Human resource development in construction organisations: an example of a 'chaordic' learning organisation?

Purpose/ Methodology/Approach The concept of the Learning Organisation (LO) is associated with an advanced approach to Human Resource Development (HRD) characterised by an ethos of self-responsibility and self-development. The learning climate that this engenders is supported by temporary organisational structures responsive to environmental change. This paper presents case study research of the HRD strategy, policy and practice of a large UK-based construction contractor in relation to the concept of LO. Findings The analysis suggests that the organisational project-based structure and informal culture combine to form a ‘chaordic LO’. A ‘Chaordic enterprise’ comprises a complex organisation that operates in a non-linear dynamic environment. However, it appears that this approach has evolved unintentionally rather than as a result of targeted Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) policies, which in turn reflects a genuine commitment to advanced HRD. Originality/value of paper The findings render previous assertions that the industry fails to invest in its employees highly questionable. They suggest a need for further research to reveal how such approaches can be captured in replicate in the future

Psychological contract expectations of construction project managers

The past 20 years have seen a period of fundamental change for many construction businesses as they have restructured, downsized, de-layered, merged and de-merged to survive turbulent markets and rapidly changing demand cycles. Such change places significant new pressures, challenges and constraints on the employer/employee relationship. This paper argues that these changes are likely to have reconstituted employee expectations of the less formal aspects of the employment relationship, known collectively as the psychological contract. Explores this inductive research which examines the psychological contract of 30 construction project managers

Current barriers and possible solutions to effective project team formation and deployment within a large construction organisation

The characteristics of the construction industry present an extremely challenging context for effective human resource management (HRM). The dynamic project-based nature of the industry results in extreme fluctuations in organisations’ workloads and requires teams to form, develop and disband relatively quickly. Thus, the importance of efficient management of employee resourcing activities cannot be understated. This paper reports on the findings of research which explored employee resourcing practices within large UK construction firms. The results suggest that managers currently attempt to carry out some strategic planning with regards to employee resourcing, but that this does not necessarily translate into effective operational practice which simultaneously takes account of organisational, project and individual employee needs. A new approach for more effective employee resourcing decision-making, based on encouraging the involvement of the employees in the deployment process, is put forward as a management tool which informs effective team formation and deployment. However, this will require the acceptance of both decision-support technology and of employee input into what is currently a tacit, management-oriented decision process

Resolving the UK construction skills crisis : a critical perspective on the research and policy agenda

The ongoing skills crisis in the UK construction industry has constrained the productive capacity of the industry. Past research and skills policies have largely failed to develop an understanding of the realities of the skills crisis at the grassroots level. Solutions offered by researchers and policy makers have previously had little demonstrable impact in addressing skills concerns. Much of these policies seems disconnected from the realities experienced by employers and by those working in the industry. A critical perspective on resolving the skills crisis is offered. A set of mutually reinforcing research and policy initiatives are proposed, including the need for researchers and policy makers to move away from the conventionally national approach in addressing the skills problem and to engage in genuine, joined-up thinking that meets the needs of local regions. Furthermore, employers and employees are called to be reflective practitioners in their participation of the skills development agenda. Adopting these recommendations could overcome many shortcomings in research and policy that have hitherto done little to combat the construction skills crisis.Skills shortages, critical perspective, bottom-up approach, labour market, research,

Inhalasi Lemon Mengurangi Mual Muntah Pada Ibu Hamil Trimester Satu

Mual dan muntah pada kehamilan umumnya disebut morning sickness, dialami oleh sekitar 70-80% wanita hamil dan merupakan fenomena yang sering terjadi pada umur kehamilan 5-12 minggu. Lemon minyak esensial (Citrus Lemon) adalah salah satu minyak herbal yang dianggap sebagai obat yang aman pada kehamilan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh inhalasi aromaterapi lemon terhadap morning sickness pada ibu hamil di BPS Lia Maria SST Sukarame Bandar Lampung Tahun 2017. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian kuantitatif dengan pendekatan Pre-Experimental Design dengan bentuk One Group Pre-test and Post-test. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah ibu hamil Trimester I yang mengalami morning sickness. Teknik Sampel dengan purposive sampling. Analisa bivariat menggunakan uji t Dependen. Dari hasil penelitian didapatkan frekuensi mual muntah sebelum diberikan inhalasi aromaterapi lemon diperoleh nilai rata-rata 24.67 dan frekuensi mual muntah sesudah diberikan inhalasi aromaterapi lemon diperoleh rata-rata 17.87 Ada pengaruh pemberian inhalasi aromaterapi lemon terhadap morning sickness pada ibu hamil dengan P-value = 0.000. Oleh karena itu disarankan bagi ibu hamil yang mengalami mual muntah dapat menerapkan pengobatan aromaterapi lemon  untuk mengurangi mual muntah sehingga dapat mengurangi penggunaan obat farmakologi yang ada efek sampingnya

Speckle Statistics in Adaptively Corrected Images

(abridged) Imaging observations are generally affected by a fluctuating background of speckles, a particular problem when detecting faint stellar companions at small angular separations. Knowing the distribution of the speckle intensities at a given location in the image plane is important for understanding the noise limits of companion detection. The speckle noise limit in a long-exposure image is characterized by the intensity variance and the speckle lifetime. In this paper we address the former quantity through the distribution function of speckle intensity. Previous theoretical work has predicted a form for this distribution function at a single location in the image plane. We developed a fast readout mode to take short exposures of stellar images corrected by adaptive optics at the ground-based UCO/Lick Observatory, with integration times of 5 ms and a time between successive frames of 14.5 ms ($\lambda=2.2$ $\mu$m). These observations temporally oversample and spatially Nyquist sample the observed speckle patterns. We show, for various locations in the image plane, the observed distribution of speckle intensities is consistent with the predicted form. Additionally, we demonstrate a method by which $I_c$ and $I_s$ can be mapped over the image plane. As the quantity $I_c$ is proportional to the PSF of the telescope free of random atmospheric aberrations, this method can be used for PSF calibration and reconstruction.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, ApJ accepte

UK construction safety: a zero paradox?

The zero accident mantra has become embedded within the safety discourse of large UK construction organisations, but the extent to which zero-focused approaches yield reductions in accident frequency is yet to be empirically investigated. By way of an evidence-based critique, we examine the relationship between major accidents and zero approaches by drawing on Health and Safety Executive accident data over a 4 year period, together with an analysis of major contractors’ safety approaches. This reveals that working on a project subject to a zero safety policy or programme actually appears to slightly increase the likelihood of having a serious life-changing accident or fatality; a possible ‘zero paradox’. Although these findings should be treated with caution, they suggest that the apparent trend towards abandoning zero amongst some large organisations is well-founded. As such, if zero policies stymie learning whilst failing to reduce accidents, the need for a countervailing discourse is clear

RESPONS TIONGKOK TERHADAP PENGADAAN TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENSE DI KOREA SELATAN

Skripsi ini menggambarkan tentang sistem pertahanan rudal Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) milik Amerika Serikat yang dikembangkan oleh perusahaan kontraktor Lockheed Martin dan terpasang di Korea Selatan pada 6 MAret 2017. Pengadaan THAAD merupakan bentuk kecemasan Korea Selatan terhadap serangan rudal yang sewaktuwaktu dapat diluncurkan Korea Utara, namun pengadaan THAAD menimbulkan penentangan dari Tiongkok. THAAD dianggap sebagai pelanggaran batas yang dilakukan Amerika Serikat dan dapat meningkatkan ketegangan di Kawasan Asia Timur. Adapun tujuan skripsi ini untuk mengeksplanasi respons yang diberikan Tiongkok terhadap pengadaan THAAD di kawasan Lotte Skyhill Seongju Country Club, Korea Selatan. Bagaimana Tiongkok memberikan respons melalui ancaman ekonomi sebagai upaya membalikkan keputusan Korea Selatan ketika keamanan nasionalnya terancam. Sedangkan manfaat penelitian ini diharapkan dapat menjadi bahan informasi dalam pengembangan teori mengenai penggunaan economic statecraft yang dilakukan Tiongkok. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah deskriptif-analitis yaitu menjelaskan kondisi yang terjadi antara Tiongkok dan Korea Selatan mengenai THAAD, kemudian menyusun serta mengintepretasikan data yang berhubungan dengan THAAD dan menganalisis data tersebut sehingga menghasilkan bentuk respons yang diberikan oleh Tiongkok mengenai pengadaan THAAD di Korea Selatan. Hasil penelitian ini membahas bagaimana respons yang diberikan Tiongkok terkait pengadaan THAAD melalui ancaman ekonomi berupa penutupan gerai Lottemart di Tiongkok, penentangan Korean Wave, penutupan jalur maskapai Tiongkok ke Korea Selatan, dan pelarangan bagi warga negara Tiongkok untuk melakukan wisata ke Korea Selatan. Tiongkok membuat Korea Selatan mengalami pukulan ekonomi, namun sanksi Tiongkok tidak memberikan perubahan terhadap kebijakan Korea Selatan terkait pengadaan Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. Hal ini membuktikan bahwa economic statecraft gagal dipraktekan oleh Tiongkok dan menyebabkan terjadinya The Sanction Paradox. Kata Kunci: Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, THAAD, THAAD Korea Selatan, Sanksi Chin

Investigating informality in construction: Philosophy, paradigm and practice

The complex interrelationships commonly enacted as a consequence of project team activity take a number of different forms, including those formally dictated by contract conditions. However it is becoming increasingly apparent that project performance is affected by informal relationships, though their investigation is notoriously difficult. This paper proposes that these difficulties arise partly from the nature of the informalities themselves, but also as a consequence of the philosophical position taken by researchers and their consequent methodological/paradigmatic posture, and its impact upon those being studied. It consequently proposes a subjectivist investigative framework that accommodates multiple philosophical points of departure, matching them to a range of alternative methodologies, and indicates the desirability of blending to reflect the peculiarities of each context under investigation. The framework also accommodates the practicalities of putting complex methodologies into action. The paper concludes that this framework presents opportunities to conduct rigorous in-situ investigations of informality at work, leading to authentic and deep insights that would otherwise remain unseen