Cost Overrun in Construction Projects

Cost Overrun in Construction Projects Aim The aim of the dissertation is to identify and explore the various causes of cost overrun associated with construction projects. Objectives Identifying the main causes of the cost overrun in the construction projects through literature review. To identify the various measures of cost overrun in construction projects. To examine the affects of the cost overrun by analysing the case of a construction industry. Analysing the information from the literature review and case studies to provide further recommendation and suggestions to overcome the cost overrun effect. Research Methodology To achieve the above aims discussed above it is very important to do extensive research by studying books, journals, articles on internet. Qualitative method is the research method that will be the main research method used incorporating Observations Questionnaire Case studies Present dissertation the author has used two main research methods questionnaire survey, case studies. The author has prepared questionnaire with 18 questions and forwarded to 10 companies. The questionnaire survey provided valuable data that can analyse, useful for outcome of the research. The author has studied different case studies from India to identify various causes for failure of the project. Analysis on the case studies gives the idea of various measures to overcome cost overrun. Introduction Constructions are full of risks and include those that may relate to cost overrun, external commercial factors, design, construction and operation. In any construction projects the three primary factors that is time, cost and quality will be likely to subject to risk and uncertainty. This cost overrun can be minimised by the realistic estimation which can be anticipated from the experience and foresight. Managing project costs accurately and responsively is a challenging task for the design team, construction manager, builders and consultant. Effective cost management is dependent on following a consistent methodology, utilizing appropriate standards, concentrating efforts for maximum effectiveness and utilizing all the tools available. The major problem that arises in construction projects is that projects often overrun their cost estimate. This risk of the overrun of cost estimate occurs even with the projects where carefully constructed bottom up cost estimates completed to a very detailed level. In every construction projects the main problem where cost of the entire project is not getting most likely, is because of the usual way of constructing a project estimate at completion is that adding the estimates for all work breakdown structure components (WBS). By conducting a cost risk analysis provides a more accurate and realistic estimates of project costs. Chapter-2 2. Literature Review 2.1 Definition: The process of project of an infrastructure project when planned is the sponsoring department prepares estimates of time and costs or funds needed to complete the project. The expected date of the completion is also announced. But there will arise some different between the actual date of completion from the expected date. We define â€Å"time overrun† as the time difference between the initially planned i.e. expected dates of completion. Therefore, for each project we can define percentage time overrun as the ratio of time overrun and the implementation phase of the project. The implementation of the project is defined as the duration in which project is completed, i.e. the time between the date of approval of the project and the expected date of completion of the project. Similarly cost overrun is defined as the difference between the actual cost and the expected cost of the project. The actual cost is the cost that can be calculated only at the end of the project and the es timated cost is the estimated when the project is planned. The percentage of cost overrun is defined as the ratio of the cost overrun and the initially anticipated cost of the project (Ram Singh, 2009). According to Lewis and Atherly 1996 a delay may have the direct cost implications in terms of an extended construction period. In other words delay leads to the cost overrun and the extended time will have extra expenses or loses by both parties of the project. When a delay can increase cost and reduce profits then organizations will have more considerations on bottom line (Lewis and Atherly 1996) 2.2 Causes of Construction Cost Overrun The survey conducted by Iyer and Jha (2005), on the factors affecting the cost performance of Indian construction projects, including the extent of adverse climatic and economic conditions; unfavorable project specific attributes; top management support; monitoring; feedback, coordination, conflict and knowledge of the project participants; and reluctance to make timely decisions. Of these, coordination among project participants was found to be the most significant of all factors, having a maximum positive influence on the cost performance. Semple et al. (1994), examined causes of claims, delays and cost overrun on twenty four projects in western Canada. The study identified the following as critical factors that lead to cost overruns are (1) contract variations and extras, (2) disputes, (3) soil and site conditions, and (4) delays. The author stressed the need by the industry practitioners (clients, contractors, professionals) to pay maximum attention to the critical factors in order to minimize cost overrun risks. Chan et al. (1997), examined the principal and common causes of delays which leads to cost overrun in Hong Kong construction projects. The study identified the following factors (1) Poor site management and supervision, (2) unforeseen ground conditions, (3) low speed of decision making by project teams, (4) client-initiated variations and (5)necessary variations of work, as major cause of delay. Flybjerg et.al. (2003), pointed out to cost estimates as highly, systematically and significantly misleading. According to Flybjerg et al. (2004), the causes for the cost overrun in the construction projects is as follows (1) The length of the project in the implementation phase, (2) the size of the project and (3) the type of project ownership. According investigation carried by Assaf et al. (1995), on causes of delay in high rise building construction projects in Saudi Arabia, the most important causes are found to be as follows (1) Inadequate designs, (2) slow work progress on site, (3) late payment for completed works and (5) design changes by owners. Here from the above investigation it is proven that all these factors are caused by the lapses in human input factor. N R Mansfield et al. (1994), investigated and examined the causes of delay and cost overrun in Nigerian projects. The investigation identified the following factors that are attributed to the overrun are finance and payments arrangements, poor or in experience contracting management, material shortages or excess of the materials, inaccurate estimating, and overall price fluctuations The analysis according to Ram Singh (2009), has shown that there has been significant decline in the time and cost since from early 1980s in India. The investigation shows that major causes for the delays and cost overruns observed in India are deficient project planning process, use of inappropriate procurement contracts and faulty contract management. In regards to project type, the bigger projects are much more vulnerable to cost overruns. Ram Singh also stated that several kinds of organisational-cum-institutional failure also affect greatly to time and cost overruns. The studies conducted by Elinwa et al. (2001) on the relative contribution of human personnel parties to the projects time overruns and cost overruns in Nigerian Construction industry states that the contribution of clients, contractors and others were 62%, 32% and 6%. The study stated that on the government or private sector projects the delays were at 89% with irrespective of project size. The study also identified the important factors of cost overrun and time overrun are mode of financing, payment delays for the completed works, improper planning and project time and cost underestimation. Kaming et al. (1997), examined factors influencing constriction delays (time overrun) and cost escalations, in Indonesian cities. They identified project cost underestimation and project complexity as the main causes of project delays and cost overruns. Chan and KumaraSwamy had conducted a survey on the factors causing the delays in Hong Kong construction projects and had classified them into two groups: (1) the role of the parties in the local construction industry (whether client, consultant or contractor) and (2) the type of projects. The result shows that five major causes for the delays and cost overrun were poor site management and supervision, unforeseen ground condition, low speed of decision making involving all project teams, client initiated variations and necessary variation of work. Cost underestimation is the one of the main factors for the cost overrun in construction projects. According to the Flyvbjerg, (2003), the cost underestimation exists across 2 nations and 5 continents and it is global phenomenon. The explanation for the cost underestimation is in four types. Technical Psychological Economic Political Technical Explanation: Most studies in infrastructure projects that compare actual cost at the completion of the project and estimated cost at the initial contract explain as Forecasting Error in technical terms such as imperfect techniques, inadequate data, honest mistakes, inherent problems in predicting the future, lack of experience on the part of forecast, etc,. [Flyvbjerg, 2003]. Psychological Explanation: Psychological explanations attempts to explain biases in forecasts by a bias in the mental makeup of the project promoters and forecasters. Politicians may have a Monument Complex engineers like build things, and local transportation officials sometimes have the mentality of empire builders in building roads, railways and bridges. The most common psychological explanation is probably â€Å"appraisal optimism†. According to this explanation, promoters and forecasters are held to be overly optimistic about the project outcomes in the appraisal phase, when the projects are planned and decided. [coated in Flyvbjerg, 2003]. Political Explanation: Political explanations construe cost underestimation in terms of interests and power (Flyvbjerg, 1998). According to Flyvbjerg, 2003, one of the key questions for political explanations is whether forecasts are intentionally biased to serve the interests of project promoters in getting projects started. Cost estimation cannot be explained by the errors and seems to best explained by strategic misrepresentation i.e., lying. These questions of lying are notoriously hard to answer. For legal, economic, moral and other reasons, if promoters and forecasters have intentionally fabricated a deceptive cost estimate for a project to get it started, they are unlikely to tell the researchers and others that this is the case. Economical Explanation: Economic explanations say that cost underestimation in terms of economic rationality. Flyvbjerg, 2003, in his journal stated that there exist two types of economic explanation. One explains in terms of economic self-interest, the other in terms of public interest. In case of the economic self -interest, during the process of the project it creates the work for the engineers and construction firms, and many stakeholders who are directly or indirectly attached with the project make money. These stakeholders in directly involved in would influence the forecasting process of the project, which in turn influence the outcomes the ways that make it more likely that the project will be built. Stakeholders would likely increase in their revenues and profit by having the cost underestimation and benefits over estimation which would be economically rational for such type of stake holders. In case of the second term public interest, project promoters and forecasters may intensively underestimate cost in order to provide public officials with an incentive to cut costs and thereby to save the publics money. According to this type of explanation, the more cost estimate is the incentive of the wasteful contracts to spend more of the tax payers money. Hence the both types of the economic explanation account well for the systematic underestimation of the costs. Several researchers on the subject of construction cost overruns have come out with significant findings that factors that leads to time overrun (construction delays), will eventually leads to cost overrun. From the above literature it is also found that the size of the construction project is also one of the main reasons which influence the cost overrun. The researchers stated that the main factor leading to delays have been always studied alongside those leading to cost overrun. 2.3 Cost overrun in India Background Cost overrun is becoming common in infrastructure projects. Through the various analyses it is found that the time delay and the cost overrun are the main reasons for the poor project performance. Morris and Hough found 63% of 1778 different types of projects funded by the World Bank between 1974 and 1988, experienced significant cost overrun. kamrul Ahsan and Indra Gunawan, (2008), in studies conducted on the time and cost performances in Asian countries had found out only few projects i.e. 13% are completed within time and budgeted cost. In contrast more projects are time delay and cost over run on an average amount of over spending U.S. $73million, i.e. 22% average planned cost. The case study conducted by the Standish group (2004) for IT projects the has found that the average cost overrun was 43%, 71% of projects were over budget, over time and under scope and the total waste was estimated at U.S. $5 billion per year in U.S.A alone. In-accuracy in cost estimates is also one of t he main factors for the cost overrun in the construction projects. According Flyvbjerg (2002), the under estimation of costs in construction were almost 9 out 10 projects. For randomly selected projects, the likelihood of actual costs being larger than estimated cost is 86%. The likelihood of the actual costs for the construction projects is being lower than or equal to estimated cost is 14%. The actual cost of the projects on average is 28% higher than the estimated cost. The best example for the above case is Suez Canal was constructed at costs three times of the estimated cost with 1,900 percent (Flyvbjerg et al, 2002). The Kakkad hydro -electric projct could be commissioned in time in 1986 itself, 8 years after its construction started. Accounting for general price inflation during this period , thecapital cost of this project by 1986 would be atmost only rs 39.66 crores, savings as much as Rs. 113.86 crores, almost enough to construct 3 more similar plant, or to add to the syst em capacity y another 140 MW at the nominal cost of Kakkad project in Kerala (Kannan and pillai 2001). The ultimate motive in undertaking the project is to make profit. These profits may be measured in different ways and the most familiar profit is money. The goals of the others in making the project may be to make work, to improve living standards, in produce of the products to the others who require it or in scarce, to obtain votes for the political carrier and many others. The ultimate result should be the positive outcome during the construction of the project or in the life of the project. Every project has to undergo several stages starting from the planning of the project, approval, awarding the project to the actual construction and so on. The project life cycle has been divided into three phases they are development phase, construction phase, and operation and maintenance phase. For every project during the development phase the project authority will approves the time and funds needed for the completion of the project. Then after the approval of the project the construction phase will start with the signing of a contract between the sponsoring department and the contractor. Generally the contractor of the project will be selected through the tender or bidding process. For some projects contractor will be for only procurement process. During the construction phase it is very important for the timely completion of the project, so there should be the active cooperation between the sponsoring authority, the contractor and other departments. The project success i.e. wh ether the project can be delivered on time and on cost depends on how well all the activities of the projects, departments of the projects and individuals concerned are coordinated. The failures among the contractor activities will cause delays in the project and cost overruns. For the ease of exposition, it is helpful to divide the set of possible causes in the following subgroups (Ram Sing, 2009). 2.3.1. Technical and Natural Factors: It is a complex problem for the estimation of the time and cost for an infrastructure projects, though the techniques for the estimation have been sophisticated there are many imperfect estimations. The contractors and the authorities of the project will better understand about the materials requirement and the necessary changes in the project as the work on the project starts. For example, during the construction phase of the road project, an unexpectedly poor quality of soil may make the changes in the design and quality of the bitumen, from what was initially planned. Because such changes the project may require extra time as well as funds. But in some cases the sudden changes may turn in favor of the project and the parties may find the excessive funds and time. Similarly natural factors like floods and so on also impact the cost and time and as well as destroy the project assets. The natural factors also make favorable conditions in saving the construction time and cost. However , one would expect the effects of the technical and natural factors to be random without any bias. Also form the above discussions the time delay and cost overrun is expected to come down over the years. Therefore if the decline in the time delay and cost overrun is expected to be statistically significant, we attribute the decline to the technical and natural constraints. Time and cost overrun. Hence, the Design changes, unforeseen geological and weather condition during the construction phase are the major causes of the cost overrun. (Ram Singh, 2009) 2.3.2 The Contractual Failures. As explained earlier the contractor enters the project mostly through bidding in implementation or construction phase by signing the contract with the sponsoring department. Thus for a project to be successful, mostly depends on the implementation of the activities by contractor and the joint and timely efforts of the sponsoring authority and the contractor(s). The actual initial construction or procurement contract is signed between the employer and the contractor is on a particular date. The contract agreement specifies the activities that are performed and delivery of the goods at the project execution by the contractor. In general, contract known as â€Å"complete-contingent-contracts which can ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget. These types of contracts are assumed to give the each and every detail of the activities that are performed by the contractor in each possible case during the construction phase. But in real case scenario, however, this is di fficult to explain the every work which unfolds in construction phase during the initial phase of the contract. Moreover it does not explain the complete every relevant aspect of the project activities. The bounded relationship of the parties along with the technological constraints makes the contract very difficult in specifying the every aspect of the project till last detail, this is because of the nature of different states require different modifications in the assets to be built. This happens commonly for the contracts of the infrastructure projects because of its complex nature of the activities. Therefore the procurement contracts of the infrastructure projects will be incomplete nature. The need for the future works arises once when the contractors starts the work. For example, on a railway project it may be necessary to have more of manned-crossings or railway-over-bridges than were planned initially. These unplanned additional works requires more funds and also in some ca ses it takes more time. Therefore, from the above discussion the contract incompleteness is also a cause of the cost overrun in some cases. This contractual incompleteness increases with the increase in the project size. Bigger the project size the complexity also increases. As the complexity of the project increases it is very difficult to provide the each every detail in the initial contract. However the initial contract should be kept with less incomplete. A proper planning for the technical, materials and the activities aspects of the project can enable the parties involved in the project to make the detail initial contract properly and once the proper detailed initial contract is made the contractor may have the scope to make some allowance for the future works by keeping the initial contract with less incomplete. In contrast, the poor planning may lead to the bad estimation of the time and cost and so will be the initial contract. The process of project planning in India is in famous for its ad-hoc and lackadaisical approach. The detailed project reports and feasibility are prepared for the formality purpose and hence they are sloppy. This leads to the incomplete initial contract for the infrastructure projects. Thus this leads to sever problems for the complex projects, because, a lackadaisical planning will produces only sketchy estimates of time and cost. So, in these cases the initial contracts for the complex projects will inevitably omit many more detailed works of the project, which leads in cost overrun in the construction phase of the project. Neither the contractors nor the officials find these contracts are lack of details. From this the major cause which is leading to cost overrun in India is because of the contractual failures caused by the poor contracting processes and inferior project planning (Ram Singh, 2009). The example for the faulty planning techniques and construction made the cost and time overrun of the project in the Kerala state hydro project in kakkad where the leakage in the tunnel had costs the project extra 15 Lacks to repair the damage.( Kannan and pillai 2001). 2.3.3 Organizational failures: As discussed from the above literature, for the successful completion of the infrastructure i.e. timely and efficient execution the project should have active participation of the all parties involved in the projects and as well as among various ministries. However, the government sector projects are inherently weak in the desired efforts from the people involved in the projects. There will be conflicts at each and every stage of the project with the individual and the social objectives. The wages and rewards given by the government for the working organization are not as effective from the view point as a motivation. Therefore, the government infrastructure projects have to face many sources of failures within the organization. These projects mostly in need of the several other organizations joint effort. In India different departments are responsible for different projects. For example, project implementation of power lines, water lines, sewer lines and environmental clearances and other such activities are performed by the different departments. Execution of the activities is highly dependent on the timely and joint efforts of the department. However the interdependence of efforts is that it will be easy for one department to pass the blame on others. So the infrastructure projects particularly India is vulnerable to these inter-organizational failures. In the project implementation stage as explained earlier several departments were involved in performing there concerned role. After all, the activities like land acquisition, shifting of utilities, etc., are performed by the state government. This says that if the project is span across more than one state, the project has deal with particular department in each state. Therefore the project which is spanning more than one state will have more chances to inter-organizational failures. If these projects are statistically causes the delay in time and cost overrun, then the project which are spanning across mult iple states should experience the cost overrun and time delay. Most construction projects in government sector are Roads, Rail ways and urban development sector. The projects should need permission from the central and state government for the environmental clearance. When compared other sectors, these projects require more active cooperation of the several departments such as land acquisition, shifting of power lines, water lines, sewer lines etc. Hence the projects in these sectors are having more chances of the organizational failure. Thus projects in road, rail ways and urban development sectors will exhibits more time delays and cost overrun (Ram Singh, 2009). Kannan and Pillai 2001, in their studies on the cost and time overrun in Kerala Projects suggested that main cause of the cost overrun is due to the human resource management and labours strike. According to the Auti, et,al. (2008), there has been several changes which should be made to the quality and standards, personal interests, low transparency and corruption . This also suggests that changes should be made in government policy and the way public sector projects are carried out. 2.3.4 Economic Factors: In India the projects are located in some states and the economy of the state also impacts the cost overrun of the projects. That is the states having the good transportation facilities, power and telecommunication infrastructure to easily execute the project. This shows that project with more economic factors like good infrastructure will face less cost overrun and time delays and vice versa. The income level of the state will also affect the project cost and time (Ram Singh, 2009). 2.3.5 Inflation: The inflation is defined as the rate of increase in the price level of the materials than they are in an economy (Adamson, 1996). Thus because of the inflation the materials cost will be increased than they during the initial contract, thus increases the estimated cost of the project. The affect inflation may cause the loss in profit to the contractor and project overrun cost to the project sponsor by the nature of process and the return of the work undertaken during the construction process. For example the kakkad(Kerala, India), hydro electric plant which has the time overrun 13 years as in 1999, when it was finally commissioned, the cost escalation of this project was 725 percent over the above estimates i.e. 8 times more than the actual cost the author says the cost escalation of this project is because of the price inflation(Kannan and pillai 2001 ). 2.3.6 Quality of the materials The low quality materials cause higher construction costs than expected because of lack of standards in the materials. This results in the loss of materials and poor management system (Thungphanich, 1997). 2.3.7. Shortage in materials Shortages in basic materials like sand, cement, stones, iron and brick causes major delay in the construction. The non availability of the machinery at the right of the construction process is also major cause for the delay in the construction. The following table shows that the various sectors which went the time overrun and cost overrun in India. These are the delays and the cost overrun during the years April 1992- September 208 S. No. 2 SECTORS 3 Total no. of projects completed 4 % of projects with Time overrun 5 % Time overrun (as % of implementation phase) 6 % of projects with Cost overrun 7 Cost overrun as a %age of initial cost of all projects 8 % Projects with cost but not time overrun 1 Atomic Energy 11 90.91 84 27.27 84 09 2 Civil Aviation 43 90.70 60 41.86 -01 00 3 Coal 92 60.87 28 22.83 -17 03 4 Finance 1 100.00 303 100.00 133 00 5 Fertilizers 16 62.50 25 25.00 00 13 6 I B 7 100.00 190 42.86 09 00 7 Mines 5 80.00 45 0.00 -26 00 8 Steel 41 80.49 51 19.51 49 05 9 Petrochemicals 3 100.00 74 33.33 14 00 10 Petroleum 119 78.99 33 20.17 -11 03 11 Power 101 62.38 41 47.52 26 05 12 Health and Family Welfare 2 100.00 228 100.00 265 00 13 Railways 120 98.33 83 83.33 84 00 14 Road Transport 147 86.39 47 53.74 08 05 15 Shipping and ports 60 95.00 78 30.00 01 02 16 Telecommunication 60 90.00 109 16.67 -55 00 17 Urban Development 22 100.00 54 40.91 99 00 Total/Overall projects 850 82.35 56 41.06 21 03 Source: Ram Singh, 2009. 2.4. Measures for the cost overrun 2.4.1. Cost Estimates: For any project the most important aspect in order to meet the funds of the project is the cost estimation. Small misleading in the cost estimation will lead to the project cost overrun or under run. Kerzer (2006) have explained about the factors which are affecting the process of the estimation and which results in the faulty estimation for the construction. The factors such as Misinterpretation of statement of the works, Omission or improperly defined scope, poorly defined or overly optimistic schedule, inaccurate work break down structure, applying improper skill levels to tasks, failure to account of risks, failure to understand or account for cost escalation and inflation, failure to use correct estimating technique. The important aspect to be considered is that many of the above factors which are affecting the cost estimation of the construction cannot be found until and unless the cost control system is implemented within the project. Kerzer (2006) also explained various types of measures in estimating and their accuracy in the cost overrun, they are as follows. (1) Order -of-magnitude estimates: There is no necessary of any engineering data for these types of estimates. Hence they are prepared without any engineering data and mostly they are based on the past experience. The accuracy Cost Overrun in Construction Projects Cost Overrun in Construction Projects Aim The aim of the dissertation is to identify and explore the various causes of cost overrun associated with construction projects. Objectives Identifying the main causes of the cost overrun in the construction projects through literature review. To identify the various measures of cost overrun in construction projects. To examine the affects of the cost overrun by analysing the case of a construction industry. Analysing the information from the literature review and case studies to provide further recommendation and suggestions to overcome the cost overrun effect. Research Methodology To achieve the above aims discussed above it is very important to do extensive research by studying books, journals, articles on internet. Qualitative method is the research method that will be the main research method used incorporating Observations Questionnaire Case studies Present dissertation the author has used two main research methods questionnaire survey, case studies. The author has prepared questionnaire with 18 questions and forwarded to 10 companies. The questionnaire survey provided valuable data that can analyse, useful for outcome of the research. The author has studied different case studies from India to identify various causes for failure of the project. Analysis on the case studies gives the idea of various measures to overcome cost overrun. Introduction Constructions are full of risks and include those that may relate to cost overrun, external commercial factors, design, construction and operation. In any construction projects the three primary factors that is time, cost and quality will be likely to subject to risk and uncertainty. This cost overrun can be minimised by the realistic estimation which can be anticipated from the experience and foresight. Managing project costs accurately and responsively is a challenging task for the design team, construction manager, builders and consultant. Effective cost management is dependent on following a consistent methodology, utilizing appropriate standards, concentrating efforts for maximum effectiveness and utilizing all the tools available. The major problem that arises in construction projects is that projects often overrun their cost estimate. This risk of the overrun of cost estimate occurs even with the projects where carefully constructed bottom up cost estimates completed to a very detailed level. In every construction projects the main problem where cost of the entire project is not getting most likely, is because of the usual way of constructing a project estimate at completion is that adding the estimates for all work breakdown structure components (WBS). By conducting a cost risk analysis provides a more accurate and realistic estimates of project costs. Chapter-2 2. Literature Review 2.1 Definition: The process of project of an infrastructure project when planned is the sponsoring department prepares estimates of time and costs or funds needed to complete the project. The expected date of the completion is also announced. But there will arise some different between the actual date of completion from the expected date. We define â€Å"time overrun† as the time difference between the initially planned i.e. expected dates of completion. Therefore, for each project we can define percentage time overrun as the ratio of time overrun and the implementation phase of the project. The implementation of the project is defined as the duration in which project is completed, i.e. the time between the date of approval of the project and the expected date of completion of the project. Similarly cost overrun is defined as the difference between the actual cost and the expected cost of the project. The actual cost is the cost that can be calculated only at the end of the project and the es timated cost is the estimated when the project is planned. The percentage of cost overrun is defined as the ratio of the cost overrun and the initially anticipated cost of the project (Ram Singh, 2009). According to Lewis and Atherly 1996 a delay may have the direct cost implications in terms of an extended construction period. In other words delay leads to the cost overrun and the extended time will have extra expenses or loses by both parties of the project. When a delay can increase cost and reduce profits then organizations will have more considerations on bottom line (Lewis and Atherly 1996) 2.2 Causes of Construction Cost Overrun The survey conducted by Iyer and Jha (2005), on the factors affecting the cost performance of Indian construction projects, including the extent of adverse climatic and economic conditions; unfavorable project specific attributes; top management support; monitoring; feedback, coordination, conflict and knowledge of the project participants; and reluctance to make timely decisions. Of these, coordination among project participants was found to be the most significant of all factors, having a maximum positive influence on the cost performance. Semple et al. (1994), examined causes of claims, delays and cost overrun on twenty four projects in western Canada. The study identified the following as critical factors that lead to cost overruns are (1) contract variations and extras, (2) disputes, (3) soil and site conditions, and (4) delays. The author stressed the need by the industry practitioners (clients, contractors, professionals) to pay maximum attention to the critical factors in order to minimize cost overrun risks. Chan et al. (1997), examined the principal and common causes of delays which leads to cost overrun in Hong Kong construction projects. The study identified the following factors (1) Poor site management and supervision, (2) unforeseen ground conditions, (3) low speed of decision making by project teams, (4) client-initiated variations and (5)necessary variations of work, as major cause of delay. Flybjerg et.al. (2003), pointed out to cost estimates as highly, systematically and significantly misleading. According to Flybjerg et al. (2004), the causes for the cost overrun in the construction projects is as follows (1) The length of the project in the implementation phase, (2) the size of the project and (3) the type of project ownership. According investigation carried by Assaf et al. (1995), on causes of delay in high rise building construction projects in Saudi Arabia, the most important causes are found to be as follows (1) Inadequate designs, (2) slow work progress on site, (3) late payment for completed works and (5) design changes by owners. Here from the above investigation it is proven that all these factors are caused by the lapses in human input factor. N R Mansfield et al. (1994), investigated and examined the causes of delay and cost overrun in Nigerian projects. The investigation identified the following factors that are attributed to the overrun are finance and payments arrangements, poor or in experience contracting management, material shortages or excess of the materials, inaccurate estimating, and overall price fluctuations The analysis according to Ram Singh (2009), has shown that there has been significant decline in the time and cost since from early 1980s in India. The investigation shows that major causes for the delays and cost overruns observed in India are deficient project planning process, use of inappropriate procurement contracts and faulty contract management. In regards to project type, the bigger projects are much more vulnerable to cost overruns. Ram Singh also stated that several kinds of organisational-cum-institutional failure also affect greatly to time and cost overruns. The studies conducted by Elinwa et al. (2001) on the relative contribution of human personnel parties to the projects time overruns and cost overruns in Nigerian Construction industry states that the contribution of clients, contractors and others were 62%, 32% and 6%. The study stated that on the government or private sector projects the delays were at 89% with irrespective of project size. The study also identified the important factors of cost overrun and time overrun are mode of financing, payment delays for the completed works, improper planning and project time and cost underestimation. Kaming et al. (1997), examined factors influencing constriction delays (time overrun) and cost escalations, in Indonesian cities. They identified project cost underestimation and project complexity as the main causes of project delays and cost overruns. Chan and KumaraSwamy had conducted a survey on the factors causing the delays in Hong Kong construction projects and had classified them into two groups: (1) the role of the parties in the local construction industry (whether client, consultant or contractor) and (2) the type of projects. The result shows that five major causes for the delays and cost overrun were poor site management and supervision, unforeseen ground condition, low speed of decision making involving all project teams, client initiated variations and necessary variation of work. Cost underestimation is the one of the main factors for the cost overrun in construction projects. According to the Flyvbjerg, (2003), the cost underestimation exists across 2 nations and 5 continents and it is global phenomenon. The explanation for the cost underestimation is in four types. Technical Psychological Economic Political Technical Explanation: Most studies in infrastructure projects that compare actual cost at the completion of the project and estimated cost at the initial contract explain as Forecasting Error in technical terms such as imperfect techniques, inadequate data, honest mistakes, inherent problems in predicting the future, lack of experience on the part of forecast, etc,. [Flyvbjerg, 2003]. Psychological Explanation: Psychological explanations attempts to explain biases in forecasts by a bias in the mental makeup of the project promoters and forecasters. Politicians may have a Monument Complex engineers like build things, and local transportation officials sometimes have the mentality of empire builders in building roads, railways and bridges. The most common psychological explanation is probably â€Å"appraisal optimism†. According to this explanation, promoters and forecasters are held to be overly optimistic about the project outcomes in the appraisal phase, when the projects are planned and decided. [coated in Flyvbjerg, 2003]. Political Explanation: Political explanations construe cost underestimation in terms of interests and power (Flyvbjerg, 1998). According to Flyvbjerg, 2003, one of the key questions for political explanations is whether forecasts are intentionally biased to serve the interests of project promoters in getting projects started. Cost estimation cannot be explained by the errors and seems to best explained by strategic misrepresentation i.e., lying. These questions of lying are notoriously hard to answer. For legal, economic, moral and other reasons, if promoters and forecasters have intentionally fabricated a deceptive cost estimate for a project to get it started, they are unlikely to tell the researchers and others that this is the case. Economical Explanation: Economic explanations say that cost underestimation in terms of economic rationality. Flyvbjerg, 2003, in his journal stated that there exist two types of economic explanation. One explains in terms of economic self-interest, the other in terms of public interest. In case of the economic self -interest, during the process of the project it creates the work for the engineers and construction firms, and many stakeholders who are directly or indirectly attached with the project make money. These stakeholders in directly involved in would influence the forecasting process of the project, which in turn influence the outcomes the ways that make it more likely that the project will be built. Stakeholders would likely increase in their revenues and profit by having the cost underestimation and benefits over estimation which would be economically rational for such type of stake holders. In case of the second term public interest, project promoters and forecasters may intensively underestimate cost in order to provide public officials with an incentive to cut costs and thereby to save the publics money. According to this type of explanation, the more cost estimate is the incentive of the wasteful contracts to spend more of the tax payers money. Hence the both types of the economic explanation account well for the systematic underestimation of the costs. Several researchers on the subject of construction cost overruns have come out with significant findings that factors that leads to time overrun (construction delays), will eventually leads to cost overrun. From the above literature it is also found that the size of the construction project is also one of the main reasons which influence the cost overrun. The researchers stated that the main factor leading to delays have been always studied alongside those leading to cost overrun. 2.3 Cost overrun in India Background Cost overrun is becoming common in infrastructure projects. Through the various analyses it is found that the time delay and the cost overrun are the main reasons for the poor project performance. Morris and Hough found 63% of 1778 different types of projects funded by the World Bank between 1974 and 1988, experienced significant cost overrun. kamrul Ahsan and Indra Gunawan, (2008), in studies conducted on the time and cost performances in Asian countries had found out only few projects i.e. 13% are completed within time and budgeted cost. In contrast more projects are time delay and cost over run on an average amount of over spending U.S. $73million, i.e. 22% average planned cost. The case study conducted by the Standish group (2004) for IT projects the has found that the average cost overrun was 43%, 71% of projects were over budget, over time and under scope and the total waste was estimated at U.S. $5 billion per year in U.S.A alone. In-accuracy in cost estimates is also one of t he main factors for the cost overrun in the construction projects. According Flyvbjerg (2002), the under estimation of costs in construction were almost 9 out 10 projects. For randomly selected projects, the likelihood of actual costs being larger than estimated cost is 86%. The likelihood of the actual costs for the construction projects is being lower than or equal to estimated cost is 14%. The actual cost of the projects on average is 28% higher than the estimated cost. The best example for the above case is Suez Canal was constructed at costs three times of the estimated cost with 1,900 percent (Flyvbjerg et al, 2002). The Kakkad hydro -electric projct could be commissioned in time in 1986 itself, 8 years after its construction started. Accounting for general price inflation during this period , thecapital cost of this project by 1986 would be atmost only rs 39.66 crores, savings as much as Rs. 113.86 crores, almost enough to construct 3 more similar plant, or to add to the syst em capacity y another 140 MW at the nominal cost of Kakkad project in Kerala (Kannan and pillai 2001). The ultimate motive in undertaking the project is to make profit. These profits may be measured in different ways and the most familiar profit is money. The goals of the others in making the project may be to make work, to improve living standards, in produce of the products to the others who require it or in scarce, to obtain votes for the political carrier and many others. The ultimate result should be the positive outcome during the construction of the project or in the life of the project. Every project has to undergo several stages starting from the planning of the project, approval, awarding the project to the actual construction and so on. The project life cycle has been divided into three phases they are development phase, construction phase, and operation and maintenance phase. For every project during the development phase the project authority will approves the time and funds needed for the completion of the project. Then after the approval of the project the construction phase will start with the signing of a contract between the sponsoring department and the contractor. Generally the contractor of the project will be selected through the tender or bidding process. For some projects contractor will be for only procurement process. During the construction phase it is very important for the timely completion of the project, so there should be the active cooperation between the sponsoring authority, the contractor and other departments. The project success i.e. wh ether the project can be delivered on time and on cost depends on how well all the activities of the projects, departments of the projects and individuals concerned are coordinated. The failures among the contractor activities will cause delays in the project and cost overruns. For the ease of exposition, it is helpful to divide the set of possible causes in the following subgroups (Ram Sing, 2009). 2.3.1. Technical and Natural Factors: It is a complex problem for the estimation of the time and cost for an infrastructure projects, though the techniques for the estimation have been sophisticated there are many imperfect estimations. The contractors and the authorities of the project will better understand about the materials requirement and the necessary changes in the project as the work on the project starts. For example, during the construction phase of the road project, an unexpectedly poor quality of soil may make the changes in the design and quality of the bitumen, from what was initially planned. Because such changes the project may require extra time as well as funds. But in some cases the sudden changes may turn in favor of the project and the parties may find the excessive funds and time. Similarly natural factors like floods and so on also impact the cost and time and as well as destroy the project assets. The natural factors also make favorable conditions in saving the construction time and cost. However , one would expect the effects of the technical and natural factors to be random without any bias. Also form the above discussions the time delay and cost overrun is expected to come down over the years. Therefore if the decline in the time delay and cost overrun is expected to be statistically significant, we attribute the decline to the technical and natural constraints. Time and cost overrun. Hence, the Design changes, unforeseen geological and weather condition during the construction phase are the major causes of the cost overrun. (Ram Singh, 2009) 2.3.2 The Contractual Failures. As explained earlier the contractor enters the project mostly through bidding in implementation or construction phase by signing the contract with the sponsoring department. Thus for a project to be successful, mostly depends on the implementation of the activities by contractor and the joint and timely efforts of the sponsoring authority and the contractor(s). The actual initial construction or procurement contract is signed between the employer and the contractor is on a particular date. The contract agreement specifies the activities that are performed and delivery of the goods at the project execution by the contractor. In general, contract known as â€Å"complete-contingent-contracts which can ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget. These types of contracts are assumed to give the each and every detail of the activities that are performed by the contractor in each possible case during the construction phase. But in real case scenario, however, this is di fficult to explain the every work which unfolds in construction phase during the initial phase of the contract. Moreover it does not explain the complete every relevant aspect of the project activities. The bounded relationship of the parties along with the technological constraints makes the contract very difficult in specifying the every aspect of the project till last detail, this is because of the nature of different states require different modifications in the assets to be built. This happens commonly for the contracts of the infrastructure projects because of its complex nature of the activities. Therefore the procurement contracts of the infrastructure projects will be incomplete nature. The need for the future works arises once when the contractors starts the work. For example, on a railway project it may be necessary to have more of manned-crossings or railway-over-bridges than were planned initially. These unplanned additional works requires more funds and also in some ca ses it takes more time. Therefore, from the above discussion the contract incompleteness is also a cause of the cost overrun in some cases. This contractual incompleteness increases with the increase in the project size. Bigger the project size the complexity also increases. As the complexity of the project increases it is very difficult to provide the each every detail in the initial contract. However the initial contract should be kept with less incomplete. A proper planning for the technical, materials and the activities aspects of the project can enable the parties involved in the project to make the detail initial contract properly and once the proper detailed initial contract is made the contractor may have the scope to make some allowance for the future works by keeping the initial contract with less incomplete. In contrast, the poor planning may lead to the bad estimation of the time and cost and so will be the initial contract. The process of project planning in India is in famous for its ad-hoc and lackadaisical approach. The detailed project reports and feasibility are prepared for the formality purpose and hence they are sloppy. This leads to the incomplete initial contract for the infrastructure projects. Thus this leads to sever problems for the complex projects, because, a lackadaisical planning will produces only sketchy estimates of time and cost. So, in these cases the initial contracts for the complex projects will inevitably omit many more detailed works of the project, which leads in cost overrun in the construction phase of the project. Neither the contractors nor the officials find these contracts are lack of details. From this the major cause which is leading to cost overrun in India is because of the contractual failures caused by the poor contracting processes and inferior project planning (Ram Singh, 2009). The example for the faulty planning techniques and construction made the cost and time overrun of the project in the Kerala state hydro project in kakkad where the leakage in the tunnel had costs the project extra 15 Lacks to repair the damage.( Kannan and pillai 2001). 2.3.3 Organizational failures: As discussed from the above literature, for the successful completion of the infrastructure i.e. timely and efficient execution the project should have active participation of the all parties involved in the projects and as well as among various ministries. However, the government sector projects are inherently weak in the desired efforts from the people involved in the projects. There will be conflicts at each and every stage of the project with the individual and the social objectives. The wages and rewards given by the government for the working organization are not as effective from the view point as a motivation. Therefore, the government infrastructure projects have to face many sources of failures within the organization. These projects mostly in need of the several other organizations joint effort. In India different departments are responsible for different projects. For example, project implementation of power lines, water lines, sewer lines and environmental clearances and other such activities are performed by the different departments. Execution of the activities is highly dependent on the timely and joint efforts of the department. However the interdependence of efforts is that it will be easy for one department to pass the blame on others. So the infrastructure projects particularly India is vulnerable to these inter-organizational failures. In the project implementation stage as explained earlier several departments were involved in performing there concerned role. After all, the activities like land acquisition, shifting of utilities, etc., are performed by the state government. This says that if the project is span across more than one state, the project has deal with particular department in each state. Therefore the project which is spanning more than one state will have more chances to inter-organizational failures. If these projects are statistically causes the delay in time and cost overrun, then the project which are spanning across mult iple states should experience the cost overrun and time delay. Most construction projects in government sector are Roads, Rail ways and urban development sector. The projects should need permission from the central and state government for the environmental clearance. When compared other sectors, these projects require more active cooperation of the several departments such as land acquisition, shifting of power lines, water lines, sewer lines etc. Hence the projects in these sectors are having more chances of the organizational failure. Thus projects in road, rail ways and urban development sectors will exhibits more time delays and cost overrun (Ram Singh, 2009). Kannan and Pillai 2001, in their studies on the cost and time overrun in Kerala Projects suggested that main cause of the cost overrun is due to the human resource management and labours strike. According to the Auti, et,al. (2008), there has been several changes which should be made to the quality and standards, personal interests, low transparency and corruption . This also suggests that changes should be made in government policy and the way public sector projects are carried out. 2.3.4 Economic Factors: In India the projects are located in some states and the economy of the state also impacts the cost overrun of the projects. That is the states having the good transportation facilities, power and telecommunication infrastructure to easily execute the project. This shows that project with more economic factors like good infrastructure will face less cost overrun and time delays and vice versa. The income level of the state will also affect the project cost and time (Ram Singh, 2009). 2.3.5 Inflation: The inflation is defined as the rate of increase in the price level of the materials than they are in an economy (Adamson, 1996). Thus because of the inflation the materials cost will be increased than they during the initial contract, thus increases the estimated cost of the project. The affect inflation may cause the loss in profit to the contractor and project overrun cost to the project sponsor by the nature of process and the return of the work undertaken during the construction process. For example the kakkad(Kerala, India), hydro electric plant which has the time overrun 13 years as in 1999, when it was finally commissioned, the cost escalation of this project was 725 percent over the above estimates i.e. 8 times more than the actual cost the author says the cost escalation of this project is because of the price inflation(Kannan and pillai 2001 ). 2.3.6 Quality of the materials The low quality materials cause higher construction costs than expected because of lack of standards in the materials. This results in the loss of materials and poor management system (Thungphanich, 1997). 2.3.7. Shortage in materials Shortages in basic materials like sand, cement, stones, iron and brick causes major delay in the construction. The non availability of the machinery at the right of the construction process is also major cause for the delay in the construction. The following table shows that the various sectors which went the time overrun and cost overrun in India. These are the delays and the cost overrun during the years April 1992- September 208 S. No. 2 SECTORS 3 Total no. of projects completed 4 % of projects with Time overrun 5 % Time overrun (as % of implementation phase) 6 % of projects with Cost overrun 7 Cost overrun as a %age of initial cost of all projects 8 % Projects with cost but not time overrun 1 Atomic Energy 11 90.91 84 27.27 84 09 2 Civil Aviation 43 90.70 60 41.86 -01 00 3 Coal 92 60.87 28 22.83 -17 03 4 Finance 1 100.00 303 100.00 133 00 5 Fertilizers 16 62.50 25 25.00 00 13 6 I B 7 100.00 190 42.86 09 00 7 Mines 5 80.00 45 0.00 -26 00 8 Steel 41 80.49 51 19.51 49 05 9 Petrochemicals 3 100.00 74 33.33 14 00 10 Petroleum 119 78.99 33 20.17 -11 03 11 Power 101 62.38 41 47.52 26 05 12 Health and Family Welfare 2 100.00 228 100.00 265 00 13 Railways 120 98.33 83 83.33 84 00 14 Road Transport 147 86.39 47 53.74 08 05 15 Shipping and ports 60 95.00 78 30.00 01 02 16 Telecommunication 60 90.00 109 16.67 -55 00 17 Urban Development 22 100.00 54 40.91 99 00 Total/Overall projects 850 82.35 56 41.06 21 03 Source: Ram Singh, 2009. 2.4. Measures for the cost overrun 2.4.1. Cost Estimates: For any project the most important aspect in order to meet the funds of the project is the cost estimation. Small misleading in the cost estimation will lead to the project cost overrun or under run. Kerzer (2006) have explained about the factors which are affecting the process of the estimation and which results in the faulty estimation for the construction. The factors such as Misinterpretation of statement of the works, Omission or improperly defined scope, poorly defined or overly optimistic schedule, inaccurate work break down structure, applying improper skill levels to tasks, failure to account of risks, failure to understand or account for cost escalation and inflation, failure to use correct estimating technique. The important aspect to be considered is that many of the above factors which are affecting the cost estimation of the construction cannot be found until and unless the cost control system is implemented within the project. Kerzer (2006) also explained various types of measures in estimating and their accuracy in the cost overrun, they are as follows. (1) Order -of-magnitude estimates: There is no necessary of any engineering data for these types of estimates. Hence they are prepared without any engineering data and mostly they are based on the past experience. The accuracy

Food Technology Essay

Let’s remember 1The key stages of the technology process are designing, producing and evaluating. 2A design situation is a scenario, situation or context. It sets the scene for a designer. A design brief is a statement that presents a task or problem to be solved as it relates to the design situation. 3It is important to analyse the design brief to ensure that the designer understands what is required of them and so that they can develop a criteria for success. 4It is essential to know the criteria for success before undertaking a design process so that a designer can refer back to these criteria during the design process and ensure that they are on track and making correct decisions. It is essential to know the constraints before undertaking a design project so that a designer stays within the boundaries of the project, particularly in terms of cost and schedule. 5Some methods of research and investigation that designers use may include: inspiration boards, interviews, the Internet, surveys, experiments, observations, textbooks, encyclopaedias, magazines and TV programs. 6Primary sources of information are original documents. Some examples of primary sources are interview responses, survey responses, observations or original documents. Secondary sources of information are collected from existing documents and might include textbooks, magazines, TV programs and Internet searches. 7Designers sometimes produce simple sketches of their ideas to ensure that they remember all of the details that they generated during the research and exploration stages. Their diagrams might be accompanied by labels that list materials, colours, size and other details. 8Designers will usually come up with more than one option for the design solution to ensure that the most creative and innovative solution possible is found, rather than just the first and most obvious idea. 9The best design option is selected by evaluating each idea against the original brief, the criteria for success and any constraints. 10Evaluation is an important part of the technology process as it helps the designer to make decisions about the design and the development of the solution. Evaluation also helps the designer to judge the success of the final result. 11Food designers may evaluate their food product solutions by performing a sensory evaluation with a panel of taste-testers. 1. 2 Factors influencing design Case study: Red Lantern 1The two factors that Mark Jensen of Red Lantern considers important when judging the success of a restaurant are limiting the restaurant’s impact on the environment and using organic and ethically sound produce. 2Some of the produce chosen for the menu at Red Lantern includes organic vegetables and herbs, line-caught fish, organic and free-range poultry, free-range pork. 3According to Mark, some benefits of using organic and free-range products include that they are free from pesticides and taste better. 4Pesticides used in farming contaminate the soil and the water table and are therefore harmful to the environment. 5Net fishing is a problem for marine ecology because of the amount of bycatch. Bycatch is a term given to the tonnes of marine animals caught in nets and killed every year. The bycatch is then discarded into the ocean because they are perceived to have no economic value. 6Energy use is being reduced at Red Lantern by using sustainable technologies such as energy-efficient equipment and light globes. Water consumption is reduced by replacing common wok stations that rely on a constant flow of water with a new type of wok system which stops water from being lost down the drain. 7Waste is managed at Red Lantern by using specially marked glass, plastic, cardboard and paper recycling bins. Vegetable waste is placed in compost bins. Let’s remember. 1The factors that may influence the development and production of a solution to a brief include: function, aesthetics, human form, scale, ergonomics, ethics, environmental issues, legislation, cost, sociocultural sensitivity, resource availability, physical and material properties and safety. 2Ergonomics relates to the human form. An ergonomic solution must be comfortable and safe to use without causing strain or injury to the user. 3The word sustainable means renewable or maintainable. A sustainable resource can be maintained at a certain level without causing damage to the environment. 4Organic foods are grown without the use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides. 1. 3 Innovation and emerging technologies Case study: Molecular gastronomy 1Molecular gastronomy is a term used to describe the application of science and technology to cooking. 2Some methods used to change ingredients into new foods are: drying, liquefying, gassing and freezing. 3Chefs of molecular gastronomy are successful in creating new food combinations and textures by first understanding the chemistry of food and flavour. 4Answers will vary. Let’s remember 1Some advantages of having an Internet refrigerator are: keeping track of what is stored in it, recording how long food has been in the fridge, having a built in video camera to leave video memos, being able to watch television or listen to online music while cooking. 2Reasons for putting a computer in a refrigerator may include: the kitchen is the source of action in many homes and is therefore a logical place for a computer; the refrigerator is always plugged in and switched on so it makes sense to include a computer. 3Nanotechnology is a new or emerging technology that refers to substances at the atomic and molecular level (that is, very, very small things). 4Nanotechnology will make the following possible: aIncrease the nutritional claims of particular foods by fortifying foods with hidden nutrients and vitamins. bIncrease the shelf-life of food by creating an invisible, edible, nano-wrapper that will cover foods, preventing gas and moisture exchange. cReduce allergic reactions in individuals by blocking the ingredient that causes the allergy. dReduce diet related diseases by programming smart packaging to release extra nutrients to people with deficiencies. eReduce food spoilage by allowing the development of special ‘smart packaging’ that releases nano-anti-microbes when it detects food spoilage. 1. 4 Design this! Case study: Urban Graze Cooking School 1Tarrah Laidman and Joel Owen started Urban Graze cooking school in August 2006. 2Students experience a range of high-quality food experiences in a fun and relaxed environment during an Urban Graze cooking lesson. Students are taught with a hands-on approach and work towards making dishes for the end-of-class group meal, which is eaten together at the dining table. 3Ingredients are selected for a class by considering what is in season and what is available. Local produce is used where possible and Tarrah and Joel try to include new food trends in their ingredient selection. 4At Urban Graze, each class begins with a brief occupational health and safety talk and an orientation of the equipment and facilities. A description of the class is given with an overview of each recipe. Demonstrations are given to the whole class as well as individual attention. At the completion of the class, food is shared around the dining table. 5Tarrah and Joel try to always use locally sourced ingredients and equipment. They grow some of their own vegetables and herbs. Case study: Veronica Cuskelly – recipe designer 1Veronica Cuskelly had had many roles: home economist, food consultant, recipe developer and cookbook author. 2The team creating a recipe may include a client, recipe developer, nutritionist, food stylist and photographer. 3A team approach refers to working together and sharing ideas. It requires clear and positive communication. It is important so that the recipe developer has a good understanding of the various elements of the brief. 4The essential elements included in a brief to create a new recipe may include: target market, specific produce to be used, maximum or minimum number of ingredients, steps or utensils to be used, preparation time allowed, cooking times, cost per serve, style in which the recipe is to be written and dietary requirements. 5The reason for establishing clear and positive communication between the client and the recipe developer is to ensure that all essential information is given and any difficulties or problems that may arise can be resolved easily. 6At the beginning of a project, the type of pre-work that Veronica undertakes may include research and information gathering, tasting food samples, looking at other similar recipes, speaking with a nutritionist and looking at current dietary guidelines. 7Recipe progress is checked and evaluated in different ways: submitting concepts to the client for approval; developing the approved recipe; testing three times; taste-testing sessions; modification as necessary and writing up the final, approved recipe. 8The essential components of a recipe that need to be tested and recorded are as follows: ingredients, quantities, steps or methods used, temperatures, equipment, timings. Let’s remember 1The three key areas of study in the Technology course are: built environments, products, information and communications. 2Ideas for a design project come from real-life situations. 3The steps for solving a design project are: a. Design (design situation, design brief, analysis, research, ideas) b. Produce c. Evaluate 4The success of a design project is decided by evaluating it against the design brief and the criteria for success. 5Ways of gathering information to help solve a brief may include: conducting surveys, interviewing relevant people, reading books, magazines or articles on the Internet, conducting focus groups or taste-tests.

The Controversy Over the Death Penalty Essay - 907 Words

The Controversy Over the Death Penalty Why is the death penalty used as a means of punishment for crime? Is this just a way to solve the nations growing problem of overcrowded prisons, or is justice really being served? Why do some view the taking of a life morally correct? These questions are discussed and debated upon in every state and national legislature throughout the country. Advantages and disadvantages for the death penalty exist, and many members of the United States, and individual State governments, have differing opinions. Yet it seems that the stronger arguments, and evidence such as cost effectiveness, should lead the common citizen to the opposition of Capital Punishment. Those who choose to support†¦show more content†¦Keeping a prisoner in jail for life will be very expensive considering that it costs $80,000 a year; and the bad news is that the money comes from the taxpayers pocket. Thousands of people will attack the death penalty. They will give emotional speeches about the one innocent man who might be executed. However, all of these people are forgetting one crucial element. They are forgetting the thousands of victims who die every year. This may sound awkward, but the death penalty saves lives. It saves lives because it stops those who murder from ever murdering again (Bryant). These opinions represent some of the strongest and most influential views that proponents hold. However, if our prison system could rehabilitate more effectively, perhaps those who murdered once, could change. Texas being one of the states within the U.S. that allows Capital Punishment also has one of the largest death rows. Jim Mattox, former Attorney General of Texas, who supported the death penalty during his term of office, does not believe that murderers in Texas are hindered by the death penalty. 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Essay On Corruption In Macbeth - 1109 Words

With Power Comes Corruption â€Å"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.† is a quote from Lord John Dalberg-Acton, explaining that any amount of power can corrupt the mind, but absolute power will take over. This is represented throughout history: in politics, monarchies and times like the french revolution. Many writers have used this theme in their works. One work that includes this theme is William Shakespeares Macbeth. The play Macbeth follows Macbeth, a brave warrior as he gains power from his deeds both good and bad. By killing the Duncan, the former king, Macbeth rises to power and takes control of his country. With every bit of power that the Macbeth’s gain, they become more and more corrupt. Simply†¦show more content†¦Despite their knowledge of whats wrong and right they go along with their plans anyways because of their driving force of corruption and greed. Although Macbeth commits the murder, Lady Macbeth shows that she has just as many dark and corrupt thoughts as him. The one who comes up with the murder plan is Lady Macbeth, directly after she learns about the prophecy. After Macbeth informs her of the king’s overnight stay, Lady Macbeth’s first words are â€Å"O, never/ Shall sun that morrow see!† (1. 5. 67-68) as her plan to kill the king is already being put into motion. If Lady Macbeth had not made the plans Macbeth may not have gone through with the murder. Lady macbeth becomes a driving, manipulative force to Macbeth. She justifies why killing Duncan is good and shames him into committing horrible deeds. When Macbeth tries to refuse she says â€Å"When you durst do it, then you were a man;/ And, to be more than what you were, you would/ Be so much more the man.† (1. 7. 54-56), challenging his masculinity. In the end, Lady Macbeth isnt the only one who’s mind becomes corrupted, she drags Macbeth down with her. Finally, Lady Macbeth pretends that the guilt doesn’t really bother her, she simply tells her husband that he is weak. She tries hide her corruption through lies and by putting Macbeth down, but in the end she falters, realises her guilt and drives herself insane. When Macbeth gains more power, hisShow MoreRelatedMacbeth Corruption Essay1091 Words   |  5 Pagessomething bad enough, the lines between right and wrong tend to blur. In William Shakespeare’s â€Å"Macbeth,† the relationship between ambition and corruption is explored. Firstly, Macbeth’s inability to control his urges to know his fate leads him to listen to The Weird Sister’s prophecies, which eventually causes his unhealthy desire for power. Next, Lady Macbeth’s strong ambition to kill the King leads to a corruption of her mental state and behavioural standards. Lastly, Macbeth’s aspiration to rule ScotlandRead More Corruption and Power in Macbeth Essay754 Words   |  4 Pagesnature. In the drama Macbeth by Willi am Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, becomes corrupt through power that he gains. The play shows that even someone who starts out like Macbeth and does not crave power, will do terrible things to gain authority and power. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The play begins with the characters King Duncan and Malcolm talking about a â€Å"good and hardy soldier† (Act I: ii: 4). This man they are talking about is the stories protagonist, Macbeth. Macbeth is a good soldierRead MoreCorruption and Power in Macbeth Essay775 Words   |  4 Pagespersons nature. In the drama Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, becomes corrupt through power that he gains. The play shows that even someone who starts out like Macbeth and does not crave power, will do terrible things to gain authority and power. The play begins with the characters King Duncan and Malcolm talking about a good and hardy soldier (Act I: ii: 4). This man they are talking about is the stories protagonist, Macbeth. Macbeth is a good soldier who is devotedRead MoreMacbeth Power And Corruption Essay786 Words   |  4 PagesIn the play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare we see how easily power and ambition can corrupt as Macbeth learns of his ‘fate’ to be the next king and, in an effort to speed up the wait commits regicide and murders the king. Macbeth’s turn in the play works well with the Lord Acton quote â€Å"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.† In the beginning of the play we see that Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis and so has power but is also humble, but when the witches tell him he willRead More Corruption and Ambition in Macbeth Essay examples2125 Words   |  9 PagesThe Power of Corruption and Unbridled Ambition in Macbeth Very few producers of art can actually let their works claim the appellation classic. For to create a piece of work - literature, art, or poetry, that stands the test of time, that proves the authors premise relevant not just in the period when he created it, but also in the generations that follow, is not an easy task. The works of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) have, more than once, proved worthy of the title classic. NotRead MoreEssay Power and Corruption in Macbeth by William Shakespeare3354 Words   |  14 Pagesits tragic outcomes, power is a very prominent theme in literature, specifically warning people of the consequences of power. Many authors discuss how power influences people. Throughout every time period, there is some mention of the danger and corruption that comes with power. This topic that comes up again and again is very intriguing. It’s almost as if the lust for power is inborn in humans. Even though these works of fiction try to warn people who pur sue power, they do not listen and choose toRead More powmac Power and Corruption in Macbeth Essay examples1905 Words   |  8 PagesPower and Corruption in Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚   Authority poisons everybody who takes authority upon himself (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin). This could easily be a comment on the story of Macbeth where an apparently respected Scottish couple have the opportunity to seize the highest authority, take it, and in doing so, poison themselves and their country. In Macbeth, the plays theme is the strife created by the wrongful seizure of power and the corruption of morals of those who acquire power by evilRead MoreCharacterization Of Macbeth1276 Words   |  6 Pages But with this answer comes another question: why would Shakespeare name the main character Macbeth when his monarchs were Elizabeth I and James I? What message was he trying to send by using the name of Macbeth, the king of Scotland in 1040? In Jonathan Goldberg’s essay â€Å"Speculations: Macbeth and source† in Jean E Howard’s anthology on Shakespeare, Goldberg explains how the King Duncan in the play is a reflection of the real life Duncan I from Scotland in the 1030s when Scotland was going throughRead MoreMacbeth by William Shakespeare1293 Words   |  5 PagesThe play, â€Å"Macbeth† is one of William Shakespeare’s tragic plays written approximately in 1606. The play centres on Macbeth who is a general in King Duncan’s army. Upon returning from a successful battle, Macbeth is confronted by three witches who claim they know the future. The three witches tell Macbeth that he will be the future King. The events that occur after this encounter between Macbeth and the witches are what makes this play a tragedy. This essay will focus on the treatment of gender inRead MoreMacbeth was doomed by fate or by a flaw in his character.847 Words   |  3 PagesESSAY: In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, it is very controversial whether or not Macbeth was doomed by fate or by a flaw in his character. It could be argued that Macbeth was doomed both by fate and by a flaw in his character. On one hand, the role of the witches influence could be regarded as a major external force that exploited Macbeth s character flaws. However, on the other hand, Macbeth s ambitious nature and greed for power was the flaw in his character that ultimately led to