Managing Change Essay Example for Free

Managing Change Essay An investor should be benefited from the construction project; the benefits include profits, business development, utilization of resources and jobs. The investors will be interested to invest in the project only when there are accurate forecasts that would provide long term benefits. The construction industry is highly uncertain, and there is a possibility of risk. As the risks influence the profits, it is important to anticipate the assumption of risks and be calculated into a feasibility analysis and this would avoid the risks for the benefit of the investor. Firmansyah, 2006). Construction industry has many problematic issues in the United Kingdom and majority of the problems have been the direct consequences of the decisions taken by the professionals of the construction industry, and the financial institutions. Project feasibility study enables optimization to provide the profits. The present study will suggest some changes to be adapted for the feasibility of the construction project. Problem statement Construction industry in the economic downturn has problems from the financial institutions and professionals. This constraint has reduced the profits and the constraints are largely associated with the decisions of the professionals. An effective planning requires the adoption of some changes that make the project feasible in order to get the profits. Zenith is a construction company is losing profits as the projects are not feasible due to the non-adoption of changes in decision making by the professionals and financial institutions. Present study The present study is a project feasibility study that analyses the problems associated with the construction industry and suggest the changes to be adopted by the management of the Zenith construction company for the project to be feasible. Problems and issues of the construction industry in UK House purchase credit facilities Owning a house is becoming increasingly difficult to various sectors in the society due to the lack of funds to invest on commercial development projects. Population size and demographics Population is increasing and also becoming older, and an important aspect is that there is no correlation between the population growth and the households. The growth of the households is disproportionate with the increasing population. Consequently there is also a significant change in the demographics. Density of the population United Kingdom has become one of the densely populated areas of Europe and this creates a lot of pressure that cannot be sustained. This pressure is mostly towards the countryside with limited natural resources. Brownfield development The Government has restricted the construction work on the green fields, and sixty percent of the construction work should be targeted on the brown fields. Environmental impact on buildings There are environmental concerns arising due to the unsustainability emanating from millions of buildings which are existing and the new building that are built every year. The activities of the construction industry such as demolition, maintenance, repair and conversion poses an immediate and long term problems to the environment. However, this has decreased relatively with reference to the construction industry. Brown field development The Government of UK introduced a planning policy that aims at increasing the use of Brown field sites for construction. This policy promotes greening and addresses the public fears on the spreading of the cities to the low density rural lands. There are certain empty lands left by the major manufacturing industries that incurred heavy losses and some areas of the city which require regeneration. The development of these areas may provide some solution at least to some extent to the demand for housing in the commercial market of UK. The target set out by the government to develop new houses was sixty percent by 2008, however, in the policy the term PPS3 means vacant lands and the lands which are in use and have potential for development. The percentage of the new homes built on the brown fields increased from 53 to 56 percent in ten years. If the refurbishments works included in the policy are considered there is an increase of 3 percent and it is not a difficult task to achieve. Some commentators argue that the target for brown field can be raised to 100 percent by taking up the development in north and mid lands. Another viable alternative includes the utilizing the existing lands and buildings, as the construction of new buildings is expensive. The forecast is that there may be a still more shortage of financial resources in future. Population density A high level of density placed a heavy pressure on the country side for its natural resources. Pressure has increased on utilization of the green belt and other open areas for housing to meet the demands in the commercial markets. There is a decrease in the percentage of green and pleasant land, as there is a 5 percent increase in the construction of home in the rural areas. (Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. 2000) The situation can be improved if the existing buildings are used in an efficient way. Feasibility study The feasibility studies for any project are aimed at knowing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the business environment. The study is also carried out for knowing about the required resources, and the possibility of success. Feasibility study assesses the cost of project and the value attained from those costs and a good feasibility study provides a historical background of the product, accounts, operations and management, financial data, legal requirements and tax structures. (Justis,et,al, 1979). Five common factors of feasibility study Technology and system feasibility The aim of carrying out the technological feasibility study is to find out the technological capabilities of the company in terms of hard ware, software, expertise, and personnel to handle the project up to its completion. Economic feasibility The effectiveness of the new system is evaluated with economic analysis, and the expected benefits and savings are compared with the costs. The cost factors include the development costs and the operating costs and the analysis of these factors determines the deliverable benefits from the system. The economic analysis also considers a time based study to know about the time required to get returns from the investment. Legal feasibility The data processing system should comply with the local data protection act. Operational feasibility Operation feasibility determines the capability of the system to solve the problems. Schedule feasibility This measures how well reasonable the project time table is, and determines whether the deadlines are mandatory or desired. Adaptation With the problems and issues associated with the construction of households, it is proposed to alter or adjust the structure in an environment to suit the new conditions that includes alterations, extensions, improvement, and other works. The three main forms of adaptations include conversion, extension and refurbishment. In addition to this, alteration, conservation, modernization and maintenance also comprise adaptation. A lot of benefits are associated with the adaptation of the existing building instead of demolishing it and constructing a new building after clearing the site this is refurbishment. (Douglas,2002). Technical and operational feasibility A lot of factors favor refurbishment that include the †¢ social factors : that conserve energy and resources, and preserve the historic monuments that avoids a social resistance to this change economic factors: shorter construction periods, keeping the business running, condition of the building, constraints in planning, insufficient funds, necessity to upgrade the structure, high land values, uncertainties such as long term value, loss of investment and constraints in development. (Kwayke, 1994) Economic feasibility Cost control was a problem followed by a variation and pricing of tenders, however, control of the dust and noise occupied the top position of the problem issues. (Egbu,1996). For the feasibility study of a refurbishment work it is important to allot sufficient time in the early stages of the project, in such a way that the design, procurement, and construction can be based on the findings of the feasibility studies. Most of the studies suggest that there are more benefits associated with the adaptation. The benefits are increase in the speed of construction, and when the time for the feasibility study for refurbishment is considered, it is 50 percent less than the time required for a fresh new construction. Adaptation projects have fewer chances for delay particularly from weather. When the refurbishment work begins, there will be external envelopes and the roof covering, and with the case of new construction time is required for demolition, removal of the resulting waste, and for the delivery of the new materials. There will be least disruption in the buildings of the neighbors, and cost to refill is reduced. Delay due to the delivery of material would be very less as most of the required materials already exist. With a thorough feasibility study, it is possible to control the costs with an effective forecasting. The duration of the project will be less; consequently the borrowings and the loss of earnings will be less. There will no problem for the savings for the site security, and the other costs associated with the site establishment and running costs. Other important issue to be considered for the feasibility for refurbishment includes least impact on the environment. The movement of vehicles will be less, least amount of materials that go to the landfill, reduction in the use of new materials and the energy as well as costs associated with it. In addition to this there will be preservation of the heritage as some people argue that some of the architectural features are better than the new erections. Change programme of the company Taking the advantages of adaptation into consideration, the company can take adaptation either as refurbishment, conversion, or alteration in order to make the project feasible. Considering the requirements of the client The surveyor should be in a position to advise the client on the viable alternatives to the new construction, and be able to present them. The total costs for a building project will include the cost of the land, cost of acquiring and preparing the site, cost of demolition and physical preparation, cost of building, professional fees for the whole project, cost of disposal, and the cost of financing. (Ferry and Brandon, 1984). Defining the problem After the details of the problem are clarified, the scope of the decision can be defined. The decision maker should focus the attention on the major aspects of the decision. The decision should be based on the financial situation of the client and a considerable amount of time should be allotted to this activity. Setting the objectives After knowing about the requirements of the client, it is important to consider what is hoped to achieve the decision and the aims to work. The client decision making should be directed towards specific objectives to be achieved within the allotted time and cost parameters. Determining the options This is a creative process, and it is the process of generating the alternatives, that would satisfy the requirements of the client. The thoughts should be focused on producing viable and suitable options, and for this the client, and in the present study adaptation is the viable and suitable option. Deployment phase It is the responsibility of the surveyor to develop an appropriate strategy for deployment. Developing a contingency plan is also required. Control phase The control is exercised upon the feedback of the information from the actual performance when compared with the predetermined plan. (Watson,2009) Feed forward phase This phase involves the critical analysis of the entire decision making activity, and this phase actually involves taking the experience obtained from the previous projects. (Cook and Slack,1984). The key issues to be addressed for building adaptation Suitability of the building †¢ structure of the building †¢ condition of the building †¢ aesthetics †¢ Project brief †¢ sustainability †¢ legal issues †¢ change of use Conclusions Adaptation process can solve the problems and issues of household and commercial building of UK and it is also important to consider the environmental issues while taking a decision on the feasi bility of the construction work. When decision on construction is considered it is important to take decisions on costs and environmental issues. The due consideration should also be given to initial costs and future running costs. These factors should be incorporated into the decision making model. In the present study the project would be feasible when it is refurbished given the advantages associated with the adaptation rather than reconstruction. When all of the above facts are taken into consideration the project is feasible in deriving the profits and good will to the company for its sustainability. Decision making model [pic] References 1. Cook, S. and Slack, N. (1984) Making Management Decisions, Prentice-Hall International Inc, London, UK, ISBN 0-13-547837-5. 2. Douglas, J. 2002) Building Adaptation, Butterworth Heineman, Oxford, ISBN 0-7506-5085-0. 3. Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. (2000) Countryside Survey — Accounting for Nature: Assessing Habitats in the UK Countryside [online], Retrieved from : http://www. defra. gov. uk/wildlife-countryside/cs2000/02/01. htm Accessed February 2007. 4. Egbu, C. (1996) Characteristics and Difficulties Associated with Refurbishment. Constructio n Papers No. 66, CIOB, Ascot. 5. Ferry, D. J. and Brandon, P. S. (1984) Cost Planning of Buildings, BSP Professional Books, London, UK, ISBN 0-632-02403-8 . Firmansyah . A,B et. al(2006) Risk analysis in feasibility study of building construction project: case study -Pt. Perusahaan Gas Negara Indonesia. The Tenth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction August 3-5, 2006, Bangkok, Thailand Retrieved from http://eprints. qut. edu. au/6551/1/Trigunarsyah_EASEC_10_5. pdf 7. Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. (2000) Countryside Survey — Accounting for Nature: Assessing Habitats in the UK Countryside [online], Retrieved from : http://www. efra. gov. uk/wildlife-countryside/cs2000/02/01. htm Accessed February 2007. 8. Justis, R. T. Kreigsmann, B. (1979). The feasibility study as a tool for venture analysis. Business Journal 9. National Statistics Online. (2005) Population — UK Population Grows to 59. 6 million [online], Retrieved fro m : http://www. statistics. gov. uk/cci/nugget. asp? id=760 Accessed February 2007. 10. Paul Watson (2009) The key issues when choosing adaptation of an existing building over new build Journal of Building Appraisal (2009) 4, 215–223