• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.16-32
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• 2020

Cost and time control of projects is important in preventing project failure. However, achieving effective cost and time control in practice is often challenging. The challenges of project cost and time control in practice are investigated by carrying out a questionnaire survey on the top 150 construction contractors in the UK followed by in-depth semi-structured interviews of practitioners from 15 construction companies in the country. Quantitative analysis reveals that design change is the most important factor inhibiting the ability of UK contractors from effectively controlling both the cost and time of construction projects. Four of the top five factors inhibiting effective cost control are also the top factors inhibiting effective time control albeit in a different order. These top factors-design changes, inaccurate evaluation of project time/duration, risk and uncertainty, non-performance of subcontractors and nominated suppliers were also found to be endogenous factors to the project. Additionally, qualitative analysis of the interviews reveals 16 key challenges to prevent for effective project cost and time control in practice. These are classified into four categorised based on where they stem from as follows; from the organisation (1. Lack of integration of cost and time during project control, 2. lack of management buy-in, 3. complicated project control systems and processes, 4. lack of a project control training regime); from the construction management/project management approach (5. Lapses in integration of interfaces, 6. project control not being implemented from the early stages of a project, 7. inefficient utilisation and control of labour, 8. limited time devoted to planning how a project will be controlled at the outset); from the client; (9. Excessive authorisation gates, 10. use of adversarial and non-collaborative forms of contracts, 11. communication problems within client set-up, 12. obstructive client representatives) and; from the project team (13. Lack of detailed/complete design, 14. lack of trust among the project partners, 15. limited time devoted to project control on site, 16. non-factual reporting). The study posits that knowledge of these project control inhibiting factors and challenges is the first step at ensuring they are avoided and enable the implementation of a more effective project cost and time control process in practice.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.132-141
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• 2008

This research was conducted in order to present the strategies of implementing the logistics information system for effective logistics cost management with the case study of a leading global company. The strategy for effective logistics information system can be derived from the 3 different viewpoints, Firstly the effective global logistics management can be insured by means of the efforts of the reinforced total organization. Secondly from the process-oriented perspective, we should recognize the logistics process as the core factor of the competitive strategy and innovate the logistics process itself for the logistics cost reduction. Finally, the logistics cost will be effectively managed through establishing its logistics information strategy which maximizes the utilization of the information technologies. The case study of 'A' electronics company shows that its logistics management system provides the company with various visibilities about its logistics cost and the direct and indirect benefits over billions of wons per year as well. Therefore we can conclude that the research model provided in this research is validated. This study presents the concrete implementation strategies of the logistics information system and verifies the validity of the strategies by means of the case study of a leading company.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.155-162
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• 2002

In this research, I finally came to a conclusion analyzing the connection among managing of each items in management expenses, the size of each complex and stories, and the term of using. (1) In the managing cost regarding to the management manner, although the managing cost of self-governing management is less imposed than the one of commission management, there is slight difference between those Costs. And it is more important to consider the effectiveness of management than to emphasize reduction of management cost. (2) The higher the stories, the higher the managing cost of elevator per the unit area. It Is caused by the fact that the father the distance of the elevator operating, the higher the electric charges. (3) The third of one of total management cost goes to pay the personnel expenses. So I found that the effective management of the expenses is available to reduce management cost. (4) The higher the stones, the lower the cost of personnel expenses including the cleaner cost. (5) The sum of costs assigned in repairment and management increases in proportion to the term of using. The costs assigned in special repairment and management are interacting to each other. (6) To reduce the management cost, we have to cut down the personnel in security guard that occupies one third of total management cost with application to the joint security system and operation of the self-governing guard. Through this process, it will be easy to accomplish the rationalization of contract with an outside order. Because the improvement of management service is not only the responsibility of owner but also the one of dwellers. And it Is imperative to realize the importance of cooperation and trust between the owner and dwellers. And the establishment of effective managing system which has convenience and rationality must be settled without delay.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.85-102
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• 2015

Purpose: This study is aimed to develope effective guidelines of R&D institute with regard to general management cost, by analyzing the management characteristics of 14 domestic R&D institutes general management costs. Methods: The bootstrapping method is applied to obtain the average general management cost of 14 R&D institute and the effective R&D institutes are presented by comparing the general management costs of R&D and the rate of inflation. Results: The results show that the average R&D general management cost of 14 R&D institutes is 3.32% and, in general, it turns out that the R&D general management costs do not reflect the inflation rate after a comparative analysis of the variation of the R&D general management costs. In addition, the results of cost-effective analysis show that only 5 R&D institutes are efficient in R&D activities. Conclusion: Applying a uniform standard of R&D general management costs although their management characteristics are different, can cause the impediment to the independence and transparency of R&D institutes. Therefore it is recommended a strict implementation with respect to the monitoring system of each R&D institute and the budget policy methods which are reflected management characteristics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute Of Construction Engineering and Management
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• autumn
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• pp.419-422
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• 2002

The features of modem construction industry can be summarized as specialization, complexity, and large-scale. Therefore, increasing uncertainty of construction project can not be effectively dealt with traditional method used for construction cost management. Cost overrun affects on successful execution of managing construction project in a negative way. Therefore, accurate estimation is a priori for effective cost management. First, this work analyzes the previous cost estimation model for the effective cost management. Then, a standard structure required for developing the cost estimation model for site development was presented. In addition, the cost estimation model which can be used in planning and design phases was introduced by analyzing real site development projects.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.71-88
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to analyze the cost-effectiveness of four medications for treating and preventing osteoporosis -HRT therapy(conjugated equine estrogen 0.625mg for 25 days and medroxyprogesterone acetate 5mg for 01112 days), Alendronate(10mg and 5mg), Active Vitamin D(Calcitriol), and Calcium. Total costs include the direct medical cost -examination fee, consultation fee, prescription fee, fee for preparing medications, and the price of pharmaceuticals- and the indirect cost of patients such as traffic expenses and time cost. In addition, the costs of monitoring in adverse reactions are added. The effects of four medications are expressed as BMD(Bone Mineral Density) percent change measured by DEXA(Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) in lumbar spine(L2-L4) and femoral neck site. A mixed model based on meta analysis provides the estimates of effectiveness, which are then appled to the hypothetical cohort consisting of postmenopausal women at the age of 50-59. HRT therapy is the most cost-effective medication at 172,433.64 won (lumbar spine site) and 546,328.28 won (femoral neck site) per BMD percent change for osteoporosis. Alendronate 10mg is more cost-effective than Alendronate 5mg as 345,971.23 won and 378,441.63 won per lumbar BMD percent change at 0.991ｇ/$cm^2$, respectively. Alendronate 10mg is more cost-effective than Alendronate 5mg as 1,329,257.89 won and 1,467,291.23 won per femoral neck BMD percent change at 0.834ｇ/$cm^2$, respectively.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.417-424
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• 2009

For a construction project to progress smoothly, effective cost estimation is vital, particularly in the conceptual and schematic design stages. In these early phases, despite the fact that initial estimates are highly sensitive to changes in project scope, owners require accurate forecasts which reflect their supplying information. Thus, cost estimators need effective estimation strategies. Practically, parametric cost estimates are the most commonly used method in these initial phases, which utilizes historical cost data (Karshenas 1984, Kirkham 2007). Hence, compilation of historical data regarding appropriate cost variance governing parameters is a prime requirement. However, precedent practice of data mining (data preprocessing) for denoising internal errors or abnormal values is needed before compilation. As an effort to deal with this issue, this research proposed a statistical methodology for data preprocessing and verified that data preprocessing has a positive impact on the enhancement of estimate accuracy and stability. Moreover, Statistically Preprocessed data Based Parametric (SPBP) cost models are developed based on multiple regression equations and verified their effectiveness compared with conventional cost models.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.203-211
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• 2009

Korean public owners who order public multi-family housing construction projects have yet to gain access to a model for predicting construction cost. For this reason, their construction cost prediction is mainly dependent upon historic data and experience. In this paper, a cost-prediction model based on Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) in the design phase of public multi-family housing construction projects was developed. The developed model can determine the total construction cost by estimating the different Building, Civil, Mechanical, Electronic and Telecommunication, and Landscaping work costs. Model validation showed an accuracy of 97.56%, confirming the model's excellent viability. The developed model can thus be used to predict the construction cost to be shouldered by public owners before the design is completed. Moreover, any change orders during the design phase can be immediately applied to the model, and various construction costs by design alternative can be verified using this model. Therefore, it is expected that public owners can exercise effective design management by using the developed cost prediction model. The use of such an effective cost prediction model can enable the owners to accurately determine in advance the construction cost and prevent increase or decrease in cost arising from the design changes in the design phase, such as change order. The model can also prevent the untoward increase in the duration of the design phase as it can effectively control unnecessary change orders.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.87-99
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• 2011

The aim of the research is to figure out how the perception and the attitude of hospital staff have effect on cost management behavior, to check the mediation effect in the relationship between cost attitude and cost management behavior, and to provide some basic data of efficient cost management means for hospital staff. The major results of research can be summed up as following. Subordinate factors of cost perception such as conviction, information, and thought were all revealed as meaningful effect ones on cost attitude, but they didn't have meaningful effect on cost management behavior. However, if we check the final results of direct effect, indirect effect, and total effect in its variants, we can understand that cost perception have indirect effect on cost management behavior via cost attitude. Cost attitude was revealed as the greatest variant having direct effect on cost management behavior. As a conclusion, it seems that the correct cost perception can make positive cost attitude, by which desirable cost management behavior can be induced. Therefore, as the correct cost perception can make positive attitude, it is necessary to construct effective system to provide useful cost information for staff at anytime and at any place continually on organization aspect. It is important to get correct cost perception for the positive attitude of staff. Nevertheless, if the positive attitude would not be formed, it is necessary to search for the ways for personal motivation, for the management behavior cannot emerge positively.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.624-635
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• 2012

Construction projects, including housing, are carried out over long periods of time. According to changes to the construction period, the cost of input materials and wages also changes. Therefore appropriate management is important in order to minimize cost risks caused by fluctuations in prices. In Korea, housing units are usually sold in lots prior to construction completion. Therefore, careful management of input elements such as materials and equipment that are sensitive to price fluctuations is very important. This study deals with how the price fluctuation of materials, labor, and equipment influences the change of housing cost and seeks a way for cost management through identifying key resources sensitive to price fluctuation. As a result, a change to the housing cost index multiplies depending on cost changes of materials and labor together. Labor costs are a major factor on the housing cost index. In addition, certain types of materials and labor input to housing construction greatly influence price fluctuations. Thus, it is found that managing those main cost factors is the key for effective cost management.