Strategic And Operational Management Case Study – Australia.

Unit Title : Strategic And Operational Management
Assignment Type : Case Study
Learning outcomes : By the end of this case study, you will have:
• Demonstrated your ability of construction planning by preparing an optimised  programme of work for a building
• Discussed and demonstrated how to optimise labour resources.
• Shown how site progress can be monitored and specific activities controlled.
• Applied knowledge of how to model the sequences in construction processes  through a method statement that shows consideration of risk, productivity and  quality.
• Demonstrated your ability to communicate information clearly to site personnel  through the use of visual tools and operational documents.
Strategic And Operational Management Case Study – Australia.

Introduction :
Production information is to be prepared for the construction of a three storey educational  building. Use the data given in Appendices 1-3 to develop your solution and if required  refer to the drawings listed in Appendix 4 that are provided with this course work brief.

An over all construction programme, for the substructure and super structure only, is  required to a weekly time scale for the educational building. The planned starting date  on site is the first Monday in February next year and all necessary information is available  (note: you do not need to adjust the programme time scale for bank holidays).

Quantities of work have been extracted from the drawings and rates of work from the  pricing notes for the structure. The resources available and the times for each activity  have been given in the Appendix 1. Do not revise these resources or times when  preparing the programme of work.

Tasks :
1.Draw an overall construction programme (Gantt Chart) for the project to show  when each activity can take place within a 26 week period. The programme may  be prepared using computer software. Show how the programme was obtained  by including a precedent network diagram in the format shown in the session work book.

Note: It may not be possible to complete the project in the required time if all the  operations are sequential, therefore some overlapping and/or working in parallel  may be required.

2.Prepare a histogram of all labour resources (showing main trades)
from the  network programme to a weekly time scale. Resource requirements  are given in Appendix 2. Provide a second histogram to show how it is possible  to balance and optimise the labour usage. Also provide a short  academic commentary to explain the principles of resource levelling and the  benefits it provides. (600 words) The histogram of labour against time may be  plotted using computer software or by hand.

Strategic And Operational Management Case Study – Australia.

3.Produce a further construction programme (Gantt Chart) and use
this to show  how project progress can be illustrated. Progress details are given in Appendix  3.

4.Produce a management control report for one of the activities that
is not going  according to plan; based on time and cost variances.You may add your own (and appropriate) information to illustrate the report. The control report is to show  just one activity for time,cost, quantity, and unit rate.

N.B. Part time and sponsored students may take this opportunity to investigate  and utilise their own companies systems for planning and control. If this option  is selected please state it clearly.

5.Prepare your own method statement for one of the activities from the overall  programme. Include a description of method, resources used, quantity, output, time, and any other relevant details.

6.Complete a health and safety risk assessment for the activity identified in task  5 above, that shows full appreciation of the current best practice. Include hazard  identification, risk recognition, risk factors, risk evaluation, control measures etc.

Generally:  When selecting an example activity from the programme,
choose one with  sufficient complexity to illustrate the point(s) being made. For example,  concreting, steel frame, brick work or roof cladding.

Submitting copies of other parties generic Method Statements or Risk  Assessments does not demonstrate your understanding of the subject area and  will be treated as an assessment offence.

Strategic And Operational Management Case Study – Australia.

Submission : 
All submission should comply with  faculty requirements and be in accordance with the University Regulations; which means  that your report should be produced in the following format (where appropriate):
Font Size Arial 11 point (for written parts) 
Line Spacing 1.5 
Left Page Margin Min 3 cms to allow for binding 
Referencing Harvard Style 
Word Count Stated at end of each relevant section