Assessment Task 2 – Case Study

(Includes role-plays)
Collect and analyse business information for knowledge

1. Access simulated workplace policies and procedures and use the

relevant policies and procedures to undertake this task.
The Development Contracts Procedure ensures that contracts are written correctly, retained, and filed
in an appropriate manner. Contract documents are important and must be received, processed and
verified in a correct manner to avoid misunderstandings and disputes.
The construction Development Contracts Procedure applies to all project managers, supervisors, and
project administrators. Contracts should define the agreement and responsibilities of all parties to the
contract.
 Construction Contract Documents
 Construction Contract Documents Log
 Project Performance and Payment Bonds
 Title Search
 Financial Status Check

The Construction Sub Contractors Procedure outlines the methods of employing, instructing and paying
construction subcontractors. Subcontractors will be utilized to the extent necessary to complete the
construction project according to the construction contract.
The Construction Sub Contractors Procedure applies to the utilization of sub contractors for all
development or construction projects.
 Nominated Construction Subcontractor List
 Construction Pre-Award Meeting
 Construction Subcontractor Performance Bonds
 Letter of Intent
 Construction Subcontracts
 Construction Coordination
 Subcontract Revisions
 Construction Subcontractor’s Progress Claims
 Construction Backcharges
 2. Ensure you undertake the following activities according to
organisational (simulated workplace) requirements. For example,
to make decisions on business performance.

Following activities needs to be taken to improve business performace.

 Improve on Planning
Many construction efficiency errors are made in the planning stage.
If you didn’t do your homework on exactly how many cubic yards of concrete you need for a project, and
then halfway through you realize you need twice as much by tomorrow if you’re going to stay on
schedule, guess who’s going to have a big headache? That’s right: It’s you.
You absolutely must devote time before the project begins to figure out the people, processes,
information, equipment, and materials you’ll need before you start work. It’s the best way to avoid delays
and cost increases.

 Find good construction management software

It’s the 21st century, which means there are so many tools out there to help you do your job that you
didn’t have access to not so long ago.
Good construction management software can keep you organized and free from the clutter of paperwork
on your desk, allowing you to focus on actually building stuff.
Construction management software can handle bid management, billing and invoicing, contractors,
document management, incident reporting, leads, time sheets, job scheduling, and so much more.
There’s also a host of mobile apps that can handle all the tasks you’ve been trying to manage with
paperwork. The emergence of the cloud as a place to store everything also makes it easier than ever.

 Start using Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is sweeping the construction industry. It refers to the process of
creating digital representations of buildings you haven’t even started pouring cement for yet. These
creations allow you to visualize a building before you start spending money and commit to a schedule that
may end up proving unrealistic.
For example, BIM can determine how many occupants might go in and out of a building each day, and
therefore allow you to calculate the most efficient setup of pump sizes, water heater sizes, and other
considerations.
And if you’re on a budget, there’s lots of free and open source BIM software tools you can play around
with before you commit to a more expensive BIM software.

 Listen to your staff

Your workers are your eyes and ears in the field. If something is going wrong or could be going better,
they’ll know before you do.
Experienced workers can help you spot holes in your plan before you even get started. Get them involved
early in the planning process to spot potential problems, and then stay in contact on a daily basis
throughout the project.

 Invest in training
Training is critical to efficiency, especially for construction supervisors who need sound management
principles and techniques to keep projects running smoothly.
By helping your employees master critical skills, you’ll immediately see benefits in terms of efficiency in
your project.
For example, a supervisor could use his new skills to guide workers in a more efficient way of installing
steel beams, enabling you to get the work done sooner and move on to the next phase.
  Improve your communication
f you aren’t communicating with your team, that’s a recipe for big losses in efficiency.
You should make yourself available to your crew so they know they can come to you with any problems
that arise. They also need to hear what your expectations are as far as what you want to get
accomplished next week or next month.
Make it a daily habit to meet with your project supervisors to go over your expectations for the day, and
get their feedback on what they think they can accomplish and what potential pitfalls there are.

 Establish performance measurements, and hold your crew accountable

Performance measurements are a great motivation tool for your workers, especially when rewards are
attached to them.
Set clear performance measurements and consider attaching a small financial bonus for each one they
achieve.
It will also help with your communication with your team, making it that much more effective in terms of
improving efficiency.
There are a variety of performance metrics you can set, including: being on time at the job site,
helpfulness toward colleagues and customers, completing work on time, taking initiative to solve
problems, and the overall quality of work.

 Implement prefabrication and modular construction into your projects

Modular construction has become a big trend in construction. The technology has come a long way, to
the point that you’ve probably passed by many of them and haven’t noticed any difference from
traditionally built buildings.
You can cut down on costs by using modular, prefabricated buildings, which additionally can be installed
much more quickly than a traditional structure. You lose some customization ability, of course, but for
some straightforward building types, that’s not really a concern.
 3. Read the case study in appendix and analyse its information
including staff, customer feedback, business performance data and
identify business issues. Write at least five business issues.
Staff and customer feedback
Forty eight percent of the 622 survey respondents stated that they currently have a home loan. Further
analysis highlights:
• that Established Workforce and Mature Workforce mass affluent sub-segments are more than
twice as likely to already have a home loan (59 percent and 62 percent of respondents respectively) as
Young Workforce respondents (27 percent)
• of the 38 percent of respondents that are renting, only 22 percent are looking to purchase a home
within 2 years
• 63 percent of respondents that are in a relationship have home loans, compared to the 28
percent of those who are single.
These differences by age group, relationship status and current living arrangements are not surprising
given the increase in residential asset prices, particularly in capital cities, over the last 10 years compared
to real wage growth over the same period. Young (under 29 years old) mass affluent Australians are
finding it increasingly difficult to save enough money for an initial deposit on a home and this challenge is
becoming harder as the major banks adjust their minimum loan to value ratios (LVR) in certain local area
markets. To compensate for this shortfall in savings, first home buyers are relying more heavily on family.
Source: Home Loan Survey Report (2017), The Australian home loan market - Winning the fight for
customers, KPMG, network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative.

In construction, the relationship between client and contractor constitutes a multilevel complex in which
parties operate simultaneously and collaborate with in-groups of networks (fig. 1). Therefore, customer
satisfaction in construction should be understood as a relationship-specific rather than a transaction-
specific construct, and the quality of the relationships amongst project participants can influence customer
satisfaction. As a result, traditional customer relationship management models used in product
manufacturing will not produce the best results in construction (see e.g. Homburgh and Rudolph 2001).
One important feature in customer satisfaction in construction is that the customer might overemphasise
the later stages of the project as a consequence of the project’s long duration and the fact that defects
during the hand-over period stay most clearly in the customer’s mind (Kärnä and Junnonen 2004). The
development of multiple customer feedback tools allows problems to be identified early on, before
conflicts develop. The challenge is then to create a feedback system, which takes into account the
customers’ and the other parties’ perceptions of the contractor’s performance both during the construction
development phase and after the completion of the facility. Developing mutual feedback during the
construction phase could contribute to the identification of the essential areas where problems arise
during the project and it could also improve the project parties’ mutual lear ning. It could also improve
reliability of the feedback when evaluating the success of the project.
Figure 1. Customer relationships and interactions in the construction supply chain (Ventovuori et al. 2002)

FEEDBACK IN THE CONSTRUCTION SUPPLY CHAIN

Project organisation usually has complex goals. Each project member (owners, architects and engineers,
construction management consultants, general contractors and sub-contractors) look at the project from
their own perspectives and also have their own criteria for measuring success (Chan and Chan 2004). In
order to attain project goals, a systematic evaluation of the organizations’ performance is required to
provide feedback for guiding the participants’ behaviour (Liu and Walker 1998). The importance of co-
operation between the owner (customer) and contractor in construction is strongly emphasised by many
authors. Traditionally, project success is measured by the degree of achievement of project objectives,
expressed in terms of time, cost and quality (for example Chan et al.). Chan and Chan (2004) have set
key performance indicators (KPI) for measuring construction success. Their study combines traditional,
“hard” measures and softer subjective measures. They determine quality, functionality, the end-user’s
satisfaction, the client’s satisfaction, the design team’s satisfaction and the construction team’s
satisfaction as subjective measures in contrast to objective measures such as construction time, unit
costs and net present value. Key performance indicators give a wider perspective on achieving project
success, which is also the purpose of this paper. For example Barret (2000) has argued that quality of
construction projects can be regarded as the fulfilment of expectations (i.e. the satisfaction) of those
participants involved. He highlights the importance of harmonious working relationships between the
participants to achieve quality. Additionally, the customer’s input has considerable implications on the
outcome of the construction project. The customer has a tremendous responsibility to ensure that his/her
project is successfully realized. Pocock and associates (1996) have examined the relationship between
project interaction and performance indicators. They found that projects with a low degree of interaction
have a wide range of cost and schedule growth as well as a large number of modifications, while projects
with high degree of interaction tend to have better and more consistent performance indicators.
Figure 2. Construction value chain and the parties’ roles. Adapted from Burati et al. (1992).
strong customer orientation is achievable in construction by using the “market-in” concept, which
recognizes that each work process consist of stages. Customer feedback is obtained to improve the
contractor’s performance during each stage of the process. Burati and associates (1992) have also
examined the roles of the parties in construction by using Juran’s “triple role” concept, which is illustrated
in Figure 2. According to the concept, every party in the construction process has three roles: supplier,
processor, and customer. The architect is the customer of the owner. The architect translates the owners’
requirements into specifications and plans and processes them for the contractor who is his/her customer.
Owner and construction management consultant are customers for a general contractor and
subcontractors. The owner receives the constructed facility from the contractor. The owner is also a
customer of the construction management consultant, who guards the owners’ benefits in construction
management.
 4. Source information from the simulated workplace documents and
case study information in the appendix that are relevant and
reliable to reach decisions on issues. Mentions at least five types of
information.
There is generally a hierarchy of objectives viewed as the means-ends chain. Objectives at different
levels of the organisation form a hierarchy where objectives at one level are end in themselves and
means for attainment of objectives at the higher level. Together objectives at all levels form an integrated
chain. Objectives framed by top managers to achieve growth rate of 15% is an end of top- level.

In order to achieve this growth rate, sub-objective for middle-level managers is to increase sales.
Increasing sales is an end of middle-level managers but means for achieving goals at the higher level.
This process goes on till objectives are framed for each level in the organisation. Objectives for each level
are an end in themselves but a means for attaining objectives for higher levels.

In a hierarchy, goals/objectives are generally framed at three levels:

1. Top level: Strategic goals,

2. Middle level: Tactical goals, and
3. Lower level: Operational goals.

Strategic goals

These are the formal goals framed by top managers and address issues related to the organisation as a
whole. These goals ensure survival and successful working of a business enterprise. According to
Drucker, there are eight major areas in which organisations frame strategic goals. These are:

Market standing, innovation, human resources, financial resources, physical resources, productivity,
social responsibility and profit requirements.

Tactical goals

Each department sets specific goals to promote overall organisational goals (strategic goals). Tactical
goals are the goals of specific departments framed by middle-level managers. While strategic goals are
general in nature, tactical goals are specific. They are stated in measurable terms.

Operational goals

Operational goals are targets or future end results set by lower management that address specific,
measurable outcomes required from the lower level. These goals are framed by lower-level managers for
divisions or sub-units of each department. As tactical goals help to achieve strategic goals, operational
goals help to achieve both strategic and tactical goals. These levels of goals form a means-ends chain
where goals at lower levels provide a means to attain the ends (goals) at the higher level.

In the hierarchy of objectives, there should be complete coordination of objectives at different levels of the
ends – means chain so that right means contribute to the right ends. Lack of coordination can lead to goal
distortion and goal displacement. Due care should be taken by managers to ensure that there is:
1. No disagreement amongst the units operating at different levels regarding the means for goal
accomplishment.
2. No influence of personal biases and judgments on the part of any organisational member that
negatively affects integration of the links involved in the ends-means chain.

knowledge management system efficiency

You can use a set of metrics to analyse your system based on three cause and effect angles:

• Achieving objectives via outcome metrics

• Providing value through performance metrics
• Analysing readiness through learning metrics
Achieving Your Objectives

One crucial goal during the implementation of a knowledge management strategy includes demonstrating
that your investment will provide value to your organization. Can ROI be measured in a knowledge
management system?

ROI can be demonstrated through benchmarking. This gives you a quantifiable measurement to justify
the expenditure and show the effectiveness of your knowledge management strategy. This provides a
framework for evaluating and tracking the strategy and identifying potential adjustments. A balanced
scorecard will include metrics for both outcome and leading indicators.

Outcome metrics analyse the achievement of organizational goals. They evaluate past performance at
various levels, and you can design a tailored set of outcome metrics to address your specific needs.
Frequently, a financial analysis is appropriate in the metrics hierarchy for providing data on shareholder
value for public corporations.

Measuring Performance

Performance metrics analyse the satisfaction of the system users. You may be investing considerable
resources in tools and infrastructure to enable knowledge management across your organization.
You want proof of its usefulness, value, and adoption. Your knowledge management system should make
the user’s experience more streamlined and productive. You can utilize three primary categories of
metrics for analysing collaboration workspaces and attaining goals: usage statistics, workspace usability
metrics, and business process and outcome measurements. These metrics include:
• Usability. This measures ease of use, adequacy of support and training, confidence of users,
workspace performance, and overall customer/user satisfaction ratings. Learning metrics analyse your
company’s knowledge management training program and the degree by which knowledge management
is consistently utilized across your organization. This depends upon how well your staff members use
knowledge management principles, concepts, and techniques. This is a key element to a knowledge
management strategy.

• Business value. These metrics will demonstrate improved responses to rapid changes, the value
of knowledge mined from collaboration, business process efficiency and improvement, and outreach of
contributions.

• Usage. This will measure the number of registered user accounts and the frequency of use.
You make a significant investment of both financial resources and time to implement a knowledge
management system. With the right metrics, you can easily demonstrate the effectiveness of that
investment.

Using Metrics to Measure Success

Knowledge management is now an accepted component in nearly every industry. Companies have high
expectations for their strategy and investment to play a key role in sharpening their competitive edge.
Measuring the effectiveness of your knowledge management strategy also involves quantifiable data.
Indeed, measuring the value of your knowledge management strategy is an imperative element to
determining if your expectations have been realized.

Metrics are the numerical measurements of key attributes that produce data about a particular
phenomenon. They are critical to the advancement of business processes, and they provide the
information to compare performance between time periods and individuals.

Knowledge Management Strategy Metrics

You most likely know the old saying well: “What cannot be measured cannot be managed.” While some
areas of knowledge management are slightly more intangible, you have a variety of successful metrics
that can be applied to knowledge management.
Principles of Metrics

Prior to adopting a metrics system, you need to clarify the questions those metrics should answer. Metrics
are highly useful to answer several questions including these four topics:

• Is the knowledge management software working, and if not, what needs to be adjusted?
• Is the implementation on course, and if not, how do you get it back on track?
• Are team members producing as expected?
• Is the knowledge management delivering value to your company?
In addition, you want clarity about who will need the metrics. The metrics should be targeted to provide
guidance for better decision-making, and most metrics need a baseline from which to measure
performance. This will streamline the knowledge management measuring process.

Measuring Knowledge Management Implementation

Typically, you will want to measure how well the implementation of your knowledge management system
is occurring. By running an assessment at the beginning of your knowledge management implementation,
you will produce several baseline metrics, which will help determine improvement of business processes.
An appropriate protocol will gauge several elements of the knowledge flow within your organization. This
will enable you to pinpoint obstacles and blockers to that knowledge flow. Administering the assessment
later gives you data on your progress.

Measuring Knowledge Management Value

This is a significant metric. This is where you can quantifiably justify the investment and implementation of
your knowledge management system. You will use these to demonstrate the added value obtained and
gain continued support from all areas of the company. How does this measure value? Assess an area of
your business that is lagging due to a lack of knowledge, obtain a baseline metric, and then introduce
knowledge management in that area with a pilot project. Take measurements throughout the process to
establish benchmark changes. The objective is to assess the financial value on learning situations.

Measuring Knowledge Management Compliance

When you adopt a knowledge management framework in your organization, you need to establish clear
accountabilities and expectations through the knowledge management standards and policies.

You can choose to measure how your team members are complying with the established expectations,
and a dashboard can be targeted to track various projects within your company to determine that
compliance. You may also institute similar dashboards across other business units within the
organization.
 5. Develop at least three criteria to confirm information is reliable
and valid.
The first is the validity of the information. This is the truthfulness of the source in respect to the
information presented. Does the author of an article provide citations for sources? For example, Dr. Facts
believes the medical study article, which supports the use of the new cancer-free pill, would fit that
description. The study was conducted by a top cancer doctor with supportive research that was acquired
firsthand by his observations of 500 patients. Lastly, the doctor's article supporting the pill was published
in the credible, peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine. This is an important finding because
'peer-reviewed' means that it was published in a scholarly journal that was reviewed by other experts in
the field. Dr. Facts was able to report back to the agency that the article should be used to support the ad
campaign as it was a valid source.

The rapid pace of change, both in society and in business, can be witnessed all around in technology,
new phenomena, but perhaps most strikingly in information management. The data and information used
as a basis for decision-making is in serious danger of becoming outdated and distorted. New data is
being generated all the time, but tapping to the latest expert information is a challenge.
Constant monitoring of the business industry and data analysis ensure that the information is valid and
real-time.
Reliable information

The second piece of analysing a source is to look at the reliability of the source. In order for a source to
be reliable, the information presented must be able to be repeated. The final conclusions must be able to
be created again in order to reinforce the reliability of the findings. Reliability is, literally, the extent to
which we can rely on the source of the data. Dr. Facts' next task is to judge the reliability of all of the
additional sources used to support the marketing and medical claims for the new product.

Let's first understand the two basic elements of reliability. First is the primary source, which is the original
results of the experiment, such as eyewitness accounts, legal documents and the results of an
experiment. The secondary source is when someone writes about a primary source, such as comments,
discussions or observations. These secondary sources can be found in magazines, journals, online
articles or even academic journals. There are some key areas that must be examined in order to judge
the reliability of a source. Dr. Facts will take each source and look to see if her findings meet her approval
checklist.

Reliability is, literally, the extent to which we can rely on the source of the data and, therefore, the data
itself. Reliable data is dependable, trustworthy, unfailing, sure, authentic, genuine, reputable. Consistency
is the main measure of reliability. So, in literary accounts, the reputation of the source is critical. In John
Cole’s view, Richard Crossman was not a reliable diarist. Indicators of reliability will include proximity to
events, (whether the writer was a participant or observer,) likely impartiality, and whether, as the police
say, the record was really contemporaneous or an eventide reflection on the day’s events. Very few
politicians admit to real failings: all too often, their own agenda appears to justify their actions or to
criticise others.
Facts and truth

Once again, you will find that adopting a critical distinction between facts and truth is useful. Facts are the
available data. They present incomplete snapshots of events. Truth is the reality behind the facts.
Sometimes the facts may obscure the truth – perhaps deliberately so. A good example was provided to
me by a leading academic. He privately described how he had critically reviewed a best- selling account
of British rural life where that the author had misrepresented the facts by combining material from a
number of interviews to represent a composite figure. The author had replied to the effect that his critic
was unable to distinguish between the facts and truth. The decision-making process is a part of our
everyday life. Some of those decisions are trivial, short-term decisions, like what to have for breakfast or
what type of clothes to wear. Business decisions, on the other hand, can set the course of a company.
The stakes are high with complex decisions, as they require you to gather information, brainstorm
potential solutions, analyse possible alternatives, and ultimately arrive at the best course of action. Each
part of the decision-making process may require intense problem solving and a cost-benefit analysis.

Seven steps of the decision-making process

Decision-makers must understand each part of the step-by-step process that goes into making informed
decisions. Here are seven steps to help you make informed decisions:

1. Identify the problem

The first step of effective decision-making is to correctly identify the problem that must be
solved. This might sound simple, but it’s impossible to begin working on a plan of action
when you don’t fully comprehend the question you are trying to answer. Bad decisions are often made
when the root of the problem is incorrectly identified, so make sure specifically and accurately spot the
decision that must be made.

2. Collect data and information

After you’ve accurately identified the decision that must be made, it’s time to enter the information-
gathering phase. Good decision-making requires you to be as informed as possible and tackle the
problem from all available angles. In business decision-making, it’s often helpful to talk to the group of
people at the office who have the most knowledge about the decision at hand. Outside sources like
market research and studies may serve as relevant information during this phase of the decision process
as well. Gathering enough information will help you analyse all possible outcomes and make the best
decision.

3. Brainstorm all possible alternatives

Use the information you gathered in the previous step to generate as many solutions as you can, helping
to identify the best alternatives. Don’t worry if any of these will ultimately lead to the right decision quite
yet; important decisions often require outside-the-box thinking, so feel free to be as creative as possible
during this part of the process.

6. Reject any information which are contradictory or ambiguous.

Mention the information rejected and why.
Ambiguity is a type of meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making
several interpretations plausible. A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It is thus an attribute of
any idea or statement whose intended meaning cannot be definitively resolved according to a rule or
process with a finite number of steps. For example, the same piece
of information may be ambiguous in one context and unambiguous in another. If two different sources
provide the same subject but differing information and different non-official sources contradict each other,
you are not sure which one is correct. In these instances, you should reject the information and seek a
more reliable source to meet your information need, such as an official and/or authoritative source.

When information seems ambiguous or contradictory it should be rejected; a reliable source will explain
the information clearly and concisely, while a rambling source that does not explain the information
properly is probably not a well informed and reliable source. So, you must reject.
Another downside of ambiguous information is that you cannot be sure of the facts unless you understand
the information fully, which is usually impossible with an ambiguous source. The concept of ambiguity is
generally contrasted with vagueness. In ambiguity, specific and distinct interpretations are permitted
(although some may not be immediately obvious), whereas with information that is vague, it is difficult to
form any interpretation at the desired level of specificity.
Role of information in decision making

Stages of decision-making Role of information

dentification and structuring of
problem/opportunity
Putting the problem/
opportunity in context
Generation of alternatives
One needs information to identify a problem and put it in a
structured manner. Without information about a problem or
opportunity, the decision-making process does not even
start.
Without information about the context in which the problem
has occurred, one cannot take any decision on it. In a way,
the information about the context defines the problem.
Information is a key ingredient in the generation of
alternatives for decision-making. One must have information
about possible solutions to generate alternatives.

7. Develop at least three objectives for analysis of information that

are clear, relevant and consistent.

The purpose of information needs analysis technique is to identify and set priorities for
the information needed to support business activities in order to reach established business goals. In
addition, it facilitates commitment to the strategies developed to meet enterprise-
wide goals and objectives. Ensure objectives for analyses are clear, relevant and consistent with the
decisions required.

Information is required to make decisions. When gathering information to analyse you should ensure that
you establish objectives of your information analysis. This will keep you on track and give your work a
purpose and direction and allows you to analyse the information for a specific reason. When you need to
make a decision, you need to know exactly what you are looking for from your information; these are your
objectives. When you have identified your objectives and met them, you should have enough
understanding of the situation to make a decision regarding a course of action.

Situation or issue Objectives Information

Increased utility  Find out by how much the utility  Budgets
expense during the budget was overspent  Expenditure records
last three months  Find out which equipment were  Resource usage records
increased and usage patterns  Equipment list
 Determine whether this is a  New equipment installation
significant or insignificant records
overspend and set priority  Electricity and gas bills
 Find out where the overspend  Water bills
occurred
 Find out if it was authorised or not.
 To manage and control utility
expenditure

• Decision
By setting objectives for your analysis you will gather all the information you need to make an informed
decision on utility usage and manage and control with adjustments required to control the expenditure.

• Objective relevance
The objectives must be relevant to the situation or issue you are trying to address; there is no point
spending time and effort answering questions that do not contribute towards the decision you are trying to
make.
Objectives for information analysis is used to identify all the information necessary for use in achieving
specified goals or objectives, such as performing an activity, satisfying customer needs, or making
strategic decisions. An information need is an unstructured statement that describes a type of information
required by an organizational unit to enable it to meet its objectives and support its functions. The
objectives for information analysis show the information needs for each business activity, by type of
usage, and by a pre-defined category. Other information, typically included in the information needs
summary, are the business objects supported, current availability, information medium, current source
system, requirements satisfaction, and the relative importance of the business activity.

• Purpose
The purpose of objectives for information analysis is to identify and set priorities for the information
needed to support business activities in order to reach established business goals.
 8. Using the appendix trend charts and descriptions of market
analysis , identify and interpret patterns and emerging trends.
Using applicable technology (as directed by the assessor) interpret
statistical analyses and sensitivity analysis on relevant options.
Write them in dot points.
Emerging patterns are sets of items whose frequency changes significantly from one dataset to another.
They are useful as a means of discovering distinctions inherently present amongst a collection dataset
and have been shown to be a powerful method for constructing accurate classifiers. There is an explosion
of information that is available to everyone, making people feel overwhelmed.
• How can you gather, manage and organise information?
• What does the information mean?
• Are there patterns and trends in the information?
A trend refers to the tendency for human behaviour or events to move in a pattern or particular direction.
Trend analysis is the process of comparing business data over time to identify any consistent results or
trends. You can then develop a strategy to respond to these trends in line with your business goals. It will
give ideas about how you might change things to move your business in the right direction.
Analysing trends to improve business performance
Spending time analysing your business results is valuable if the insights help you to improve your
business. Right trend analysis will help reveal trends in your business's performance that are not
necessarily obvious from day-to-day performance figures.
You can analyse trends of your business performance by:
• doing financial calculations
• looking at ratios
• creating tables of information
• graphing results over time.

Chart: Profit Monthly

This type of analysis reveals fluctuations in a time series. These fluctuations are short in duration, erratic
in nature and follow no regularity in the occurrence pattern. In prediction, the objective is to “model” all the
components to some trend patterns to the point that the only component that remains unexplained is the
random component.

A stationary time series is one with statistical properties such as mean, where variances are all constant
over time. A stationary series varies around a constant mean level, neither decreasing nor increasing
systematically over time, with constant variance.
 9. Write a one page report on approach to analysis of information and
knowledge and conclusions drawn from above.

INTRODUCTION
The need for change and continuous improvement in the construction industry has resulted in
various initiatives, which are aimed at improving the construction process. These initiatives
are primarily targeted at reducing fragmentation, and have included: (a) the development of
alternative procurement strategies to clarify and improve the communication structure
between different participants in the construction process (BPF, 1983; Ashworth, 1991); (b)
the use of computer technology to integrate the construction process through the electronic
sharing of data/information in both directions at the design-construction interface (Howard et
al. 1989; Miyatake and Kangari, 1993; Evbuomwan and Anumba, 1996); (c) the adoption of a

However, it is now being recognised that the management of project knowledge (especially within the
construction industry where projects are implemented by temporary 'virtual' organisations) is open to
considerable improvement, both within construction organisations, and between firms in the supply chain
THE MANAGEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE
The management of knowledge involves various tasks and activities that are performed to
ensure that knowledge is generated and/or captured, stored, disseminated or shared, and
retired. However, this may not necessarily be a linear process, as the context of use and
supporting infrastructure and tools also have to be considered (Laudon and Laudon, 1998;
Webb, 1998). These interrelated factors can be grouped into four main categories:
• The knowledge base (used in a wider sense) that is to be managed. This includes data,
information, and knowledge. The purpose of this knowledge with respect to what it is
required for; what it contributes to; who needs it, etc., also need to be identified.
• The context of use. This includes issues like the factors that initiate the need for
knowledge, and how it is applied within the organisational structure and culture.
• The actual processes, procedures and tools required to capture, share and reuse
knowledge.
• An indication or measurement of how managed knowledge is contributing to improved
business performance, since knowledge management is not an end in itself, but a means to
increased competitive advantage.
Figure 1 is a conceptual (theoretical) framework that illustrates the interrelationships between
the various factors involved in the management of knowledge.

Figure 1. Conceptual framework for knowledge management.

DEVELOPMENT OF A STRATEGY
Implementing Knowledge Management in a structured manner is a major undertaking for an
industry that is not geared to responding quickly to new ideas. A strategy will determine what
major plans are to be undertaken and allocate resources to them (Cannon, 1968). Aaker
(1984) also suggested assigning people or groups of people the responsibility for analysing
new issues, such as KM and developing responsive strategies. A strategy for implementing
Knowledge Management within an organisation should set out clear goals and how these are
to be achieved within a specified timeframe. For a construction organisation there are a
number of considerations. For example, which part of the construction process may obtain
maximum benefit, which section of the company will be able to benefit most from a KM
strategy, how large a problem should be identified, what medium will be used (IT or
individuals), how is the system to be evaluated etc. Other considerations include:
• Prepare a business case of introducing KM in the organisation;
• Map the organisation’s business processes to identify one small area that could bring
tremendous benefit to the users of such a system;
• Consider appointing a champion;
• Talk to front-line staff and find out what information they need for their work;
• Allocate adequate resources (financial and non-financial) for a prototype;
• Start with a small problem which relies on in-house knowledge before moving onto large
projects involving the supply chain;
• Map out clearly the methodology for the knowledge lifecycle from capturing data to
knowledge retirement;
• Identify a strategy for dealing with obstacles such as limited time and data validation;
• Evaluate progress and obtain feedback from front-line staff on a regular basis; and
• Review the strategy and achievements periodically for possible revision.
One good way of developing a strategy is to learn from others who are at a more advanced
stage of implementing knowledge management systems.
CONCLUSIONS
The use of information technology can have an impact on the success of construction companies.
Several studies confirm the link between the use of information technology and success. It is also
considered one way to ensure and set up efficient processes and systematics when working with
information and data. This research examined the factors that are thought to influence the use of
information technology. The analysis of the use of information technologies in construction companies
brought a view and conclusions mainly on the three examined factors, namely the size of the company,
the use of foreign capital, and the participant of the construction project. Based on research data and
statistical processing and tests, the following research conclusions can be drawn. The research
confirmed that the size of the company and the use of foreign capital influence the rate of use of
information technologies in construction companies. On the contrary, the third factor examined did not
confirm this assumption.
It is evident from the discussion so far that construction is an industry that needs to better
manage its knowledge resources in order to improve business processes and satisfy its clients.
However, several IT and contextual issues highlighted in this paper need to be addressed in
order to ensure the development of an effective KM strategy. In particular, construction
organisations need to:
• recognise the importance of harnessing and managing their knowledge resources;
• formulate a KM strategy that is proactive and has built-in mechanisms for ensuring that it
results in improved business performance;
• understand the impact of KM on the organisational structure and working practices of a
real or virtual organisation;
• develop appropriate strategies for overcoming the cultural and other barriers that inhibit
knowledge management.

10. Develop a decision support system and procedure adjusting

to meet above requirements for the workplace and identify new
digital technologies to manage knowledge and information.
Decision support systems are used by senior management to make non-routine decisions. Decision
support systems use input from internal systems (transaction processing systems and management
information systems) and external systems. The main objective of decision support systems is to
provide solutions to problems that are unique and change frequently. Decision support systems
answer questions such as;
 What would be the impact of employees' performance if we double the production lot at the
factory?
 What would happen to our sales if a new competitor entered the market?
Decision support systems use sophisticated mathematical models, and statistical techniques
(probability, predictive modelling, etc.) to provide solutions, and they are very interactive.
Examples of decision support systems include;
 Financial planning systems – it enables managers to evaluate alternative ways of achieving
goals. The objective is to find the optimal way of achieving the goal. For example, the net profit
for a business is calculated using the formula Total Sales less (Cost of Goods + Expenses). A
financial planning system will enable senior executives to ask what if questions and adjust the
values for total sales, the cost of goods, etc. to see the effect of the decision and on the net
profit and find the most optimal way.
 Bank loan management systems – it is used to verify the credit of the loan applicant and
predict the likelihood of the loan being recovered.