eugenics Medicine Essay Topics Guide! Yes, it's a farfetched idea but with rapidly growing technology and knowledge it's turning into a wonderful probability. O This is a valid point but it would be exceedingly naive to presume that the degree of technology in our society cannot decrease. It might also be argued that none of those are beyond our biology because it's the human central nervous system that enables all our culture and technology. Our technicians will kindly answer every one of your questions. There's no wrong in parents choosing using a specific genetic knowledge to enhance the wellbeing and wellness of their offspring. Many people do not know that Adolph Hitler received almost all of his eugenic info and ideas from publications originating in america (Parker). The actual individuals highly praise our essay help site. Brainstorm topics as a group this will offer you a broader range of topics to pick from. Within this post, you are going to discover some helpful suggestions on writing a health research paper, together with the list of winning topics. These goals are thought to be reprehensible, and in practice aren't feasible. These topics are definitely the most popular scientific topics and advancements that appear to have gotten the eye of bioethics supporters, media, and the overall public. Still, every one of them would show up in the overall list. They'll consult you on any situation. Each topic inside this category represents a controversial issue and thus is a superb option if you want to get argumentative or persuasive essay topics. Sometimes you've got to pick the topic of your work from the topics list provided by your teacher. These drugs are in the marketplace regardless of known adverse results and are readily available to anybody without prescription. With pharmaceuticals producing nearly 125 billion dollars per year, it's going to have a really huge effect on American economy and consequentially have a massive influence on the everyday lives of Americans. Additional negative eugenic doesn't efficiently watch or lower the degree of recessive genes. There are regulations that were put into place that govern the usage of pharmaceuticals, and protect the companies which invest large amounts of money into the evolution of new and advanced drugs. Skloot also contains the story of humans which were involved in the custom of eugenics. Today, eugenics is growing more hi-tech. This results in the formation of the concept that we have to institute a eugenics program. The American Margaret Sanger (1883-1966) was one of the primary proponents of the negative eugenics, in other words, attempting to find approaches to eliminate bad genes. When the majority of people consider eugenics, the very first thing that springs to mind would have to be Hitler. The decision for what trait or behaviour is good or healthy is dependent on the health of the planet, culture, and circumstances a kid will face. If their choice is totally free and informed then there's not any reason to think that this type of decision is immoral on grounds of force or coercion. The issue with this is defining the criterion for each highly elaborate trait. There is just one human race and as time passes, we've learned that life originated in Africa. The initial one being the thought of distributive justice. In the modern era, everybody in the society is provided a choice whether they wish to be genetically tested and nobody is forced into any kind of experimentation or harsh sterilization dependent on the results. There's no society, which can create perfect individuals.

The Multi-faceted Role of the Pharmacist in Alberta Essay

The role of the pharmacist within Albertas health care system is multifaceted and constantly evolving. First and foremost, the pharmacist is a care provider who uses their knowledge, skills, and professional judgment to provide pharmaceutical care and facilitate management of patients medication and overall health. Subsequently, they are also a collaborator who work in concert with the team to provide effective, quality health care, and more importantly, to optimize patients quality of life. This is especially significant in our resource-strained health care system as pharmacists are on the front line of patient interaction and treatment; this ease of accessibility allows them to be a first-line health professional for patients and to†¦show more content†¦It also allows for targeted education and management of patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and HIV and decreases complications due to medication mismanagement or lack of physician acc essibility. As specialist accessibility is even more limited for most people, pharmacists fill this missing gap by providing patients with health education, promoting lifestyle changes such as diet, smoking cessation, and exercise, and overseeing their individualized drug therapy. For several years, I also had the privilege to be a representative and HIV Educator for AIDS Calgary, an organization that promotes advocacy, harm-reduction, and acceptance of those living with HIV/AIDS. This experience exemplified the crucial role of pharmacists in the management of chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, as well as their contribution to advancing health and well-being of a vulnerable population through advocacy. In my current role as a Crisis Line Support Volunteer at the Calgary Distress Centre, I peer counsel individuals in crisis, of which a significant portion have underlying mental health issues. They readily identify the pharmacist as a first-line resource for their medication managem ent and as an easily accessible, non-judgmental source of health information. Lastly, working as a clinical research assistant for psoriasis clinical drug