Contribution to Political Economy of Mass

Question: Examine about the Contribution to Political Economy of Mass. Answer: Presentation: The Manuel Castells is the educator of the urban geology at Berkley who has composed various books which incorporate the topography, city just as the data society. The Castells incorporate the monetary, social, political and the social components where the emphasis is on the space just as the changing jobs of the country state. (Castells, 1990). The social divisions are in the cutting edge urban areas where the general public will in general look at all the particular cases which are identified with the data. Castells center around the mechanical age where the data of the advances is the correspondence and natural variables. The general public will in general stay entrepreneur with the premise where the demonstrations change from the vitality to the data. The financial profitability, just as the correspondence innovation, permit the space with globalization in a significant structure. The key element of the social morphology is for the most part to deal with the tasks just as a focal point of control that would prompt the various leveled advancement. (Castells, 2000a). According to the perspectives on Castell, the force is for the most part in the system economy where the bookkeeping, HR are set with the capacity to arrange the gauges just as spotlight on the venture situated structures. The assets incorporate the representatives, experts just as the undertaking subtleties at the hour of portion of the assignments. The capacity depends on interest in the system alongside deciding the objectives of the system. (Castells, 2000b) The paired procedure is for the consideration and the system prohibition where there is nothing for the system development. Capital and Labor Castell has been concentrating on the data just as the educational guidelines, where the general public will in general spotlight on private enterprise. The system economy with the data is vital for the financial efficiency just as the turn of events. The model is identified with the progression of the capital assets which are set into the monetary forms, the product just as the stocks that depend on the data that is on the applicable themes. The feeling of data relies upon expanded efficiency. (Castells 2001). The contention is mostly on the system activity with the capacity to deal with the objectives just as the commitment to the preparing of work. The work will in general hold the variable geometry of the system with individualization of the work. The time is set for the creation based classes which end when there are laborers with no significant class. The settlement is to deal with the work and reserve the control where the substitution is for the most part by the group and the unremarkable entrepreneur of the system. The vanishing, abuse and the separation procedure stay for the work which is isolated into the framework work. The objectives are set with the systems administration economy where the non-work incorporates the monetary investigation, organization officials just as self-programmable work. The conventional work with the assembling and administration ventures can limit the pay with the significant principles to deal with the switch-off structures. (Garham, 2001). The significant purposes of Castells conceptualisation of self-programmable work; The parts are for the intensity of capital which is set through the educational work. The crossroads of the various systems incorporates the intensity of the outcomes, where Webster center around the regular types of the disparity guidelines through the unreasonable social result. The essential influenced factors are riches, training and the social connections which have been made by work and tended to upon to check how the laborers can deal with the self-programmable components. (Garnham, 2004a). The arranged work is for oneself programming work which incorporates the monetary examination, organization officials, who will in general deal with the data. The adaptability and the abilities are for the interests that match with the system objectives. The nonexclusive work incorporates the various specialists with the characteristic asset, producing just as the administration ventures. This has been for the compatible structures just as dispensable guidelines where the objective is consigned to the class of the switch-off structures. (Castells, 2000b). The ramifications of Castells conceptualisation of self-programmable work in the capacity advancement of a college understudy. There are various outcomes of the instructive work which incorporates the data society just as the immense decent variety of the assignments. The rubric of the data work incorporates the interests and qualities where the laborers are set as a gathering. Webster will in general give the best guide to the stockbrokers, specialists and the writers. The connection is set chiefly in the middle of the occupation just as the data to work in the data age with the entrepreneur method of improvement. It could prompt the force which has been usurped or unused by the systems. (Castells, 2000b). Castells likewise guarantee for the age of the system economy, data that is fundamental for the profitability. The system tasks with the creation based class end where the force is mostly for the business people who have had the option to move and deal with the systems with more prominent control. In this, the work has been separated into the framework, where the principles depend on keeping up the economy just as the better domain. The force is isolated from the political introduction, creation from the utilization or any data from the correspondence. (Castells, 2000b). The requirement is additionally to disarticulate the majority and work on the improvement of the system with legitimate arrangement of the objectives. The space of the progression of the spots is with the social, social and the chronicled groups, where the networks will in general situate and work on the innate personality. The way of life and the position are set downwards to the local and the shared gatherings wher e the system is for the networks to speak to the populace that is in the middle of the hubs of the system. For the creation and the turn of events, there is an appropriate relationship set for the exchanges just as the destabilization procedure which is for the social time just as the mechanical intermittence. Consequently, this could be mostly of the contemporary life measures, where the job is set for the creation, just as data work and private enterprise. The methods of creation and improvement decide the dispersion where the efficiency could without much of a stretch be for the excess creation. The issue by Webster is for the improvement modes which influence the social relations just as the creation models. (Castells, 2000b). The Castells protestations are to the opposite with the innovative turn of events, where the profitability depends on the info and the yield of the vitality just as making it feasible for in giving the framework productivity. Webster will in general decide the creation job just as the capital where the objective of collection is set to decide the relations of property. End The control is on the Castells examination, where the associations are set to draw and look at the estimation of the powers that break down the sway of the country. According to Garnham's, Castell's treatment of efficiency depends on the examination where the data innovation and the reception of the various gauges incorporate the profitability development for the different types of the non-ranch business part. (Castells, 2000a). With this, there has been internationalization of the economy which is fundamental for the data innovation. The bookkeeping strategy is set with the social powers where the effect is on assessment of society just as the creation relations. Reference Castells, M. (1990).The infomational city: A system for social change. Canada: University of Toronto. Castells, M. (2000a). Materials for an exploratory hypothesis of the system society.British Journal of SociologyVol. No. 51 Issue No. 1 (January/March 2000) pp. 5-24. Castells, M. (2000b).The ascent of the system society (second ed.). U.S.: Blackwell Publishing. Castells, M. (2001).The web world. U.K.: Oxford University Press. Friedmann, J. (2004). Perusing Castells: zeitdiagnose and social hypothesis. In F. Webster B. Dimitriou (Eds.),Manuel Castells, Volume III (pp. 152-164). London: Sage Publications. Garnham, N. (2001). Commitment to a political economy of mass-correspondence. In M.G. Durnham D. M. Kellner (Eds.),Media and social studies(pp. 225-252). U.S.: Blackwell Publishing. Garnham, N. (2004a). Data society hypothesis as philosophy. In F. Webster (Ed.),The Information Society Reader. New York: Routledge.

First Time in Church Free Essays

Philosophical establishment 100 February 13, 2013 Reflection Paper #1 The substance of the love is altogether different from the manner in which I am utilized to in Islamic mosques. The clerics began by saying â€Å"We favor ourselves for supplication for the sake of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit† and the group reacted with an Amen, and afterward an individual began to peruse from the book of scriptures. Each time the minister or the individual completed the perusing, individuals said â€Å"The expression of the Lord. We will compose a custom exposition test on First Time in Church or then again any comparative theme just for you Request Now † People continued rehashing what the minister was stating until he began to peruse the Gospel. At the point when he gazed perusing the Gospel, individuals crossed themselves on the temple, the lips and the chest with their thumbs to show that Christ is at the forefront of their thoughts. At that point the minister began to favor the bread and wine, and each individual got the opportunity to drink and eat from them. At that point the minister solicited individuals to give an indication from harmony by welcome individuals who are close to one another truism â€Å"Peace be with you. † At the end, the Priest favored everybody and finished the Mass by advising individuals to go forward and spread the news, and the reaction was â€Å"Thanks be to God. Music was played for more often than not during the mass. The tunes played were in truth extremely lovely to tune in to and consoling. The ensemble was behind the stage, so it was practically outlandish for individuals to see them playing the music, and I think it is how it is simply to forestall any interruption to individuals . I was not in reality sure that the tunes were in English since I didn't comprehend what the group was stating in spite of the fact that I had the notes I was given when I entered the congregation. I really had an awesome involvement with the Catholic Church. In spite of the fact that I was so apprehensive and didn't hope to be stunned by Christianity by any means, there were a few things that I truly preferred and wanted that everybody even non-Christians considered to do as people. At the point when the minister requested that the individuals show harmony and extraordinary one another, everybody checked out him and began to embrace the individual close to him saying â€Å"peace with you†. These three words greatly affect any individual who hears them, and causes him to feel that he is cherished by others and a piece of a network. Albeit nobody most likely knew the other, they were prepared to demonstrate that they are joined in spite of the contrasts between them. There were ordinarily where I was befuddled and didn't comprehend what others were doing. Above all else, I didn't comprehend what everybody was singing nor the words rehashed after the minister. The melodies for reasons unknown didn't sound English by any stretch of the imagination; I wish I could comprehend them since they were truly astounding. Besides, I didn't get the piece of gift the bread and wine. n different words, for what reason would People hold up in line just to get one bit of bread to eat? What is so exceptional about it? Additionally, while getting the bit of bread, the minister was holding people’s heads and rehashing a few words, and afterward they crossed on their heads and chests, for what reason is that and what precisely did the cleric state? Finally, when individuals were on out of the congregation, they submerged thei r fingers in the water in the little wellspring before the exit and crossed again on their head and chest. I didn't have the foggiest idea why individuals did that particularly nothing appeared to be interesting in the water. After everybody was gone, my companions and I met the pioneer of the mass. Truly, I don't have the foggiest idea what his name was nevertheless he was such a pleasant individual. The garments he was wearing helped me to recognize which one was the minister among the individuals even before the mass began. I anticipated that the cleric should be wearing a dark dress since this is the thing that I had seen ministers wearing, however this cleric was wearing a white dress and another green dress above it to particular him from the others. Incredibly, he was not wearing any cap like most ministers in different places of worship do, which is somewhat unusual in light of the fact that I thought all clerics wear caps. He was extremely pleasant and invited us to ask him any inquiry him we had as a main priority. His wide meaning of elegance was â€Å"the undeserved love of God. ’’ It is the benevolence from God we don't merit; there is nothing we have done, nor can ever help to gain out. From meeting two of my Christian companions, the two of them characterized effortlessness as the kindness that God provided for mankind by sending Jesus Christ to bite the dust on a cross, and conveying interminable salvation. At last, I was unable to ask the minister numerous inquiries since he appeared to be occupied, and I really was so anxious to prop the talking up. Rather, I simply solicit one from my companions to educate me regarding his involvement in how god’s effortlessness has changed his live. He said that God’s beauty has helped him feel such a great amount of better about himself and caused him to feel solid, sure, and upbeat. He said that he generally confided in god at whatever point he experienced difficulties, and his life was changed fundamentally. He didn't have the foggiest idea how precisely he beats his difficulties and melancholy, yet accepted that god’s love and force consistently helped him. The most effective method to refer to First Time in Church, Essays

U.s. jails today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

U.s. imprisons today - Essay Example Figure 1 outlines how far the US-detainee rate than those of other created countries.â PEW evaluated that in 2008 2,319,258 of the US populace are imprisoned (7). These insights are extremely distant from those of China, one of the most populated nations on the planet. China’s imprisoned rate is assessed to be at 1.5 million of their populace just (Hutchins 1).             According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the proportion of detainees per 100,000 people of the US populace developed from 193 out of 1995 to 259 of every 2007. By and large, 15,502 resting beds were included prisons during the previous a year in 2007. The extra beds summarized an all out appraised limit of 813,502 beds and in 2007, 96% of these beds were at that point utilized and occupied by prisoners (Bureau of Justice Statistics, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/jails.htm). To keep up such overpowering number of detainees, remedial offices, polices, and care groups ought to likewise be at standard with the quantity of detainees. With the fast developing populace of detainees in the US, use in prisons, remedy, bolster offices, and others are likewise expanding drastically.       According to the figure above, there has been a humungous increment in the consumption of the criminal-equity capacities. In the police work there had been an expanded of 396% from the normal use of 1982 to the normal use in 2005. Concerning remedial and legal costs, a similar pattern happened with the police capacities. Both remedial and legal costs in 2005 had an expansion of 619% and 474%, individually, from its qualities in 1982.       To oblige a typical prisoner, a normal of $23,876 every year is required (PEW, 11). This figure depends on 2005 insights. Additionally, states use per detainee differs with Rhode Island with $44, 860 spending on the highest point of

Impediments Against Cosmopolitanism Research Assignment - 550 Words

Impediments Against Cosmopolitanism Research Assignment (Essay Sample) Content: CosmopolitanismStudents NameInstitution AffiliationCosmopolitanism is an ideology citing that all people in the world belong to one community; this ideology is based on the context of a shared morality among human beings. The proponents of this ideology are usually referred to as cosmopolites. Kwame Anthony defines cosmopolitanism as universality plus difference (Appiah, 2006). A community which is cosmopolitan is bound by a shared political structure or an inclusive morality that is envisaged in many countries or nations. A cosmopolitan community is composed of individuals originating from diverse backgrounds that exist cordially and develop relationships founded on mutual respect. Individuals can originate from different political class, religious beliefs, and physical locations. Despite the individuals having different social beliefs, they come together and form mutual relationships with respect for everyones uniqueness (Appiah, 2006). These relationships can be be tween communities, nations, and states. All cities and localities hosting people from different cultures who live mutually are referred to as cosmopolitan towns or cities. Cosmopolitanism can be viewed as a global politics which project a sociality comprised of a strong political engagement existing among all individuals globally, the sociality can also be ethnically or socially superior over other forms of social engagements.Kwame supports cosmopolitanism through the assertions that cultures are respected not merely because they are important but because people matter and the cultures matter to people (Appiah, 2006). Cosmopolitanism is not merely a theory; it exists practically on the globe with new modern technology such as transportation and communication technologies fostering cosmopolitan lifestyles. These technologies enable the citizens of individual countries to become embodied in the global ethos through communication and ease of interactions brought about by new technologi es (Appiah, 2006). kwame in his book introduced two ideas supporting cosmopolitanism, kwame cited that individuals have obligations bigger than just belonging and sharing a nationality. Kwame also cites that people should never take for granted the value of life and thus strive to be informed about the beliefs and cultures of others. The above ideas are intertwined in the notion of cosmopolitanism. Despite the cultural and background differences, these people coexist peacefully and relate mutually to one another (Appiah, 2006). The peaceful existence of people from different walks of life in major cities in the world such as Dubai presents a perfect example of the existence of cosmopolitanism in the world. Philosophers cited that people in their everyday lives always developed relationships with other people, such relationships between people and total strangers is not bound by any written laws and thus suggest that all people globally belong to one community . The ease of making n ew relationships and establishing connections with people from other cultures and nations suggest that all human beings in the world belong to the same community thus explaining cosmopolitanism.There exist critics who are impediments against cosmopolitanism. The critics cite that cosmopolitanism is impossible and meaningless without encompassing in it the context of world-state. Critics further suggest that it is impossible to alter the current state of the worlds political landscape to form a global federation of st...

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Revolution the Cost of Frances Liberty - 863 Words

Indifferent rulers and overindulgent spending left France in severe debt. Civilians were starved of both food and hope, yet nobles enjoyed a pleasant lifestyle within the comfort of Versailles. Revolted by this injustice, the common people of France rebelled and fought for equality, giving birth to the French Revolution of 1789. This period is often characterized as needlessly violent, as gruesome events such as the Reign of Terror took place, in addition to many executions and riots. Despite the excessive bloodshed that dominated the era, the French Revolution’s violence was not in vain, for the legacy of the revolution has ignited scores of independence movements in its wake and inspired new ideologies that continue to shape the modern†¦show more content†¦The constant bloodshed brought attention to the struggles of the poor, forcing French officials to reform their government using concepts that have inspired future nations. In addition to influencing the ideologie s of many countries, the radical ideals of the French revolutionaries motivated the lower classes of other countries to take their own initiatives, seeking independence from their oppressive rulers. While the French rebels failed to find guns in the Bastille, its destruction served as a symbolic victory for the people. To the French, the ruins of the Bastille represented not only the people’s first victory, but also the promise that the lower class would be able to triumph over their tyrannical superiors. A painting titled The Demolition of the Bastille accurately depicts the event as such, as one can see that even ordinary people contributed towards the cause of the revolution (Doc. 2). Events like the destruction of the Bastille ignited a will to revolt throughout the world, specifically within Latin America and areas France occupied. According to an essay titled Revolutionary Legacies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, this chain of revolutions began in Mexico in 1 810 and soon sparked into Central and South America in 1820 (Doc. 9). While the French Revolution did not wholly inspire them, the new revolutions emulated the radically liberal ideas of it. The Revolution of 1789 presented the world with an example of a successfulShow MoreRelatedThe French Revolution Explain the Significance of the Person, Event or Concept in Modern History Within the Time Period 1780-1914.1421 Words   |  6 PagesAlfred Cobban stats in his text, In Search for Humanity, that, â€Å"The consequences of the Revolution were so momentous for Europe at the time, and for the whole world subsequently, that it has cast a shadow over the whole of modern history.† The French Revolution brought about significant changes in society and government of France. 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Tassal Salmon Farming Samples for Students †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss aboout the Tassal Salmon Farming In Australia. Answer: Introduction Tassal is one of the worlds largest salmon producers, and Tasmanias largest employer. The company embarked on Tassal faming in 1986, and has since grown to take a significant chunk of the international salmon market. Tassal is short for Tasmania Salmon, and its history is largely analogous to that of the Australian salmon industry. Since the first salmon were imported form Nova Scotia, Canada, Tassal has grown into one of the most reputable companies as far as fish farming is concerned. The company has enjoyed both organic and inorganic growth. Through its own funds, it has been able to expand and open offices across Australia and New Zealand, and acquire a loyal following across Asia. It has also acquired other related companies as it seeks to enter new markets and industries, an example of this being the De Costi Seafood, an acquisition which was completed in 2015 (Tassal, 2017). Tassal has won acclaim over several of its functions, including marketing, quality assurance and environmental sustainability. In 2013 for instance, it was the recipient of the prestigious Marketing Excellence Award, which is given to companies which have been able to utilize marketing professionally and efficiently. It has been lauded for its environmental sustainability efforts. In 2014 for instance, it was benchmarked as the global leader in salmon farming, in the areas of corporate, social and environmental reporting. This is reporting which is not only focused on the financial sustainability of the company, but also its social and environmental fortunes, and how its activities bring a positive impact to the society. Other awards have been given for sustainability in business, and more importantly, for innovation (Tassal, 2017). Overfishing is one of the most important issues facing the fishing industry in the world. It has been established that though overfishing, particular species of fish have become endangered. The Atlantic salmon has featured in this list, especially due to the actions of giant fish trawlers in the North Atlantic, off the Canadian coast. However, the species have found a lifeline through the practice of commercial fish farms. The practice is prevalent not only in Australia, but also in Canada, the United States, and other countries within which the ideal rearing conditions exist r can be recreated. In this respect, companies such as Tassal play an extremely important role in environmental conversation. At the same time, pressure groups such as the Sustainable Seafood Movement have supported commercial farms activities since they ensure that dependence on wild species is minimized (Kotler Keller, 2012; Saikia, 2014). The industry Over the years, Australia has established itself as the premier source of seafood for the wider Australasian region. This is driven on by high quality, and the availability of a unique type of salmon which is not found anywhere else in the region. Besides Tassal, other companies in Australia have also attained the globally accepted standards of high quality processing standards. The industry is very well positioned to lead the market both in the region and internationally. The Australian aquaculture industry is in for a good run due to international and domestic trends regarding seafood. The Food and Agriculture organization, FAO, has predicted that by 2021, more than half of all fish consumed globally will be produced in farms, as opposed to wild fishing. There is an increase in the appetite for seafood both locally and internationally too. It has been reported, for instance, that local demand for salmon outstrips supply, meaning that the industry is likely to be lucrative for a lon g time to come, as more people become more familiar with salmon and other products of aquaculture (DOA-AU, 2017). The industry has in recent years come under scrutiny due to the feeding practices the industry has in place. Salmon is a carnivorous fish. The companies feed them by catching wild fish and processing it to food for the salmon, in the process meaning that the industry consumes more fish than it produces. Salmon producers may therefore contribute of overfishing, especially of other species that they have no intention of rearing in the farms. To control this, the industry and salmon food manufacturers have come up with initiatives which will still result in a high protein diet for the fish, but using less wild fish as is currently the case. Fish farming also has its own social benefits as well. In Tasmania, it has been established that the popularity of recreational shopping is on the rise. This has correlated with the rise in salmon shipping on the island, as well as in the wider Australia (Tassal, Annual report, 2012). Segmentation, Targeting and positioning Tassal has segmented its market alongside retail and wholesale markets. In Tasmania, salmon eating is as avid as in other parts of Australia, especially given its reputation as the premier salmon farming zone in Australia. Of the retail market that Tassal serves, individuals over 50 years old are the main market. These individuals understand the famous health benefits of the fish better than the young generation, and are therefore willing to include it more in their meals. The wholesale market is targeted by Tassal due to the amount of fish it produces, and due to the strength of this segment in distribution. As a company producing more than 10 million eggs annually (Tassal, 2017), Tassal has an enormous capacity to serve Australian salmon lovers wit enough fish (Leonidou, Katsikeas, Morang, 2013). The Salamanca seafood Company is a division of Tassal enterprises, which operates in mainland Australia and is focused exclusively on wholesale business. The wholesale market in Australia fits the description of an ideal target market perfectly. It is one of the most lucrative segments of the market, being able to absorb must of Tassals group stock. In the financial reports released in 2012, Tassal Limited reported that its attempts to export salmon to other countries had produced highly unfavorable and unpredictable results, meaning that its economic viability is deeply in question. This has required it to redouble its efforts on the local market, where it understands that to successfully meet its growth targets in the future; it needs to focus much more strongly on the mainland wholesale market, and partly explains the decision to deploy Salamanca for this task (Leonidou, Katsikeas, Morang, 2013; Praksis, 2014). In terms of positioning, there are both industry and organizational aspects to Tassals approach. The Australian salmon industry, as has been mentioned before, has been renowned in the region for its attention to high quality. Tassal is no exception, with its business being highly dependent on its reputation for providing the highest quality Atlantic and Norwegian salmon, and even winning numerous awards for it. Another positioning element of Tassal is on sustainable agricultural practices which do not harm the environment. This is an increasingly important issue to many Australians and others around the globe. By showing that fish presented for sale have been reared in the most environmental friendly conditions possible, Tassal shows that it is not merely focused on profits, but for the long-term wellbeing of the community within which it operates (Tassal, Annual report, 2012). Marketing mix and sustainability Product The product that Tassal produces for the market is of high quality, and has been the reason behind its growth over the years. The company has been able to improve its production methods, leading to the annual hatching of more than 11 million new salmon every year. The quality of salmon nutritionally is well documented, with the fish containing the vital amino acids. For this reason, it is highly popular among the older generation (Leonidou, Katsikeas, Morang, 2013)(Ackman, 1996). There are several offerings of salmon which are offered. The fish is offered fresh, smoked, canned, or frozen. Each of these specifications is geared towards specific needs of the people, as well as their distance to the main supply chains. Fresh salmon is typically used for barbeques and specific dishes. It can however only be reliably sold to consumers in or around Tasmania, since it does not have long shelf life. Sliced and smoked salmon on the other hand is an important offering especially to the wholesale market, of which Salamanca is the companys main driver. Canned salmon is targeted at those looking for convenience, such as busy professionals who still love the fish. Lastly, there is frozen, which is still focused on this group, and is designed to be extremely easy to prepare (Ackman, 1996). Due to the different packaging and differentiation of the product, different distribution channels are necessary. Besides the wholesale market, the company is also involved in export and retail. The packaging, and warehousing o the salmon takes place in Tasmania, and the product is either directly shipped to customers for resale, or to local stores which are able to sell the product while it is still fresh. Other considerations include environmental sustainability, quality assurance, and government regulations regarding the safety of food (Folke, Kausky, Troell, 1994). In the whole chain, sustainability is highly regarded. The company has ensured that its production methods are sustainable to the environment, by consistently reducing the amount of wild fish needed to feed the salmon. It has also enabled the decrease in reliance on wild salmon, by rearing the fish n controlled environments. Tassal is also a champion of sustainable aquaculture through the packaging of its fish, which comes with strong advice to dispose of the product wisely(Sprague, Dick, Tocher, 2016). Price Tassals price is meant to reflect its quality and application of state of the art farming practices in its farms, The price is also reflective of the firms target to increase the consumption of salmon in Tasmania and elsewhere, both in and beyond Australia. The pricing strategy adopted by Tassal is a beneficiary of the sustainable and innovative practices it has undertaken in the past. The company has been able to over time, reduce the price it charges for its products, due to increased economies of scale and cost savings generated by innovative methods of production cheaper feed, for instance (Folke, Kausky, Troell, 1994). Tassal appreciated the environmental and health impact of encouraging people to feed more on salmon, and in the process shunning less healthy foods. Feeding more on salmon will mean that the demand for wild fish, salmon or otherwise should decrease. At the same time, the increased appetite for salmon will lead to more revenues, but also a healthier population which eats highly nutritious food at an affordable price (Leonidou, Katsikeas, Morang, 2013; Naylor, 2000). Promotion Tassal has been aggressive in its marketing campaigns. It has sponsored events, and also sought to package its products attractively, drawing attention chiefly to the importance of its health benefits and Tasmanian heritage. Tassal has been successful as well in its online presence. The company has a huge following on social media, where it interacts with its customers, as well as a website which is well updated and lay out. For its efforts, he firm won the marketing excellence award in 2010 (Goi, 2009). In all its advertisements, three things are always clear on the management of Tassal focus on quality of the product, its health benefits, and the environmental impact of its activities. The company has sought, in different promotional avenues, to showcase the importance that Tassal attaches to the environment, and the adoption of sustainable practices in production. These efforts have not gone unnoticed, with the firm being credited for its performance in ensuring that the environment it relies on is not in any way harmed by its activities, which in other cases would be devastating for the environment. Place Tassal has a couple of distribution channels which it mainly uses to get its products to the final consumer. The first of these is Salamanca, which is primarily focused on getting smoked salmon, among other products, to the Australian market. This channel l is both economically and environmentally viable since Salamanca is a wholly owned subsidiary, and is therefore managed along the same sustainability procedures that Tassal is known for. At the same time, The Company distributes its wares locally. This is done so as to ensure fresh fish gets to the dinner plate. This also involves less transportation expenses and requirements, thereby further contributing to sustainability (Shi, Zhang, Qu, 2010; Finch, 1998). Comparisons Due to the important environmental aspects which are in present in salmon farming, however, many companies are mostly focused on the production of salmon. They ensure that is sustainable, and that the best practices are employed. However, unlike Tassal, which has integrated sustainability into all its Ps of the marketing mix, others, such as Huon, have not. In this aspect therefore, the company possesses a clear competitive advantage (Tassal, History, 2017; Huon, 2017). Recommendations Despite the achievements that the company has met sustainability, there still is a great need to ensure that it is fully environmentally sustainable. This will mean that issues such as distribution, and especially, production, are further streamlined. The issue of feeds in particular requires more research to ensure that the company becomes a net producer of protein in the long term. References Ackman, R. (1996). DHA: Can It Benefit Salmon Marketing? Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology , 5 (4), 7.26. DOA-AU. (2017). Aquaculture in Australia. Retrieved 04 26, 2017, from agriculture.gov.au: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/fisheries/aquaculture/aquaculture-industry-in-australia Finch, J. (1998). An option?based approach for pricing perishable services assets. Journal of Services Marketing , 12 (6), 473-483. Folke, C., Kausky, N., Troell, M. (1994). DHA: Can It Benefit Salmon Marketing? Journal of Environmental Managmeent , 40 (2), 173-182. Goi, C. (2009). A revioew of marketing mix: 4 Ps or more? INternational Journal of Marketing Studies , 1 (1), 2-15. Huon. (2017). Home page. Retrieved 04 27, 2017, from www.huonaqua.com.au/: https://www.huonaqua.com.au/ Kotler, P., Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management. London: Pearson. Leonidou, C., Katsikeas, C., Morang, N. (2013). Greening the marketing mix: do firms do it and does it pay off? Journal of the Academy of marketing Science , 41 (2), 151-170. Naylor, R. (2000). Effect of aquaculture on world fish supplies. International Weekly Journal of Science , 405, 1017-1024. Praksis, E. (2014). Looking for Sustainable Solutions in salmon aquaculture. Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics , 8 (1), 22-40. Saikia, S. (2014). Sustainable aquaculture: agro-ecological role of periphyton in ricefish farming. Reviews in Aquaculture , 7 (3), 172186. Shi, J., Zhang, J., Qu, X. (2010). Optimizing distribution strategy for perishable foods using RFiD and sensor technologies. Journal of Business Industrial Marketing , 25 (8), 596-606. Sprague, M., Dick, J., Tocher, D. (2016). Impact of sustainable feeds on omega-3 long-chain fatty acid levels in farmed Atlantic salmon, 20062015. Scientific Reports , published online. Tassal. (2012). Annual report. Tasmania: Tassal Group Limited. Tassal. (2017). History. Retrieved 04 26, 2017, from tassal.com.au: https://www.tassal.com.au/our-history/

The Mirror By Sylvia Plath Essay Example For Students

The Mirror By Sylvia Plath Essay There is a noticeable comparison between the poem The Mirror By Sylvia Plath the article Barbie that appeared in the Newsday Tuesday November 18, 1997. The comparison is about how people look, and how society could reflect how you may feel about your looks. In the poem The Mirror it tells about a lady who dislikes the way she looks. She thinks of herself as being ugly. In the article it tells how Mattel (the makers of Barbie) want to change the looks features of Barbie. The reason for wanting to change the looks is because the makers of Barbie made Barbie to pretty. Compared to normal people. Now being pretty is not a bad thing. But for little girls growing up they may feel like they want to look like Barbie. Barbie is very skinny and has a great face. So little girls may stop eating or doing other things, so they could look like Barbie. But it wont happen, Barbie is a doll. People are real not Barbie dolls. In the poem it shows how the lady wants to be pretty. So the lady takes short cuts to make her self look better to her self. Such as being in a candle lit rooms. But when the lady is in a regular lit room she becomes ugly to her self again. We will write a custom essay on The Mirror By Sylvia Plath specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The reason Mattel is changing the appearance of Barbie is because little girls impact on the way society looks upon them. And this could hurt somones self esteem, and could damage the way someone looks upon ones self. In the poem the girl tries to make her self prettier, by creating artificial pretty ness. But in the end the mirror never lies. The poem the article compare about how the way people look ad feel, and how society has a role on their lives.

Free Essays on Insomnia

Abstract Chronic insomnia is the most common sleep complaint among individuals. The present paper will attempt to discuss the non-pharmacological treatment of insomnia. Specifically, a psychological model will be outlined in forming a comprehensive framework in conceptualizing the onset of insomnia. Moreover, a cognitive model will be reviewed and discussed. The efficacy of cognitive interventions in treating insomnia will be explored. Future implications of non-pharmacological interventions for insomnia will ensue. Insomnia is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders, causing individuals chronic distress as well as impediments in social, interpersonal, and occupational functioning. Drawing on validated cognitive models of the anxiety disorders as well as on theoretical and empirical work emphasizing cognitive processes to insomnia, a cognitive model of the maintenance of insomnia is presented. It has been suggested that individuals who suffer from insomnia tend to be overly worried about their sleep and about the daytime consequences of not getting enough sleep. This excessive negatively toned cognitive activity triggers both autonomic arousal and emotional distress (Walsh, 1999). The cognitive model proposed by (Walsh, 1999) assesses that an anxious state triggers selective attention and monitoring of internal and external sleep-related threat cues. When taken together, this anxious state and the attentional processes triggered by it deceives the individual into exaggerating the extent of the perceived shortage in sleep and daytime performance. Therefore, it is proffered that the negatively toned cognitive activity will be fuelled if a sleep-related threat is encountered. Damaging behaviors such as thought control, imagery control, emotional inhibition, difficulty with problem solving and erroneous beliefs about sleep and the benefits of worry are referred to as exacerbating factors. The ... Free Essays on Insomnia Free Essays on Insomnia Abstract Chronic insomnia is the most common sleep complaint among individuals. The present paper will attempt to discuss the non-pharmacological treatment of insomnia. Specifically, a psychological model will be outlined in forming a comprehensive framework in conceptualizing the onset of insomnia. Moreover, a cognitive model will be reviewed and discussed. The efficacy of cognitive interventions in treating insomnia will be explored. Future implications of non-pharmacological interventions for insomnia will ensue. Insomnia is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders, causing individuals chronic distress as well as impediments in social, interpersonal, and occupational functioning. Drawing on validated cognitive models of the anxiety disorders as well as on theoretical and empirical work emphasizing cognitive processes to insomnia, a cognitive model of the maintenance of insomnia is presented. It has been suggested that individuals who suffer from insomnia tend to be overly worried about their sleep and about the daytime consequences of not getting enough sleep. This excessive negatively toned cognitive activity triggers both autonomic arousal and emotional distress (Walsh, 1999). The cognitive model proposed by (Walsh, 1999) assesses that an anxious state triggers selective attention and monitoring of internal and external sleep-related threat cues. When taken together, this anxious state and the attentional processes triggered by it deceives the individual into exaggerating the extent of the perceived shortage in sleep and daytime performance. Therefore, it is proffered that the negatively toned cognitive activity will be fuelled if a sleep-related threat is encountered. Damaging behaviors such as thought control, imagery control, emotional inhibition, difficulty with problem solving and erroneous beliefs about sleep and the benefits of worry are referred to as exacerbating factors. The ... Free Essays on Insomnia Insomnia Insomnia comes in many forms and worries people of all ages, most commonly for just a night or two, but sometimes for weeks, months, and even years. Insomnia has many causes. Insomnia is a symptom, much like fever or stomachache. There three symptoms commonly shown by people who have insomnia: difficulty falling asleep, no problem falling asleep but difficulty staying asleep with many awakenings, and waking up too early. Difficulty sleeping at night may be related with the following daytime symptoms: sleepiness, anxiety, impaired memory, impaired concentration, and irritability. There are three basic types of insomnia. The first type is called transient insomnia lasting for up to several nights and is usually caused by excitement or stress. Adults may sleep poorly before a key meeting at work or after a quarrel with his or her partner. Many people sleep worse than usual for the first night or two away from home, particularly if they have traveled across many time zones. Nighttime strong physical movements, the flu or other brief illnesses may disrupt sleep temporarily. The second one is situational insomnia. That is two or three weeks of poor sleep and is often developed during ongoing stress at work or at home. Situations such as job delay, divorced, serious illness or death are primary in this type of insomnia. Relief from the situation that provoked disturbed sleep or accommodation to it usually returns a person to his or her usual sleeping pattern. Chronic insomnia is the third and most serious type of the sleeping problems. This sleeping problem lasts for three weeks or longer with poor sleep every night, most nights, or quite a lot of nights of a month. This is a complex disorder with many possible causes. In more than half of all cases of persistent insomnia the cause appears to be a physical illness, such as disorders of breathing or muscle activity. These figures were derived from a nationwide study of 8,00...

Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information Essay

Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information - Essay Example Knowledge management and information flows within organizations form a critical link to its productivity and performance. However, effective knowledge management practices remain a distinctive challenge for organizations in the form of identifying the key information needs of the organization and developing effective systems for channelising the information flow across departments and business units. How does an organization define the need for knowledge and skills among its employees and what are the measures that it takes to equip the workforce with the desired skills? How can strategic planning in identifying information needs within each department or operational processes in the business and how can this help in meeting the organizational goals and objectives? These are some of the pertinent questions facing organizations and this paper focuses on providing an insight into strategies that can be adopted by an organization to meet its information needs and overall business object ives. The paper analyses the information needs and knowledge management strategies taken by Apple to meet one of its business objectives. On 22 August 2008, Apple launched the I-phone in India. The response they received from consumers was not as expected as hardly any consumers showed up. This was a bit disappointing as compared to the launches in other countries where there were thousands of consumers standing outside the stores to get their I-phones. It was identified that the lack of marketing led to not having enough consumers at the launch date. (Iphone in India, 2011) The graph below shows the Mac market share of Apple: Market share of Apple by geographic divisions (Source: OSXDaily, 2011) By looking at the above graph, we can see that the market share in Asia is 1.61%, out of which about half is China and the rest is India. Considering the population size, it may not seem as low but as compared to other continents, it is considerably low. With

General Project Description - Technology Research Paper

General Project Description - Technology - Research Paper Example They cannot compete with others to excel in academics if they do not learn the use of computer and its programs and softwares. Even the vast majority of tests they are required to pass to prove their eligibility for higher studies are computer-based. The contemporary business is heavily dependent upon technology (Martinez). Be it planning, scheduling, accountancy, auditing, progress-tracking, management of product distribution channels, or advertisement of the product or service, everything is accomplished with the help of softwares, online or broadcasted programs on the television and/or the Internet. The positive impacts of society’s dependence upon technology include improved efficiency, improved performance (Carte), improved communication, and reduction of time in the accomplishment of tasks in all fields. The negative impacts of society’s dependence upon technology include increased violence, new ways of bullying and blackmailing, reduced safety and security, and increased exposure to risk (â€Å"We Are Detrimentally†). In the contemporary age, one who is not well-versed with the use of technology is outdated and lacks competence to compete with the rest of the world. Apart from the aforementioned uses of technology in the academia and industry, society’s dependent on technology in other fields including traveling and recreation cannot be overemphasized. Dependence on technology has yielded both positive and negative results for the society. A research conducted by CourseSmart and Wakefield Research suggests that students have become very dependent on technology. Use of E-books, laptops, and mobile phones for educational purposes has increased a lot. The positive outcome of this is increased awareness of the students regarding their performance in the class. Despite the immense usefulness of technology in business, the importance of sustaining old practices and processes cannot be overlooked since these

Chinese Giant Salamander Essay Example for Free

Chinese Giant Salamander Essay 1. What role does your species have in its ecosystem? Shallow mountain streams are home to the rare and shy Chinese giant salamander, where it has many roles within its ecosystem. It is a symbol of a healthy freshwater ecosystem that humans and other animals depend on (McNeil, 2010). The Chinese Giant Salamander is a key component of the food chain as both prey and predator. Salamanders eat many invertebrates, making sure that the rivers and streams do not become over populated (Mcneil, 2010). The Chinese Giant Salamander’s ecological role is to provide aquatic animals with food when they are young and as the salamanders grow up they become the predators and feed on the aquatic animals that once fed on them; this has a positive effect on the ecosystem keeping the balance of species populations. The Chinese Giant Salamander also ensures that within its ecosystem there is great biodiversity (Qiang, 2009). Without the Chinese Giant Salamanders the ecosystems in the mountainous regions of China would be unbalanced. These salamanders have an important role in showing the vast biodiversity in China and Japan and losing them decreases biodiversity. Amphibians in general are often referred to as â€Å"indicator† species, species that indicate environmental change and vital aspects of safe water (Qiang, 2009).On land, the amphibian serves a purpose of indicating whether the environment is healthy or not. The salamanders do this by breathing through the pores in their skin (McNeil, 2010). The Chinese Giant Salamander also belongs to the flesh-eaters, which is an important species for the freshwater ecosystems of mountainous areas, playing an important ecological role in maintaining the balance of freshwater ecosystems of mountainous areas (Qiang, 2009). Most of the rivers where the giant salamanders live have becomes very polluted forcing the animals to migrate downstream to breed. Many of them die on their journey downstream or never end up finding clean and safe water to lay their eggs. The ones that do find safe water lay their eggs and decide to return, have trouble getting back as dams have been built or roads running straight through their path. The Chinese Giant Salamander has important significance in discussing evolution of vertebrate from aquatic animal to terrestrial animal as it is a species that lived in the same period with dinosaur, and continuing to survive until now, it is called as â€Å"living fossil† (McNeil, 2010). Not much is known about t he salamander when it lived with the dinosaurs, as that information in still being found out today. The Chinese Giant Salamander is just one example of the many amphibians that are vanishing quickly of the face of this earth. Without the amphibians less and less will be known about the health of the environment. This species is very important to not only surrounding animals in their ecosystem but also to humans as the salamanders are telling us that it is time to change our ways because if not, they will die out. The Chinese Giant Salamander shows that whatever wiped out the dinosaurs wasn’t strong enough to kill off all the giant salamanders. 2. What, if any efforts are being made to preserve your species outside of its natural habitat? The Chinese giant salamander is listed on Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). Appendix I states that trade in specimens species threatened with extinction, is permitted only in exceptional circumstances (Amphibian Species Information: Chinese Giant Salamander). Unfortunately, although CITES regulate s international trade in the species, it has no jurisdiction over the domestic trade within China which constitutes the primary market. The salamander is also listed as a Class II State Major Protected Wildlife Species in China (Amphibian Species Information: Chinese Giant Salamander). This plan is to protect the habitat of the Chinese Giant Salamander. While it does state that the habitat will be preserved to the best extent, many people break this law as they cut down trees to build houses. The Zhangjiajie Giant Salamander Nature Reserve is one of the largest reserves offered to the salamanders (Qiang, 2009). China has already set up 22 nature reserves to protect the endangered species. These reserves aim to protect not only the animal itself but also its habitat (Creating a Future for Wild Chinese Salamanders). There are a few organizations that go out and clear the rivers of pollution. There are currently six â€Å"Giant Salamander Reserves† in China that are trying to restore the salamanders’ population. Unfortunately, all of these reserves are affected by a shortage of funding and employees, lacking a conservation action plan, poaching, uncertain reserve status, and a lack of protection for salamander habitat. Currently the Chinese Giant Salamander has no recovery plan, but hopefully soon one will be created. 3. What else could/should be done in your opinion? Chinese Giant Salamanders are seriously misunderstood animals. Even though they are not so attractive as one might think, there is no excuse to destroy their habitats and hunt them to extinction. Many of them are being captured for illegal pets and they are being hunted for their meat which is considered a delicacy in China. Because their meat is rare it is profitable and expensive, making an easy income for poor hunters with large families to feed. Many hunters of the Chinese Giant Salamander spread pesticides into the rivers and streams in order to get the one animal. This creates not only an inhabitable environment for the salamanders but also all the other wildlife that come to those rivers and streams. This pollution also creates unsafe drinking water in some areas as the toxins are carried downstream. In 2004 there were 3200 larvae of Chinese Giant Salamanders, but in 2009 there were zero (Qian, 2009). This shows the enormous impact of pollution in the streams where the salamanders live. They are also hunted for their medicinal uses. In addition to be ing hunted, Chinese Giant Salamanders are threatened by habitat defragmentation, as China becomes grossly populated and more houses are built. It would be helpful to organize more environmental education to encourage pride in this species as it shows China’s vast biodiversity. It would be helpful to provide better wildlife preserves for these animals. The establishment of a Chinese giant salamander education center in an area of this species’ range, with a captive breeding facility to provide individuals for a reintroduction program, could provide a much-needed focus for active conservation and monitoring of this species (Qiang, 2009). More organizations and funding should be provided to support the natural reserves protecting these species habitats. Stricter laws and punishment for the hunting of this animal would also ensure the species’ population to grow. 4. From an environmental perspective, why should your animal be saved? With the absence of the Chinese Giant Salamander, we will lack another natural indicator of whether ecosystems are clean and safe. It is important to know that all amphibians, not just Chinese Giant Salamanders are indicator species. But recent studies have shown that many amphibians are becoming more and more extinct. These species not only provided indicators of the environment but they als o are species that were around when the dinosaurs were here and provide a resource for more research (Thomas, 2010). This species eats all the invertebrates that can easily overpopulate an area. Without the Chinese Giant Salamanders mountainous rivers and streams will become overpopulated by many invertebrates and soon exceed the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. Threatened by factors such as habitat loss, disease, climate change, pollution, and invasive species and over hunting, this species faces challenges that could draw millions of years of survival to an abrupt close if nothing is done (Thomas, 2010). These species react very quickly to environmental change and are able to give a clear response to this change, whether it’s beneficial or detrimental.Their contribution to both traditional and modern medicine has been invaluable as many species have been found to secrete and contain therapeutic compounds that can be used in the treatment of HIV, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, strokes and depression (Meredith, 2010). These large animals need to be saved to ensure the health of the mountainous ecosystems. Without the Chinese Giant Salamander, we will have lost an indicator species, an evolutionary key species, and a valuable medicinal recipe holder.

Victims Rights: Why Do Laws Protect the Criminal More than the Victim?

The criminal laws of the United States are more intent on protecting the rights of criminals than penalizing them. Today’s inmates live better off than most American citizens who are often working two jobs just to meet paying their taxes. A criminal can literally get away with murder because of a technicality, police can barely interrogate suspects without the suspects’ lawyers stating some legal issues that prevent further investigations. It almost seems that the very people who do not respect the law are above it. A criminal is obviously an individual who commits a crime, but what is crime? A crime is any act or omission of an act in violation of a public law. Though most laws are common throughout America, some laws are also established by local and state governments as well. Criminal laws and penalties vary from state to state. Crimes include both felonies and misdemeanors. Felonies are serious crimes like murder or rape and are punishable by imprisonment for a year or more. The consequence for felonies such as murder and treason can be the death penalty. Misdemeanors are less serious crimes like petty theft or speeding and are punishable by less than a year in prison. Fines are also punishments of both misdemeanors and felonies. The fine’s amount is determined by the seriousness of the case. However, no act is a crime unless it has been stated as such by an American law or statute. Why do criminals have rights in the first place? The laws of the United States were created to protect the rights of all individuals, even the ones that break the laws. Many of these laws are made in order to uphold the rights established in the Bill of Rights. When the United States was still developing, many states refused ... ...t to aid their client. Lawyers are by no means evil. They are simply doing their job. Unfortunately, the majority of them do it very well. And so long as criminals break the law, there will be lawyers to fight for them and defend them. It is very interesting to see that even though when someone breaks the law in the United States, they will still be protected by that very law. Even as one violates the rights of others, the law will make sure that their rights are protected. It almost seems that has more rights by breaking the law instead of following it. Police are prevented from using extreme force against them and lawyers are at the ready to serve these criminals. Criminals have forfeited their rights when they have violated the rights of others. Why should the law be so intent on protecting their rights, when they have no intent on following the law?

Perception of Various Performance Criteria by Stakeholders in the Construction Sector in Hong Kong

Construction Management and Economics (April 2010) 28, 377–391 Perception of various performance criteria by stakeholders in the construction sector in Hong Kong IVAN K. W. LAI1* and FRANKIE K. S. LAM2 1 2 Faculty of Management and Administration, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau International Graduate School of Business, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Taylor and Francis Received 8 March 2009; accepted 1 December 2009 10. 1080/01446190903521515 All construction projects in Hong Kong have in common a cast of key contract participants, consisting of clients, consultants (designers) and contractors. The aim of this research is to examine, from different points of view, these practitioners in regard to the importance of perceived performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes in a construction project. A research model is structured based on nine performance criteria and their respective performances. The data were collected from 324 practitioners who have participated in construction projects in Hong Kong. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measures ANOVA are used to analyse the data. The relative importance of nine performance criteria and their performances are measured. Timely completion of the project is the most important performance criterion, followed by profit, environmental protection and quality. There are differences in the importance of the performance criteria with respect to performance. The differences in the perceptions of performance that are identified are: (i) among different practitioners in a construction project; (ii) due to different project types; and (iii) between different functional roles in the partnering organizations. In order to further understand the importance of the performance criteria with respect to performance, the status quo of roject partnering and congeniality problems in the construction industry is reviewed. It is intended to stimulate interest in the further exploration of solutions to improve the overall performance of the construction industry in Hong Kong. Keywords: Performance improvement, performance evaluation, partnering, supplier relationship, performance criteria. Introduction At the beginning of con struction projects, various targets are set as ‘performance criteria’ to be achieved among the key contract participants, consisting of clients, consultants (designers) and contractors. However, different participants have their own perceptions of various performance criteria, and they perform differently according to their perceptions. The aim of this study is to examine, from different points of view, these participants in regard to the importance of the perceived performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes in a construction project. The differences between the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes represent areas for the improvement of performance, which these participants should address. Author for correspondence. E-mail: [email  protected] edu. mo In the present study, nine specific performance criteria are used; they are: (1) profit; (2) time; (3) no claims or contractual disputes; (4) job satisfaction; (5) quality; (6) safety; (7) environment; (8) generation of innovative ideas; and (9) effectiveness. A research model was formulated to test the significant difference between these perfo rmance criteria with respect to their performance. There are also tests available to assess the performance of these performance criteria from the perspective of the respondents in different roles (i. . clients, consultants and main contractors); the types of construction projects (i. e. government, public/private utility and private development); and different functional roles of the staff within the organization (i. e. managerial, frontline supervisory and consultancy staff). This research was conducted through a questionnaire survey with construction practitioners in Construction Management and Economics ISSN 0144-6193 print/ISSN 1466-433X online  © 2010 Taylor & Francis http://www. informaworld. com DOI: 10. 1080/01446190903521515 378 Hong Kong. The overall discussion that follows is based on the results of the statistical analysis of the performance criteria and their respective performances as well as the major differences between the different perspectives of the participants. There are significant differences between the performance criteria with respect to performance, and conclusions are drawn from patterns noted in these results. This study indicates some areas for the improvement of performance. The limitations of this research and further research opportunities will be identified. Lai and Lam eam considers to be relevant in the pursuit of successful project delivery (Swan and Khalfan, 2007). Construction delays not only result in cost overruns and poor quality, but lead to increased disputes (Al-Khalil and Al-Ghafly, 1999). Odeh and Battaineh (2002) observed that most claims cases are related to the time of the project delivery. No claims or contractual disputes. It has been observed that the adaptive ability to man age changes without unnecessary claims is often critical in the routine assessment of subcontractors’ performance (Mbachu, 2008). The absence of claims or contractual disputes is a fair indicator of project success (Chan and Chan, 2004). Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction refers to the extent to which persons gain enjoyment or satisfaction from their efforts at work (Fogarty, 1994). It is a ‘soft’ measure, and has often been benchmarked with a company’s performance (Beatham et al. , 2004). Pinto and Pinto (1991) advocated that measures for project success should include project psychosocial outcomes, which refer to the satisfaction of interpersonal relations among project team members. Quality. Quality is defined as the degree to which general conditions promote meeting the project’s established requirements for materials and workmanship (Bubshait and Almohawis, 1994). The improvement of quality can reduce the resources and costs that must be devoted to reworking, which, when reduced, increases profitability (Ling et al. , 2009). The costs of rectifying defects and reworking have been estimated to be as high as 6. 2% and 12%, respectively, of the profit for a construction project (Thomas et al. 2002). Safety. Safety is defined as the degree to which general conditions promote the completion of a project without major accidents or injuries (Bubshait and Almohawis, 1994). Accidents during a project can be detrimental to the project in terms of time, costs and the reputation of the company (Chan and Chan, 2004). Environment. Environmental issues, such as waste management and public nuisance, have been regarded as negative environmental impacts on construction ( Shen et al. , 2000). Considerable attention has been directed towards finding out how to minimize construction waste and restrict environmental nuisance (Wong and Chan, 2000). Companies invest in the improvement of environmental protection because of cost factors (Tam et al. , 2001; Shen (3) Theoretical background Definition of performance criteria ‘Performance criteria’ are commonly shared mechanisms for monitoring and demonstrating project success (Krima et al. , 2007). Their use allows practitioners to understand their competitive position better and potentially to improve their performance (ElMashaleh et al. 2001). By looking at the deviations between the levels of importance of the performance criteria and performance outcomes, practitioners can review whether certain criteria underperform or overperform (Soetanto et al. , 2001). Ideally, performance outcomes of the performance criteria should be on a par with their normal performance, or, even better, their so-called ‘optimum per formance’, which are satisfactory to practitioners. Performance criteria of a construction project Atkinson (1999) stated that time, cost and quality make up the ‘iron triangle’ for project success. Loosemore et al. (2003) highlighted the importance of job satisfaction for the well-being of the construction industry. Fenn (2006) listed the typical performance criteria of commercial projects: time, cost, quality, project delays, delay claims, scheduling, monitoring and control. Lam and Wong (2009) argued that safety is a measure of project performance, as well as time, cost and quality. After reviewing the literature, nine performance criteria were selected: (1) Profit. Norris (1990) measured profit as the increment by which revenues exceed cost. Profit in terms of cost benefits has been identified as a key performance indicator (KPI) (Beatham et al. , 2004). Cost benefits can typically be achieved by savings and the early completion of projects (Soetanto et al. , 2001). Time. Time refers to the duration for completing a project (Chan and Chan, 2004). Time, cost and quality are the key factors a project (4) (5) (6) (7) (2) Performance criteria and Tam, 2002). For example, energy-efficient design allows both environmental friendliness and cost effectiveness across the project life cycle (Yao et al. , 2006). Generation of innovative ideas. Innovation is the actual novel use of a non-trivial change and improvement in a process, product or system (Slaughter, 1998). Innovation in construction leads to the improvement of working conditions, lowering construction costs, and decreasing construction time (Eaton et al. , 2006) so as to improve efficiency in the industry (Egbu, 2004). Effectiveness. Effectiveness is a characteristic of the overall performance of a project, in terms of whether it is being carried out within the budget, performed on schedule, and maintaining quality (Love et al. , 2004). Project effectiveness is dependent on conceptual level, skills and communicative abilities (Goodwin, 1993), which are important factors that affect project success (Krima et al. , 2007). Practitioners always intend to continually improve the effectiveness of the work process (Naoum, 2003). 379 importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes in a construction project in Hong Kong (as shown in Figure 1). In this study, three questions were addressed about the life of a construction project: Figure 1 A research model of importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes 8) (1) (2) (3) (9) What are the relative levels of importance of the performance criteria from the practitioners’ perspectives? What are the differences between the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance? What are the differences in the perception of performance from the practitioners’ perspectives? Research hypot heses The following hypotheses are formulated based on two variables: the importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes. Owing to the different dimensions of business-driven benefits and the degree of objective alignment (Thompson and Sanders, 1998), the levels of importance of the performance criteria may be different. H1: There are significant differences within the importance of the performance criteria. Research method Research model and research questions A research model is developed to examine, from different practitioners’ points of view, the levels of There are always levels of difference in the performance elements for construction (Soetanto et al. , 2001). The levels of importance of the erformance criteria may vary with respect to their performance outcomes. Figure 1 A research model of importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes 380 H2: There are significant differences between the importance of the performance criteria and their performance. Lai and Lam such as Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited; and a private development project may include somethin g like a residential development project. The respondents include a staff of clients, architectural and engineering consultants who represent clients, and main contractors. The respondents are also classified into three functional roles (i. e. managerial, frontline supervisory and consultancy staff). This study only focuses on the performance of the key contract participants—neither suppliers nor subcontractors are included in this survey. Questionnaire development and administration A questionnaire is designed to gather information from people engaged in partnering projects in Hong Kong. A pre-test of the questionnaire was conducted in July 2006 with academics and construction practitioners in order to confirm the general validity and reliability. After the initial pre-test, a further pilot test was undertaken to check the suitability and appropriateness. The final questionnaire consists of two sections. Section 1 is about the background of the respondents and Section 2 is concerned with the views of the respondents on the levels of importance of the performance criteria of the project and on their performance outcomes. Respondents are asked to pick a rating using a five-point Likert scale, ranging from ‘1’ (the least important, or very unsatisfied) to ‘5’ (the most important, or very satisfied) in respect of the criteria and the outcomes. A total of 850 questionnaires were distributed in person to the respondents in August 2006. From the 209 questionnaires that were collected, 71. 8% were from the main contractors during the first three months. Thereafter, another 100 questionnaires were distributed only to accessible clients and consultants in October 2006. Statistical analyses are conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 12. 00 software package. Different stakeholders have different views and expectations of performance in a construction project (Newcombe, 2003). Different roles (i. e. clients, consultants, and main contractors) in a construction project may have different views on the same performance. H3: There are significant differences among incumbents in different roles in a construction project in the perception of performance among partners. There are differences between government and private projects in the respective business procurement and the relationship with contractors (Burnes and Coram, 1999). Different types of construction projects (i. e. overnment projects, public/private utility and private development) may require different types of performances. H4: There are significant differences in the perception of performance due to different types of construction projects. Partnering involves teamwork and collaborative activities for achieving goals and resolving problems (Pheng and Hong, 2005; Ingirige and Sexton, 2006). Staff in different functional roles (i. e. managerial, frontline supervisory and consultancy staff) may have different views on performance. H5: There are significant differences among staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations in the perception of performance. Sampling method In Hong Kong, more than 500 construction companies are certificated with ISO 9001 (HKQAA, 2007). Because of the large number and different types of construction firms, the different sizes and types of construction works that are undertaken and the constraints of time and resources for the research, purposive sampling (Sekaran, 1996) is used to focus on the respondents who have participated in a partnering project. Contractors, consulting firms, government departments and private developers who are active participants in the construction market in Hong Kong are selected. Government departments and private developers are classified as clients of the construction projects. There are three types of project: a government project is a public project that is initiated from a government department such as the Housing Authority; a public/private utility project is usually an infrastructure project, for example, one initiated by a mass transportation services provider, Performance criteria of the construction project Research samples Over the six months prior to March 2007, 950 sets of questionnaires were distributed, from which a total of 324 were collected. The response rate is 34. 1%. The backgrounds of the respondents are shown in Table 1. Statistical analysis Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) can be used when sample members have been matched Performance criteria Table 1 The background of the respondents Numbers of response Role in a construction project Clients Consultants Main contractors Others Total Type of construction project Government projects Public/private utilities Private development Others Total Functional role in the organization Managerial Frontline supervisory Consultancy Others Total Percentage Table 2 The rating of performance criteria Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Performance criteria Timely completion of project Profit to all involved parties Improvement of environmental protection Improvement of quality Improvement of safety Effectiveness of the construction process No claims or contractual disputes Job satisfaction of staff Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method Mean 4. 2778 4. 2037 4. 1265 4. 1173 4. 1019 3. 9105 3. 8920 3. 8395 3. 7747 381 Std. deviation 0. 65127 0. 69174 0. 60904 0. 61846 0. 60350 0. 72634 0. 74903 0. 68068 0. 74350 123 51 149 1 324 112 121 87 4 324 131 157 21 15 324 38. 0 15. 7 46 . 0 0. 3 100 34. 6 37. 3 26. 9 1. 2 100 40. 4 48. 5 6. 5 4. 6 100 ccording to some important characteristic (ACITS, 1997). In this study, sample members are matched, and measurements across conditions are treated like repeated measures. Therefore, repeated measures ANOVA is used to find the rating among the performance criteria. Table A1 in the Appendix shows Mauchly’s test of sphericity. This is a test of compound symmetry or the homogeneity of covariance, an important assumption for this statistical test. If the test of sphericity is significant (i. e. , p-value < 0. 05), then the assumption H0 is met. Consequently, the univariate (more powerful) output (Tests of Within-Subject Effects) can be used. In this test, the p-value is less than 0. 5 and H1 is therefore accepted. This means that there are significant differences in the performance criteria. In order to elucidate the differences between them, Bonferroni’s test (see Table A2 in Appendix) is applied. The relati ve rating of the performance criteria is shown in Table 2 where time has the highest mean score, followed by profit, environment, quality, safety, effectiveness, no claims, job satisfaction, and the generation of innovative ideas. An individual paired-samples T-test is used to determine whether there are significant differences among the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their respective performances. The mean scores and standard deviations of the importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes are reported in Table 3. It shows that all of the factors have significant differences. The p-value is less than 0. 05. Therefore, H2 is accepted. Time has the highest positive paired mean difference, suggesting that the timely completion of a project, among the other performance criteria, seriously underperforms. One-way ANOVA is used to determine whether, among partners in different roles in a construction project (i. e. clients, consultants and main contractors), there are significant differences in the perception of performance. Table 4 indicates that there are significant differences in the perception of performance— with the exception of quality—among the three groups. The p-values for all of the factors (except for quality) are less than 0. 05. Therefore, H3 is accepted. The comparisons of the different groups are made using post hoc tests, after an overall significant difference has been obtained. The Tukey HSD table (Table 5) compares each group with every other group to determine the significance of the difference. Table 6 indicates that there is no significant difference (p-value > 0. 05) in the perception of performance due to the types of projects and between staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations. Therefore, H4 and H5 are rejected. Discussion The levels of importance of the performance criteria The relative ratings for the highest levels of importance of the performance criteria are: (1) time; (2) profit; (3) environment; (4) quality; (5) safety; (6) effectiveness; (7) no claims or contractual disputes; (8) job satisfaction; and (9) generation of innovative ideas. Time, cost 382 Table 3 Mean scores and paired-samples t-test for the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes Mean scores and standard deviations (N = 324) Mean Mean 4. 2037 3. 4568 4. 2778 3. 4568 3. 8920 3. 3117 0. 6173 0. 6574 0. 6636 0. 6698 0. 74903 0. 72870 0. 04161 0. 04048 0. 5803 0. 90221 0. 65127 0. 81091 0. 03618 0. 04505 0. 8210 0. 91024 0. 69174 0. 70028 0. 03843 0. 03890 0. 7469 0. 94631 Std. deviation Std. rror mean Paired differences Std. deviation Std. error mean 0. 05257 14. 207 0. 000 t Paired-samples t-test (df = 323) Sig. (2-tailed) 0. 05057 16. 235 0. 000 0. 05012 11. 577 0. 000 0. 81500 0. 81201 0. 77 566 0. 82841 0. 04528 0. 04511 0. 04309 0. 04602 13. 633 14. 573 15. 399 14. 553 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 3. 8395 3. 2222 4. 1173 3. 4599 4. 1019 3. 4383 4. 1265 3. 4568 3. 7747 3. 2130 3. 9105 3. 2901 0. 71755 0. 72634 0. 76843 0. 74350 0. 04131 0. 03986 0. 04035 0. 04269 0. 68068 0. 69049 0. 61846 0. 65003 0. 60350 0. 65781 0. 60904 0. 72204 0. 03782 0. 03836 0. 03436 0. 03611 0. 03353 0. 03654 0. 03384 0. 04011 0. 5617 0. 94388 0. 05244 10. 712 0. 000 Pair 1 Profit to all involved parties Profit to all involved parties with good performance Pair 2 Timely completion of project Timely completion of project with good performance Pair 3 No claims or contractual disputes No claims or contractual disputes with good performance Pair 4 Job satisfaction of staff Job satisfaction of staff with good performance Pair 5 Improvement of quality Improvement of quality with good performance Pair 6 Improvement of safety Improvement of safety with good performance Pair 7 Improvement of environmental protection Improvement of environmental protection with good performance Pair 8 Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method with good performance Pair 9 Effectiveness of the construction process Effectiveness of the construction process with good performance 0. 6204 0. 93157 0. 05175 11. 987 0. 000 Lai and Lam Performance criteria 383 Table 4 One-way ANOVA on signi? a nt differences in perception of performance among participants in different roles in a construction project Performance criteria Profit to all involved parties Timely completion of project No claims or contractual disputes Job satisfaction of staff Improvement of quality Improvement of safety Improvement of environmental protection Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method Effectiveness of the construction process Total 3. 4582 3. 4551 3. 3127 3. 2198 3. 4582 3. 4365 3. 4551 3. 2105 3. 2879 Client 3. 5772 3. 6423 3. 4715 3. 4228 3. 5203 3. 5691 3. 6098 3. 3415 3. 4797 Consultant 3. 5098 3. 4706 3. 4510 3. 0588 3. 3137 3. 0980 3. 1961 2. 9216 3. 0000 Main contractor 3. 423 3. 2953 3. 1342 3. 1074 3. 4564 3. 4430 3. 4161 3. 2013 3. 2282 F-statistic 4. 024 6. 374 8. 684 9. 120 1. 830 9. 752 6. 529 6. 408 8. 208 p-value 0. 019 0. 002 0. 000 0. 000 0. 162 0. 000 0. 002 0. 002 0. 000 Table 5 The Tukey HSD table of the post hoc tests on the performance among partici pants in different roles in a construction project Performance criteria Profit to all involved parties Timely completion of project No claims or contractual disputes Job satisfaction of staff Improvement of safety Improvement of environmental protection Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method Effectiveness of the construction rocess (I) Your role in the construction project Client Client Client Consultant Client Client Client Consultant Client Client Consultant Client Client (J) Your role in the construction project Main contractor Main contractor Main contractor Main contractor Consultant Main contractor Consultant Main contractor Consultant Consultant Main contractor Consultant Main contractor Mean difference (I – J) 0. 23495* 0. 34697* 0. 33732* 0. 31675* 0. 36394* 0. 31538* 0. 47107* ? 0. 34491* 0. 41368* 0. 41989* ? 0. 27977* 0. 47967* 0. 25149* Sig. 0. 016 0. 001 0. 000 0. 018 0. 004 0. 000 0. 000 0. 003 0. 002 0. 001 0. 040 0. 000 0. 018 Note: * The mean difference is signi? cant at the 0. 05 level. and quality are always described as the ‘holy trinity’ (Swan and Khalfan, 2007). Krima et al. 2007) also noted that the importance of time performance is widely accepted. Most construction projects in Hong Kong are developed on a fast track schedule, completed in two to three years (Chan, 1999). The top concern in the construction industry in Hong Kong is always time. Profit generated from partnering normally derives from cost savings and incentives (Soetanto et al. , 2001). Incentives are normally introduced by offering a bonus to contractors achieving the KPIs set for the project (Swan and Khalfan, 2007). Moreover, profit sharing is very popular in construction projects. It is surprising that the improvement of environmental performance is the third most important performance criterion. Zhang and Shen (2000) observed that clients are often concerned with immediate or short-term results and care little about the potential benefits of improving environmental performance. This finding directly contradicts a previous study performed by Swan and Khalfan (2007), who found that time, cost and quality are the key elements for a successful project. Although the improvement of environmental performance is an important performance criterion, compared with the improvement of quality, this finding still needs to be clarified by further studies. The improvement of quality is always referred to in terms of less re-working or no abortive work (Thomas et al. 2002). Quality is also defined as conformity and client satisfaction (Soetanto et al. , 2001). It is always among the top priorities in construction. Safety has always been an issue in construction because of the routinely high accident rate involving deaths and property damage. The creation of the built environment in 384 Table 6 One-way ANOVA on signi? cant differences of performance due to the types of project and between those staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations Due to the types of project Sum of squares df 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 1. 021 161. 666 162. 688 0. 595 185. 93 186. 388 Between groups Within groups Total 2 317 319 2 317 319 1. 049 0. 415 0. 909 0. 426 0. 728 0. 518 0. 511 0. 510 0. 297 0. 586 0. 527 0. 471 1. 118 0. 087 0. 537 0. 162 0. 851 0. 080 0. 648 0. 124 0. 883 0. 697 201. 872 202. 570 1. 234 162. 403 163. 638 0. 328 1. 972 143. 064 145. 036 2. 528 0. 081 0. 254 129. 889 130. 142 2. 133 0. 120 1. 522 129. 623 131. 146 1. 407 0. 246 0. 309 159. 710 160. 019 1. 001 0. 369 1. 166 158. 989 160. 155 0. 507 0. 603 1. 295 182. 770 184. 065 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 0. 056 0. 472 0. 119 0. 887 1. 560 145. 333 146. 893 2 306 308 Mean square F Sig. Sum of squares df Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total 1. 456 164. 094 165. 550 1. 819 135. 169 136. 987 2. 098 131. 524 133. 622 1. 053 149. 294 150. 347 0. 174 170. 198 170. 372 0. 161 205. 389 205. 550 0. 113 149. 634 149. 747 Mean square 0. 78 0. 475 0. 349 0. 660 0. 617 0. 531 0. 986 0. 468 0. 127 0. 424 0. 761 0. 424 0. 155 0. 522 0. 583 0. 520 0. 648 0. 597 1. 084 0. 339 1. 122 0. 327 Between those staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations F 1. 642 Sig. 0. 195 Performance criteria Profit to all involved parties with good performance Timely completion of project with good performance 0. 529 0. 590 No claims or contractual disputes with good performance 1. 163 . 314 Job satisfaction of staff with good performance 2 . 109 0. 123 Improvement of quality with good performance 0. 299 0. 742 Improvement of safety with good performance 1. 797 0. 168 Improvement of environmental protection with good performance 0. 296 0. 744 Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method with good performance Effectiveness of the construction process with good performance Lai and Lam Performance criteria 2003 in Hong Kong involved 18% of the total injuries of employees among all industries (OSHC, 2003). Policy makers and the general public always pay great heed to construction safety (Teo et al. , 2005). Effectiveness in construction has received negative commentary (CIRC, 2001). A rating solely on effectiveness itself is taken ordinarily to be insufficient and does not usually prevail. Claims in a project can involve extension of time (EOT), for example, because of inclement weather, or a variation order (VO), for example because of changes of design (Yeo and Ning, 2002). Contractors lose out from not being granted a claim. Although some previous studies suggest that job satisfaction is a measure of project success (Beatham et al. , 2004; Swan and Khalfan, 2007), an analysis of the data fails to find evidence suggesting job satisfaction is a priority in a construction project. Innovative ideas can contribute to cost savings and process expediting, and generating them should be encouraged through reimbursement or benefits sharing (Naoum, 2003). Nevertheless, innovative ideas about construction design and method are very rarely implemented in a construction project because of the relatively short timeline for completion. The differences of performance outcomes with respect to importance The relative ratings for the highest difference in performance with respect to the importance of the performance criteria are: (1) time; (2) safety; (3) quality; (4) environment; (5) profit; (6) job satisfaction; (7) effectiveness; (8) no claims or contractual disputes; and (9) generation of innovative ideas. All of the performance criteria clearly underperform. Timely completion of the project displays the highest difference. To a project owner, delay means loss of revenue due to slackened production and rentable space. To a consultant, delay means either the failure of progress monitoring of contractors or faulty design, or both. To a contractor, delay means penalties and higher overhead costs. It is thus very worthwhile to investigate the cause of delay, the parties who are responsible, and the preventive measures for avoiding it (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006). Owing to stringent legal and contractual requirements in Hong Kong, there are ever-increasing demands, expectations and emphasis on safety, quality and environmental protection. Naoum (2003) has argued that there should be a comprehensive incentive scheme to simulate the overall site performance in these categories. Profit is a basic goal for running a business, but in a project, it is always governed by the traditional re-measured contract at a fixed price. 385 Participants in a construction project can only benefit from cost savings or bonuses awarded by accelerating the process for early completion (Tam, 2002). Job satisfaction is among the performance criteria displaying a low performance outcome. Not only are staff members not happy about job satisfaction, but this variable is also in fact rated as the second least important performance criterion (see Table 2). The effectiveness of a construction process needs both good planning and coordination. Given the inherently fragmented nature of construction, work is always accomplished in sequential and unique stages handled by different contractors. Since the design and building processes are normally divided between consultants and contractors (Naoum, 2003), the original designers would thus not help the performance outcome or effectiveness of the construction process once it is underway. No claims or contractual disputes are part of the second-lowest performance outcome. Claims or contractual disputes in a project are very often raised among clients and contractors (Yeo and Ning, 2002). The generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method received the lowest rating concerning performance outcome. In fact, adopting new ideas in construction is always inhibited by the fact that there are always prior specifications governing construction activities (Naoum, 2003). Winch (2003) noted that construction is commonly characterized as a ‘backward industry’, that is, one that fails to innovate in comparison to other sectors. The strong categorical division of responsibility for design and building worsens this situation. The performance perceived by practitioners in different roles in a construction project Profit There are significant differences between clients and the main contractors in the perception of the performance of profit. Clients are more satisfied than are the main contractors (see Table 5). Clients typically set out the budget for a project at the beginning of project planning, whereas contractors concentrate on cost savings (e. g. reducing the opportunity for claims). Time There are significant differences between clients and main contractors in the perception of performance for the timely completion of projects. Clients are more satisfied than are main contractors (see Table 5). They are normally proactive and generally push for timely completion. Main contractors prefer a contract designed with a reasonable duration for the construction 386 time and fair treatment of claims for EOT (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006). Any completion delay for a project will be the subject of a penalty for liquidated damages to a contractor (PAH, 2008). In general, clients would consider an incentive bonus for the contractor who completes the project on time or ahead of schedule (Naoum, 2003). Contractors prefer these bonuses as an incentive for finishing on time or early. No claims or contractual disputes There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the performance of no claims or contractual disputes. Clients and consultants are more satisfied than are main contractors (see Table 5). When initiating a contract, clients normally would have a contingency plan to provide additional money for any claim, for a delay in the project or for a change of design. In general, clients and main contractors take a different stand on claims. Clients suffer from claims, while the main contractors benefit. Traditionally, clients are perceived as distrustful and suspicious, while the main contractors are perceived as opportunistic and greedy (Kadefors, 2004). Consultants tend to have a passive attitude to claims, and do not like to see any claims or contractual disputes, as they might be taken to reveal their own faulty design or their failure to perform their duty of supervising the main contractors’ performance. Job satisfaction There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the performance of the job satisfaction of staff. Staff members, as consultants and main contractors, are less satisfied than are clients (see Table 5). Staff from clients may participate in the partnering projects more than do the staff from consultants and main contractors. Since the levels of participation for different parties are different, they show differences in regard to this issue. Quality There is no significant difference between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the performance of quality. This seems to illustrate that all partners in the construction project hold consistent views on the performance of quality. Safety There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the performance of safety. Consultants are less satisfied than are clients and main contractors (see Table 5). Clients simply do not like to see any accidents. The Environment Lai and Lam responsibility for onsite safety is therefore ascribed to the consultants and the contractors (Teo et al. , 2005). Consultants take a passive role in safety during the operations (Teo et al. , 2005); they like to have sufficient planning and budgets for the design of safety at the beginning of a project (Wong and Chan, 2000). The main contractors bear most of the legal liability for safety performance (Chan and Chan, 2004); they commit to ensuring safety under a contractual requirement. There are significant differences between clients and consultants in the perception of the accomplishment of environmental performance. Consultants are generally less satisfied than are clients (see Table 5), who showed less concern in improving environmental performance. This empirical finding agrees with Yao et al. ’s (2006) basic argument. The design of environmentally friendly projects involves reduced use of natural resources, recycling of construction waste, and the avoidance of being a nuisance in the neighbourhood (Tam et al. , 2004). The green construction concept demands that, at the inception of a project, approval is sought from the client. Although consultants are reactive on this specific issue, they can propose some guidelines for administering a contract’s environmental requirements (e. g. contractors should prepare a comprehensive onsite waste management plan). Clients should consider covering all of the costs incurred in those contract specifications satisfying these environmental requirements. On the other hand, contractors do not totally disagree with this concept and are usually willing to follow some guidelines, such as avoiding environmental hazards and following safety procedures. Indeed, clients should regularly take the initiative to monitor and closely inspect contractors’ performance of environmental management. Generation of innovative ideas There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in how they perceive the accomplishment of innovative ideas about the construction design and method. Consultants are less satisfied than are clients and main contractors (see Table 5). In general, consultants play a significant role in generating new ideas about the construction method and the design (Bresnen and Marshall, 2000). The main contractors usually do not put too much effort into promoting innovative ideas unless it is a designand-build project. However, consultants are reluctant to accept a contractor’s design proposal (Bresnen and Marshall, 2000). In fact, the best innovative ideas for construction design and method should be developed by consultants during the planning phase. However, Performance criteria given the zero-growth budgets and tight schedules for construction projects, consultants seldom take the initiative to generate innovative ideas even though they should. Effectiveness There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the relative effectiveness of a construction process. Clients are more satisfied than are consultants and main contractors (see Table 5). Consultants, as designers, play an important role by providing good, reliable and complete designs that are buildable. Main contractors play an active role in the construction process (Arobos, 2002; Errasti et al. , 2007), dealing with most of the problems raised during the construction stage along with the consultants. Most of the problems generated at the site level and the effective solutions do not involve the clients. The performance of important aspects of different types of construction project There is no significant difference between the three groups in the perception of the performance of government project, public/private utility and private development. This means that there appears to be no relationship between performance outcomes and the types of projects. The performance perceived among staff in different functional roles in partnering organizations There is no significant difference between the three staff groups: managerial, frontline supervisory and consultancy, in terms of the perception of performance. This means that there is no relationship between the performance outcomes and the staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations. 387 and management of, a project, exacerbate the adverse effects of the fragmented nature of construction. There are many methods for trying and overcoming the barriers to optimum performance. For example, the ideas of the public–private partnership (PPP) and the private finance initiative (PFI) projects, which create a favourable partnering atmosphere between clients and the main contractors (Li et al. , 2005), could help diminish the abovementioned problems. PPP and PFI embrace all of the elements in a successful construction project of design, build and finance, which means a longer project timeframe and a contract sum sufficiently large so as to sustain the partnering atmosphere. Other methods, such as awarding contracts based on quality bids, as well as prices and partnering frameworks, are also recommended. Limitations Owing to the large numbers of the sample size and frame and the limited time and resources available, the selection of questionnaire respondents was based on the rationale of purposive sampling, aiming to select some specific categories in the populations. This may cause bias and error. The collected data were mainly from the main contractors and clients (84% of the total respondents) and may have led to biases that render the result inaccurate. A holistic supply chain must be expansive, embracing the vertical networks of subcontractors and suppliers for better partnering. There were also geographical limitations in this study. The survey was only carried out in Hong Kong. It would be beneficial to have the opportunity to test the theory elsewhere. Further research opportunities The results indicate that timely completion of a project is both the most important performance criterion and the highest in terms of the difference in the outcome of the performance with respect to importance. Future studies should seek to elaborate on this factor, exploring how to improve the time actor in a construction project. A new research tradition can be built on a more detailed model that specifies not only the relationships between the independent and dependent variables, but also the relationships between the independent variables. This means an investigation of the correlation between the factors of two variables as well as within the factors. In such a study, there should be a deeper focus on the correlation among the performance criteria. Regarding the significant difference from the perspectives of clients, consultants and main contractors about the performance outcomes, further additional research is necessary in order to elaborate on the Implications, limitations and further research Implications The present results reveal that, in order to achieve optimum performance, a company should improve its operations by managing the presence of the nine performance criteria. The differences in the perceptions of performance among the key contract participants in a construction project reveal the congeniality problems in the construction industry. The rule of the contract game, or that the lowest price wins, still very much dominates the final decision on the selection of contractors. The division of roles between designing and building, and the distinct roles of consultants for 388 more subtle rationale of these differences. A more qualitative data collection method through intensive interviews with participants would provide richer and more in-depth data. Lai and Lam more fairly when claims are made. Practitioners have less concern about the generation of innovative ideas for a construction method and design that make least deviations from performance. Finally, there is no difference in the perception of performance due to the types of projects, or between those staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations. This study in Hong Kong examined, from the points of view of practitioners, the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance in construction projects. The research reviews the status quo of partnering and the congeniality problems in the industry, and it is intended to stimulate interest in Hong Kong for further exploration of solutions for improving the overall performance of the construction industry. Conclusions Here, we rate the performance criteria in a construction project in Hong Kong. The order of importance of the performance criteria is: (1) time; (2) profit; (3) environment; (4) quality; (5) safety; (6) effectiveness; (7) no claims or contractual disputes; (8) job satisfaction; and (9) generation of innovative ideas. There are differences among the levels of importance of the performance criteria with respect to performance. The positive differences between the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes indicate a common pattern: all of the performance criteria underperform. The results of the greatest differences are, in order, (1) time; (2) safety; (3) quality; (4) environment; (5) profit; (6) job satisfaction; (7) effectiveness; (8) no claims or contractual disputes; and (9) generation of innovative ideas. Timely completion of the project is the most important performance criterion, but it displays the highest deviation of its performance when compared with its importance. This implies that time management is the most critical factor for the performance of a construction project. In Hong Kong, events pertaining to quality, safety and environmental issues during construction always generate a great deal of publicity. In fact, there are quite regular incidents regarding substandard work, serious accidents on construction sites, and complaints regarding pollution and nuisance generated from construction activities. The performance of these three performance criteria can be improved by providing a greater budget during the planning of the project, or by allowing a larger budget for design and incentives to achieve good performance. Most clients are satisfied with the performance of profit, although the main contractors are less happy, reflecting the fact that, with the prevailing lowest-pricewins and the procurement practice in construction, the main contractor still stands to lose. In general, most respondents are not satisfied with job satisfaction. The job satisfaction of staff should be enhanced through personal development, job security and encouragement from colleagues and superiors. Most clients are satisfied with the performance of the effectiveness of the construction process. 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(2000) Promoting urbanization towards sustainable development in China. Journal Tsinghua University, 40(1), 2–6. Appendix Table A1 Mauchly’s test of sphericityb Within Subjects Effect Mauchly’s W Approx. chi-square df Sig. Epsilon a Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Factor 0. 049 966. 660 35 0. 000 0. 682 0. 695 Lower-bound 0. 125 Notes: Test the null hypothesis that the error covariance matrix of the orthonormalized transformed dependent variables is proportional to an identity matrix. a May be used to adjust the degrees of freedom for the averaged tests of signi? cance. b Design: Intercept Within Subjects Design: factor. Performance criteria Table A2 Bonferroni test on rating of performance criteria (pairwise comparisons) (I) factor (J) factor Mean difference (I – J) Std. error Sig. a 391 5% confidence interval for differencea Lower bound Upper bound 0. 033 0. 474 0. 507 0. 227 0. 243 0. 219 0. 583 0. 441 0. 534 0. 576 0. 281 0. 300 0. 278 0. 661 0. 502 0. 206 ? 0. 070 ? 0. 052 ? 0. 073 0. 279 0. 140 ? 0. 146 ? 0. 125 ? 0. 145 0. 198 0. 069 0. 073 0. 061 0. 481 0. 337 0. 020 0. 470 0 . 330 0. 498 0. 355 ? 0. 012 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 4 5 6 7 8 9 5 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 8 9 9 ?0. 074 0. 312* 0. 364* 0. 086 0. 102 0. 077 0. 429* 0. 293* 0. 386* 0. 438* 0. 160* 0. 176* 0. 151* 0. 503* 0. 367* 0. 052 ? 0. 225* ? 0. 210* ? 0. 235* 0. 117 ? 0. 019 ? 0. 278* ? 0. 262* ? 0. 287* 0. 065 ? 0. 071 0. 015 ? 0. 009 0. 343* 0. 207* ? 0. 25 0. 327* 0. 191* 0. 352* 0. 216* ? 0. 136* 0. 033 0. 050 0. 044 0. 044 0. 044 0. 044 0. 048 0. 046 0. 046 0. 043 0. 037 0. 038 0. 039 0. 049 0. 042 0. 048 0. 048 0. 049 0. 050 0. 050 0. 049 0. 041 0. 042 0. 044 0. 041 0. 043 0. 018 0. 022 0. 043 0. 040 0. 014 0. 044 0. 043 0. 045 0. 043 0. 038 0. 969 0. 000 0. 000 10. 000 0. 731 10. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 001 0. 000 0. 005 0. 000 0. 000 10. 000 0. 000 0. 001 0. 000 0. 705 10. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 10. 000 10. 000 10. 000 10. 000 0. 000 0. 000 1. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 017 ?0. 182 0. 150 0. 221 ? 0. 054 ? 0. 039 ? 0. 065 0. 275 0. 145 0. 238 0. 300 0. 040 0. 052 0. 25 0. 345 0. 232 ? 0. 101 ? 0. 381 ? 0. 368 ? 0. 396 ? 0. 044 ? 0. 177 ? 0. 410 ? 0. 399 ? 0. 430 ? 0. 069 ? 0. 211 ? 0. 042 ? 0. 079 0. 204 0. 076 ? 0. 069 0. 184 0. 053 0. 206 0. 077 ? 0. 260 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Notes: Based on estimated marginal means. * The mean difference is signi? cant at the 0. 05 level. a Adjustment for multiple comparisons: Bonferroni. 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