• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.975-983
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• 2022

This paper presents an innovative way of integrating scheduling and project controls with the environmental impact of a construction project to track, monitor, and manage environmental emissions at the activity level. As a starting point, scheduling and project controls help monitor the status of a project to provide an assessment of the duration and sequence of activities. Additionally, project schedules can also reflect resource allocation and costs associated with various phases of a construction project. Owners, contractors and construction managers closely monitor tasks or activities on the critical path(s) and/or longest path(s) calculated through network based scheduling techniques. However, existing industry practices do not take into account environmental impact associated with each activity during the life cycle of a project. Although the environmental impact of a project may be tracked in various ways, that tracking is not tied to the project schedule and, as such, generally is not updated when schedules are revised. In this research, a Cradle to Gate approach is used to estimate environmental emissions associated with each activity of a sample project schedule. The research group has also investigated the potential determination of scenarios of lowest environmental emissions, just as project managers currently determine scenarios with lowest cost or time. This methodology can be scaled up for future work to develop a library of unit emissions associated with commonly used construction materials and equipment. This will be helpful for project owners, contractors, and construction managers to monitor, manage, and reduce the carbon footprint associated with various projects.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.393-399
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• 2009

This paper introduces an automated tool named Advanced Stochastic Schedule Simulation System (AS4). The system automatically integrates CPM schedule data exported from Primavera Project Planner (P3) and historical activity duration data obtained from a project data warehouse, computes the best fit probability distribution functions (PDFs) of historical activity durations, assigns the PDFs identified to respective activities, computes the optimum number of simulation runs, simulates the schedule network for the optimum number of simulation runs, and estimates the best fit PDF of project completion times (PCTs). AS4 improves the reliability of simulation-based scheduling by effectively dealing with the uncertainties of the activities' durations, increases the usability of the schedule data obtained from commercial CPM software, and effectively handles the variability of the PCTs by finding the best fit PDF of PCTs. It is designed as an easy-to-use computer tool programmed in MATLAB. AS4 encourages the use of simulation-based scheduling because it is simple to use, it simplifies the tedious and burdensome process involved in finding the PDFs of the many activities' durations and in assigning the PDFs to the many activities of a new network under modeling, and it does away with the normality assumptions used by most simulation-based scheduling systems in modeling PCTs.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.75-96
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• 2019

These days, many companies use information systems as a basis for organizational management activities and as an important component of sustainable management. Thus, securing and operating a high-quality information system that can improve the efficiency of business processes is a large part of corporate competitiveness. In order to get such a critical information system, it is only possible to successfully carry out the project. Various attempts and studies have been undertaken to increase the success rate of the project. However, the reality is that the success rate is still not getting much better. In this study, the concept of quality of service, which has long been actively studied in marketing area, was applied as a new factor to enhance the project's success. In this study, project performance activities were defined as the act of providing services. A survey of 164 valid collection data was analyzed. The analysis used SPSS 23. Four process quality factors (customer participation, customer response, knowledge and skills, reliability) and 21 metrics were derived. Through this research, I hope to be the starting point of applying process quality concept as a new breakthrough to increase success rate of project.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.732-737
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• 2009

Due to various project delivery methods and the complexity of construction projects in the construction industry, developing the framework of construction management for critical, highly complex projects in the construction industry has become problematic. Currently, a set of construction manuals play a pivotal role in planning and managing construction projects as subcontractors try to complete their scope of work according to the instructions of a general contractor. It is challenging for general contractors to write a construction management procedure manual to cover various types of project delivery methods and construction projects. In construction, the construction procedure manuals describe specific actions to be taken through the project. In reality a few contactors own such manuals and their construction schedules include more construction operation activities. Thus, it is hard to estimate the workload and productivity of construction managers because the manual and the schedule do not present the amount of management efforts required to complete a project. This paper proposes a framework to present construction management tasks according to project delivery methods which can be applied to various construction projects. Actions for management tasks were mapped and were integrated with construction activities throughout the project life cycle. The framework can then be used to give specific instructions to project participants, collect management actions, and replicate management actions throughout the project life cycle. The framework can also be can used to visualize complete construction project to analyze and manage construction management activities in each phase of a project in order to enhance productivity and efficiency. The studies of existing construction manuals were carried out to identify construction managers' responsibilities. An artificial intelligence program, CLIPS (C-Language Integrated Production System) was used to search for appropriate actions for impending tasks from a set of predefined actions to be performed for a given situation. The framework would significantly help construction managers to understand interrelations among management tasks or actions within a project. Furthermore, the framework can be embedded into Building Information Modeling (BIM) or Facility Management Systems (FMS) so that designers and constructors would execute constructability review before construction begins.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2018

Resource leveling minimizes resource fluctuations by deferring the earliest start times (ESTs) of non-critical activities within their corresponding total float. The intentional float-consumption for resource leveling purpose reduces the schedule delay contingency. This paper presents a method called Genetic Algorithm based Resource Leveling (GARL) that minimizes resource fluctuations and float-consumption impact over project duration. It identifies activities that are less sensitive to float-consumption and performs resource leveling using those activities. The study is of value to project scheduler because GARL identifies the set of activities to be deferred and the number of shift day(s) of each and every activities in the set within its total float expeditiously. It contributes to establish a baseline schedule which implements an optimal resource leveling plan. A case study is presented to verify the validity and usability of the method. It was confirmed that GARL satisfies the project duration constraint by considering resource fluctuations and float-consumption over project duration.

• Educational Technology International
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.249-272
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• 2015

This study is a theoretical exploration of project-based service-learning and its application in designing pre-dental curricula. As a response to the limitation of community service courses, service-learning has been implemented as pedagogy in higher education practices. Service-learning connects service and learning by engaging students in activities that address community needs with intentionally designed learning opportunities while adding value to and transforming both service and learning. Project-based service-learning is an extended and more active version of service-learning. Whereas service activities are arranged by instructors in the original service-learning, project-based service-learning provides students with opportunities for exploring problems and root causes on site and then devising and implementing solutions of their own using their talents and creativity. This study proposes a theoretical approach to project-based service-learning and suggests six design components, namely, related curriculum, reflection, reciprocity, service and community engagement, evaluation and recognition, and creative problem solving. Based on the components, 20 design strategies are formulated. The exploration is aimed to provide design guides for professionals attempting to implement project-based service-learning in higher education.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.75-93
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• 2017

Recently, global competition in the manufacturing sector is driving firms in the manufacturing sector to conduct product innovation projects to maintain their competitive edge. The key points of product innovation projects are 1) what the purpose of the project is and 2) what expected results in the target market can be achieved by implementing the innovation. Therefore, this study focuses on the performance of innovation projects with a business viewpoint. In this respect, this study proposes the "achievement rate" of product innovation projects as a measurement of project performance. Then, this study finds the best strategies from various innovation activities to optimize the achievement rate of product innovation projects. There are three major innovation activities for the projects, including three types of R&D activities: Internal, joint and external R&D, and five types of non-R&D activities - acquisition of machines, equipment and software, purchasing external knowledge, job education and training, market research and design. This study applies decision tree modeling, a kind of data-mining methodology, to explore effective innovation activities. This study employs the data from the 'Korean Innovation Survey (KIS) 2014: Manufacturing Sector.' The KIS 2014 gathered information about innovation activities in the manufacturing sector over three years (2011-2013). This study gives some practical implication for managing the activities. First, innovation activities that increased the achievement rate of product diversification projects included a combination of market research, new product design, and job training. Second, our results show that a combination of internal R&D, job training and training, and market research increases the project achievement most for the replacement of outdated products. Third, new market creation or extension of market share indicates that launching replacement products and continuously upgrading products are most important.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.575-581
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• 2011

A novel approach for analysis of criticality with respect to path and to activity in networks with fuzzy activity durations is proposed. After recalling the Yager ranking method, the relative degree of criticality of activities and paths are defined. An efficient algorithm based on path enumeration to compute the relative degree of criticality of activities and paths in networks with fuzzy durations is proposed. Examples of former researches are employed to validate the proposed approach. The proposed algorithm has been tested on real world project networks and experimental results have shown that the algorithm can calculate the relative degree of criticality of activities and paths in a reasonable time.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2013.01a
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• pp.243-251
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• 2013

Cash management is a major concern for all contractors in the construction industry. It is arguable that cash is the most critical resource of all. A contractor needs to secure sufficient funds to navigate the project to the end, while keeping an eye on maximizing profits along the way. Past research attempted to address such topic via developing models to tackle the time-cost tradeoff problem, cash flow forecasting, and cash flow management. Yet, little was done to integrate the three aspects of cash management together. This paper, as such, presents a comprehensive model that integrates the time-cost tradeoff problem, cash flow management, and cash flow forecasting. First, the model determines the project optimal completion time by considering the different alternative construction methods available for executing project activities. Second, it investigates different funding alternatives and proposes a project-level cash management plan. Two funding alternatives are considered; they are borrowing and company own financing. The model was built as a combinatorial optimization model that utilizes ant colony search capabilities. The model also utilizes Microsoft Project software and spreadsheets to maintain an environment that incorporates activities, their durations, and other project data, in order to estimate project completion time and cost. Ant Colony Optimization algorithm was coded as a Macro program using VBA. Finally, an example project was used to test the developed model, where it acted reliably in maximizing the contractor's profit in the test project.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.127-146
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• 2021

Donation-based crowdfunding(DBC) is conducted from voluntary participation by project operators. It requires a different operational strategy than general crowdfunding. However, there is a limited amount of research on the operational strategy of DBC. This study explores the value co-creation(VCC) strategy of DBC and analyzes the operation of DonorsChoose.org. The research questions encompass the following: First, we identify the VCC activities of DBC. Second, we uncover activities of the platform operators that facilitate the participation of project operators in VCC activities. Third, we explore how VCC activities affect project operational performance and platform performance in DBC. By adopting a single case study method on DonorsChoose.org, this study provides meaningful insight and detailed understanding into the VCC in DBC. First, VCC processes of DBC are identified(Co-ideation, Co-design, Co-funding, Co-operation, and Co-evaluation). Also, interactions between platform operators and project operators were defined at each stage. Second, this study confirmed that standardization and simplification of platform operators, support for pre- and post-activity, and high-quality information delivery activities were critical. Third, we confirm that these VCC activities improve VCC operational performance and platform performance. The theoretical significance of this study is that the concept of VCC, previously concentrated on participants with economic drivers(consumers and investors), has been applied to the context of DBC, a form of participation by participants with non-economic drivers(supporters and donors). In addition, this study practically contributes to the practice of VCC strategy among various platform operating strategies in DBC.