El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo principal la identificación de factores, malas prácticas o procedimientos que influyen en la diferencia en costo entre los presupuestos de licitación vs el presupuesto con el que se cierra un proyecto de la Gran Empresa Constructora en el sector público, y el planteamiento de mejoras para la reducción y/o eliminación de los sobrecostos en sus obras licitadas; para lo cual se tomaron como caso de estudio dos proyectos importantes que se encuentra dentro de la cartera de proyectos de La Empresa, los cuales son: “Infraestructura Deportiva” e “Infraestructura Bancaria”. Del análisis de los proyectos se identificaron cuatro factores como errores o falencias cometidas durante la etapa de licitación: la falta de experiencia o capacitación del personal que participa en las licitaciones, el tiempo reducido para el estudio y preparación de las propuestas, la falta de documentación o mala revisión de la información para el desarrollo de la propuesta y deficiencia en el proceso de licitación o falta de eficiencia en la elaboración de propuestas. En base a los factores identificados, las propuestas de mejora desarrolladas en base a los problemas identificados, son el dimensionamiento y selección del equipo idóneo de trabajo en base a ratios de tiempo efectivo, mejorar la gestión de la información realizando reuniones de transmisión de información durante el proceso de elaboración de la propuesta, la retroalimentación de parte del equipo de ejecución de proyecto hacia el equipo de licitaciones y el manejo de una base de datos de precios unitarios. / The present investigation has as main goal the identification of poor practices, factors and procedures that influence in the difference in costs between the bidding and final closing budgets in Large Construction Company in the public sector, and the presentation of improvements to reduce or eliminate overcosts on its bidding projects; for that, there were taken as cases of study two main projects that are included in The Company project portfolio which are: “Infraestructura Deportiva” and “Infraestructura Bancaria” There were identified four factors or common errors, from the project analysis, that were made during the bidding process: lack of experience or training from the professionals that participate in the bidding process, limited time to prepare proposals, lack of information provided from the client or its poor review to develop the proposal correctly and bidding process deficiencies or inefficiency at preparing the proposal. Based on the factors identified, the improvement proposals based on the problems mentioned are: dimension and selection of the ideal work team based on effective working time ratios, enhance information management by scheduling transfer reunions during the bidding process, give feedback from the execution team to the bidding group and manage a Unit Price database. / Trabajo de investigación

The Project on Government Oversight listed 632 reported acts of government contractor misconduct since 2007 that resulted in settlements or fines totaling $41.95 billion in the government contracting industry. Government contracting officials changed the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in 2009 to reduce acts of misconduct. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to discover if the change to the FAR in 2009 significantly reduced the rate of reported contractor misconduct and to investigate the impact of the change on government contractor ethics business processes. Deterrence theory guided this study of how the change to the FAR in 2009 impacted the rate of reported government contractor misconduct (dependent variable) and government contractor ethics business processes (dependent variable). Data were collected on the top 100 government contractors over 2 separate 3-year time periods (independent variable), 2006 through 2008 and 2010 through 2012, before and after the change to the FAR. Data extracted from official government databases and government oversight organizations included annual contract awards (n = 600), contractor misconduct reports (n = 600), and contractor ethics business process records (n = 600). A Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test resulted in 2 findings. First, the rate of reported government contractor misconduct was not significantly reduced by the change to the FAR in 2009, z = -0.949, p = .34, r = -.072. Second, government contractor ethics business processes were significantly impacted by the change to the FAR in 2009, z = -12.263, p < .001, r = -.763. This study may contribute to positive social change by informing federal contracting authorities and corporate executives that implementing ethics business processes did not reduce misconduct. These findings call for further action to improve corporate ethical behavior.

Federal agencies spend over $400 billion annually on contracts for goods and services to support the mission and vision of their organizations. The purpose of this multiple case study was to determine what strategies federal government contract managers use to prepare effective contract proposals to help ensure business viability. The conceptual framework for this study was the objective theory of contracts. The population for this study was 9 federal contract managers employed by a contracting office located in Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. Data were collected from interviews, observation, and document review. Data were analyzed using a cross-case study to explore themes, similarities, and differences across cases. Data analyses revealed 4 key themes: market research, statement of work, independent government cost estimate, and price reasonableness. The findings from this study may help improve government procurement processes by identifying strategies used to prepare efficient contract proposals to increase competition among various contractors and reduce contract disputes. Results may be used by contracting officers and contracting industry to create positive social change by improving corporate social responsibility through accountability and transparent processes that could reduce protests and save taxpayer money.

No description available.

0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

The aim of this thesis is to make reader familiar with the company Aisin Europe Manufacturing Czech, s.r.o., descibe in details the relations between the comapny, its contractors and its customers and to give a number of recommendations needed to improve current situation of these relations.

The problem itself is not an issue¡A it¡¦s up how you see it! With the wave of capital movement as well as the rapid conversion of industrial development¡A if the business operation cannot cope with it in the giant surge of the century¡A it would be doomed and be swallow up. Traditionally¡A the engineering industry in general is passive¡A be inseparable from the old framework while performing the execution works. However with the flow of capital investment¡A it is announced formally that an internationalized project is coming. Especially we cannot foresee the disasters and avoid it in time. The post-disaster reconstruction projects will push to weed through the old to bring forth the new. Facing the radical change of industry¡A the Taiwan engineering company¡A just start involving the international project¡A would not be only a turning point¡A but also a good timing of self-development and enhancing the constitution strength. It is probably that an International Contractor for EPC project located in Taiwan will be well positioned and reputable in the next decade. The execution of an international EPC contractor has become to an internationalized mode¡F and this study will explore the description of qualitative research methods and Grounded theory study and Dunning theory¡A then through the managing science of engineering management in a compact way¡A to derive step by step how a regional engineering company¡A engaging international engineering contract for ten years¡A to establish and plan their long-term competitiveness and the ability of sustainable growth. This study will collect and interview long-term cooperation in the work of international engineering business partners. Through their different views and opinions¡A and also by the dynamic strategic interaction and new 7S model and the basis of Resource-based theory¡A comment how to adjust the old thinking¡A plan an updated strategy of implementing an international engineering industry strategy pattern that is a project organization oriented for contract execution then¡A lead to the establishment of long-term competitive advantage The study also assert that a successful international EPC Contractor with goal of long-term operation¡A can thrive in the world with base in Taiwan¡A by technical upgrading¡A defining positive organization orientation¡A setting up specific operation target in mid-term and long term respectively.

Abstract SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) has become a popular work arrangement all over the world because of the growth of knowledge workers, the trend of outsourcing, and the development of Internet. As we can see, there were 680,000 SOHO in Japan in 1996, and 43,000,000 SOHO in America in 1997; moreover, according to the investigations of SOHO magazine, SOHO has reached up to 20% of total work population in Taiwan. However, what kinds of jobs do these SOHO do? What are their motives of choosing to be a SOHO? What kinds of competitive advantages do they have? What¡¦s the current situation of these SOHO? And are there any special requirements for people who want to be SOHO? These questions and issues are what we¡¦re intersted in. According to the purposes of this research, we have discovered some important results: a. The demographic statitics of SOHO: We find out that most SOHO in Taiwan are female, single, about 25~34 years old, bachelor degree, major in science & engineering or business & management, work at home, living in north Taiwan. They usually have more than 10 years work experience, but only 2 years or less in SOHO field. The monthly income are about 40,000~60,000. Most people regard SOHO as a part-time job and devote themselves to designing-orietated works. b. The motives of being SOHO: ¡§To have more free time¡¨, ¡§to increase income¡¨, ¡§to be one¡¦s own master¡¨, ¡§to satisfy achievements¡¨, and ¡§to have different life¡¨ are the five topic motives of being SOHO. c. The current situation and competitive advantages of SOHO: We discuss these issues in four parts, including the current situation, the way of getting cases, the clients, and the future of SOHO. We also find out that ¡§professional knowledge & techniques¡¨ is the most important comparative advantage, which can be accumulated from previous work experience. d. The charateristics of being SOHO: We propose two factors in the characteristics of being SOHO; they are ¡§getting cases factor¡¨ and ¡§work result factor¡¨. We also find out that the ¡§work result factor¡¨ has mainly influence on reaching high achivements of SOHO work.

Polluted runoff has been widely recognized by environmental scientists and regulators as the single largest threat to water quality in the United States. Contractor training and certification are among the four main Best Management Practices that the Environmental Protection Agency recommends to assist contractors in complying with Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems requirements that regulate construction sites stormwater runoff. The focus of the study is the review of training requirements for construction activities and stormwater permitting requirements in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The review of the various training and certification requirements for the study states indicates the appropriateness and timeliness for the development and implementation of a model standard stormwater, erosion and sediment control training and certification program for contractors of construction sites of one acre or larger in Desoto County Mississippi to minimize stormwater pollution from construction sites.

This research examines the risk management practices prevalent in the South African construction industry. This was necessitated by the dearth in effective risk management in the construction industry particularly in developing countries such as South Africa. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to establish the risk management practices in use. Based on the literature, a questionnaire was developed and administered electronically to contractors operating in South Africa. The study established that contractors face a significant number of risks, chief among them, high competition in bids, political instability, payment delays, corruption and bribery and an overbearing influence of bureaucratic processes from government aligned agencies. Furthermore, it was also established that risk management amongst South African contractors is largely informal due to a mediocre appreciation of risk management. It also emerged that risk management implementation is perceived to be an expensive venture that erodes the marginal profits contractors aim to make. Resultantly, risk management practices implementation is low amongst the contractors. Based on the findings, the study concludes that the South African construction industry suffers from ineffective risk management implementation. To improve the implementation of risk management practices amongst contractors, it is recommended that contractors increase their risk management awareness through risk management training and risk knowledge management. Overall, this will be beneficial for their operations as risk management has been found to yield a positive effect on the meeting of project objectives. Furthermore, private and public sector clients are also encouraged to demand evidence of risk management competency from contractors upon engaging them for work.