No / Retrospective sensemaking is used to determine how and why rework in offshore hydrocarbon projects occurred. Staff from organizations operating at the blunt end (e.g., clients/design engineers providing finance and information) and those at the sharp end (e.g., contractors at the “coalface”) of a project's supply chain were interviewed to make sense of the rework that occurred. The analysis identified the need for managers to de-emphasize an environment that prioritizes production over other considerations and instead systematically examine mechanisms and factors that shape people's performance. Limitations of the research and the implications for managerial practice are also identified.

Yes / University lecturers are required to undertake teaching and also to produce high quality papers for REF. This can be a very hard situation, especially for early career researchers. They always face the diplomas of no starting-up funding and no man power to start a new research area. This could be very challenging. Apart from constantly pursing funding and establishing collaboration, I integrated student research projects teaching into my own research. I summarise main points which help me to achieve. 1) Designing a multidisciplinary project. Research informed teaching is the key to success. Based on my own research plan, I designed interdisciplinary project to attract students with particular attention to decompose comprehensive research proposal into small parts which is achievable within students’ ability and time scale. For example, in the past two years I designed a series projects for final year undergraduates and MSc students based on my own projects of “interaction of nanoparticle with cell membrane”. Within these projects, students will have chance to expose themselves to research. For example, students will be able to explore new research area of nanotechnology, especially on nanoparticles; basic biological lab skills like cell culture, treating cells with toxins; and physiological implication of nanoparticles interacting with human body etc. These greatly inspire students thinking. At the meantime, giving student freedom and full supervision allow them to be successful. Through carefully supervision I am confident that I could get preliminary data from students’ experiments for my grant application. 2) Integrating resources to exert full. I deliberately arranged students at different levels to join in my own project at different stages. For example, final year undergraduate projects starts from Oct every year and last till March, then MSc project starts from Feb every year and last till August. I also apply for small funds to have summer students from July to Sept. Therefore I can always have students doing some experiment in the lab. The budgets from student projects are really good boost and supplementary for my own project. There is also a consistency in the projects to avoid waste and unnecessary repeat. I included students in materials, equipment preparation and explained key updated skills to increase students’ passion and to inform them of how to start a new topic from scratch. 3) Setting high standard to achieve. I continuously encourage students to achieve. It would be great to have someone who can work through whole period of your new research proposal. I particularly encourage students to design experiments, to deliver ideas, to write scientific reports for conference, and even to draft paper for submission. This would not only help students for their future career but also help myself to quickly build up my own research. It is hard process but worth.

Several studies about stress have been conducted in different disciplines. However, little attention has been given to studying stress among IT professionals in Sweden despite increasing concern about mental health in the workplace. This study aims to address this gap by examining the main stressors prevalent in the IT profession in Sweden, with the corresponding coping strategies used to mitigate these stressors. The study also examines to what extent existing coping strategies help manage stressors encountered by IT professionals in Sweden. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative methodology was employed, involving semi-structured interviews with a sample of eight participants. The data gathered from these interviews was then systematically coded and analyzed using a deductive thematic analysis approach. The results confirm several stressors and their respective coping strategies and identify a few new ones highlighted in the results chapter and discussed in the analysis chapter.

Целью магистерской диссертации исследование теоретических и практических аспектов внедрения «зеленых» инвестиционных проектов на промышленных предприятиях, а также разработаны рекомендации по получению государственной поддержки для реализации «зеленых» проектов. / The purpose of the master's thesis is to study the theoretical and practical aspects of the implementation of green investment projects at industrial enterprises, and also to develop recommendations for obtaining government support for the implementation of green projects.

Submitted in fulfilment of the academic requirements for the Degree of Magister Technologiae: Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Durban University of Technology, 2009. / Infrastructure project costs are being scrutinised more closely and with greater skill and accuracy as projects have become larger, more complex and more expensive, and clients have become more exacting in their requirements. These and other factors compel engineers to design with greater care and in more detail. However, public planners spend very little time generating alternative project options, often presenting decision-makers with only a few poorly differentiated alternatives borrowed ad hoc from other projects. Even more disturbing is that they often devote the greatest amount of decision making resources to the development of a single decision rather than a variety of options. A systematic and iterative analysis of the cost consequences of different design solutions is commonly suggested for infrastructure projects, but rarely happens. There is a growing need to integrate design and costs. This study concentrates on the issue of cost optimisation of infrastructure projects (particularly at the design stage of the project) and applies construction economics, cost planning, cost optimisation and value engineering techniques to the design of such projects. The methodology proposed in this study for the optimisation of cost and design planning is the Infrastructure Cost Planning Model. This model divides the planning of a project into four stages and utilises twelve Cost Report Forms across these stages. The Cost Report Forms define in a comprehensive, precise and verifiable manner the essential characteristics of a deliverable component. They are used to measure, quantify, verify and audit the different design options. By means of the Cost Report Forms, the Infrastructure Cost Planning Model enables the client to select a combination of alternatives and evaluate a number of possible design options – with their cost implications – at each stage of the design process. This i promotes transparency and accountability, and enables consultants and clients to have greater control over the planning process and overall costs. Two case studies on infrastructure related projects were conducted and confirm that the Infrastructure Cost Planning Model can reduce costs. This study demonstrates that it is possible to overcome the problem of over expenditure by introducing cost effective design decisions prior to the infrastructure design approval process. The Infrastructure Cost Planning Model can improve infrastructure standards and procure design in a cost effective, equitable, competitive and transparent manner. This study contributes to the underdeveloped area of cost planning and forecasting of infrastructure projects. The findings are relevant to the South African government's infrastructure service delivery programme and the general issue of affordable infrastructure services.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The development of mass housing is an excellent example of multi-disciplinary projects. Several housing projects have been unsuccessful due to a misunderstanding of the necessary collaboration and buy-in that are required from all parties concerned. The focus of this study is to identify the required skill sets and responsibilities of the Housing Project Manager in the Housing environment, and in turn, will support the development of the foundation of the civil engineering postgraduate curricula. Civil engineers are educated with a strong focus on technical subjects, but not much attention is paid to many of the less technical aspects as found in housing projects. Furthermore, the multi-disciplinary aspects of large projects do not receive sufficient attention in either the undergraduate or postgraduate curricula. Considering that many civil engineers become actively involved as managers of housing projects, this paper will present an investigation into the requirements of the curricula of a postgraduate qualification for civil engineers towards becoming managers in housing projects. The investigation will include aspects of multi-disciplinary coordination, the less technical aspects of housing development, but will not exclude a comprehension of technical involvement. In order to identify these skill sets and responsibilities several approaches were adopted. The approaches adopted in this dissertation include: (i) a comprehensive literature study regarding the housing environment and the position of the housing project manager, (ii) a review of several housing case studies with project management related problems, (iii) consulting with several housing management professionals from different sectors in the housing industry, and (iv) a review of existing formulations of the role and responsibilities of the housing project manager. The findings from this study provide evidence that civil engineers operating in the housing environment as project managers require additional education, due to the multi-disciplinary nature of housing projects. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that educating civil engineers towards the management of housing projects would contribute significantly to the housing environment through increasing productivity and quality, and can contribute to meet the housing targets of the government. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die ontwikkeling van massa behuising is 'n uitstekende voorbeeld van multidissiplinêre projekte. Verskeie behuisingsprojekte was al onsuksesvol as gevolg van 'n misverstand oor die nodige samewerking en bydraes wat vereis word van alle betrokke partye. Die fokus van hierdie studie is om die vaardighede en verantwoordelikhede van die behuisingsprojekbestuurder in die behuisingsomgewing te identifiseer. Hierdie kennis ondersteun die ontwikkeling van ʼn raamwerk vir ʼn nagraadse kurrikulum in behuisingsbestuur. Siviele ingenieurs is opgelei met 'n sterk fokus op tegniese vaardighede, maar relatief min aandag word geskenk aan minder tegniese aspekte soos gevind word in behuisingsprojekte. Verder, multidissiplinêre bestuursaspekte van groot projekte ontvang nie voldoende aandag in óf die voorgraadse óf nagraadse kurrikula nie. Wetende dat baie siviele ingenieurs aktief betrokke raak as bestuurders van behuisingsprojekte, ondersoek hierdie studie ʼn raamwerk vir ʼn nagraadse kwalifikasie vir siviele ingenieurs as bestuurders van behuisingsprojekte. Die ondersoek sluit in aspekte van die multidissiplinêre koördinasie asook minder tegniese aspekte van behuisingsontwikkeling, maar dit sluit nie 'n begrip van die tegniese betrokkenheid uit nie. Verskeie benaderings is toegepas om die vaardighede en verantwoordelikhede van behuisingsbestuurders te identifiseer. Die benaderings sluit in: (i) 'n omvattende literatuurstudie ten opsigte van behuising en die posisie van die behuisings-projekbestuurder, (ii) 'n oorsig van verskeie behuisings- gevallestudies met projekbestuur verwante probleme, (iii) raadpleging met verskeie professionele rolspelers van verskillende sektore in die behuisingbestuur omgewing, en (iv) 'n hersiening van bestaande beskrywings van die rol en verantwoordelikhede van die behuisings-projekbestuurder. Die bevindinge van hierdie studie verskaf bewyse dat siviele ingenieurs wat in die behuisingsbedryf as projekbestuurders optree, bykomende opleiding benodig as gevolg van die multidissiplinêre aard van projekte. Die belangrikste gevolgtrekking van hierdie studie is dat die opleiding van siviele ingenieurs in die bestuur van behuisingsprojekte ʼn aansienlike bydrae kan lewer tot behuising deur produktiwiteit en kwaliteit te verhoog. Dit kan bydra tot die bereiking van die regering se behuisingsdoelwitte.

D.Litt.et Phil. / The Chief Directorate: Population Development which is responsible for the implementation of the Population Development Programme and the Rural Foundation, regard the community development strategy as one of the most important means of improving the quality of life of the population and especially of the farm worker. Against the above-mentioned background this study firstly draws a comparison between the levels of development of Third World inhabitants, the Third World component in South Africa and farm workers. In this regard it is concluded that the level of development of farm workers corresponds with that of Third World inhabitants, and that they are even worse off than the rest of the third World component in South Africa. Secondly, the community development strategy, which forms part of South Africa's official development policy, is being evaluated with regard to other existing international development strategies. It is concluded that the community development strategy is a potentially useful tool for the furthering of development. Lastly, a synthesis is made between the theory and practice of the community development approach, within a suggested implementation model. The implementation model (see Diagrams 1 to 4) is developed incrementally in this study according to the following three schools of thought most commonly applied in practice: Endogenous initiative,where the community acts solely on its own initiative; Exogenous initiative, where the community's latent initiative is stimulated by an outside catalyst; and Concerted initiative, where the community does have its own initiative, but needs help from outside and consequently invites the help of (for instance) a community developer.

[pt] Este trabalho apresenta a aplicação do método AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) como ferramenta de apoio ao Gerenciamento de Projetos Industriais. O foco de análise é o projeto de expansão da Indústria Alunorte, líder mundial de produção de alumina. O sucesso da implantação de empreendimentos industriais como o da Alunorte depende do desempenho da área de Engenharia do Projeto, cuja responsabilidade abrange a concepção e a coordenação dos diversos projetos de engenharia integrantes do projeto global. Existe uma relação direta entre a competência das empresas executoras dos projetos e o desempenho global de um empreendimento industrial. Portanto, é primordial garantir e mensurar a qualidade da Engenharia. A presente pesquisa propõe uma avaliação dessas empresas através de um índice único que traduz as características qualificadoras e essenciais de um projeto de engenharia. O método AHP facilitou a estruturação lógica do problema e a geração de resultados baseados em aspectos quantitativos e qualitativos. Como conseqüência, o índice desenvolvido provê uma ferramenta para as tomadas de decisão de contratação de empresas de projetos e para a busca pela excelência da qualidade. Ademais, a partir das análises gerais obtidas em um estudo de caso específico, o trabalho visa contribuir para o aprimoramento da gestão de projetos industriais. / [en] This work presents the application of the method of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as tool of support to the Management of Industrial Projects. The focus of this study is the expansion project of the Alunorte industry, worldwide leader of alumina production. The success of industrial enterprises implementation such as the Alunorte project depends on the performance of the Engineering area of the Project, which is responsible for the conception and coordination of the several engineering projects integrating the global project. A direct relation exists between the effectiveness of the engineering contractors (designers) and the global performance of an industrial enterprise. Therefore, it is primordial to guarantee and to measure the quality of Engineering. The present research considers an evaluation of the engineering designers through a single index that evaluates the essential qualifications of an engineering project. The AHP method provided a basis for establishing the logical problem and generating results on quantitative and qualitative aspects. As a consequence, the index developed represents a tool for decision making process of engineering contracts practices and quality excellence achievement. Moreover, the analyses of a specific case study may contribute to the management of general industrial projects.

Os projetos globais de desenvolvimento de produtos passam pelas áreas de conhecimento da gestão tradicional de projetos e, adicionalmente, demandam maior atenção de diversos aspectos inerentes ao ambiente global, tais como: coordenação e controle; construção de confiança e cooperação entre as equipes dispersas geograficamente. Outro tema especialmente importante nesse contexto é o processo de comunicação que se torna bastante crítico à medida que os recursos tradicionais de comunicação em projetos (reuniões face-a-face, comunicação não-verbal, visualização do trabalho in loco, entre outros) passam a ser limitados e/ ou substituídos por outros baseados em meios eletrônicos (videoconferência, emails, mensagens instantâneas, entre outros). O objetivo desta pesquisa foi o de mapear as práticas de comunicação aplicadas aos projetos globais e analisar se essas práticas variam de acordo com o tipo e com algumas características do modelo de gestão dos projetos. A unidade de análise escolhida foram os projetos globais de desenvolvimento de produtos de empresas multinacionais brasileiras e o método de pesquisa, o estudo de casos múltiplos. Os resultados permitiram verificar que a freqüência da comunicação nos projetos globais diminui com a distância, o que dificulta o controle e a coordenação das equipes. Mas a distância por si só, apesar de impor desafios adicionais, não causa necessariamente problemas de comunicação, pois pode ser contornada pelo apoio das ferramentas eletrônicas de comunicação que formam as bases para os projetos acontecerem de forma dispersa. O estudo permitiu concluir que o uso das práticas de comunicação, bem como a importância dada a elas variam em função do tipo de projeto e de algumas características de gestão deles. Apesar de ter sido possível identificar tais variações, verificou-se que as práticas não ocorrem de forma padronizada nos projetos; ao contrário, são desenvolvidas de forma improvisada e circunstancial e não contam com um planejamento específico no início do projeto. / Global new product development projects go through the traditional knowledge areas of project management, and additionally they demand more attention related to the global environment aspects, such as coordination and control, and trust building and cooperation between geographically dispersed teams. Another important theme in this context is that the communication process becomes critical, as traditional communication resources employed in projects (face-to-face meeting, nonverbal communication, in locus work visualization, among others) undergo constraints or are replaced by those based upon electronic means (video conference, email, instant message). This research aimed to identify the communication practices applied to global projects and analyze whether these practices vary across some project characteristics and its management model. The unit of analysis adopted was the global new product development projects undertaken by Brazilian multinational companies, and the research method employed was the case study. The findings showed that the communication frequency in global projects diminishes as the physical distance increases. Athough it represents additional challenges, the distance itself does not cause communication problems. This is due to the support of electronic communication tools that create the basis over which projects are dispersedly held. This study allowed me to conclude that the use of communication practices along with the importance paid to them, vary according to the project type and some characteristics of its management. In spite of the variations, it has been also identified that communication practices are not used in projects in a standard way. On the contrary, these practices are employed in an improvised and contingent manner, and they are not planned since the beginning of the project.

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar o valor proveniente do investimento em ações de caráter social, efetuados por empresas socialmente responsáveis. Para tal se vale da Teoria das Finanças Corporativas, especificamente o plano conceitual presente na métrica do Fluxo de Caixa Descontado - DCF, que trata da criação do valor ao longo do tempo, decorrente da execução de um projeto, em um determinado cenário. A estrutura de organização dos fatores de análise do valor é especifica em relação às características do objeto de análise, que gera benefícios sociais como seu resultado (em detrimento do lucro). Como principal inovação, esta adaptação da métrica do valor substitui o fluxo de caixa tradicional por um fluxo de custos e benefícios, gerados pela ação social. O principal problema presente neste movimento é a dificuldade de mensuração destes benefícios sociais em termos monetários. Para sua solução é proposta a utilização da Avaliação Social, instrumentalizada pela econometria, que têm o papel de proporcionar validade metodológica para a mensuração dos benefícios sociais, através da identificação dos beneficiários e da explicitação das necessidades atendidas, para a posterior agregação do valor em termos monetários. O desenvolvimento da perspectiva investigativa do trabalho é estruturado através da condução de uma pesquisa de campo junto aos beneficiários de uma ação educacional específica - a alfabetização de jovens e adultos - financiada por recursos privados. A construção do cálculo em termos financeiros é efetuada através da organização de uma matriz \'beneficiários versus necessidades atendidas\' que identifica as variações da renda do beneficiário, através de parâmetros propostos. Ao final da construção e análise quantitativa dos dados, permite o cálculo dos fluxos de custos e benefícios, para a obtenção do valor sócio-econômico. Esta informação em termos monetários encoraja o investimento em ações de caráter social, principalmente para as empresas, que buscam opções de investimento socialmente responsável mais transparentes e profissionais. / This work make efforts to built the analysis of the value created through the social development, brought by the social responsible investment in social actions. To achieve this objective applies the Corporative Finance Theory, specifically the conceptual basis of the metrics Discounted Cash Flow - DCF, which treats the value generation thru the time, provided by one Project in its own scenario. The structure of its value drivers is specific in terms of the analysi\' object characteristics, in this case related to results understood as social benefits, instead of profit. The approach proposed is the substitution oh the traditional DCF metrics by Benefits and Costs Analysis parameters representing the positive impact developed trough the social action in a certain point in time. The main content present in this movement is the social benefit measurement in monetary terms. The solution suggested is to apply the methodological considerations of Social Evaluation when identifying beneficiaries and explicating the social needs, which gives the condition to generate the data to aggregate those parameters in econometrics equations. The test of these metrics is organized with the use of survey in the beneficiary population of a specific social action: adult literacy, financed with entrepreneurial capital. The financial terms calculus is organized in a matrix of \'beneficiaries versus social needs attempt\', which indicates rent and social service access as the parameters of the socioeconomics value creation. This information, in monetary terms, encourages private capital investment in social action, because enables comparable decision making.