Ans 1) Process Flow diagram :
Gold recovery from the sulfide concentrate typically involves further refining, usually by roasting or oxidation of the wet air. Such pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical treatments themselves are typically accompanied by techniques of cyanidation and carbon adsorption for the final gold recovery. Hydrometallurgy involves the application of aqueous chemistry to recover metals from ores, concentrates and recycled or residual materials. This method is used to remove less electro-positive or less reactive metals such as gold or silver. Gold recovery chemicals such as lime, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, and sulfuric acid are used for slurry pH adjustment; sodium sulfide is used for activation; water glass and phosphate are used for dispersal; flocculation and starch are used for flocculation.
The process flow diagram for the hydrometallurgical processing of the gold ore using the Carbon in Pulp ( CIP ) process has been shown here. The ROM ore is used as the feed stream. The gold bars are used as the product. The comminution, beneficiation and hydrometallurgical aspect the gold purification have been separated.
Figure 1
The Figure 1 shows the various steps. The run of mine ore is given to the crushing and/or milling stage. The next step is thickening which includes lime flocculant. The cyanide and air/oxygen are added for leaching process. Carbon adsorption is then done and residual disposal is done. Carbon adsorption gives loaded carbon for acid washing with hydrochloric acid ( Sole, 2018 ).
Then, carbon elution is done using cyanide hydroxide which generates eluant for electrowinning or zinc precipitation which generates gold. The carbon elution gives carbon regeneration using steam. Then, carbon conditioning is done using fresh carbon to give the regenerated carbon to the carbon adsorption stage ( Petrov, 2018 ).
The Carbon – in – pulp ( CIP ) comprises of the sequential leaching. After tis, the gold is adsorbed from the ore. In the CIP step, the pulp is made to flow from various agitated tanks. Here, the sodium cyanide and the oxygen are added for dissolving the gold in the solution. The gold yield is reduced by the attraction of the gold which was there for carbon in the activated form. In this method, leaching is done in the initial couple of tanks. Leaching is made to continue and the carbon adsorption takes place.
Ans 2) A stream table is produces for the process. The streams considered are which enter or exit the 4 PFDs. Data used in stream table is : Pso particles size, Water flowrate, solids flowrate and flowrate.
The design criteria is given by :
| Item | Value | Units |
| Total solids feature | 100 | Tonnes / hour |
| Solids feed Pso | 600 | Mm |
| Solids work index | 15 | kWh / tonne |
| Gold content | 3.5 | Grams /tonne |
| Silica content | 999996.5 | Grams / tonne |
| Weight (g) | Flow – Outlet 1 ( ml / CS ) | Flow – Outlet 2 ( ml / CS ) |
| 2001 | 1000 / 117 | 1000 / 134 |
| 18975 | 1000 / 116 | 1000 / 111 |
| 18864 | 1000 / 103 | 1000 / 145 |
| 189863 | 1000 / 95 | 1000 / 146 |
| Outlet flow ( ml / CS ) | Water content in concentrate recovered ( Weight % ) | Water content in cyanide recovered ( Weight % ) |
| 1000 / 45 | 9.6 | 9 |
| 1000 / 40 | 9.6 | 9 |
| 1000 / 48 | 9.6 | 9 |
| 1000 / 48 | 9.6 | 9 |
3. The half reaction for gold reduction is at the top of the electrochemical series, above the reaction for the disassociation of water.
The precipitation of gold from aqueous cyanide solutions is not thermodynamically spontaneous because gold is insoluble in water. Cyanide can help to stabilize gold in the solution which also needs oxygen for dissolving the gold. When gold mixes with dilute cyanide ( of sodium, potassium or calcium ) and air is bubbled then gold gets oxidised and forms aurocyanide complex ion ( Birloaga, 2014 ).
Gold shows a stable state with oxidation state of +3 in the electrolyte having the unit activity for the dissolved gold and the thiocyanate ions. If the concentration of the oxygen dissolved falls, then the equilibrium potential gets shifted to the negative side. Then, the +1 oxidation state becomes stable. If an oxidising agent is present, then gold is not stable thermodynamically. The electrowinning is required to precipitate gold out of cyanide solutions because the trace amounts of gold need to be recovered from the solutions.
Ans 4) Purpose of elution stage on a gold plant :
As we know that elution is the process of extracting any material from another material by the use of a solvent. The washing of loaded ions will exchange resin to remove the captured. It is the process of recovery of gold in the carbon in pulp process. The process requires the heating of caustic cyanide for many hours. Also sodium sulphite when used can affect the rate of reaction with full accuracy by four times ( Baba, 2014 ). The process is used to de absorb gold from activated carbon. Ethanol can also be used for the process. The solvent molecules called the eluate should travel down by the column. This phase is called as the stationary phase. This process displace by binding to the absorbent. After this phase the mobile column passes out of the column which is then collected form analysis. Since the process has a lot of safety concerns the process does not get accepted easily. In the process of gold extraction, the first column is called carbon column. Here the carbon absorbs gold form the solution that is provided ( Birloaga, 2013 ). The second step is the elution. In this process the carbon is released from the gold and both are separated.
References :
Baba, A. A., Ibrahim, L., Adekola, F. A., Bale, R. B., Ghosh, M. K., Sheik, A. R., … & Folorunsho, I. O. (2014). Hydrometallurgical processing of manganese ores: a review. Journal of minerals and materials characterization and engineering, 2(03), 230.
Birloaga, I., De Michelis, I., Ferella, F., Buzatu, M., & Vegliò, F. (2013). Study on the influence of various factors in the hydrometallurgical processing of waste printed circuit boards for copper and gold recovery. Waste management, 33(4), 935-941.
Birloaga, I., Coman, V., Kopacek, B., & Vegliò, F. (2014). An advanced study on the hydrometallurgical processing of waste computer printed circuit boards to extract their valuable content of metals. Waste Management, 34(12), 2581-2586.
Petrov, G. V., Fokina, S. B., Boduen, A. Y., Zotova, I. E., & Fidarov, B. F. (2018). Arsenic behavior in the autoclave-hydrometallurgical processing of refractory sulfide gold-platinum-bearing products. International Journal of Engineering and Technology (UAE), 7(2), 35-39.
Sole, K. C., Mooiman, M. B., & Hardwick, E. (2018). Ion exchange in hydrometallurgical processing: an overview and selected applications. Separation & Purification Reviews, 47(2), 159-178.
Reflection on Miss Evers Boys
Miss Ever’s boys’ film it’s a fractionalized interpretation of the Tuskegee study of untreated syphilis in the Negro Male between 1932 and 1972. It was a 40-year project in which the US government was tracking the course of the disease of the many black men living in Tuskegee, the essence of the study was to withhold treatment; the penicillin and determine whether the black Americans responded similarly to the effects of the disease just as like the whites. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to know if the penicillin was able to prevent and cure the syphilis infection and whether the disease had the similar effect to the blacks (Alsan, and Wanamaker, 2018 p,407) However, the participants who were infected by the disease did not get the medical treatment The United State government sent a medical investigation to the poor African black men in Alabama in Macon country. The research participants consisted of 600 black men of whom 400 were infected with the contagious disease and 200 were not infected.
The government used them in conducting medical research and by the end of 1972, only 74 men were alive,28 of them died of syphilis, 100 dyeings with related diseases and 40 infected their wives with the diseases while more than 18 children of the men were born with congenital syphilis (White, 2019 p.371). The population of Tuskegee was selected as it contained most of the black Africans who were not affected by the diseases and it was suitable for the study. The Americans needed to test whether the Penicillin had the same effect of curing and preventing syphilis to the blacks and hence Tuskegee was suitable. Eunice Ever and Dr. Brodus were chosen to facilitate the program as they could be able to curb syphilis spread among the African American in rural Alabama, Ever gratified to be able to serve the community and it was believed she was the only person that made the participants believe that they were receiving medical care which helped them to cure the disease. Ever was able to hold every information about the research although filled with the dilemma of whether to disclose the information to the participants, do her duty as a nurse or just assume everything. One of the strategies Ever used to convince the participants was that she went around the town announcing that the government was providing free medical care for bad blood. Ever was able to assuage their fear of the painful tabs which she called them back shots and making them believe it was not painful at all. Ever was very social to the patients and interacted with the participants very well that such that she was affectionate and had a bittersweet relationship with a syphilitic individual who announces his love for her (Barrett et.al 2019).
From the three strategies used by Ever, she violated the ethical nursing ethics of Truth-Telling and Patient Consent by lying to them that they would receive free medical treatment while they did not receive the treatment. On the same Ever violated the nursing Ethics on fidelity by having an extensive relationship with Calen which is not professional within the nursing practice. However, it was very kind of Ever who fully participated in providing care for the participants and demonstrated the act beneficence by having an interest in improving the lives of the people in her region through medical care of syphilis. The US government used their power to promise free treatments to the infected blacks and promised to give them food and since the men had no food and lived in a poor economy, they were lured to the experiment (Hermann, 2000).
The participants were illiterate who came from poor economic backgrounds giving reasons why the government took advantage of them. Mis Ever was driven by the act of compassion and altitude of providing good care of the participants which is an act of beneficence. She felt that her role was to console the infected men of whom most of them were her friends. She was very social to the participants such that she even made romance with Caleb, one of the participants, who later joined the army.
I feel very proud of Mrs. Ever who had such great compassion for helping the participants and gratified to serve her community after the invitation form the federal government to participate in the medical research. Although she learned the truth of the experiment, she was confused seeing that there was no medical care administered to the patients, making her have a great dilemma on whether to quit the research. In case I would have been invited in the research by the American government I would have helped syphilis infected individuals get the medical care by intervening with the American government, making them understand the medical needs of the community and the economic pressure the people face. This could greatly help the communities reduce the death rates and get the treatment of the infectious disease as well as improving the economic pressures of the community.
This case relates to a case where more than seven psychiatric studies were closed down in New York University after it was discovered there were ethical violations and falsifying records. This led to some researcher’s dismissal and closure of the research centers. The violation included tax oversight and having failed to keep accurate records. It involved an individual who was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress due to drug abuse and the researchers were investigating whether the untested drug could improve her conditions. The patient is reported to be sexually harassed by the researcher and administered a wrong drug which led to her deterioration and later death (NYU medical school stops studies after ethical violations, 2020)
.
Both cases NYU and violates the nursing ethics of justice. The patients are entitled to have justice and fairness. The research participants in the Tuskegee Study required treatment justice as they had been promised free medical treatment on syphilis. Relatively the patient was diagnosed. with posttraumatic stress required fair treatment with the right drug. However, the two cases differ with the unfairness, where the Tuskegee study was on racism, only black was meant to suffer from unfair treatment while the test was never done to the whites though the whites did it. The NYU research was not racist and it could have been a medical error or negligence.
Some of the research ethics available today that can prevent Tuskegee Study incidences are the principle of the informed concert, where the researchers have to understand why they are performing the research, as well the expected goals or outcome. The principle of anatomy and confidentiality protects the researchers in that only researchers who are willing to participate in the research are involved (Giunta, & Sharp 2020). Then the researchers are bound to have confidentiality and maintain the research information confidential. The Principle of deceptive practices applies to the Tuskegee Study
References
Alsan, M., and Wanamaker, M., 2018. Tuskegee and the health of black men. The quarterly journal of economics, 133(1), pp. 407-455.
Barrett, L.A., 2019. Tuskegee Syphilis Study of 1932–1973 and the Rise of Bioethics as Shown Through Government Documents and Actions. DttP: Documents to the People, 47(4), pp.61-16.\
Giunta, H., & Sharp, R. R. (2020). Can the Principles of Research Ethics Help Us Distribute Clinical Resources More Fairly?
Hermann, D. H. (2000). Lessons Taught by Miss Evers’ Boys: The Inadequacy of Benevolence and the Need for Legal Protection of Human Subjects in Medical Research. JL & Health, 15, 147.
White, R. M. (2019). Driving Miss Evers’ Boys to the Historical Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis. Journal of the National Medical Association, 111(4), 371-382.
Evidence based policy is a term mostly used in the public policy to explain how policy decision are based on objective evidence. With the increased political populism and contestation, availability of reliable information is crucial to come up with well informed policies that are based on evidence than emotions and feelings. The legitimacy of the current political systems are based on their ability to make and deliver proper results as a policy and law maker that focuses on facts. These results must have a basis of reliable information son that these political decision can be understood, assessed, sustained and be future focused. In the preparation and scrutinisation of policy making processes, arrangements are day after day being evaluated and assessed based on facts and statistics. These arrangements are on the policy proposals, legislations and implementation of these statistics and factual information. Complex steering mode is a form of evidence based monitoring which leads to alteration in patterns of governance, globalization and supranationalization. On the basis of complex steering mode, evidence based policing focuses on ways to restructure the association and relationship existing between political heads of various institutional origin and their political classes. It also focuses on policy mechanisms that distinguishes politics with policy approaches of different political systems (Cairney and Oliver, 2017).
Evidence based policing is important in the health care setting as well as in a country at large. Lancaster (2014) claims that evidence based policing has much of its impact on the developed nations and less established in the developing nations. An excellent utilization of evidence based policing could save lives. Eradicate poverty and improve the development performance in the developing nations. An example of this is an East African country that implemented the evidenced based policing in the health sector whereby health services were informed by household disease surveys. This led to reduction of infant mortality with a 40 percent margin. In different nations, HIV and AIDS crisis is becoming worse due to the governments ignoring the evidence of the cause of the infection and ways of preventing its spread. Oliver et al. (2014) claim that evidence based policing provided the best evidence attained from research for implementing and developing the policy hence individuals are in a position to make wise and informed decisions on projects, policies and programmes. It also makes scientific evidence and what is unknown to be understood. Unlike opinion based policing, evidence based policing must have policies that are anchored on evidence so as to shape agendas, define issues, identify options, make choices of action, deliver these choices and also be able to track the effects and results of the choices of action.
According to Saltelli and Giampietro (2017), the existing crisis on the governance of science affects the integrity of science, its reproducibility and scientific peer review, hence the need to look in to evidence based policing. The recent policy based policies apply the mechanism of quantification on the basis of analysing risks and cost benefits. They aim at optimizing one of the policies among different issues being considered. The analysis of this single policy is affected by distracting from alternative readings. These alternative frames lead to uncomfortable knowledge which should be excluded from the policy discourse. Leuz (2018) claims that the future of evidence based policy making should be based on disclosure and transparency mandates as this would make the process more fruitful and natural. In the past trust, accountability and transparency in evidence based policing have been misused reducing links with sciences. Professionalization agenda in policing is crucial as it supports the evolution process and how changes lead to overcoming forthcoming challenges. The police have in different nations have undergone learning to as to understand and appreciate the significance of agendas (Edwards, Gillies and Horsley, 2016).
The SARA model is a model in decision making that involves research and analysis, focusing solutions to a given problem and also evaluating how effective the solutions are. It was developed by John Eck and William Spelman in 1987. This model entails scanning, analysis, response and assessment. The scanning is the identification, selection and prioritization of issues that should be addressed using data from the community and citizen input, police and other data sources. Analysis involves thoroughly analyzing the causes of issues. These problems could include the continuous cause of crime and call for police services. Response is determining, evaluation and implementation of a call to a given problem. Ideas and actions towards response have to be evidence based or specific and focused to the given issues applying the existing sound mechanisms of preventing crime. Assessment is the most ignored aspect of the SATA model. This aspect calls for assessment and evaluation of the effect of a given response and being ready to apply a different approach if the response was not effective (Burton and McGregor, 2018).
The hot spot policing is a theory that focuses on the regions where crime is highly concentrated by directing correction activities and resources to those regions. It is also used in regions where violence and crime are dense but clustered in small regions. The resources and activities directed to these regions in an attempt to prevent, reduce the levels of crime or totally eradicate it (Braga et al. 2019). This policy does not involve the use of given tactics and interventions but targeting resources to a given high crime area. According to Kochel and Nouri (2018) this policy has been important in eradicating crime. The hot spot policing has a well-defined strategy that accounts for any publication bias and also applies relevant and right statistical techniques in analysis of effect size.
Problem oriented policing (POP) is a technique that involves diagnosis and solving problems that lead to increased crime in areas experiencing high criminal levels. The policing technique faces challenges as it has to carry out a diagnosis and then resolve the problems causing increase in crimes in a large locality. However, there are different ways of carrying out this technique. POP was coined by Herman Goldstein with the intention of replacing the existing policing standard models with more proactive approaches that can target and identify issues that lead to crime and disorder in the community. Problem oriented policing gets information on crimes and environmental issues causing risks in the society hence leading to a high level of crime reduction. It also improves and promotes the relationship within a community as it involves partnering with the local community. Problem oriented policing is sometimes used in resolving serious crimes especially when it involves collection of tips from the community then making follow ups. The POP mechanism can take different forms which vary depending on the issues at hand being resolved. The most common is the application of scanning, analysis, response and assessment to resolve a specific problem. POP can also target crime hot spots, focus on non-geographic concentrations of crime and other factors (National Institute of Justice, 2020). The base line of problem oriented policing is coming up with an issue which is narrowly defined then applying a wide range of responses to reduce the severity or combat the problem.
The lectures of supply chain management have pointed out importance of structure between head contractors and subcontractors and its performance (Munns, A. K. 1995, Kadefors, A. 2004, Segerstedt, A., Olofsson, T., Hartmann, A., & Caerteling, J. 2010). Still construction industry has poor trust culture (Green, S. D., Fernie, S., & Weller, S. 2005) that leads to unsuccessful of collaborative relationships (Dainty, A. R., Briscoe, G. H., & Millett, S. J. 2001). To promote the efforts of client and head contractors of construction supply chain management in interface of client and head contractors partnering agreements (Bresnen, M., & Marshall, N. (2000). This leads to backdrop of construction industry reforms in UK which creates unenviable sectors which is more relational and trust-based.
According to (Kumaraswamy, M. M., Anvuur, A. M., & Smyth, H. J. 2010) claimed that in recent collaborative framework agreements there is a failure of integrate subcontractors (SC), suppliers and consultants leads to major shorting of collaborative efforts. Most probably this research has discussed issues about subcontractors and suppliers in their collaborative agreements which includes belief, expense and seek to enhance their profitability. So subcontractors are seeking their own business requirements (Dainty, A. R., Briscoe, G. H., & Millett, S. J. 2001). With all these reasons how supply chain management system manages in construction sector and the company performances (Love, P. E., Irani, Z., Cheng, E., & Li, H. 2002). According to (Walker, A. (2015) all firms which are included in construction sector need to make visible for subcontractors and head contractors to contribute the other areas of construction. These improvements in supply chain management between subcontractors and head contractors could increase the future improvements in performance of construction companies. This requires certain research attention for the management of subcontractors.
Smyth, H. E. D. L. E. Y. 2011) indicated that some contractors continue to integrate collaborative activities as core competencies and complex skills in supply chains and networks to maximise value. It was during a time of economic downturn where the primary focus was on cost and company survival as opposed to the emphasis on collaborative activities that was common during the preceding era of economic growth. However, these joint initiatives by head contractors organisations have lost empirical focus in research into construction management. (King, A. P., & Pitt, M. C. 2009) Contractor-driven approaches argued about the customer-centered approach of Construction Supply Chain Management (SCM) literature. Given the several decades of adversarial working relationships and the consequent culture of mistrust (Ankrah, N. A., Proverbs, D., & Debrah, Y. (2009) that have hindered supply-chain integration, especially among SCs (Dainty, A.R.J., Briscoe, G.H. and Millett, S.J. (2001), trust is likely to remain fundamental to such collaborative efforts undertaken by contractors.
A contractor-centered emphasis on SCM practises adopted by UK head contractors and the possible implications of these practises for the creation of inter-organizational trust particularly during periods of austerity are likely to lead to long-term performance improvements. This study thus aims to bridge the gap in awareness by efforts of (King, A. P., & Pitt, M. C. 2009) on SCM practises from an HC point of view and then discuss the consequences of these practices form the functioning of inter-organizational structure practices in projects.
2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Based on the background of the research, the following research questions have been raised:
- How head contractors in UK managed subcontractors by adopting supply chain management practices.
- How inter organisation structure formed between head contractors and subcontractors in the projects by adopting supply chain management practices.
- How the impact of various supply chain management practices on project performance has been measured.
- What is the understanding between head contractors and subcontractors related to SCM relationships.
3 RESEARCH SCOPE
The scope of this research is implementation of supply chain management practices on construction and inner organisation structure and its performance in UK.
4 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The main aim of this research is to explore inner organisational structure development between head contractors and subcontractors and its performance. Objectives of the research are listed below:
- To develop a clear definition of supply chain management for construction organisation and its performance as well as literature of supply chain management.
- To develop a best practice how head contractors are managed subcontractors of an organisation in UK.
- To develop best inner organisation structure between contractors and sun contractors.
- To investigate a case study how companies applies supply chain management practices to measure the organisation performance.
- To evaluate case study frameworks using selected construction practitioners involved in SCM related activities.
- To draw conclusions and recommendations for the use of SCM practices.
5 METHODOLOGY TO BE ADOPTED AND PROJECT SCHEDULE
This project is mainly divided in 10 chapters with subtopics in each chapter. The main study of this project is based on internet sources and journals which are available by library access. This is useful carry out chapter 2,3 and 4. The research methodology is mainly carried in two sources are 1) qualitative and 2) quantitative (Newman, I., Benz, C. R., & Ridenour, C. S. 1998). The best practices are chosen while conducting the project. The list of chapters and their subtopics are listed below table:
| Task Name | Duration | Start | Finish |
| CHAPTER 1 Research Introduction | 6 days | Thu 27/02/20 | Thu 5/03/20 |
| Research background | 1 day | Thu 27/02/20 | Thu 27/02/20 |
| Research questions | 1 day | Fri 28/02/20 | Fri 28/02/20 |
| Research aims and objectives | 1 day | Mon 2/03/20 | Mon 2/03/20 |
| Scope | 1 day | Tue 3/03/20 | Tue 3/03/20 |
| Structure of project | 1 day | Wed 4/03/20 | Wed 4/03/20 |
| summary | 1 day | Thu 5/03/20 | Thu 5/03/20 |
| CHAPTER 2 SCM concept | 6 days | Fri 6/03/20 | Fri 13/03/20 |
| Introduction of SCM | 1 day | Fri 6/03/20 | Fri 6/03/20 |
| SCM concept | 1 day | Mon 9/03/20 | Mon 9/03/20 |
| Emergence of SCM in construction | 2 days | Tue 10/03/20 | Wed 11/03/20 |
| SCM implementation in construction | 2 days | Thu 12/03/20 | Fri 13/03/20 |
| CHAPTER 3 Inner organisation structure concept | 7 days | Sat 14/03/20 | Mon 23/03/20 |
| Introduction | 1 day | Mon 16/03/20 | Mon 16/03/20 |
| Inner organisationb structure concept | 2 days | Tue 17/03/20 | Wed 18/03/20 |
| factors that influence inner organisation structure in construction | 3 days | Thu 19/03/20 | Mon 23/03/20 |
| CHAPTER 4 research design and methodology | 6 days | Tue 24/03/20 | Tue 31/03/20 |
| Introduction | 1 day | Tue 24/03/20 | Tue 24/03/20 |
| Research methodology and methods | 1 day | Wed 25/03/20 | Wed 25/03/20 |
| Research process | 4 days | Thu 26/03/20 | Tue 31/03/20 |
| Research design phase | 1 day | Thu 26/03/20 | Thu 26/03/20 |
| Literature review | 1 day | Thu 26/03/20 | Thu 26/03/20 |
| case study design | 1 day | Thu 26/03/20 | Thu 26/03/20 |
| Data collection | 1 day | Fri 27/03/20 | Fri 27/03/20 |
| Case studies data | 1 day | Fri 27/03/20 | Fri 27/03/20 |
| Analysis | 1 day | Mon 30/03/20 | Mon 30/03/20 |
| CHAPTER 5 case study 1 | 10 days | Wed 1/04/20 | Tue 14/04/20 |
| Introduction | 1 day | Wed 1/04/20 | Wed 1/04/20 |
| Background | 1 day | Thu 2/04/20 | Thu 2/04/20 |
| SCM practices | 2 days | Fri 3/04/20 | Mon 6/04/20 |
| Factors that influence inner organisation structure in case study | 3 days | Tue 7/04/20 | Thu 9/04/20 |
| factors that influence performance | 2 days | Fri 10/04/20 | Mon 13/04/20 |
| summary | 1 day | Tue 14/04/20 | Tue 14/04/20 |
| CHAPTER 6 case study 2 | 10 days | Wed 1/04/20 | Tue 14/04/20 |
| Introduction | 1 day | Wed 1/04/20 | Wed 1/04/20 |
| Background | 1 day | Thu 2/04/20 | Thu 2/04/20 |
| SCM practices | 2 days | Fri 3/04/20 | Mon 6/04/20 |
| Factors that influence inner organisation structure in case study | 3 days | Tue 7/04/20 | Thu 9/04/20 |
| factors that influence performance | 2 days | Fri 10/04/20 | Mon 13/04/20 |
| summary | 1 day | Tue 14/04/20 | Tue 14/04/20 |
| CHAPTER 7 Analysis, discussions and findings | 26 days | Tue 24/03/20 | Tue 28/04/20 |
| CHAPTER 8 conclusion and recommendations | 4 days | Wed 29/04/20 | Mon 4/05/20 |
| CHAPTER 9 Recommendations for future research | 2 days | Tue 5/05/20 | Wed 6/05/20 |
| CHAPTER 10 Report making | 60 days | Mon 24/02/20 | Fri 15/05/20 |
The project is subjected to complete with in 11 weeks schedule. The chapter breakdown is necessary to complete the project within the schedule time. The critical path is selected with start time and end time.
The above Gantt chart is prepared by using MS PROJECT software including all chapters which mentioned in above table. The total weeks are used in this project is 11 weeks estimated the work starts from week 0.
6 SUMMARY
This chapter contains research background on UK subcontractors, research questions, aims and objectives, study scope and project schedule which also been discussed before in structure of thesis. The next chapter 2 and 3 presents literature review on supply chain management and inner organisational structure.
CHAPTER 2 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
1 INTRODUCTION
An introduction to the research was provided in the previous chapter. The definition of Supply Chain Management (SCM) is discussed in this chapter from the generic SCM and the literature on construction management. Before presenting literature on the main features, the emergence of SCM in the construction sector is discussed. The benefits of strategic SCM activities are highlighted as a tool for cooperative involvement with companies further down the construction supply chain as well as improving the low-trust culture in the construction industry. Therefore, this chapter sets the stage for further exploration of the relationship between strategic SCM activities and inter-organizational trust dynamics in the construction supply chain. This chapter contributes to objective one of the research.
2 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CONCEPT
In this section, the different views of SCM concept is explained with aims of presenting a definition of concept. Based on that, SCM then discussed from operational and strategic perspectives.
2.1 DEFINITION AND OVERVIEW
The concept SCM is constantly used in fields of logistics and management of different operations (Cooper, M. C., Lambert, D. M., & Pagh, J. D, 1997) with some unclear recommendations (Chen, I. J., & Paulraj, A. 2004). The need to provide lower prices, quality goods and improved customer service in the 1980s led to the emergence of the SCM model as a result of intense global competition (Cooper, M. C., Lambert, D. M., & Pagh, J. D, 1997). The first appearance of the term ‘supply chain management’ is in 1982 (Oliver, R. K., & Webber, M. D. 1982) when it was used to emphasise inventory reduction both within and across companies (Cooper, M. C., Lambert, D. M., & Pagh, J. D, 1997). In the 1950s and 1960s, manufacturers in the U.S. had used mass manufacturing to cut costs and increase profitability, and had paid little attention to developing supply chain partnerships. When manufacturing companies started experimenting with just-in-time (JIT) and Total Quality Management (TQM) strategies as a way of increasing quality, manufacturing performance and distribution in the 1980’s, the importance of strategic and cooperative partnerships became major evident because there was often little inventory to buffer scheduling and production problems.
In the 1990s the increasing trend in market globalisation, intensified competition, high inventory cost and the need for better quality, manufacturing efficiency and customer service was further increased. This has allowed mutual collaboration between producers and a number of high-quality suppliers who have jointly adopted product design and development practices, and efforts to improve costs, quality and service. Business process reengineering (BPR), which included redesigning business processes to minimise waste and improve efficiency, also gained popularity during this same time, but then suddenly died down as it became synonymous with downsizing (Wisner, J. D., Tan, K. C., & Leong, G. K. 2014). It was at this point that, after its earlier appearance in the 1980s, SCM quickly gained popularity as a tactic for businesses to gain competitive advantage. Since then, SCM has continued to gain prominence in recent years due to a increasingly globalised market context, driven by timing and quality-based competition as well as increased environmental uncertainty (Mentzer, J.T., DeWitt, W., Keebler, J.S., Min, S., Nix, N.W., Smith, C.D. and Zacharia, Z.G. 2001). (Chen, I. J., & Paulraj, A. 2004) indicated that the idea of SCM is mostly informed by various viewpoints such as quality control, product management and integrated logistics, manufacturing markets and networks, with a greater emphasis on consumers or stakeholders.
SC’s which are involved in various networks of different organisations, in different ways which result in better product or service delivered to customer or client (Christopher, M. 1994). The SC’s for various material and manufacturing organisations is as follows (Vrijhoef, R. and Koskela, L. 2000):
Thus, SCM can be defined as the application of a management philosophy by an organisation to organise these networks of upstream and downstream relations with other organisations by exchanging goods, information or services with the goal of generating value for the customer (Christopher, M. 1999). As stated by (Cooper, M. C., Lambert, D. M., & Pagh, J. D, 1997), SCM was also described as integrating the major business end-user processes through original suppliers of products, services and information adding value to customers and other stakeholders by the International centre for competition excellence, now known as the World Supply Chain Forum. The SCM is defined as the business process from one supplier to other supplier which satisfies the original product requirements and services that adds value for stakeholders and customers (Cooper, M. C., Lambert, D. M., & Pagh, J. D, 1997). SCM is the basic step for very business to enable the SC’s as one entity and advantage for long-term competitive (Wisner, J.D., Tan, K.C. and Leong, G.K. 2011). The concept of SCM is divided into two perspectives (Ganeshan, R. and Harrison, T.P. 1995) 1) Operational SCM 2) Strategic SCM.
2.1.1 OPERATIONAL SCM
The operational SCM is mainly related to concept of logistical foundations. It deals with logistical functions that consists of materials procurement, dividing these materials into products and distribution of these finished products to customers (Ganeshan, R. and Harrison, T.P. 1995). This operational SCM gives additional value to SC’s to increase the sales for organisations and also it will reduce the customers order times and minimise the cost ( Bowersox, D.J., Closs, D.J. and Cooper, M.B. 2010). It includes critical coordination of activities such as order management, warehousing and storage, demand forecasting, material handling, and contact with logistics (Lambert, D. M., & Stock, J. R. 1993). (Green, S. D., Fernie, S., & Weller, S. 2005) also revealed that this aspect of SCM focuses on understanding more effective ways to handle the distribution of products, resources and knowledge through the entire supply chain. This is with the aim of significantly reducing inventories and controlling efficiently the relationship between manufacturers and the production line (Vrijhoef, R., & Koskela, L. 2000).
According to (Vrijhoef, R. and Koskela, L. 2000), the four roles of SCM in construction involves:
- There is no any disturbance in workflow due to labours and supply of materials.
- To reduce the costs which are related to business, lead time and inventory.
- There is no any technical defaults in construction site with activities related to SC’s.
- To achieve management of integration and SC’s and reduce the production of site.
2.1.2 STRATEGIC SCM
According to (Tan, K.C., Lyman, S.B. and Wisner, J.D. 2002), to achieve quality, customer service and success for every organisation has to implement strategic SCM. The concept of strategic SCM is defined as it is driven as a firm by surroundings within the SC’s (Cox, A. and Ireland, P. 2002) and strategic relations developed with in the organisations (Green, S.D., Fernie, S. and Weller, S. 2005). This strategic SCM is less dominant when compared to operational SCM in SCM research.
3 IMPLEMENTATION OF SCM IN CONSTRUCTION
SCM as previously mentioned from the manufacturing sector, has gradually gained prominence in the construction sector as part of the spread of JIT and TQM (Saad, M., Jones, M. and James, P. 2002) and BPR approaches (Wisner, J. D., Tan, K. C., & Leong, G. K. 2014). The changing competitive construction environment has led the industry to start learning and implementing ideas, especially from other manufacturing industries (Tookey, J. E., Murray, M., Hardcastle, C., & Langford, D. 2001). The same as the rise of SCM in the manufacturing sector, it was slowly adopted as a collaboration of JIT and TQM as strategies for increasing performance in the construction supply cycle (Saad, M., Jones, M. and James, P. 2002). This progressive growth of the SCM in the construction industry was also attributed to the pressure to reform alternative methods and innovative systems that could increase productivity (Morledge, R., Knight, A., Grada, M., & Pryke, S. 2009).
Progress toward SCM in construction can also be tracked in the evolution of procurement approaches between the 1960s and 2000s, as well as how such evolutionary changes influenced relationship types (Saad, M., Jones, M. and James, P. 2002). Building has been dominated by traditional single-stage procurement since the early nineteenth century, marked by short-term and adversarial relationships, fractured procedures, and strongly separated functions and roles. In the 1960’s, however, new methods of procurement started to emerge in response to rising consumer needs (Edum-Fotwe, F. T., Thorpe, A., & McCaffer, R. 2001). Many of these constructive procurement improvements were motivated by well-informed and experienced construction clients (Tookey, J. E., Murray, M., Hardcastle, C., & Langford, D. 2001), and new methods such as two-stage tendering, construction management, contract management and design and build (D&B) have since evolved from these client-led development efforts. Sometimes these procurement strategies involve a re-configuration of partnerships, positions and power differentials in the construction supply chain. Project-specific partnership in the 1980s and strategic partnership in the late 1990s–where the focus on long-term business partnerships–continued to signal further progress towards SCM in construction.
A significant milestone in this evolutionary phase in the UK construction industry was the UK Ministry of Défense’s (MOD) ‘Building Down Barriers’ initiative which demonstrated the move toward best value approaches (Holti et al., 1999; Cain, 2004). In 1997, two pilot projects were awarded to prime contractors AMEC and Laing as an initiative to develop working principles for integration of the construction supply chain. The goal was to create long-term partnerships that could boost value and efficiency, rising underlying costs, and encourage trust, openness, and teamwork for those involved. Here, the MOD’s approach to construction procurement stressed the incorporation of the supply chain and single point obligation (Potts, K. 2008).
SCM gained prominence in the industry by showing that a multi-faceted system based approach is required in order to efficiently and easily manage complex supply chain networks to achieve competitive advantage through cost-reduction and productivity in an increasingly globalised market (Vrijhoef, R. & Koskela, L., 2000). The need for a system-based management approach is often due to the dynamic nature of the supply chain development and the inconveniences of previous collaborative efforts. These are listed below:
3.1 NATURE OF CONSTRUCTION SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
In comparison to the manufacturing sector, the supply chain structure of the construction industry is much more complex, as a typical construction project requires a network of interactions between manufacturing suppliers, demand organisations and in-use suppliers spanning various levels as shown in figure
In the United Kingdom, for example, the construction sector has few head contractors and many subcontractors. And there has been a proliferation of large numbers of small firms and self-employed employees who rely on comparatively more on head contractor firms for work via subcontract agreements.
Building statistics Annual 2013 data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that 17.3% of UK construction companies had a sole proprietor, 36.7% had just one employee, while an additional 25.1% worked for up to three employees during the third quarter of 2012. As shown in below Figure, only 2.1% employed more than 25 men. Although some large companies–particularly M&E contractors–operate as SCs under a main contract, it is undeniable that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain the driving force of the UK construction industry through subcontracting practices.
3.1.1 THEORY OF SUBCONTRACTING IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
(Vrijhoef, R., & Koskela, L. 2000) addressed the need to step away from conventional approaches to the management of building supply chains because it was inadequate due to the fact that head contractors increasingly rely on their labours and materials, usually 75-90% of building work by value, on the other actors within the chain (e.g. suppliers and SC), (Chiang, Y. H. 2009, Segerstedt, A., Olofsson, T., Hartmann, A., & Caerteling, J. 2010). This firm nature of the construction sub-contracting is also due to the specialised nature of some building works (Yik, F. W., Lai, J. H., Chan, K. T., & Yiu, E. C. 2006). In construction, experienced sub contractors are required. In addition to the necessity of subcontracting specialist building works, more common tasks, such as concrete reinforced, brickwork and interior design are subcontracted in a same way to plan a function effectively and to meet variable labour requirements. Winch, G. 1998) showed that growth in the British construction industry’s labour-only subcontracting was the result of a strategic choice by builders to emphasise the flexibility in relation to productivity as a competitive advantage.
The reasons for construction subcontractings have been outlined by (Manu, P., Ankrah, N., Proverbs, D., & Suresh, S. 2013)
- The potential to optimise labour flexibility.
- The capacity to negotiate labour cost reduction.
- Encourages faster completion of tasks.
- Ability to reduce doing hazard activities.
- Ability to transfer financial risk.
- Ability to change product according to people needs.
- Reduction of workers compensation cost.
Subcontracting has helped to ensure organisational and managerial flexibility and to provide specialised services in the construction industry, they have also played an important role in the industry’s lacklustre work (Chiang, Y. H. 2009). A major cause for poor efficiency, protection and health (Manu, P., Ankrah, N., Proverbs, D., & Suresh, S. 2013) are reportedly as multilayered subcontracting activity. Factors such as poor coordination, insolvency of subcontractors and under-standard work quality must all be tackled (Yik, F. W., Lai, J. H., Chan, K. T., & Yiu, E. C. 2006), as they affect productive construction projects. To manage these dynamic networks of supply chains, a system-based approach is required rather than linear approach. For these factors, the construction industry has taken up a range of supply chain measures and the need to improve efficiency (Vrijhoef, R., & Koskela, L. 2000).
4 IMPLEMENTATION OF SCM IN CONSTRUCTION
The implementation of SCM in construction is unique with large number of clients, head contractors and subcontractors with different views that has to satisfy the needs of the client. To implement the SCM in construction sector to improve the performance benefits (Akintoye, A., McIntosh, G., & Fitzgerald, E. 2000). There are two strategic SCM forms to implement in construction sector (King, A. P., & Pitt, M. C. 2009) are 1) Client – centric SCM model and 2) Contractor – centric SCM model.
4.1 CLIENT-CENTRIC SCM MODEL
The implementation of client – centric SCM model plays a crucial role in construction management (Briscoe, G. H., Dainty, A. R., Millett, S. J., & Neale, R. H. 2004) because client dictate the organisation and production management (Tookey, J. E., Murray, M., Hardcastle, C., & Langford, D. 2001). Thus, it leads to increase the successful implementation of SCM for client leadership. The large value clients maintain a goodrelations with contractors to extract a ultimate value of appropriation (Green, S. D., Fernie, S., & Weller, S. (2005). The sample model is shown in below figure.
According to (Kumaraswamy, M. M., Anvuur, A. M., & Smyth, H. J. 2010), the above figure is the sample client – centric SCM model.
4.2 CONTRACTOR-CENTRIC SCM MODEL
The implementation of contractor – centric SCM model in construction sector is to create strong potential between client and contractors with certain SC’s. King, A. P., & Pitt, M. C. (2009) suggested the head contractors with large organisation size to make SCM a reality in construction management. According to (Kumaraswamy, M. M., Anvuur, A. M., & Smyth, H. J. 2010), the strategy of SCM focus on one – off or on – off clients as shown in below figure.
In recent times, the development of relationship in construction sector in UK have head contractors to increase their role by managing stakeholders with collaborative working (Karim, K., Marosszeky, M., & Davis, S. 2006), thus it leads to head contractors create their SCM strategies to manage suppliers and SC’s.
5 SUPPLY CHAIN MANGEMENT PRACTICES
The different SCM practices are more strategic and still evolving day by day. There are practices listed below collected from the journal (Mentzer, J. T., DeWitt, W., Keebler, J. S., Min, S., Nix, N. W., Smith, C. D., & Zacharia, Z. G. 2001).
- Orientation of SCM
- Management of supply base
- Supply chain assessments
- Long – term relationships
- Supply chain performance
- Continuous performance improvements
- Supply chain motivation and reward
CHAPTER 4 REASEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the research design and methodology for the analysis are discussed. The chapter begins by discussing different philosophical and methodological positions in the research phase before discussing philosophical positions and methodology. There is also description of the investigation method including study design, data collection, data analysis, evaluation phases and framework. The chapter also highlights ethical considerations that have been maintained in the course of the study. This chapter is intended to achieve the objective 3 of research: to investigate the strategic management of supply chains (SCM) of head contractors and their effect on inter-organizational structure.
2 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY
The process of designing and conducting research always starts off from philosophical theory with practical effects (Saunders, M. N. 2011). While the research philosophies are latent (Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. 2016), it is still important to define and address the subject while setting the framework for the researchers analysis (Ponterotto, J. G. 2005). The researchers role on the nature of reality (ontology), how the researcher understands what is understood (epistemology), and the role of the researchers principles in research design and behaviour (axiology) are three philosophic issues that are taken into consideration in this study.
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES AND METHODS
Methodology refers to the study method and procedures are naturally arises from the perspective of the researcher on ontology, epistemology and axiology (Ponterotto, J. G. 2005). There also a combination of quantitative and quality research (Ponterotto, 2005), which arises from the above philosophical positions, and also they are two categories of research methodologies (Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. 2016). All of the specific research approaches are focused on objective and subjective ontologies as well as on epistemology. Quantitative research methods refer to research projects that discuss research problems with numerical and objective measurements. This is also consistent with deductive explanations (Creswell, 2009) when concepts or conclusions that are operationalized and subject to extensive empirical testing are developed in advance.
However, qualitative approaches include research methods that investigate definitions and causal interactions by using text and not numerical data. Qualitative approaches comply with inductive reasoning where empirically testable theories are not available (Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. 2016).
3.1 QUANTITATIVE METHODS AND ITS APPROACH
The focus of quantitative research is on testing theories by analysing the relationship of variables. There are two major approaches to quantitative study, experiments and surveys while less specific studies can also be carried out (Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. 2016). These research approaches include numbers and sections evaluated with statistics (Runeson, P., & Host, M. 2009). The quantitative data is collected by two ways 1) experiments and 2) surveys.
3.2 QUALITATIVE METHODS AND ITS APPROACH
Qualitative approaches to study are structured to investigate the significance people to add individual and social issues. Data are analysed primarily through categorization and sorting (Runeson, P., & Host, M. 2009) in terms of quality analysis in terms of phrases, definitions, photographs, and diagrams. The five key qualitative research practises identified by Creswell (2012) are taken into consideration in this review. The five qualitative methods are listed below table
| Description | Narrative research | Phenomenology | Grounded theory | Ethnography | Case study |
| Focus | Explore individual | Understanding experiences about phenomenon | Develop data in grounded theory from field | Describe and interpret a culture or social group | In depth analysis of a single or multiple cases |
| Disciplinary origin | Anthropology | Psychology | Sociology | Cultural anthropology | Political science |
| Data collection | Interviews and documents | Statements, meanings, theories | Interviews | Observations and interviews extended to fieldwork | Multiple sources including documents, interviews |
| Data analysis | Stories and historical context | Statements, meanings, general descriptions | Open, axial, selective coding, conditional matrix | Description, analysis, interpretation | Description, themes, assertions |
| Narrative form | Detailed picture of individuals life | Description of essence of experience | Theory | Description of cultural of group or individual | In depth case study |
4 METHODOLOGY POSITION FOR THIS RESEARCH
The research design process involves inter linkages between conceptual principles, investigative techniques, and research methods implemented in a research project (Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. 2016). First, this analysis is in the subjective ontological context mentioned in above section, since the concept of trust itself is a subjectively rooting psychological phenomenon in the minds of the individuals being studied. Second, the study focuses on deeper definitions in terms of head contractors (HCs), supply chain management (SCM) activities and how these impact inter-corporational trust dynamics during projects from these subjective perspectives. This epistemological interpretative position coincides with the ontology of many subjective realities adopted.
The interpretative epistemology often shows that the researchers’ principles and beliefs will affect interpretations of all these facts. However, steps are taken to reduce the errors in study. In addition, while the importance of properly understanding how much the researcher’s beliefs impact the study process–reflection (Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. 2014), the researcher in above section, personal history, pre-school convictions and motives and how they have influenced the study. These studies are carried out by qualitative research strategy.
4.1 RESEARCH METHOD FOR THIS RESEARCH
In order to further explain the choice of a qualitative research approach, various qualitative and quantitative research methods have been evaluated to determine the most appropriate for answering the research questions presented in this study.
Specific variants of experiments on trusting games have been used in confidence studies. These trust games are designed to examine the effect of trust in decision-making based on decision making (Fetchenhauer, D., & Dunning, D. 2009). For example, the studied by Evans and Krueger (2010) examined the depths of decision making based on potential risks (egocentric cost and profit assessments) and likelihood of reciprocity (based on a parties tentation to fail). Risk and tentation were regulated orthogonally by means of a single index of two risk levels: low risk and high risk alongside specific payoff’s. Online participants were recruited against virtual partners for 10 rounds of the match, which showed that trust is affected considerably by risk and reciprocity.
(Hartmann, A. and Caerteling, J. 2010) have also used a joint experiment on choice to determine the relative value of price and confidence in construction subcontractors procurement. Head contractors were choosen for the two different rates of price, technical knowhow, quality and cooperation between four SCs, 3 known and 1 unknown.
There were no problems with this implementation of trust-based experiments in protected study. (Hartmann, A. and Caerteling, J. 2010) acknowledged that there are still major flaws regarding the limited number of attributes and the assumptions remains shortening. Since the purpose of this study was to examine within context the complexity and scope of the relationship between SCM practises and trust dynamics of HCs rather than causal relationships between these two variables, it became clear that it was not possible to follow an experimental research design. Furthermore, exploring this trust factor from HC and SC perspectives on the context of an existing construction project would have been challenging under experimental conditions.
Surveys were also considered, as these were widely used in trust research. Trust scales were used to measure various levels of trust among construction practitioners (Wong, P. S. P., & Cheung, S. O. 2004). It is difficult to arrive at a single measure capable of capturing the dynamic and multi-dimensional essence of inter-organizational trust and these survey-type studies have also revealed that other contextual factors are likely to account significantly for variances in trust interrelationships with other relevant variables (Laan, A. 2009). The rigid design of these survey instruments often addresses trust as static rather than as a dynamic concept; restricting within context a rich exploration of inter-organizational trust.
Narrative and phenomenological studies have also been studied as they are best suited to capturing individuals and groups experiences. The study focused not only individuals but also other situational concerns that could affect trust requirements as it emphasis on SCM activities and interorganisational trust dynamics. The purpose of this study was to establish no holistic overview of interorganisational trust but rather to understand how it functions within the framework of various strategic SCM activities adopted by HCs. Narrative analysis was inappropriate. Since phenomenology cannot allow outside of personal consciousness considerations (Groenewald, T. 2004), this study was also not considered relevant.
Basic theory work was often considered because of its use as an inductive theory source of observations and interviews. However, the study did not seek to create a theory on SCM or inter-organized trust (IOT), it had to be discounted as a best-in-class strategy, rather it was aimed at providing a comprehensive and in-deps account of how SCM strategies have been implemented in HCs practices.
Ethnographic work may also have been a possible method for investigating and shaping the SCM cycle over the course of projects. However, this choice was not made possible by the common use of observation by participants and the time-based nature of ethnographic studies. In all such meetings, there were also issues with access to the nature of agreements between HCs and the supply chain as an active participant. The research also aims to better understand how different SCM techniques influence the creation of inter-organizational trust more than one ethnographic research would have required. In short period of time for the analysis, this would have been almost impossible to achieve. A case study approach for carrying out these analysis was the most suitable option.
4.2 JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS SELECTED RESEARCH METHOD
Case study research is appropriate when researchers intend to undertake in-depth concept for instance the development of inter-organizational trust in the supply chain of the HC. Researchers promoted a deeper understanding of the nature of the inter-organisational relationship (Laan, A. 2009) through longitudinal-style studies. Quantitative studies have also indicated the importance of context in the creation of interorganizational trust (Laan, A. 2009). Bijlsma-Frankema, K., & Costa, A. C. 2005) have therefore argued that when studying the development of inter-organizational trust, the context within which inter-organizational relations are built should directly taken into consideration. Therefore, case research indicates the avenue for studying in the sense of the supply chain of HC, the inter-organisational trust starts building cycle for time. It is also given the ability to blur and intertwine borders between the development of interorganized structure and the context in which supply chain relationships are formed.
Secondly, the risk of triangulating several sources of evidence by case studies (Proverbs and Gameson, 2008) is an advantage. This approach enables methodological triangulation (different methods for the processing of data) and triangulation of data sources (different sources of evidence) (Yin, R. K. 2013). Through interviews, passive observations and record analysis the methodological triangulation has been achieved. Triangulation of data sources was accomplished through interviews with various workers of the same source group (HC and SC staff), which put together different views on the same issues.
In addition, case study design is considered as ideally suited to address the questions most commonly asked in this review. The key research questions on ‘How’ HCs are responsible for controlling their supply chains and on ‘How’ they are evolving in the supply chain of the HC are ideal questions for this case studies.
5 RESEARCH PROCESS
There are four research phases are involved in this research 1) research design phase, 2) data collection phase, 3) data analysis phase and 4) framework phase as shown in figure below
5.1 RESEARCH DESIGN PHASE
The three main objectives for this phase are 1) literature review, 2) case study design and 3) preliminary workshop
5.1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter two included a summary of the literature on strategic supply chain management. Before making a distinction between the operational and strategic SCM viewpoints, a description of SCM and its historical evolution in the manufacturing sector were given. The rise of strategic SCM was further explored in the construction field. It has been discovered that the customer-led SCM project-based research emphasis has gained more coverage than the contract-led organising SCM. Although empirically lacking, SCM implementation guided by the contractor was suggested to have possible implications for creation of the inter-organizational relationship between HCs and SCs. Then chapter 3 explored the idea of inter-organizational trust, analysing the literature from various theoretical and academic viewpoints to expose its multiple facts.
5.1.2 CASE STUDY DESIGN
For this research, a multi-case study design (Yin, R. K. 2013) has been adopted as a way to explore the inter-organisational trust dynamics in various UK HCs supply chain. The operational variations in the structuring and structure (Ankrah, N. A., & Langford, D. A. 2005) of building organisations are likely to represent variations in SCM practices with various impacts for the creation of inter-organizational trust. Thus multiple case study approach is the best way. These several case studies included several embedded analysis units. (Yin, R. K. 2013) proposed that study on case studies can adopt epistemological orientations both actual and relativistic or interpretative. However, the most suitable case studies design for the answering of the research questions posed in this study is defined as interpretative. The aim was to better understand and optimise the experiences from selected cases as indicated by Stake (1995), provided that the participant researchers were able to represent several realities and significances on the HC’s SCM strategy and the consequent impact on the interorganized trust dynamics.
5.2 DATA COLLECTION PHASE
The major sources for data collection in this phase are 1) observations, 2) semi structured interviews and 3) analysis of documentary. The details of example for both case studies are mentioned below table
| Case study 1 | Case study 2 | |
| Semi structured interviews | SCM manger – 1Project contractor – 3Subcontractors – 7 | Quantity surveyor -1Contractor – 2Subcontractors – 4 |
| Observations | 2 pre meetings | X |
| Analysis of documentary | Workshop slides, subcontract package list, procurement rules, procurement status. | Profile of company, SCM document, subcontractors |
5.3 DATA ANALYSIS PHASE
The analysis is done in two stages in this phase are 1) With in analysis and 2) Cross analysis.
5.3.1 WITHIN ANALYSIS
Details of every case were evaluated in a within analysis. This started with importing data into Nvivo from each case. The data imported included interview transcripts, field notes and related case documents. (Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. 1994) have followed the three-pronged quality assurance strategies they are 1) data reduction, 2) data display and 3) verification. Thus, these three steps were part of the internal examination.
5.3.2 CROSS ANALYSIS
(Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. 1994) concluded that cross-case review is very valuable, as it increases the common comprehension of cases. A cross-case review was carried out in this study using the case-in-case approach to establish similarities and variations between the two cases and to aim for explanations. During this cross analysis, the thematic conceptucal matrices are identified. These combined displays help the finding and drawing of stronger conclusions of trends in the two cases.
5.4 FRAMEWORK PHASE
A SCM oriented trust building system based on cross analysis findings was built in this phase as shown in Figure. This structure included core SCM activities by HCs that emerged in the various dimensions of inter-organisational trust and the behavioural impacts of the projects resulting from these trust dimensions. The aim of the framework was to help the HC project team and the SCM staff understand the impacts of their policy and project decision-making. Subsequently this process was evaluated from the viewpoints of selected participants participating in decision taking in the supply chain. The aims of this evaluation process for participants to define the effect and interpretations of these features were understood. These detailed framework analysis and evaluation is carried out in chapter nine and ten.
CHAPTER 5 CASE STUDY 1
1 INTRODUCTION
The previous chapter mentioned the research methodology and design of selected UK head contractor (HC) organisations and their effects on the inter-organizational trust formation for the investigation of strategic supply chain management (SCM). In this chapter, it deals with findings from the case study 1. The history and results of the SCM practices of case study 1, the explanation of trust, the factors affecting trust and the practical implications of trust are discussed. This chapter refers to objective four of the research, which aims to examine the degree and functionality of inter-organizational trust within the framework of the HC-SCM practise.
2 CASE STUDY 1 BACKGROUND
In this case study, the brief history about the company, the case study history that includes brief details about the client, the case studies summary and research participants background is important.
2.1 BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY
Masterton holdings LTD in the United Kingdom was founded in 1874. Since then they have become a global building company with various branches across Europe. It has consistently been ranked as one of the leading ten UK construction companies by annual turnover in the UK construction industry. It’s turnover is about £1.8 b, employing 28,000 employees in different construction sectors worldwide. Alpha has a network of seven regional branch offices in the UK to promote closer communication with its customers in the UK. This study was supported by the West-Midlands regional office of Masterton holdings.
2.2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION
In the East Midlands area, this project consisted of the relocation of an existing civic centre to a city council. The present structure need redevelopment to the space and activities. The consumer therefore planned for a valuation of £30.5 million. The aim was to maintain the building’s iconic external facade and renovate the interior in accordance with modern standards and increased space requirements. The project therefore included renovation and new building work to be performed for a contract period of 15 months.
To achieve this, a new section containing pile walls, 350 pile structural steel frames, pre-cast concrete floors and single ply sheet tops was demolished into the courtyard. The current building layout requires a new layout. The existing façade also required cleaning and replacement of brick and stonework. As a design and build (D&B) contract, they won the job by making a competitive tender, growing the project’s commercial value. When data collection started in February 2012 at project level, work was advanced into the ninth month, and 55% of construction activities were completed. The project consisted of about 29 main subcontract packages. The features are as shown in table below.
| S.No | Characteristics | Company 1(Masterton holdings LTD) |
| 1 | Nature of project | Construction |
| 2 | Location | East midlands |
| 3 | Nature of works | Building of houses |
| 4 | Client type | Public sector |
| 5 | Type of selecting contractor | Competitive tendering |
| 6 | Arrangement of procurement | Build, design |
| 7 | Sum of contract | £30.5 million |
| 8 | Subcontractors | 29 |
3 SCM PRACTICES
After the analysis, Eight SCM practices are outlined as follows 1)Orientation of supply chain, 2) Management of supply base, 3)Assessment of supply chain, 4)Long tern relationships, 5) performance of supply chain, 6)Supply chain IT system, 7) Continuous improvements in performance, 8) motivation of supply chain and its rewards. The table below is discussed their practices
| S no | SCM practices | Strategy and their practices |
| 1 | Orientation of supply chain | To reward contractors who perform well with and to rising contractors chances to pursue projects.Approx 90% of the workload per year to subcontractors.Supply chain manger is adopted. |
| 2 | Management of supply base | Around 5000 subcontractors are used nationally each year.The large supply chain base is categorised into four groups by supply chain.Subcontractors well aware of their position in the supply chain at each stage, well organised with allocation of contacts by each sub-contractor.High coordination level with subcontractors of the group top. The connectivity level further decreases into the category. |
| 3 | Assessment of supply chain | Wellness, architecture, job policies, financial stability and contract conditions in supply-chain interviews and audits.Collection of relevant references, commercial inspections and visits to the office where necessary. |
| 4 | Long term relationships | Approximately 50% of contracts placed nationally with high class subcontractors. Formal long-term subcontracting agreement only signed with subcontractors in category one. |
| 5 | Performance of supply chain | H&S performance evaluation, work level, system cooperation, contractual cooperation, financial cooperation, work supervision and design feedback.H&S scores were shared and discussed with all project sub-contractors and other scores are shared and discussed with sub-contractors of class one.IT systems keep updating performance scores. |
| 6 | Supply chain IT system | Quick to use the in-house team IT system.Carry trading details subcontractors, supply chain status, project objectives, output reviews and e-tendering supports.Contact information for each subcontractor in the database of the main contact. |
| 7 | Continuous improvements in performance | Annual review meetings with subcontractors of category one to evaluate results, identify areas of progress as well as the positive as well as the negative aspects of the agreement.Each subcontractor will be assigned the contact person. |
| 8 | motivation of supply chain and its rewards | Best result of annual award for subcontractors.Priority tendering on the basis of the supply chain status of subcontractors.Payment scheme for 30 days. |
3.1 ORIENTATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN
Company generally subordinates about 90% of its workload to SCs, making selection and management crucial to project success. It does not actually build anything, the construction manager clarified that it was responsible during the project for choosing the right SCs and for managing them safely, productively and effectively. Consequently, they has an SCM Team that is managed with other SCM personnel by the Supply Chain Manager, responsible for implementing SCM Policy and strategically involving SCs. For example-“ They have got their faces in the supply chain, they have [supply chain manager] who’s engaged with subcontractors, so I think that’s good, because that’s how they’re asking you about anyone, that’s your touch if something goes wrong, but not like a lot of businesses do. So it’s organised and I definitely believe it operates better than most other enterprises.”- head of contracts. The above statement is collected from preliminary interview with supply chain manager.
3.2 MANAGEMENT OF SUPPLY BASE
Approximately 5,000 SCs is used in company’s supply chain base each year for different projects. The four levels of these SCs in the database were divided. SC’s of the highest level (limited to around 250 in the UK) were those who had developed a long-standing relationship with company over years and contributed strategically to their company. The supply chain manager explained the categorization framework as follows-“Growing area reviews the effective subcontractors for which they worked, and the very well-performed subcontractors moves to category 2. This is about 20% of the supply chain. Of the 20%, who are working for us and through an interview process, we develop a partnership and an agreement that we shall work together closely as well as an audit of our documents and our quality are in Category 1. The other people are category 3 and category 4.” This statement collected from interview with supply chain manager.
3.3 ASSESSMENT OF SUPPLY CHAIN
Before registering in the supply chain database of the company and subsequently assigning a project to work, all SCs must undergo rigorous supply chain assessments. This assessment was generally started by means of events involving buyers, where SCs from a local area are needed. The supply chain manager explained this process-“ If we have our work in an city, local companies will contact us and then the right firms will be given a chance to do the ordinary recruitment where we can pursue references, review ads, visit their offices and then there more tested but not to exclude them. It is a way of ensuring that the projects are viable”. The above statement shows the strict controls company carries out when a SC is found high risk since it never worked on its project. Such inspections are used to understand how SCs conduct their business (visit their offices, financial status and technical skills).
3.4 LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS
By signing an agreement on working closely together, company emphasised the development of long-term relations with its category one SCs. During the supply chain workshop, this ambition was illustrated when it was revealed that Category I SCs were given the opportunity to price any upcoming job. 54% of orders were issued for level One SCs in 2012 on average and that percentage for the Midlands region is even higher (84%) as shown in table below. The focus of company on promoting long lasting supply chain relations with its class one SCs.
| No of orders | Order placed | %spend in category 1 | |
| London | 64,627 | 46,530 | 76.30 |
| Western | 37,584 | 26,793 | 60.35 |
| Midlands | 56,583 | 49,405 | 95.54 |
| North west | 31,743 | 7,756 | 43.32 |
| North east | 49,549 | 20,583 | 61.62 |
| South east | 76,084 | 34,464 | 45.51 |
| Average | 54,985 | 34,939 | 65.42 |
3.5 PERFORMANCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN
The project team regularly assessed the success of SCs in all of the company projects. The supply chain manager clarified that four times a year every project site has SCs and these scores have been reported directly by the site management team in the supply chain data base. This allowed anybody inside company to review SC’s output in live projects. The evaluation of performance was carried out on various aspects i.e H&S, work standards, policy enforcement, contractual cooperation, financial cooperation, work supervision, and design feedback. However, during the project, the SCs were not notified about these results.
3.6 SUPPLY CHAIN IT SYSTEM
A new IT supply chain (IT) system supported company SCM operation. The IT system is a database containing previous performance records includes expenditure levels and other important SC documents such as agreed conditions, H&S records, insurance documentation and preferences for projects and organisational structure. In order to organize orders with the right SC during the project, the IT system supplied the project team with correct details. The supply chain manger made a remark on IT system as follows-“It was invaluable to work to give the right subcontractors the tender opportunities. Through this database, we have made our approach to a project even more professional. The size of steelwork that a client has recently completed in a certain area–it is a good example to know exactly when you are applying for potential work with different steelwork sizes. We then have valuable contacts against all the companies to negotiate a project, rather than trying to find out where they live and who do I speak to, it tells you specifically who they want to speak to.” The above statement illustrates how compamy IT systems are working, and why they have been involved in the tendering of subcontract orders at the project level with the respective SC staff.
3.7 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS IN PERFORMANCE
In their supply chain, company has supported continuous improvement in performance (CPI) activities. It was officially arranged to meet the company staff once in a year for category 1 SCs. company received recommendations in those annual meetings on the supply chain as well as areas for change on how they felt that their category One SCs had been performing. A Category One SC explained how these collaborations helped them in particular with respect to the H&S aspects of their success over the years towards growth as a company as follows-“That also helps us with all our other big contractors which was huge support and tends to concentrate on health & safety on their priority. They are probably the founders improving us as a whole organisation and they’ve probably more influenced our strategies in this sector than anyone else.”
These strategic interactions also produced ways of exchanging information which helped improve operations, although they were restricted to Category one SCs. Company’s construction manager felt that much more needed to be done to communicate extensively with its SCs and establish two-way learning and information sharing systems whereby company not only helped to enhance SC activities, but also could benefit from its (SC) expertise. The Building Manager said: “We do not talk to our subcontractors so what do I say here is that they can bring on the market in general not just on a particular job, but what new things can they bring about in the future. We’re not close enough for them to do so, we have to come closer to understanding that the piler, the steel erector, how he works across the country in general and more, we’re not doing that yet.” This statement highlights the need for Alpha to work with SCs on their various classification levels perhaps more closely to learn from experience with other HCs in the UK. For example the supply chain manager had previously indicated the necessity and desire to engage more in workshops with their Building Information Modeling ( BIM) functions with their Supply Chain SCs. Perhaps these workshops will provide the two-way learning and information sharing process when implemented.
3.8 MOTIVATION OF SUPPLY AND ITS REWARDS
By promoting fair payment methods, the annual SC award and ongoing work opportunities, company was motivated by the supply chain SCs. The supply chain manager considered a 30-day payment agreement with their SCs as the most friendly part of the UK construction industry. The annual best SC prize was also used to honour SCs for excellent results and the scaffolding SC in the company group, which had just won this annual prize made a statement as follows-“ We won subcontractor of the year, I say, we ‘re highly regarded. we were so proud as a group, beacause of these big companies, they had a joke one year a subcontractor won and three years later they didn’t have any work. I told ‘I hope it won’t happen to us”. The underlying reason for the award was to contribute to future work. This revealed that SCs were given continuous work opportunities as their most effective reward. However, for thecategory on SCs they were specifically opened for the prices of all future jobs, the scope of the repeat activity was set out. Based on examples of other HCs attempting to break contracts, for example their first five core employees as an opportunity to convince them to work continually during challenging times, the construction manager realised that company should do better to guarantee consistency in the work of the SCs. The construction manager also suggested other approaches to rewards as follows-“ I believe we should do better to pay our subcontractors for their performance on the field. I believe they are able to maintain their protection by a half at the end of the job, because they have strong safety standards.” This statement shows company’s capacity to connect retention schemes to performance results (particularly H&S) as a strategy to stimulate its supply chain SCs to meet the highest standards. This could motivate SCs, particularly when they have to work hard to make up their business costs.
4 NATURE OF STRUCTURE BETWEEN HC’s AND SC’s
During the company project, the meaning of structure revealed which includes three methods. 1) cognition, 2) system based and 3)relation based.
4.1 COGNITION BASED STRUCTURE
In these cases where there was little communication between the project team and the SCs, cognition-based trust was shown. In these conditions, the company Project Team was looking for SC output information from its IT database when the information is available. When a SC has never worked on Alpha projects in the past, a detailed search of the supply chain was used to collect as much knowledge about the expertise of the SC , pre-order interview and pre-start meetings. In this case , the project team visited another project to ask the HC about a SC ‘s results. The following statement reflects the emergence of cognition-based structure: “It’s the gut feeling and faith in what they do. We’ll want to go to see them, sit up, get the sketches, or whatever, the package out, chat about the package and get an understanding and sometimes you get it off the supply chain [IT system] beacause they’ve got a great history of jobs with us”. The above statement made by project quantity surveyor of the company. This structure element was built as an assumption that emerged during the first meetings. This illustrates the sensitivity of cognitive structure in which project team members attempted to get an understanding or sense of the well-known SC they were likely to maintain.
4.2 SYSTEM BASED STRUCTURE
System-based structure has been expressed as a kind of trust that resulted from the fact that job processes, standards and policies have been exchanged. This usually occurred when a SC had previously been working with company. The construction manger of the company expressed his view as follows-“ The subcontractor who worked with us many times before know what we are doing and what to anticipate so that they are in good alignment with our own policies and procedures. if a Subcontractor decides to be there, but does not have the same goals, so we will not be using those. If we find out them then we have to quickly modify it.”
Company’s CPI activities have contributed to the development of system-based system, especially in the area of H&S research as regards the objective orientation. SC’s sometimes need their supervisors to two days H&S training. This knowledge of the required training provided to SC supervisors with some confidence (system-based) that they were able to effectively manage their work kit.
A structure based system resulted from the company arrangements for different SCs to avoid conflicts over claims during the project (main meetings, weekly advance meetings, and financial meetings). For xample, the M&E SC on the company project had a complaint with company is that supply chain database had been removed (M&E SC) from the record. Since a successful tender for the company project, the managers of both companies (company and M&E SC) have agreed to hold frequent major meetings to address the problems posed by the on-site teams. In addition to the frequent progress and financial meetings conducted at the design stage by the on-site teams. They suggested that these frequent meetings stopped any disagreement with the company and it is a standard case of system repair of institutional arrangements.
4.3 RELATION BASED STRUCTURE
In these cases, where there was familiarity between SCs and the specific project team running the company then related based structure applies. The project team ‘s agreement was not only supported by cognitive standards but also by interpersonal relationships formed in same project SCs. the construction manager made a statement as follow-“ They were the subcontractors I could trust to find the best solution, to give me the right price and eventually, I know that they will able to control the work and to maintain an effective safety environment etc. I have built a very good relationship with many subcontractors.”
SCs in this category were those with long-standing relationships with company, who transcended their various project teams sometimes. The category 1 SC explained how they move from system based structure to relation based structure as follows-“ They know a lot of the site team, [SCs site team]they know me and my personal number so that you can call me. so you’ve made a leap, well now we’ve done a few jobs for company, it’s a situation that we had five years ago even though we are in category one”. The above statement made by contracts manger of the company. The above statement reveals that they has a relation based structure for almost five years with the company.
5 SUB-CONTRACTOR SELECTION
Selection of SC’s was a team-based decision involving a commercial team, Construction Manager , Project Manager, Building Manager and Site Manager. The project team performed risk analysisof the various job packages and analysed the success history of various SCs. Tender infomation were then sent to the shortlisted SCs, on the basis of preliminary review on purely commercial aspects of the bid had been carried out. The shortlisted SC’s are allowed to pre meeting to discuss about their tender figures. The project team also had an opportunity to assess the potential of the SCs to perform (cognition-based) and address trust-related issues during pre meetings.
The supply chain manager explains the analysis of performance reports of SCs that were used in the past (performance ratings and IT structures of the supply chain), obtain even more measurements and performing controls during pre meetings (supplies chain assessments) and evaluate SC capabilities (trustworthiness). While this was a team-based system, the emphasis on pricing seemed to be different between company ‘s site management and commercial teams. The business team was more concerned with meeting about the budget for the work, while the site management team also preferred to SCs which they worked on similar projects (relational confidence). The project’s quantity surveyor clarified this as follows-“ I believe if you speak with one of the site managers, they’re going to moan at some of the subcontractors we have placed, ‘because probably it’s better for us on a business level, but in general it’s not too bad but certain packages are still moving by site managers, because the budgets are so tight that we’ll have a solution that works for our budget, but not necessary”. This statement represents the commercial team’s efforts to make balanced decisions that meet the budget and site performance requirements, understanding the risks profile involved in working packages.
Interestingly, SCs expressed that, while relation based system could influence decision-making, ultimate decisions generally relate to trade competitiveness and cognition-based aspects except where bids for shortlisted SCs are in the same price range. One of the SCs in following statement clearly demonstrated how relationship-based system had an influence on final selection decisions-“ to be honest now, the market is tight and it’s downfall to capital and for better engineering or other reasons than capital because you are all in a very small community. If you have 3 suppliers and all of them are with in, let ‘s say that it’s a £6million work, if you have three suppliers and all are within £250,000, then it’s easy to say, “ok, I ‘m going to go with this one”. The following table represents views of different SC’s on whey have selected for work packages.
| Type of contractor | Subcontractor view |
| Panelling | We are giving at low price.They have belief on us because we are working with them from long time. |
| Tiles | We are competitive with other. |
| M&E | We are giving at low priceWe gives experienced enfineering. |
| Scaffolding | We can handle tight situations.We are more competitive with others. |
| Carpentry | They want to retain us based on our work.We have Personal relation and in category one SC.We are more competitive with others. |
| Roofing | We are local trader.We have high rating on completing the projects.We are competitive. |
6 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
The factors that influence the structure between company and subcontractors are as follow 1)Change of management, 2) economic climate, 3) context of specific project, 4) capital issues, 5)performance of job and 6)opportunity for future work. The following table represents the factors that influence the structure in company supply chain.
| Factors | Company(Masterton holdings LTD) | Subcontractors |
| Change of management | Unfinished design and project nature resulted in many changes.Day work could not always be stopped, but sometimes it was a cause of inconsistencies.Structured change management methods cannot always be practised.Unique companies were more susceptible to changes and had to be handled carefully to avoid escalation. | Project complexity was a major challenge, especially for different trades in the management of change.In comparison to the commercial team, transparency was easier to maintain with the site management team.During the initial negotiations, the project team has not always been open to anticipated work scope changes. |
| Economic climate | opportunity to use new SC’s based on poor (cognition-based) system.High risk of failure for SCs and need to strict financial appraisals. | Low margin cash flow issues.Increased bankrupt risk if problems with cash-flow were not handled properly. |
| Context of specific project | Choosing unknown SCs based upon consumer needs.Projects created difficulties with limited budgets and a plan and a complex design. | Close budget and programme that presented change management challenges and payment agreement. |
| Capital issues | SCs shall be paid promptly according to the 30-day policy on payments.Difficulty in establishing payment agreements, especially with highly variable trades. | Payment process satisfaction and payment speed in most situations.Payment delays due to inconsistencies and on-going difference accounts negotiations.Retention delays which must be pursued or exchanged during negotiations. |
| Performance of job | Costs for business assessments to ensure profitability of commercial SCs.Monitoring existing SC workload to ensure that the output evaluation does not take account of current results by job allocation.Give direct messages that no working SC is assured. | Ability to successfully reaffirm the status of the supply chain on a project. |
| Opportunity for future work | SCs that are prepared to accept more expectations during a project with higher expectations for future work.Offer the SC’s highest-ranking manager potential job opportunities. | Acceptance of vulnerability based on a view of future opportunities for work and the provision of additional support based on future expectations.Constant feeling of disappointment when future job aspirations did not materialise. |
CHAPTER 6 CASE STUDY 2
1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of results of case study 2. The first segment provides the history of the case study that would be useful for context interpretations of findings. This company is describing the SCM approach, the demonstration of trust and the functional consequences. The goal of these discussions is to show the effect of company’s SCM practices on inter-organizational structure and the functional effect of the project. This is relevant to the research objective aimed at studying SCM practices adopted by selected UK HCs and their consequent impact on the growth of inter organizational structure. This chapter helps to achieve Objective4.
2 CASE STUDY 2 BACKGROUND
It is necessary to explain the organization’s context of project and provide background information on the research subjects in order to better clarify the results of this case study.
2.1 BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY
Raydon group LTD was originally founded in 1908 but recently merged with another big British construction company and it is a major player in the UK construction industry. Raydon’s parent company has been listed regularly among the top ten construction companies in the UK on the basis of annual turnover. Raydon employs are around 2,300 people throughout its 25 UK branches and earns annual sales of around £800M as part of this larger UK group. After their recent merger, Raydon is undergoing an optimising process to get numerous bolt-on companies working together under its own parent company within the same area. The work was attended by the West Regional Office of Beta, which is responsible for projects throughout the UK’s Midlands region.
2.2 BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY
Raydon group LTD was in partnership with the West Midlands county council for a period of four years. As part of this arrangement, five projects worth around £4.0 million were awarded, selected through the negotiation process from four other HCs within the system. The contracts given four schools and one fire station renovating, remodelling and upgrading within the county. In one of the five studies, data collection was carried out. The company scheme consisted of a £1.8 million new building, extension of two floors to an existing school to construct new classrooms as well as to remodel the current part of the school to a modern kindergarten.
Almost 70 percent of the project provided for the new job portion, while 30 percent were repairs under contracts. The project was expected to work for 52 weeks and at the beginning of the data collection in March 2012, 65% of work was completed in week 32. Actually, the contract was accepted as a fixed cost contract under NEC 3 (option C) contract form. The original goal was to save 5 % of the total project costs, which shared with the business organisation by 50%.But a lot of compensatory incidents were happened which eventually involved renegotiation of payment terms by losing detailing and coordination of the drawings prepared by the designers. The targeted cost has been scrapped shortly after the beginning of the project in favour of the lump sum deal. In the case of major design changes, company decided to take into account teamwork and information risk when modifying the lump amount calculation. This provided the client with more cost control as long as the design was not substantially modified. The company project was subdivided into thirty different sub-contract packages which were subdivided into ten main SCs. The features are as shown in table below.
| S.No | Characteristics | Company 2(Raydon group LTD) |
| 1 | Nature of project | Construction |
| 2 | Location | East midlands |
| 3 | Nature of works | 80% of new projects |
| 4 | Client type | Public sector |
| 5 | Type of selecting contractor | Negotiation |
| 6 | Arrangement of procurement | Framework agreement |
| 7 | Sum of contract | £1.8 million |
| 8 | Subcontractors | 30 |
3 SCM PRACTICES
After the analysis, eight SCM practices are outlined as follows 1) Orientation of supply chain, 2) management of supply base, 3) Assessment of supply chain, 4) Long term relationships, 5) performance of supply chain, 6) supply chain IT system 7) Continuous improvements in performance, 8)Motivation of supply chain and its rewards. The table below is discussed their practices
| S.No | SCM practices | Strategy and their practices |
| 1 | Orientation of supply chain | Developed company repeats with the same entrepreneurs to increase results.70%-80% of the total workload is a sub-contract.No person assigned to manage the supply chain as the commercial team is now additionally responsible. |
| 2 | Management of supply base | Local supply chain with around 150 subcontractors.The four-tier classification scheme supplied with a limited supply base under which subcontractors are graded as platinum, gold, silver or bronze.Subcontractors are not informed their supply chain position directly.Poor access levels to their supply chain. |
| 3 | Assessment of supply chain | Assessment by a common questionnaire of subcontractors.Get the necessary references.Company number, registration report, VAT numbers, CITB, form of order value, h&s contractors, insurance details, insurance rates, business relationships between membership and trade federation. |
| 4 | Long term relationships | About 40 percent of the workload provided annually to the platinum subcontractors. [highest ranked] |
| 5 | Performance of supply chain | Monthly evaluation of job efficiency and H&S reviewed with subcontractors.Close-out performance assessments of specifications , programme results, office support and general assistance, the financial attitude of the contract, understanding of the environment and safety efficiency.Weighted grades are entered in the IT system of the supply chain.Reviews are not discussed with subcontractors but often given the chance to assess the efficiency of the project team. |
| 6 | Supply chain IT system | Comprehensive subcontractor and supplier database on a central server.Quality ratings and details related to the subcontractor.It is not possible to track current live workloads performed by a single SC. |
| 7 | Continuous improvements in performance | Add hoc on formalised or scheduled meetings to review progress and output targets with subcontractors.H&S training and subcontractor certification. |
| 8 | Motivation of supply chain and its rewards | Particularly for health and safety results, monthly supply chain awards.Opportunity for discussion and tendering on an informal basis for future jobs.The payment plan for 35 days has remained nearly 80% of the time. |
3.1 ORIENTATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN
Company subcontracted SCs eligible to join or already on their supply chain about 70-80 percent of (contractual value) jobs. The remaining 20-30 percent represented provisional goods and services directly purchased. Company has implemented an SCM system to promote the management of the SCs after its recent merger. However, the supply chain manager role was not eliminated at a reduction workout by a single individual or team committed to their SCM functions. Thus, it was given additional responsibility to organise the company SCM functions to the commercial department. The main quantity examiner, who had oversight of the company SCM process, clarified that the underlying reason for the implementation of SCM consisted in promoting repeated business with the same SCs.
3.2 MANAGEMENT OF SUPPLY BASE
Company maintained a regionalized supply chain base consisting of around 150 SCs divided into a four-tier supply chain structure. This categories was based on a comprehensive scoring procedure at the end of each project. The lead quantitative examiner explained how company divided SCs as both platinum, gold, silver and bronze. The platinum SCs had to achieve a minimum standard of output of 60% consistently which had to be used (more than twice a year). The gold SCs also were frequently used in comparison with the platinum SCs and were also expected to achieve a minimum output rating of 60%. The silver graded SCs were used regularly while the bronze SCs passed all assessment requirements (supply chain evaluations), but not used for a company project. However, SC interviewed during the project did not know their current position on the four-tier classification structure of the company supply chain. One of the SCs mentioned on the SCM method in company: “We ‘re on their supply chain, I ‘m told… It’s going back for a couple of years, the supply chain, where they came up with the concept of getting a certain number of contractors who they can call key supply companies with whom they worked for a couple of years, so they’d have a established track record, clearly delivering projects on schedule and on budget, etc.” The above mentioned view indicates that the company SCM process is now being underlined. While SCs showed awareness of the original motive of Beta to enforce an SCM mechanism, it was not practical as it had been in the past.
3.3 ASSESSMENT OF SUPPLY CHAIN
Company’s policy on SCM was only to subcontract work to SCs that passed an assessment of the supply chain. They had a selection process which their managing supervisor explained: “They should pass through the selection process, which is not five minutes job to add new members. They need a lot of information to satisfy the requirements for accessing the database. The addition of new people to the databases is therefore a very lengthy process for quality and safety and for all kinds of guidelines and financial controls”. In the course of this review the chief quantity surveyor given more details. SCs have requested information on company registration numbers, VAT numbers, contributions to the CITB, a minimum and maximum order level, what training they offer, H&S consultants, insurance data, their competence level (in relation to trade union membership status) and ethics, their job experience and required references through the use of the standard SC checklist. This procedure involved evaluation of technical skills, financial status, professional reputation and corporated ethics, often involving the use of third-party sources such as adjudicators and associate status with trade unions. Only after evaluation of this method could SCs work with company and eventually become part of their supply chain base.
3.4 LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS
The supply chain of Beta has been set up to provide its platinum SCs with about 40% of annual workload. The main quantity surveyor commented: “Platinum subcontractors handle approximately 40% of our workload every year”. Company’s surveyor has also clarified that they have a SC base for which they have long-term relationships. However, this core was fluid because companies sometimes fell off while new companies expanded to platinum levels. The surveyor managers further encouraged efforts to establish a long-term supply chain relationship with a core of companies which could support their activities. These were probably the 40% of SCs that the lead quantity surveyor reported.
The electrical SC therefore considered that, if it’s still to gain some benefit from its SCM operation, company needs to maximise its use by properly matching the highly rated SC to projects requiring excellent performance (highly reasonable projects). “Some work will have to be performed for a lower budget and maybe a different contractor can be used, but they have to be found. I believe that they must make their processes much more limitless, though they could have contractors in this field if they work closer in a project, but it must be done exceptionally. If this job is flexible, you know, you really have to do much more job. I think the philosophy has really changed, not their fault, but as we have said at the beginning, the country’s economy, the environment all have to be changed”. The above statement reflects the feeling among some SCs that company has not matched its SCs effectively to sensitive projects, thereby increasing the possibility of project failure. This view also indicated that SCs which had been operating with company for many years were not given priority and strategically controlled, possibly because of the absence of a designated person or team who was sole responsible for the management of strategic relations with the supply chain.
3.5 PERFORMANCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN
During the projects, Company graded each SC monthly with a final closing rating. On completion of the project, the ‘close-out’ output score was reported in the IT supply chain database. SCs were evaluated on specification efficiency, project results, contribution to the office and general assistance, contractual financial attitude, environmental awareness and success in safety. SCs that were substantially insufficient were invited to explore ways of improving by senior management. Therefore, performance values were not necessarily exposed during the project except when interventions, especially H&S and quality aspects of performance, were needed for improvement. Due to the absence of a dedicated supply chain manager, an administrator at the offices had to monitor these ‘close-out’ rating ratings on the IT system. “This is upload into our central database [close scores]. It was revised when it was in action by our supply chain manager. The information is now uploaded directly by an administrator and transferred to our community database on the basis of the close out meeting”. The status of SCs at the company database has been updated on the basis of these success ratings.
3.6 SUPPLY CHAIN IT SYSTEM
Company had an IT system for handling its SCs in operation. This IT programme included SC documents collected during the assessment of the supply chain. The managing surveyor commented: “We have a very detailed Subcontractor and Material database, which is mainly centrally held on the server and supply chains are updated on this database. Only who are active on our database can be accessed from us”. SC output information has also been recorded into the IT database of the supply chain. The main quantity surveyor also stated that SCs are also trained on this database with respect to their in-house H&S training and qualification. The project teams were obviously using the database to analyse SC output on previous projects and inform future selection decisions. The Chief Quantity Officer further acknowledged that the inability to monitor simultaneous workloads that have been allocated to any single SC was one of the limitations of their IT system.
3.7 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS IN PERFORMANCE
Company has actively promoted a strict H&S ideology and developed an in-house H&S training and qualification programme for SCs on its supply chain database. In particular because these consequences, the managers have reported that some of their highest productivity SCs sometimes have struggled to meet this (progressive) H&S criteria. With regard to company’s H&S certification scheme, a director of SC was provided with training courses and materials, which were required train their own employees for the H&S requirements of company. SCs who have undergone this training have received a certificate indicating their capability during their projects to satisfy the H&S requirements of company. Therefore, the internal H&S training and qualification programme was necessity for SCs to continue company winning work.
Apart from this H&S programme, there have been limited attempts to collaborate with SCs on performance problems and future goals. A SC who worked with company for 10 years expressed this position on the current situation: “On a regular basis, they do not contact with us. I try to go and see them every 3-4 months and it’s hard to make an appointment because I think they ‘re busy, so I guess it would be nice to see them just twice a year, to let us know what’s going on”. The managers had previously given explanations why their relations with their SCs had been quite sporadic. A formalised and organised annual review of the supply chain with strategic SCs has been defined as an activity which needs a specialised supply chain manager. This had become difficult as company now focused on their already busy commercial departments to discuss and develop the next job flow-making it a special activity that was only carried out when it was required. The chief quantity manager revealed shockingly how the SCs were actually handled: “The most enhanced thing we can do is to get in touch with our supply chain, which is where we actually lack without a doubt. I believe it helps us with our tendering and our pricing, if we could get closer to our supply chain and that is the field we have to look at because at the end of the day we depend on the supply chain for work, they do it for us”.
This lack of close involvement with SCs which can provide honest prices to help their tenders has led to the main quantity surveyor linking their recent bids failure. This shows that the significant faintness of the SCM company process that required improvement to SCs that could raise their tenders and pricing and contribute to other strategic business goals.
3.8 MOTIVATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN AND ITS REWARDS
Company has motivated and awarded its SC’s with equal rewards, quality opportunities for upcoming works and monthly supply chain awards. Beta with their SCs had a 35 day billing plan. The main quantity surveyor explained this: “well, they have to sign up for 35 days and I’d say we stick to that 80 % of the time. Sometimes it slips, but it’s not intentional, it’s just time issues”.
The above statement indicates that while the scheme was largely implemented 80 % of the time, a 20% failure was believed to be unintentional. The supply chain was further claimed to be motivated by price opportunities, particularly when company has not been currently engaged. The managing supervisor explained this opportunity: “You ‘re building partnerships with these guys, and if they’re a little low on work, they call us to try to see what’s going on, or you know when we’re talking to them next time, or we’re reviewing one of the clients, we’ve got something coming up in the future”. The Project Team therefore considered such meetings and discussions on employment opportunities a source of motivation for its SCs, although this occurred in an informal manner. Company also gave a monthly SC award to its most successful SCs. The executive team had to recommend SCs with a monthly success and a winner for the monthly supply chain award. The goal was to inspire SCs to improve their performance. The managing examiner acknowledged, that SCs are more keen to ensure future work and equal pay for work as the award scheme does not achieve sufficient recognition.
In summary, Company’s SCM activities have been badly co-ordinated and this is now a further responsibility of the already busy management team. The highlight of their SCM practise was the internal H&S training and qualification initiative which provided a sense of belonging to the supply chain of company for the participating SCs. SCs found that the SCM process of company has recently failed significantly that the high-performance SCs for high profile projects have not been given priority.
4 NATURE OF STRUCTURE BETWEEN HC’s AND SC’s
During the company project, the meaning of structure revealed which includes these methods. 1) Cognition, 2) system based and 3) relation based.
4.1 COGNITION BASED STRUCTURE
SCs have constantly been evaluated by the company project team to create some trust that during the project they will be successful. In mean time, SC interviews, pre-order and pre-start meetings are being collecting data. The project team used this information in order to assess how well SCs understood the risks involved and how efficiently they were able to manage such risks. Senior site managers subsequently had to apply their skills to project groups in order to determine whether they were adequately competent. The following statement clarified this reflective sensory process: “When a subcontractor comes on site, and all the team that comes to do a particular job, if I see a brick laying gang coming in a vehicle right now in time, they’ll have to come to this site office before they get to the top of those stairs, I can tell you if they’ll be good or poor. It’s a second sense that you build from the way they appear, with their attitude, their clothing, the first few questions they ask you, you know when you’re in for a problem”. This statement shows that cognitive confidence emerged in interacting with new SC workgangs from the Senior Site Manager’s expert knowledge. It told him how confident it was during the project based on his impressions of their reputation. The cognition based structure was therefore concerned with the evaluation of the reliability of SCs so as to gain fair trust that they were good.
4.2 SYSTEM BASED STRUCTURE
During the H&S certification process, the team spent less on H&S inductions when a SC was certified by an H&S, owing to its strong emphasis on H&S success in its supply chain and the consequent CPI initiative provided to SCs as part of its SCM strategy. This is because of the expected recombination of this training by certified SCs with their own personnel. The project team was also satisfied that their site teams were motivated to operate in accordance with the H&S (system-based) that needs for company. This opinion was shared by one SC who earned this certification at the early stage. “They are very proactive in terms of safety, so if you’re going to be in their supply chain, health and safety is a must. If you’ve earned your [H&S certification], you don’t have to trigger half an hour or three quarters of an hour, you are only doing one quarter of an hour that saves time instead. It saves time for us so we can work quicker and potentially raise more money, and then it also frees the site manager”. This declaration reflects the shared ethic of H&S processes which emerge from positive expectations that if the Director of SC was integrated into company’s H&S practices, they would replicate it in effect with their own workforce. This minimised the amount of time that was spent on H&S inductions with these SC’s staff, demonstrating their faith in the project team on the basis of their own training and certification scheme.
4.3 RELATION BASED STRUCTURE
Relational based structure was expressed during the project as the project manager and the SCs had had a previous working relationship. This element of trust was encouraged by interpersonal relations that have already been established. “You develop long-term relationships, I bump into people 20 years ago, I go back 40 years and you know the strength and weaknesses”. The senior site manager discusses how understanding of the strength and weakness of the SC can be brought to life often by repeated experiences and past achievements. Due to the experience and professional working relationship that they have established over a number of years. This SC also commented on the senior site manager when he was interviewed: “We worked on some main jobs with [Senior Site Manager] and, again, it’s this supply chain, it’s all the same. We know how he works, and with [site manager] we can bend and transfer”. The electric SC was very sure in his ability to operate a good project in the Senior Site Manager. They formed a sort of synergy which proceeds from their repeated interactions. This SC worked with Beta for many years before they recently with company for a span of 12 months without winning any job. The previous focus of the supply chain strategy from Beta on long-term relationships with the supply chain (before it has recently collapsed) therefore allowed these interpersonal bonds to establish, and hence relational structure at project level.
5 SUB-CONTRACTOR SELECTION
In collaboration with the marketing team, the selection process of Beta SC included an initial shortlisting by the project manager. Request applications were then sent to shortlisted SCs before being invited for an interview in advance. It discussed the level to which SCs understood and how the price of the job package represented it. A final selection was followed up by pre-order interviews focused on a trade-off between rates, job packages and SC risks, according to the chief quantity surveyor: “We are almost definitely talking to the subcontractor and asking you ‘re lower than we ‘d expect, are you pleased with what’s in there? ‘Then we will look at asking well, do we or do we not want to take a risk? and that will depend on the amount of risk that we are essentially buying into. Then it is a case of managing the risk to make sure that if the worst happens and he is unable to complete it, then how can we get through that? If we thought like we couldn’t do it completely so we wouldn’t need it. This comes from trade-offs and attempts to consider where the possible risks lie and what the consequence might be”.
This statement illustrates how the project team often took chances with unknown SCs, although they had some reservations about their ability to performance. Final decisions on selection were therefore aimed at the lowest price as long as the risk was correctly understood and risks were mitigated to minimise any negative impacts of the failure of SC. Such risktaking behaviour represented a situation in which the project team had to make decisions even though cognitive trust still existed.
SCs also realised that they needed to be less costly than other applicants before they got a position on the company project. That was clearly expressed in a quote from one of the SCs who had to discuss their way into meeting price requirements of the project team irrespective of their experience with reference and excellent performance expectations. “They know we ‘re reliable and they know we ‘re going to do a good job for them, but they’re not going to pay a premium for that, so we still have to be competitive and we weren’t competitive enough on our original quote for that job, so we’ve had to cut the figures to get there”. Table summarises SC’s answers on the conditions they thought their subcontract packages had been awarded. Such responses are in the order in which the SCs have explanations. The key factor during the company selection process was clearly commercial competitiveness. Interestingly, after twelve months absences and a deterioration of their supply chain links, the SC workers suggested the lobby by some company personnel. Because of the poor working standards provided by other SCs, company consistently experienced problems with the M&E work package.
| Type of contractor | Subcontractor view |
| Roofing | High standards of manufacturing and the added value we have to give to them. |
| Bricks laying | We’ve signed up for their initiative to provide our competence and our security.Competitiveness in marketing and final price negotiation. |
| Interior works | Trade competition and our statistics had to be reduced.Our worthiness and high performance. |
| Electrical | Competitive commercially in other market agreements.Lobby by other company workers to purchase the very high value. |
These findings show that trust (cognition, system and relation based) has little impact during SC selection, since the project team is mainly involved in meeting the assigned budgets for the work package. Summarizing, weaknesses in company’s SCM process inhibited the development of confidence across cognition, System and relational aspects and in how important expectations of belief for both company staff and SCs were to be realised in the course of the project. The failure of a well-structured SCM method has helped to minimize the chances of choosing SCs with a high risk of failure.
6 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
The factors that influence the structure between company and subcontractors are as follow 1) Change of management, 2) economic climate, 3) context of specific project, 4) capital issues, 5) performance of job and 6) opportunity for future work. The following table represents the factors that influence the structure in company supply chain.
| Factors | Company(Raydon group LTD) | Subcontractors |
| Change of management | Weak description and organisation of sketches has contributed to changes in the nature of work.Changes have been managed carefully to avoid escalations that can degrade confidence. | Sometimes the project team felt that claims for additional work had been overboard. |
| Economic climate | High tendencies for companies to become managers.Tight margins that had to be used by cheaper sub-contractors.Occasional failure of subcontractors during the project requiring extra expenses to call back regular subcontractors. | Project Team ‘s strong tendency to choose unknown SCs on the market today.Regular SCs are frequently recalled due to unknown project SC failure. |
| Capital issues | 35 days with minor delays payment plans. | Late payments contributing to the breakdown of confidence.Three days earlier monitoring with the payment department to ensure speedy payment.Delays in the release of retention that were sometimes traded in future talks. |
| context of specific project | Described project which has allowed it to return some top category SCs to market. | A better project that required some standard SCs to be resumed. |
| Performance of job | Due to changes in its market, frequent and well known SCs can fail during the project.Failure to control work-overloads that can lead to poor results and thus a breakdown of structure | Every single job success to maintain trust.Maintain regularly unrequested project team alerts to illustrate job success skills. |
| opportunity for future work | · High observations into future employment opportunities have been instrumental in the development of structure.The failure of some flagship SC to handle potential job expectations properly leading to a lack of confidence. | Lack of research over a long time gives rise to a feeling of unreliable estimates.Significant time without any positive outcomes in a loss of confidence.High perceptions of future job opportunities promote strength-enabling behaviour. |
CHAPTER 7 CROSS ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
1 INTRODUCTION
The findings are discussed in chapters five and six from individual case studies. This chapter offers an overview of the intermediate cases that describes similarities, variations and impacts in SCM practices on the formation of confidence and the practical implications of that procedure. A case study background comparison is given in the first section. A cross-case analysis of SCM practices and nature of structure in the supply chain of the HC is observed. Findings will also be discussed in the relevant SCM and inner organisational structure literature in each section. In order to be short, the extracts of the interviews as in individual case studies are not included in this chapter. This chapter aims to accomplish the objective four of this research.
2 CASE STUDIES BACKGROUND
To ensure that cross-case findings are presented within contexts, a case-by-case analysis of case histories including organisational history, explanations of case study projects and study participants is needed.
2.1 COMPANIES BACKGROUND
The 2 case-study organisations were UK HCs with branches all over the country. The below table summarises the history of two case study companies. company has the world’s highest workforce and its annual turnover was £1.8b. company was the smallest of the two companies based on a staff and annual turnover, though a larger UK construction company had taken over it.
| Company 1 | Company 2 | |
| Every year turn over | £1.8B | £800M |
| No.of employees | 28,000 | 2,300 |
| Starting year | 1874 | 1908 |
| Data collection | West midlands | West midlands |
These two companies ranked by annual turnover in the top ten of UK building companies (though company 2 is a part of their parent company). SCM was introduced by all two companies as a strategy for their SCs management.
2.2 CASE STUDY DESCRIPTION
The company 2 projects included building schools in West Midlands. The company 1 project was a office construction in East Midlands. The public sector customers were active in both projects with private sector consumer engagement. When the collection of data began, the projects were at a stage where project management teams had been communicating for significant periods. The table below summarises the profiles of the two companies.
| Features | Company 1 | Company 2 |
| Nature of project | Office | School |
| Location | East midlands | West midlands |
| Work nature | Refurbishment and new works | 80% new works, 20% refurbishment |
| Client | Public | Public |
| Mode of selection | Competitive tender | Negotiation |
| Duration | 17months | 13 months |
| Work progress | 55%completed | 65% completed |
| Procurement arrangement | Design | Framework arrangement |
| Sum of contracts | £30.5 million | £1.8 million |
| Subcontractors | 29 | 30 |
3 SCM PRACTICES OF HEAD CONTRACTORS
The cross case comparison of eight SCM practices from analysis of HC analysis are represented in table 1 of appendix A. These discussions below are designed to showcase similarities and differences between such practices and the previous SCM literature.
3.1 ORIENTATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN
These two HCs have adopted SCM because of the same reason for closer relations with SCs through repeated business in that country. Company 1 and 2 contracted 70-90 percent of their annual workload. A lot of the work packages were self-provided and only about 30% of their annual workload was subcontracted. This was due to their change to an engineering firm, which manufactured and assembled most construction components off-site. The SCM system of company 1 therefore focused on the achievement of the Manufacturing and Assembly Design (DFMA) agenda. Company 1 has employees that manage their SCM activities, while company 2 has made it additional for the commercial team to scrape the position of manager of the supply chain during an exercise to minimise the number of workers. In the two cases, senior management acknowledged that the downstream suppliers and SCs strategic and systematic management is required. company 2 has less structured when compared to company 1 in dealing with SCs.
3.2 MANAGEMENT OF SUPPLY BASE
In comparison to company 2 regionalized supply base of about 150 SCs, company 1 has relatively larger size, which consisted of 5000 SCs. In relation to their annual turnover, the supply base for company 2 was relatively smaller than that of company 1 (see Table 2.2). This was due to the reasoning of company 2 supply base for fewer companies that contributed to its DFMA agenda. Similar to (Ronchi, 2006) principles of supply basis management, all two HCs grouped their supply base into different categories. The four classification system systems were run by both companies. This flexibility in the supply base lead to (Wisner, J. D., Tan, K. C., & Leong, G. K. 2014) suggestions that businesses should constantly reorganise their supply base by demoting weak performers while improving their size in order to achieve better supply performance.
Based on their supply base order, two HCs gave priority to SCs with the most advantages for those who occupy the highest level. The SCs were only quite aware of their current supply base status in the case 1. A SC of the case 2 project thought that the SCM process had dropped drastically, while another SC was unable to know if the supply base was officially available or not. High degree of interaction between company1 and its supply chain was revealed, perhaps by using less SCs in view of their subcontracting approach (30% subcontracted work). Company 2 also had formal supply chain agreements with SCs at their three main levels, as opposed to company 1, where only its highest level SCs (category 1) have formalised agreements. Company 2 mainly maintained informal supply chain relations across the various groups.
3.3 ASSESSMENT OF SUPPLY CHAIN
Similar studies were conducted out by all SCs through Supply Chain Interviews, standard questionnaire management, criteria and supervision of Third-Party Organizations. for example: Financial assessments of Dun and Bradstreet (D&B), SSIP (Safety Procurement Scheme), business registration checks, liability monitoring and status verification with industry-recognized business federations are included. This form of evaluation or auditing initially began during open days of the supply chain (meet-the-buyer days), but now company 1 is going to more direct interviews with possible B2B interviews. Situations in which SC Office visits were conducting to confirm the accuracy of the information supplied by the SC questionnaire and interviews were cited in the case 1. It was only possible because, unlike case 2, they had dedicated teams assigned to their SCM tasks. In general, this SCM feature was used to measure the trust of SCs before being offered a job and then accepted into the supply base.
3.4 LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS
Company 1 and company 2 have been very consistent in their approach to promoting long-term relations as about half of their subcontract orders are issued annually with their highest level SCs. In its three major categorisation levels, company 2 formed long-term relations with 99 percent of SCs. This is because they aim to work with less SCs (30% of their work) to fit into their DFMA agenda. The flexible and powerful nature of the relationships between the supply chain of company 2’s three main categories should also have been taken into account. In all two cases long-term supply chain relations were formed with SCs that contributed strategically to the business of HCs through their extraordinary success or through support for the internal agenda. Such long-term supply chain agreements may minimise social injustices and manage mutual dependencies, as indicated by supporters of the RDT (Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. R. 2003), when the HCs realised their need to be reliant on some of their SCs for critical service activities.
3.5 PERFORMANCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN
All of the HCs carried through a standardised questionnaire the same results in the supply chain on H&S, the work standard, contractual and financial cooperation and general helpfulness of SC. In the two cases performance measures are consistent with the balance scorecard (BSC) methodology (Kaplan and Norton 1992), focused on the political, consumer and internal business prospects for the construction sector (BIS, 2013a) as compared to a learning and development viewpoint enshrined in the UK Government vision for 2025.
Across case 1 and case 2, SCs were not regularly aware of performance results, unless performance during the project were so low that SCs had to be invited to discuss changes, particularly on H&S and workmanship quality. However, company 1 disclosed SCs in its highest group results scores. During formalised annual supply chain review conferences, these reports were restricted to the highest level SCs. These top SCs were also able to reverse the company 1 project team in certain aspects. Company 2 also believed that they had the chance to reverse their project team for all SCs. However, the interviewed SCs expressed their concerns about the project teams open performance in a project. Anonymous web-based reverse measurement may produce more positive input from SCs, although it seems to provide a chance for such anonymity.
3.6 SUPPLY CHAIN IT SYSTEM
Company 1 has created a tailor-made IT system with central SC data from supply chain evaluations, expenditure levels, key contact personnel, performance scores and details of the workloads currently underway but company 2 IT system was a simple database of the spreadsheet. This was because the selection of SC could not produce any system intelligence. Company 1 IT system was most efficient and practical method, as described in (Gattorna, J.1996), since it enabled the operation of queries by company, location, annual expenditure, performance scores and the category of the supply chain. The functionality of company 1 IT system has provided information which supports top management and decision-making on site. Also interesting was the only improvement in site based decision taking obtained from the supply chain Management system rather than the transfer of certain roles to the top executive in the office.
3.7 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS IN PERFORMANCE
The two HCs have conducted their SCs with their different methods for continuous performances improvement (CPI). Company 1 had official annual review meetings with only its highest level SCs through the allocation of contact persons where it discussed efficiency, workload and areas for improvements. Regarding company 2, no other formalised annual meetings have taken place except that recognised SCs must be trained and certified in-house to ensure that they are excluded from lengthy onsite inductions. However, as in the case 1, SCs were not assigned to contact people. this contact level within the limited regional supply base of company 2 was thereby inhibited. The most remarkable similarity of the MCs was how CPI agreements target those SCs which could attract more work in the future. H&S has also played an important part in all two CPI efforts to indicate HCs’ awareness and commitment to reduce adverse H&S subcontracting effects (Ankrah, N. A. 2007).
3.8 MOTIVATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN AND ITS REWARDS
The two HCs used different motivations for the supply chain and benefits. Company 1 and 2 received supply chain awards for their most successful SCs. The supply chain status was also used by company 1 to inspire SCs as they all desired development into the highest category in order to gain exclusive advantages such as price opportunity for all future jobs. In addition, company 1 and 2 used CPI promises to discuss future pipelines. SCs shared opinions on the reason for these discussions on future research. The two HCs were also saying it was a fair payment method that motivated and rewarded the SCs, knowing very well that smaller companies had the biggest problem with cashflow. The payment terms for company 1 and 2 were equivalent from 30 to 35 days. However, company 2 recognised that its arrangement for 35 days was fulfilled 80 % of the time.
4 CROSS CASE COMPRASION OF NATURE OF STRUCTURE BETWEEN HC’s AND SC’s
During the company project, the meaning of structure revealed which includes these methods. 1) Cognition, 2) system based and 3) relation based.
4.1 COGNITION BASED STRUCTURE
The information of the project team obtained through supply chain reviews and assessments, pre-order, pre-start interviews, and job experiences resulted in a cognitive based type. The pattern of cognitive confidence derived from the supply chain assessment feature of the SCM practices was revealed in the two cases (see Table 5 of Appendix B). Using third Party organisations for financial controls and pre-qualification, researchers such as (Shapiro, S. P. 1987 and Coleman, J. S. 1994) also suggest that third-party assurances plays an significant part in the formation of trust. The project team carried out rigorous audits on project company, when a SC wasn’t used. In one instance, the project team had to visit another project to ask more about the performance of a SC. Company 2 also performed similar audits for the first time with the exception that their project team acknowledges that their audits are less rigorous because no team was completely engaged in this function. In pre-order and pre-start interviews the two HCs also wanted further information from SCs on the basis of which the project team had to interpret what they would expect for the project.
Sometimes this cognition-based dimension of confidence was called an intestine of people unknown. The senior site manager for the company 2 project explained how his experience helped him to identify highly skilled from less skilled gangs of work from their original position. For company 1, once a SC has been working with the company in the past, its supply chain IT system can access performance results, specific strengths and weaknesses. The trust in the supply chain evaluation process has grown in information and knowledge, first impressions, performance information held on an IT system supply chain and the expertise of the project team on the basis of which their psychology has reflectingly adjusted. These conclusions support previous arguments of the rational and knowledge-driven trust found in cognition (Johnson, D., & Grayson, K. 2005). In addition, it was calculated in nature that potential trustors tended to adopt more calculative approaches to confidence during the initial stages of the relationships and (Lewck, R., & Bunker, B. B. 1996) suggestions reflected this.
4.2 SYSTEM BASED STRUCTURE
Due to the existence of common awareness of working processes, norms and policies, the system-based framework was seen in both cases as a form of confidence. For example, the realisation that SC supervisors had met certain training requirements, particularly with regard to H&S, gave rise to positive expectations. All of the activities involved in developing system-based confidence are the internal H&S training and qualification scheme provided by company 2 and the H&S supervisor training provided by company 1. Thus, the continuous activities of improved performance (CPI) is a way of building systemic trust. The project team’s perception that the SC has previously performed with its organisation, but with a different project team resulted from system-based trust. The requirements also offered assurance to the project team that SCs will function according to their working practices. For example, Company 1 had to incorporate additional procedures such as key meetings and financial meetings only in order to trust optimistically that a claim that is aware of M&E SC will meet its expectations without repeating a previous claim dispute.
Research has emphasised previously how important institutional frameworks can reduce the risk of misconduct in particular by using structured agreements (Arrighetti, A., Bachmann, R., & Deakin, S. 1997). Institutional confidence was also expressed from a number of sources: legal law, professionally binding codes of conduct, corporate integrity, expectations of contracts and other official and informal behavioural standards (Bachmann, R., & Inkpen, A. C. 2011). (Wong, W. K., Cheung, S. O., Yiu, T. W., & Pang, H. Y. 2008) also indicated that contracting and contracting were a source of confidence in construction based systems. Evidence from this study indicates, however that workshops, training and certification programmes have been focussed on all of which have helped shed light on the working procedures of subcontract agreements. The emergence of trust (system-based), signed by both parties has not been mentioned. The emergence by means of contractual agreements of system-based trust may therefore be a significant client and HC level phenomenon.
4.3 RELATION BASED STRUCTURE
In cases where familiarity already exists between the SCs and the project team, the relation-based structure was exposed. This element of confidence was built into interpersonal relationships that had developed at project and head office levels during regular interactions. Relational trust among SCs of the company 1 was much stronger due to higher job exposure rates and formalised annual review meetings. With respect to company 1, SCs have shown their relationship-based trust in their three main categorization levels of the supply chain. This could include the high level of connectivity that company 1 has developed with all SCs through formalised supply chain agreements and daily employment access. The project profile may also be attributed as all the SCs surveyed had previously collaborated with the project team on other BSF projects.
Confidence in the company 2 project was less hierarchical, despite the much smaller supply base. SCs reported how sometimes, when they worked with their other unfamiliar project teams, they appear to work with Company 1. The interactive trust that (Bachmann, R. & Inkpen, A.C. 2011) claimed to develop based on a repeated experience between two or more people, therefore represents that dimension of trust.
The object to which it was oriented changed depending on the length of time the parties had engaged each other due to the time and relational nature of relation-based trust. SCs which had long worked with the HC had developed relationships with various project teams and head office staff. In accordance with the trust established by the organisational and policy level (Janowicz, M., & Noorderhaven, N. 2006), a certain time limit was set when the aim of the confidence was to incorporate relationships with strategic (head offices) staff beyond operational personnel (project team). This underlines the impact of interpersonal relations on the growth of trust among organisations.
5 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Similar factors (illustrated in Tables 4 and 6 of Appendix D) have been reported in both HCs and SCs that have an impact in the construction of structures in projects. The effects of organisational changes were stressed by both parties as a source of conflict, which could quickly increase disagreement and thereby degrade trust. Specific companies such as scaffolding have been found to be more likely to change the range of jobs in the course of the company 1 project. The company’s 1 project team had to manage such changes carefully as the designs had not been finalised before the work on site started. In the case of Company 2, inadequate design documentation resulted in changing disputes in which the project team believed that some SCs asked for additional work. These findings show how the change management process at some point in the project can have an enormous impact on the scm structure of every HC and SC.
The payment problems, perceptions of potential jobs for the future, job efficiency, a project context and an economic environment were other factors that affect confidence of the three dimensions (Table 7 of Annex B). In particular, SCs on companies 1 and 2 were illustrated in terms of payment companies when delays in the disclosure of maintenance sums at the end of the liability period for defects were demonstrated. The world of late payments, contract awards based on the cheapest price against the best value, demand for selective discounts and recoveries should anticipate such payment concerns (Hurley, J. 2012).
While the issue of late payments in the construction sector of UK is a growing issue (Hurley, J., 2012), fair payment and retention agreements commitments should be enshrined in the motivations and reward functioning of the supply chain of HC’s SCM practice. Many are still needed, for some HCs have admitted that their mutually acceptable fairness is not often achieved. These initiatives are also in line with discussions on the use of a building supply chain payment charter to encourage a responsible payment culture in the United Kingdom. Nichol (2014) proposed making companies not eligible for public sector projects that fail to respect the supply chain payment charter. Clearly, HC’s have space to incorporate and encourage the provisions stipulated in such a charter by using the incentive supply chain and compensation component of their SCM practices, and effectively encourage the development of a timely and equitable payment culture throughout the supply chain.
Concerning the impact of the economic climate, SCs argued that an economic downturn increased the inclination of project teams to choose unknown SCs from outside of their supply chain to meet the strict budgetary requirements. In our opinion, an austere climate increased business emphasis during the projects and decreased the value of relation-based trust which in the past had accumulated. The project team also included a financial dimension of confidence in that standard SCs could become complacent and therefore have uncompetitive cost estimates. Therefore, they used market assessments to ensure reliability and profitability of the prices received from their supply chain. This is supporting the argument that the 2008 ‘credit crunch’ has brought about a recession that has brought about the cost drivers and price cuts among the majority of building sector players, inhibiting common efforts (Kumaraswamy, M. M., Anvuur, A. M. & Smyth, H. J. 2010).
The trust development process was also influenced by project-specific circumstances as some decisions of HC were required. For example, company 1 reported cases in which SCs outside their supply chain were chosen to promote localism, as requested by customers of the public sector in their projects. Flexibility in the budget also had an impact on the commercial focus on the various work packages. Company 1 staff explained that they were particularly interested in meeting strict budget requirements for each package by winning the job on a tighter margin. Sometimes this is linked to customers who wish to carry out their projects at the least cost.
Job performance was also a factor that influenced trust that was expressed by both parties not only in technical competence but also in business competitiveness. Regular SCs therefore believed that their high expertise had to be supported by competitive market prices, since they often performed HCs. The technical skill aspect of job performance is also task-specific, in accordance with the proposals by (Schoorman, F. D., Mayer, R. C., & Davis, J. H. 2007) that competence trust cannot be extended to different tasks for which parties are well-known to have proven performance. Some new SCs in project teams have also adopted a quite proactive approach to regularly sending unsolicited updates, which has contributed to the project team’s knowledge of its progress. This was considered to be a strategy to ensure that the project team remained confident in its successful delivery.
Outlooks from both sides also showed that these confidence factors have been related to some HC SCM activities. The motivation and reward of the offering chain, the long-term supply chain linkage and the performance monitors were associated with payments issues, perceptual opportunities for future work and performance. This shows further how the SCM Process for HCs provided a platform to help trust in the project. These factors influencing trust were associated with both parties showing confidence or demonstrating their trustworthiness. The trustworthiness of HC staff has been derived mainly from consistent evidence of confidence by SCs and SCs mainly from future supply chain relationship benefits.
CHAPTER 8 FRAME WORK AND EVALUATION
1 INTRODUCTION
From the analysis of a cross-case this chapter focuses on the various development of a framework to endanger the inter-organisational structure of the supply chain of HC and also evaluate the Framework in accordance to the various perspective of the participants. The capability of the framework is to develop various process which includes structure management framework along with an overview on the other aspects of the framework. Recommendation has been put for what as a part of it and outlined before the evaluation exercise. The fifth objective of the research is contributed by this chapter.
2 ENGINEERING FRAMEWORK BASED ON STRATEGIC SCM
The scope of the framework is explained by the help of SCM strategy. The connection between structure and performance resulted in the various efforts which are required for creating an Atmosphere which fosters development of inter organisational level (McDermott, P., Khalfan, M. M. A., & Swan, W. 2004), suggested by the introduction of the contracts which were collaborative e. g. PPC2000 add a contact form used for partnering of project, NEC3 suite of contract along with JCT 2006 contract of constructing excellence. Taking into consideration the various needs for trade off among the persuit of the interest and structure of Commerce, with the question of the inter organisational structure needed for achieving satisfactory performance along with certain situation used for collaborative approaches that would be perfect for the performance requirement. The framework will be able to guide HCs in understanding the various implication on the practices as well associations made on inter organisational structure and developing the various consequences which might lead to contribution which might be meaningful to the efforts of the industry. The research help in understanding the opportunity used for developing the framework providing a structured as well and coherent approach to SCM on inter organisational development of structure in the supply chain of MC. The main objectives are as follows:
- Key features of the SCM practices of mc which affect the inter-organizational structure under different project.
- Providing insight on the various dimensions influence of structure as well as personal view on supply chain affecting the outcome of the project performance.
- Guiding personal of HC in selecting managing subsequence by taking into consideration the risk of work package along with other circumstances in the context.
2.1 FRAMEWORK OVERVIEW
Certain issues which comprise the framework are revealed so that they can have influence over the various manifestations of the dimensions of the supply chain of HC. Classic system theory is used for grounding the input-process framework (Mohammed and Hamilton, 2007). Main components are as follows:
Contextual factors
Please refer to the specific context which are present in HCs and SCs which are together for delivering a project meeting the satisfaction level of requirement of the client. In this case the contextual factors are economic climate and specific circumstances of the project.
Input factors
This factors refers to the practices of the SCM of HCs having various applications on the structure of inter organisation and selection of SC decision used for running a team project.
Output factors
This factors of the Framework include the nature as well as dimensions which are used for manifesting the structure, sequences of behaviour, governance nature and outcome of the project performance. In below table there is a summary of these components:
2.1.1 CONTEXTUAL FACTORS INFLUENCE
From this study it has been revealed that the various economic climate along with the other circumstances which are specific to project is used for influencing the decision of selecting SC. Increase in the market competition from the availability of Limited job why did Downturn increase of economy increases the chances of selection of high performance SCs from the market in a very lower rate. Under this period, HC’s incentive step from supply in SC for meeting the budget allocation for various work packages. In the context of economic growth, order books are claimed by SCs as a priority for accepting work HCs for developing relationships related to statistics supply chain. During the period of economic growth there are huge abundance of work leading to the increase in the number of rogue SCs creating a challenge for HCs in attracting SCs for projects. Important and long with the flexibility of the project of a client and its budget which influence the selection as well as decision of SC. Packages that were awarded to the various forms by the project team of HC were local. Project which won were mainly related to competitive tendering and on tighter budgets. The various cross case finding revealed that determinant of taking decision by structure were contextual factors which are produced during project (table 6 and 7 of appendix B). Its Stated in below figure:
2.1.2 SCM PRACTICES
The features which were a part of SCM practices of HC have been seen to be influencing project delivery of HC and SC (in tables of appendix B). Initial SCM process which has been taken in the assessment of supply chain in above figure is used for evaluating SCs registered before the supply chain database under a lower category. When the SCs for interviews of supply chain this exercise was commenced on them. By the help of Reorder interviews this assessment is continued.
During the selection of the various packages of work for a project the team of HCs implemented the option of work package to a known SC after the assessment of a supply chain power or from within the internal space of the supply chain. The team of the project select the supply chain category from the reflection of the structure and strategic contribution of any SC. The base of the supply chain is supported by IT system of a proprietor supply chain. The project team of the HC during the ongoing of the project scores SC performance which are stated in the IT system keeping a track of the supply chain (stated in above figure).
The engagement of the SC by HC contributed to the supply chain which are based on the activities of the CPI by the help of training, high level discussion, workshop and seminar used for setting future targets. This initiative of CPI is set by the strategy of HC so that they can collaborate a long-term agreement cooperating and growing gradually under a certain time period for becoming a partner of the supply chain (in above figure). The motivation of the supply chain and the strategy of the reward of HC is stated in above figure. This aspect added to the promotion practices which are followed by HC for fair payment and a strategy for motivating and rewarding supply chain. During the selection of a project level SC the project team of SC made crucial divisions for selecting SC from internal as well as external market.
2.1.3 NATURE OF STRUCTURE
The various selection of the SC which was done in the external market based on cognition and the structure which was dominant in the dimension of the various relationship existing in the project of supply chain. Confidence of the team of the project was underpinned by the various knowledge which was gathered during the assessment of the supply chain in which the efforts were given in that people suitable for package working as well as adding subsequent base in the supply chain the important nature of the various relations as well as distance between the project team and the SC under certain particular stage in making the structure a cognition-based. Another way the selection of the HC from the supply chain of the SC was based on which is shown in above figure. The various categories of SC level in the base of the supply chain depends on the status of the SC and the project team history.
The structure which was based on system selection of SC became dominant and progress towards becoming a long-term partner of collaborative SCM. In this case the supply base was SC exam projects was executed under it with the help of HC development of some ethos was done by understanding the various aspect of operation of HC there was no cultivation of interpersonal relationship with the team of the project. Confidence was given by project team in assuming the expectation of the SC will be met and embedded its way engaging some CPI activities hot experiencing work with the company. In this particular stage the structure will be gathered as impersonal and as a degree which is quite limited and also non-existent interpersonal bonds.
The dominant dimension which was adopted by SC was selected from the base of the internal chain of HC and rise up to the various levels of categorisation, successfully executing the various amount of jobs and also developing familiar as well as interpersonal bond with the various teams associated with the project in the organisation of the HC. The confidence of the team types owing to the repeated interaction as well as cultivated interpersonal bonds.
In table 5 of appendix B it has been seen that placement of the supply chain, relationship of long-term supply chain of CPI and optimum SCM features influencing the emergence of various rational bases, cognition based and system based structure. In above figure, the various features of the emerging structure in SCM has been illustrated.
2.1.4 OUTCOME OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE
It was revealed from cross case finding that the various risk profile associated with the packages of Work are considered in range of moderate till low, consequences of the various behaviours which arise from structure based on system and condition. Outcome of the project depend on the compliance of the program, performance of cost, H&S performance and consequence of behaviour is depicted in above figure.The risk profile associated with the work packages are considered in the range of other medium, with the presence of less complex, not following the critical path, excessive variation not followed ignore requirement of free for post design input of SC. The absence of flexibility in relation governance nature became more contractual with the presence of limited room for making informal and deriving the various stipulated terms associated in the contract.
The performance of the project and its outcome word derived by the help of various population as well as structure based system which were very similar different in the aspect of system based structure. It represented its progression for achieving the governance mode that were switched from informal to relational process.
A priority was given to the various consequences of behaviour that were gathered from structure based on relation and packages of work that were associated with high risk, critically programmed and subjective to variations. This kind of behaviour was very helpful in realising the project outcome in a proper way. Due to this reason the project team associated itself with the SC which were regular to the supply chain as well as the supply chain that is based internally and delivered repeatedly by demonstrating the enormous commitment that was portrayed during the previous projects. It was identified that the scaffolding process was the best example for identifying and gaining a satisfactory outcome of the project. It was also revealed that are highly Complex structure of Steel package is very critical as well as consisted of high risk and demanded a particular SC that has proved itself in the past years.
The governance was meet more informal as well as relational by the help of relational flexibility, presence of an atmosphere in which the SC gave inputs as well as sacrifices for achieving the satisfactory result of the project. The long term relationship of supply chain was developed by the satisfactory outcome achieved by the SCs.
3 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
The Framework that was developed in the presentation areas affected in understanding the impact of the current practices use for promoting about the suitable practice in SCM for achieving an optimal team performance. A guide has been stated for ensuring a proper use of the Framework in practices.
3.1 FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE
The HC team need to identify the various risk profile associated with the package of work by considering the environment of the market as well as the circumstances which has been stated in above figure. Contact input needs to be taken into consideration for determining the package risk, it was the subject can change, complexity of the work package in terms of the various requirement that are needed in technical department and risks of H&S.
If the stated risk profile at connection with the work package then it is considered from low to moderate and stability and favour the selection of the SC from outside market by making a desire for promoting and growing a relationship with the client who want local SCs. The absence of incentive in the promotion of existing relationship of supply chain and there is a risk associated with the work package implementation of cognition based structure is used for gathering a satisfactory outcome of the project. This step is helped by proper assessment of the supply chain that is associated with contractual governance of the project.
| Pathway to follow on framework for satisfactory project performance | Blue pathway | Dashed red pathway | Red pathway | |
| Project context and nature of work package | Characteristics | Low to moderate risk | Low to moderate risk | High risk trade e.g. |
| or risk profile | trade e.g. less | trade e.g. moderately | highly complex and | |
| of work | complex and critical | complex and critical to | critical to the | |
| package, | to the program, | the program, Less | program, Highly | |
| nature of | Less variable work | variable work package, | variable work package, | |
| budget and | package, No pre or | Limited pre or post- | Considerable pre and | |
| level of pre or | post-tender SC design | tender SC design input | post-tender SC design | |
| post-tender | input, Restricted | [Potential and need to | assistance [Need to | |
| design input | work package budget | further develop an | retain subcontractor | |
| required | early relationship] | specialist expertise on | ||
| project ] | ||||
| Input factors on framework | Supply chain | Supply chain | Continuous | Long term supply chain |
| management | assessments | performance | relationships | |
| focus | improvements | |||
| Selection | Select firms from | Select firms from | Select firms from higher | |
| recommendati | market or firms | middle to lower | hierarchy of internal | |
| ons | recently registered on | hierarchy of internal | supply chain base | |
| internal supply chain | supply chain base | |||
| base | ||||
| Output factors on framework | Nature of structurerequired to | Cognition-basedstructure: Derived | System-based structure:Derived by embedding | Relational-based structure:Derived by cultivating |
| underpin | through the | subcontractors into | long-term interpersonal | |
| behaviours | acquisition of | main contractor | relationships at both | |
| adequate knowledge | processes and creation | project and corporate | ||
| on subcontractor performance | of joint values and ethics | levels | ||
| Behaviours that are fostered | Effective knowledge sharingSelf-organisation | Effective knowledge sharingSelf-organisation | Effective knowledge sharingSelf-organisation Relational flexibility Extra commitment | |
| Desirable governance | Highly contractual forms of governance | Highly contractual forms of governance | Highly relational forms of governance |
Achieving the expected outcome the blue line in above figure need to be followed. By considering that this is the route which has been showed indefinite column of above table. Accessing all the information it can be stated that the structure route based on relation must be the most favourable way for HC give the various outcomes under different situations.
It can also be stated that the presence of incentive table of went as well as growth of a relationship in a supply chain during the time frame that is profile is low to moderate and the various contextual factors that are leading towards and external selection reflection of an SC market down from the lower category level of the HC. For achieving this the path for which has been stated in above figure must be followed. This part has also been stated in the fourth column of above table.
The package of the work falls on critical aspect and is subjected to various changes in design, technically complex, influence of other construction factor must be discounted for favouring selection from the internal supply chain base of HC which can be a premium one. Also ensure that deposit performance become satisfactory and the rate part which is followed in above figure for a structure based relationship the various consequences of the behaviour can be access properly during the project. This has been stated in the fifth column of above table.
3.2 RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON PROPOSED FRAMEWORK\
Based on the proposed Framework which has been designed for SCM practices of HC as well as structure of inter organisational project general recommendation arose. There was some additional documentation feature related to the HCs and how they can enhance their SCM feature which has been stated in above figure. Providing the SCM process which has been strategized in the HC a properly coordination, assessment feature of the supply chain and the various practices which can be used for developing just based on cognition which has been used previously in SCs. It would be adequate achieving the various satisfactory performance which are associated with the risk profile and packages of work in the range of low to moderate and the various factors which are contextual and also favour the selection needed for the supply chain market.
3.2.1 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
However it can also be stated that the risk profile of the work package is adjusted in accordance to the low to moderate and also the price of the tenders favourite Stuart the selection of an external market, SCs can be selected on levels of lower category and can also be elected as the internal supply chain base of MNC as far allowed allocated the budget of work packages. This step can be very beneficial for a project as if not only provides opening for father development in the relationship of supply chain and also provides learning process which can be used for engaging CPI activities.
If the risk profile of a package of what is adjusted to be in a high what package and fall on a critical path then it can be subjected to a lot of design changes which can be termed as technically complex it can also be recommended that the selection of an SC depends on the highest category of the supply chain of HC base and the presence of structure in the height in relational as well as flexible relational along with extra commitment with inherent behaviour in the relationship of the supply chain. The flexibility as well as in formality in the relationship of a supply chain will be providing a great environment for reading with the high levels of uncertainty which is faced by the work package Due to certain technical complexity, justification mentoring the translate as well as familiar SCs which relies upon the various strategic contributions which are made to the business of HC. Various effort has been put forward in aspect to the economic climate for the preservation of long term relationship with an SC that depends upon the extra mile which is conducted by the business of HC.
3.2.2 SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
In accordance to the summary of above table about the various strategies which can be followed for better SCM practices of HC specific recommendations has been set up. Long term relationship of supply chain, advent of the performance of supply chain and CPI initiatives can be oriented easily the promotion of the various business objectives and strategies of HC. This can be used as an example of the portion of BIM as well as the agendas relating to sustainability across supply chain, that has taken a most significant as well as hybrid force in which saving the various future project delivery in the construction industry. The various practices which are revealed in the present time for orienting H&S, performance commercially and quality along with the support of the SC under the agenda of in house design like the design of Gamma which is used for manufacturing as well as assembling strategy. However the value of the HC can’t go down from the supply chain for maintaining the momentum delivering long-term projects which are associated with the sustainability of the environment formatting the various requirements of BIM. These requirements are: 1) measuring the relation of BIM and sustainability which are incorporated what coding the performance, 2) initiatives of the CPI which are tailored for meeting the various agendas and 3) these factors become the defining factors which are used for establishing a relationship based on long term in the aspect of supply chain.
It is also recommended that the CPI condition which are taken by HCs for promoting a two way communication as well as sharing knowledge with the SC in the aspect of one-sided approach of the flow of knowledge from the HC till the SC. This is mainly due to the fact that different experiences are gained by SC undertaker and situations which can be come beneficial if they are collaborated in a proper way which Foster a two way learning process.
| SCM practices | Specific recommendations |
| Long term relationships | To connect the promotion of long-term supply chain relationships with the promotion of in-house or industry-led initiatives, e.g. BIM and sustainable development agenda. |
| Performance of supply chain | Provide subcontractors the ability to better-score anonymously the performance of the project team or head office staff, e.g. web-based score services, in order to truly identify potential areas for improvement.Integrate performance measures on innovation and learning efforts into current performance measures, in particular those related to BIM and sustainability. |
| Supply chain IT system | Process ensures that the supply chain management system is represented by a robust user-friendly as well as efficient IT system that can promote knowledge sharing on the strength and weaknesses of subcontractors at both corporate and proposal level. |
| Continuous improvements in performance | Use supply chain management practises as a system to bring subcontractors up to pace with BIM implementation and sustainability in order to enhance long-term competitive advantage.Promotes two-way interaction and knowledge exchange during process improvement, as a lot can also be learned from subcontractors working with a lot of other key contractors across the UK. |
| Motivation of supply chain and its rewards | Exploring the use of changing discounting as an option supply chain financing strategy for recent opposite factoring lobby.Exclude certain highly regulated subcontractors and the main supply chain where appropriate, from maintenance deductions to boost their cash flows.Investigating the use of retention incentives as against retention deductions to boost cash flows for subcontractors. |
4 EVALUATION OF FRAME WORK
Stated recommendation with the proposed Framework wishes consolidated the finding for the research is presented to the various participant and their feedback for the evaluation of the Framework is stated.
4.1 RATIONALE FOR EVALUATION
Framework which was proposed is consolidated by the various findings of the research and evaluated so that it meets the following objectives:
- The main perspective of the participants need to be confirmed as the key feature being the constitution of the SCM process of HC also having their influence on the various structure of the inter organisational dynamics which is reflected on the practice.
- Assessing the adequacy as well as completion of the framework which is used as a tool for endangering the draught of inter organisational by the help of implementing SCM into a HC organisation.
- Evaluating the various usefulness overstated framework will be guiding the selection and managing SCs during projects.
- Evaluation of the various feasibility of the recommendation that has been proposed on the various process which needs to be followed by the HCs for improving the existing practices of ACM as well as utilise it strategy for managing structure of inter organisation during the completion of project.
Based on the various evaluation objectives the various questions has been posted to the participants after they were given a brief about the various presentation of the PowerPoint on the findings of the research, recommendation and the proposed framework.
4.2 FEEDBACK FOR EVALUATION
The feedback was targeted from 5 individual participant who contributed to the face of evolution. Awaiting responses which wire gathered from the individual participants is summarised in the appendix C. To keep the report brief review interview extract has only been shared in this feedback.
4.2.1 ADEQUACY AND COMPLETENESS OF THE FRAMEWORK
All the various aspect of the SCM process has been expressed by the 5 participant and the reflected on the current activity that is captured in the present proposed framework. The feedback which are summarised in table 2 of appendix C provides all the information. Supply chain manager of Alpha remarked about the various SCM practice by stating that: “This is terrific [when looking at the framework]. Very, very, really good. I think what you’ve found out, you’ve proven why most of the good main contractors are doing things. We realize you won’t have successful ventures, unless you have good relationships. So having research that gives me a little bit more confidence we are doing the right thing”.
More comments for also stated to confirm the presence of interrelationship in the framework. The contract director of company 2 stated that the various behaviours which asserted from the structure based on relation compliance with the specifications of the bid. He also stated that the investigation of the beat specifications for the company 1 built up at structure based on relation ensuring that the various tender figures complaint accurately with the bid. He further commented that level of compliance of defeat is example of the behaviour which perfectly fits into the extra commitment that are needed for the consequence of a behaviour as well as rational based structure which has been stated in the framework.
It has been acknowledged by all the participants that the various influence of the contextual factors is important 40 selection process. The chief quantity surveyor of company 2 stated that the clients need to be more enlightened on the work of the procurement and how they can go for the cheapest price by the help of competitive tendering. This will be helping in decreasing the extra value and also deriving profit from a single source. He also claimed that the present competitive environment for tendering sometimes make team select certain aspect for meeting the restricted budget of the project. The procurement manager of company 2 narrated the various travel that has been faced by the SC for arranging the various payment method on a present project as it has been seen that the client, the company on payment terms for 60 days instead of which they need to remain committed for a total of 35 days of agreement in accordance to the supply chain. The supply chain manager of company 1 also stated that the various influence of the economic climate as well as contractual factors emphasizes the various difficulties that are faced for maintaining supply chain during a period of current recession.
CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSION OF PROJECT
The main conclusions of this project in relation to research questions are as follows:
- The selected UK HCs have eight key features of strategic SCM practices. These include supply chain orientation, supply chain management , supply chain evaluation, long term supply chain relations, supply chain performance measurement, supply chain technology, continuous improvement in performance, motivating and rewarding the supply chain.
- The faith of MC workers comes from a clear display of trustworthiness by SC; the fact that SCMs play an important role in the trust building process including supply chain reviews, performance ratings, CPI initiatives and long term supply chain relations. The key fabricating confidence building catalyst for SCs remains the expected future importance of supply chain relations, i.e. future job expectations. This makes SCM features such as supply base management (categorising status), the long-term supply chain relationships and the encouragement of the supply chain and the incentive for trust growth.
- The strategic SCM practises of the HC help to build inter-organizational confidence across three dimensions namely cognition, system, and relations. The knowledge gained through robust supply chain assessments mainly from cognizance-based trust. System-based confidence is derived mainly from joint ideology realisation rather than prevailing sub-contract agreements through ongoing performance improvement initiatives with emphasis on the payment methods of relations between HC and SC. Relational trust is based on how familiarity and mutual relations are realised by promoting long-term supply chain relations.
- The ongoing issue that undermines creation of inter-organizational confidence in HC-SC relationships remains unequal paying practices. The adherence to the equal payment agreements as enshrined in the encouragement and reward of HC’s SCM practice, however, remains vital in overcoming this problem and thus improving trust in the supply chain.
- HCs can use the strategic SCM practises to prioritise and promote various confidence dimensions (cognition, system and relational) according to which dimension based on workpackage risks is considered the most desirable.
CHAPTER 10 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
The following opportunities exist for future research based on the conclusions discussed in the previous section.
- It is possible to study the impact on companies below the construction supply chain of the Tier two and Tier three SCs in depth which are affected by HC’s SCM practices. This can be based on a single case study.
- Further work should be carried out on how SC cash flows, inter-agency confidence and long-term competitiveness of construction supply chains can be affected if the supply chain financing schemes are introduced by some UK HCs.
- More related research could be carried out with HCs at the middle-to-bottom end of the construction league tables to explore whether their SCM procedures are equivalent to the results recorded in this study and whether these affect inter-organisational confidential dynamics.
- A detailed industry quantitative analysis could also be carried out to determine, as described in the proposed framework, the generalisation of interrelations between strategy SCMs and inter-community confidence structures.
When both of these research were conducted, the approach of SCM and inter-organisation trust for construction will be more comprehensive.
Business Statistics
Solution
Question 1
- The frequency distribution with class interval of 5 for the faulty bulbs among those 50 lots of production is shown below.
- The bar chart drawn from the frequency distribution table produced is shown below.
Question 2
Solution
- Population refers to all members in uniquely identifiable and definable group of subjects in a research study. It can comprise all the animals, objects, set of measurements, or people in particular area under study. In this case, the population is total number of prawns which was 2 million.
- Parameter refers to a quantity that is used to characterize the population and which can be estimated through calculations performed on sample data. In this case, the parameter is average initial weight which is 4 grams.
- Sample refers to a subset or a section of the population that is selected from the population for particular research study. In this case, the sample size is 500 prawns.
- Statistic refers to refers to numerical measurements that are used to explain certain characteristics of a sample. In this case, the statistic is the average weight of the sample which was 16grams.
- This is an example of an inferential statistic because its has been designed to establish the chances or probabilities of causal relationship between empirical observations (Jackson, 2016). That’s, to predict the weight of the population from the sample weight.
Question 3
- Similarities Between Regression and Correlation
- Both regression and correlation involve the relationship between pairs of numeric variables.
- Both correlation and regression involve straight line relationships.
- Both regression and correlation can be used to quantify the direction of a relationship in variables using the sign of the Pearson correlation coefficient (Hinton, 2014).
- Both of them can be used to quantify the strength of the relationship between variables using the magnitude of the Pearson’s correlation coefficient.
- Questions concerning regression’
- The independent variable is the variable on the x-axis which in this case is the student effort (Holmes, Illowsky and Dean, 2019). On the other hand, the dependent variable is the variable on the Y-axis which in this case is the exam result.
- The regression equation can be written as:
- The coefficient or regression is 3.801075 and indicates the value with which the independent variable affects the dependent variable (Rumsey, 2015). In this case, it would mean that students effort impact exam results by a factor of positive 3.801075.
References
Hinton, P. R. 2014. Statistics explained. 3rd ed. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Holmes, A., Illowsky, B., and Dean, S. 2019. Introductory business statistics. OpenStax.
Jackson, S. L. 2016. Research methods and statistics: A critical thinking approach. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Rumsey, D. 2015. Intermediate statistics for dummies. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
