Multiple Meanings of the Chinese Character æ¥ (rì)

The Chinese character æâ€" ¥ (rà ¬) can be defined as day, sun, date, or day of the month. Besides being an independent character, it is also a radical. This means that æâ€" ¥ (rà ¬) is a component of other characters that often have to do with the sun or with the day. Character Evolution The character æâ€" ¥ is a pictograph depicting the sun. Its earliest form was a circle with a dot in the center, and four rays extending from the circle. The central dot has become a horizontal stroke in the modern form of this character, which makes it similar to the character ç› ® (mà ¹), which means eye. Sun Radical Here are some characters that incorporate the radical æâ€" ¥. Many Chinese words that include the sun radical are associated with daytime or brightness, but that is not always the case. æâ€" © – zÇŽo – early; morning æâ€" ± – hà  n – drought æâ€" ´ – xÃ… « – rising sun 明 – mà ­ng – bright; clear 星 – xÄ «ng – star æ˜ ¥ – chÃ… «n – spring (season) 晚 – wÇŽn – evening; late; night æ™  – zhà ²u – daytime æ™ ¶ – jÄ «ng – crystal æ› © – nÇŽng – in former times Mandarin Vocabulary With Rà ¬ The Chinese word for sun can also be incorporated into other vocabulary words and phrases. See this chart for a few examples: Traditional Characters Simplified Characters Pinyin English n w tin r complete darkness b r within the next few days ch shng r q date of birth gung tin hu r in broad daylight ji r holiday xng q r Sunday r ch sunrise R bn Japan r j diary shng r birthday

The s Organizational Behavior, Decision Making, And...

â€Å"A good man will obtain favor from the LORD; But He will condemn a man who devises evil† Proverbs 12:2 (Dake’s Annontated Reference Bible). This verse is the foundation of human behavior it can be either good or it can be evil it can be meant to help people or it can be meant to hurt people. Behaviors inside of organizations differ from organization to organization because people’s attitudes and faith have a lot to do with how people choose to act and perform their lives. This paper will talk about Entergy’s organizational behavior, the processes and structure of the company its effectiveness and any changes or innovations that the company is using and whether or not it honors our Lord. Processes For any organization to succeed it must have three processes including communication, decision-making, and leadership (Ivancevich, Konopaske, Matteson, 2011). The communication process is very important to energy as well as other organizations because it is what links people inside of the organization and allows them to meet the demands of customers. The last 2 years Entergy has discovered that its communication process is not where it should be and they have begun issuing quarterly surveys to help them determine where the link in the communication chain is. They are doing this so that they can improve their communication and find out where the message from the CEO is being miscommunicated and how to improve it. Personal performance reviews is one of the mainShow MoreRelatedHow Leadership Styles Are Interconnected With Cultural And Tradition Of An Organization970 Words   |  4 PagesDescribe how Leadership styles are interconnected with cultural and tradition of an organization . Organizational culture is â€Å"a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs†, which direct how people perform in an organization. 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Religion and Modernity free essay sample

Can it be truthfully said that organized religion is a barrier to modernity? In order to determine such an accusation, we must first try to identify how we define modernity as well as the role of religion in science and humanity. To think modernism means the present is a very narrow view. â€Å"For many Decades, modernization was depicted in social sciences as a broad series of processes of industrialization, urbanization and social changes through which modern societies arose. (Lu, 2011) For the purposes of this essay, we will try to limit the discussion strictly to the terms of modernity relative to science and the inequality of women. But why bring up religion in the context of mathematics and science? Because Science does not develop in a social and political vacuum. Imagine a world without the simplest understanding of the world that surrounds us. Without science, man may have never been able to navigate the seas, discover new continents, never developed beyond agrarian commerce, without cures for common ailments, electricity, telephones, and running water or with even the basic understanding of natural phenomenon. For example, in ancient times, thunder was seen by primitive people as God expressing his displeasure or showing his power. However, the scientific method has proven that lightning and thunder are caused by complex electrical processes in the atmosphere. Science and mathematics have provided the world with answers to questions and cures to deadly diseases and has touched the lives of every person in the world today. This clash between modernist thought and Christianity has produced centuries of â€Å"accusation, rebuttal and counter-accusation. † (Bogart, 2009) Famous sociologist, Emile Durkheim saw religion as a necessary institution which enabled society to function harmoniously and that religion provides stability by teaching and enforcing a definite moral code. Even with this admirable quality, probably few informed people would want to argue the point that the â€Å"bible and religious tradition has often been used to prevent people from pursuing certain avenues of self-expression† (Bogart, 2009) and to deter people from all sorts of activities. In the current view most would agree that it can easily be seen that basic scientific advancements have been beneficial to mankind and most would agree that without the developments in mathematics, and science, the world as we know it could never have existed but it was not long ago when he Christian church persecuted followers of science as heretics. Throughout history, the religious attacks on modernity in the form of mathematics and science is widely documented, forcing religion into a mostly defensive position. Even today, there are still scientific and medical advancements with potentially hundreds of life altering applications that keep religion and science at a standoff in the moral a nd political spectrum as well as in public opinion. In this essay, we will illuminate how organized religion has been integral in attempting to subvert modernity, from the development of mathematics and science in antiquity, the oppression of art during the Renaissance era, further suppression of secular education through the Age of Enlightenment, the ongoing battle for the rights of women and all of the way through the modern attacks on stem cell research, cloning, family planning and abortion. In as early as In 415 A. D. the last known head of the Department of Mathematics and Philosophy at the Museum of Alexandria, part of the Library of Alexandria, the female mathematician Hypatia was stripped naked in the streets of Alexandria with her flesh scourged from her body by Christian hands and fingers while being dragged to her final death by burning alive by fanatically enraged Christian Coptic mobs, inspired by the leading Christian patriarch, later canonized Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Hypatias invention of an improved astrolabe and her subsequent book Astronomical Canon, a table of star positions for navigational explorers, was subsequently in use by other intrepid sailors and explorers for the next 1,200 years, all of this in addition to her thirteen books on algebra and another eight on geometry. This atrocity was not the first time and definitely not the last time that the church would attempt to use its power and influence, to try and subvert scientific advancement. Only a few hundred years later, at the height of the power of the Catholic Church, another movement created a scapegoat for religious persecution. The intellectual movement called The Enlightenment is one of those rare historical movements which in fact named itself. Enlightenment thinkers and writers, primarily in London and Paris, believed that they were more enlightened than their compatriots and set out to educate them. Many enlightenment thinkers had the admirable belief that â€Å"human reason could be used to combat ignorance, superstition, and tyranny and to build a better wor d. † (Brians, 1998) Additionally, â€Å"by celebrating the human race and its capacities they argued they were worshipping God more appropriately than gloomy priests and monks who harped on original sin and continuously called upon people to confess and humble themselves before the Almighty. † (Brians, 1998) While at the time, the â€Å"humanist†, the element responsible for the â⠂¬Å"enlightenment†, did not have an anti-religious association, there were a few that claimed that humans were like God, created not only in his image, but with a share of his creative power. They believed that painters, architects, musicians, and scholars were, by â€Å"exercising their intellectual powers, were fulfilling divine purposes. † (Brians, 1998) While, even within the church, there were notable Christian who pursued and promoted advances in mathematics, astronomy, medicine and science in general, the humanist notions of divine creativity and enlightenment went directly against the basic tenant of the Catholic Church of a single all-powerful, all-knowing, divine god. Because the church could not frame these tools of logic to the uses it preferred, they were afraid that this message could not only diminish the power so long held by the church over the daily lives of the people and over the monarchy and politics, but could cause outright revolt from the church as it had in before in Athens. With so much fear and apprehension, the church struck out on a terroristic mission to shame, humiliate and publicly murder those who could not be tamed. During this time of the â€Å"Inquisition†, trials of witchcraft flourished as they never had during the Middle Ages and thousands were slaughtered as examples at the hands of the church. For those who were so lucky to avoid the execution table, they still faced public humiliation, had their life works destroyed in front of their eyes and in some cases like Galileo, were forced into the infamous, unjust house imprisonment. Galileo Galileio, was one of the foremost scientific thinkers of his time, and his works have served to be the basis for the majority of astronomical work to follow. He uses the same logic the seamen had used, reinforced with observation to argue for the notion that the earth rotates on an axis beneath the unmoving sun. † (Brians, 1998) The Church objected to this idea because the Bible clearly stated that the sun moved through the sky and denounced Galileos teachings, forcing him to recant what he had written and beginning in 1633, under Pope Urbans p ersonal authority given by the Congregation of the Holy Office of the Inquisition forced him into house imprisonment, preventing him from teaching further. In this case, the Churchs triumph was short-lived, because while they were successful in silencing Galileo, they could not prevent the advance of science and astronomy. Some of the more caustic clashes between science and religion in modern history is the battle over stem cell research and cloning. â€Å"When news that Ian Wilmut and his team had successfully cloned an adult sheep in 1997, there was an immediate and ill-informed wave of public, professional, and bureaucratic fear and rejection of this new technique. † (Savulescu, 2008) Cloning is the process of multiplying cells and tissue to genetically replicate the host. Almost immediately, cloning of Human tissue was banned, but sampling of plant materials and various offshoots of the science have been allowed, such as limited cell regeneration and stem cell research as a means of treating or avoiding serious diseases. While this technology is a controversial issue, and few people have openly supported it, there are some important advancements that this technology could currently serve and endless possibilities that remain. For example, in agriculture, there are several advantages to cloning including yield, strength, and timing. A cloned plant can yield a thousand new plants from one parent plant. This means that farmers can produce more crops without a lot of seeds. In addition, cloning a plant means you can choose the best plants to clone. An entire crop of healthy, prosperous plants can be cloned from one strong parent plant. Lastly, cloned plants grow at the same rate, so harvesting can become streamlined. In reference to animal cloning, better breeding is a perfect example of the benefits of technology. In animal cloning, the best of the breed can be chosen as the clone subject. This means farmers can have the strongest or best producing animals on their farms. In the current world economy, and with a majority of the world stricken with hunger related problems, cloning could likely be the best option for countries with inopportune growing environments, or who have suffered from natural disasters, but several concerns about health issues and moral issues have stalled attempts to perfect the science. In addition to having multiple benefits in food production, there are also key benefits to the cloning of human tissue. The cloning of human tissues could lead to no longer needing to harvest animal organs to replace dead or damaged human tissue. In many cases, animal organs are rejected by recipients. In the â€Å"United States the discrepancy between the number of potential recipients and donor organs is increasing by approximately 10-15% annually† (Savulescu, 2008) Not only is there a shortage of human tissue, there are still the issues of incompatibility and the need for a lifetime of immunosuppressive therapy and serious side effects. With cloning, there could be abundant sources with near perfect capability. While there are several issues with cloning most notably those relating to the spiritual morality of creating or replicating human tissues. The movement to ban human reproductive cloning appears to draw strength from traditional religious beliefs. Religion is among the most powerful factors shaping attitudes toward human reproductive cloning and remains an influential force in human society, despite the secularization brought about by scientific progress, bureaucratic rationalization, and economic growth. Members of some religious groups, particularly Evangelical Christianity and Roman Catholicism, believe that a soul enters the body at the instant of conception, and that the fertilized ovum is in fact a human person with full human rights. † (Bainbridge, 2003) Another traditional function of religion has been to provide a set of metaphors through which people could think about their own psychological p rocesses. The Christian notion of an immortal, righteous soul offers hope in return for moral behavior and in regard to the cloning of human tissue, the assumption that clones would lack souls seems to be widespread. This worry is not limited to Christians, but also afflicts people in the broad tradition of Hinduism and Buddhism who believe that each being, whether human or non-human, is born with a spirit. â€Å"This spirit may or may not be a reincarnation of a previous spirit and that cloning will prostitute the natural evolution of spirits and life. † (Bainbridge, 2003) For many believers, the crucial quality of a soul is its immortality. In a sense, religion is the death business, and it cannot tolerate any technology that would take away its market. As we have seen throughout the readings, religion has a serious impact in the inequality of the genders and the subjugation of women throughout the world. In Sea of Poppies, Deeti made the difficult decision to abandon Kabutri with her family as the persecution she faced for her refusal to marry her brother-in-law, and then for the shame of disappearing with Kalua. Her village leaders meant to use religious law against her and to beat or kill her for her apparent indiscretions against morality. This example along with various other examples within Season of Migration to the North illustrate the plight of women in extreme religious societies. Particularly, the focus in the books centered around the Middle East and Islam. However, backward thoughts about women are not exclusive to the Middle East or to Islam. All major religions have a storied history of women’s subjection to men. It is not in all cases that women are beaten or shamed, in many cases the persecution is more subtle, but nonetheless ruthless. In religious history, across Christianity, Islam, and even Judaism women were and in some cases still are denied the ability to participate equally in religious ceremonies and rituals. In Judaism, there is a Jewish prayer that men say each morning. â€Å"â€Å"sh’lo asani isha†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ â€Å"that I wasn’t created a woman. † (Torah, 2012) That blessing is only one striking example of many where women are not treated or considered equal in Orthodox Judaism. In most synagogues women cannot be ordained as Rabbis, cannot lead prayer services for a mixed crowd, cannot chant from the Torah, and are discouraged from wearing traditional religious attire. However, Judaism is not alone. Even in Christianity there are direct references to the subordination of women to men. When researching the history of the Catholic Church, one will find that a doctrine against women has always been firmly maintained, and is so today, but not necessarily to the same extent. The Bible has many things to say indicating support of the idea that women are unequal and servile to men. From Genesis III and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee This is the first direct order of the subservience of women to men and that in Christianity, it is ordained by god that men bear rule over the women. Later in the New Testament, women’s subservience is mentioned again. ; all the wives shall give to their husbands honor, both to great and small he sent letters into all the provinces, that every man should bear rule in his own house (Esther, 2002) again like we have seen in all of our readings, women are valued differently and treated differently than men. Based on our readings women’s value is in the home as a servant to the husband and her opinions and thoughts are half of a man’s. As we have seen, the most visibly egregious and violent offender of women’s rights are fanatic Muslims. In Islam, rather than just being ignored and subservient, women were treated like slaves or property. Their personal consent concerning anything related to their well-being is considered unimportant, to such a degree that they were never even treated as a party to a marriage contract. In Islam, Women are needed only for procreation and are then discarded. Similar to the other faiths, the Koran has similar passages that diminish women. Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because men spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those among you who fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. † (Sura, 4:34) Furthermore, in some Islamic ruled counties, Women have no independence, cannot own property, are barred from employment and are not allowed to attend school and can be beaten or sentenced to death only for being seen I public, unaccompanied by a male relative. How can such intolerance and subjugation in the name of religion be considered peaceful or modern? It cannot. As in its dealings with science and modernity, organized religion stands united against progress. In the end, no one can claim that religion and modernity have been indifferent and unbiased towards each other. In addition and neither can it be implied that all the advocates of modernity were opposed to religion. â€Å"Dogmatic religious opposition is not rooted in technical or humanitarian concerns, but in a view of existence that is incompatible with scientific progress. There is no peaceful way to overcome such opposition, short of converting believers away from their strongly-held, literalistic faith. † (Dawari, 2012) On the other hand, it is not as if all the religious authorities have been opposed to modernity or have struggled against it. However, modernity has changed mans relationship with his fellowmen, with the world, and in some cases with the origin of the world. Scientific progress in many cases has served to debunk religious mythology in the eyes of some, while for others, it only serves to reinforce the idea of a higher power. Religious ideals are not bad or wrong. They are just many times wielded by those who wish to maintain power and control over the minds of people. Religious arguments about science will continue to rage as long a modern scientist attempt to understand the minute details of creation and to challenge the validity of a all-knowing omnipresent being. Likewise, in terms of slavery and oppression of women, religion continues to have a chokehold on the minds of many fanatic leaders who continue to brainwash youth into believing that it is gods will for women to be lesser creatures than men. Technological advancements and the distribution of their benefits has not been not equal and modernity has been slower to develop in some places more than others, but that does not change the fact that religion has directly challenged social and scientific progress at every turn. Some of the most basic scientific understandings likely may have not been possible if elements in organized religion had not been defeated. There are still many challenges ahead and it will take education and understanding to find common ground in the struggle against religious idealism and social justice. (2002). Esther. In King James Bible (pp. 1:20-22). Wheaton: Good News Publishers. Bainbridge, W. S. (2003, October). Religious Opposition to Cloning. Journal of Evoloution and Technology. , 13, 1-15. Retrieved from mysite. verizon. net/william. bainbridge/index. htm Bogart, M. (2009, May 25). Modernity vs Religion. Retrieved from Michael Bogart Ministries: http://mbogartministries. hubpages. com/hub/ModernityvsReligion Brians, P. (1998, March 11). The Enlightenment. Retrieved from Washington State University: http://public. wsu. edu/~brians/hum_303/enlightenment. html Dawari, R. D. (2012, 12 12). Imam Reza Network. Retrieved from Religion and Modernity: http://www. imamreza. net/eng/imamreza. php? id=429 Library of Congress. (2010, October 03). The Historic Conflict of Science and Religion. Retrieved from Relativity Calculator: http://www. relativitycalculator. com/conflict_science_religion. shtml Lu, D. (2011). Third World Modernism Architecture, Development and Idenity. New York: Routledge. Savulescu, J. (2008). Should we Clone Human Beings. In N. M. Ezell Shirley, Human Ecosyatems and Technological Change (pp. 417-428). Boston: McGraw Hill Learning Solutions. Torah. (2012). Torah The Five Books of Moses. In A. Simon (Ed. ).

Public Relations and Flight for Brand Value- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about thePublic Relations and Flight for Brand Value. Answer: Introduction Public relation is an expanding branch. It is essential to any business to gain more exposure in the market and gain credibility. Building a certain image, brand value, connections with the right kind of people and reputation in the market takes a considerable amount of time. This is where PR consultancies and companies play an important role. They help brands tie up with influencers and build a likable image in the market. While some small businesses might not be able to afford PR companies to manage their public relations, most large organizations and businesses indulge and invest heavily in outsourcing their public relations. While there are barely any down sides to having a PR company handle an organization's PR, businesses and employees must also realize there is only so much a PR company can do. In the present day, where technology has outgrown itself and every single human being has a smart phone camera, it is essential that one must put great though into their actions and behave responsibly. The case of flight 3411 is one example of a company facing extremely negative publicity due to the horrible actions of its employees. Errors on Part of Public Relations On the evening of 9th April, 2017 at around 5 p.m., passengers of flight 3411 were set to start their journey from O'Hare International Airport to Louisville. Little did they know about an incident that was going to occur shortly before they could even begin to fly. The flight 3411 had been overbooked. Although overbooking of flights happens all the time, what followed next was an experience no person would want to be a part of. As the flight was overbooked, passengers were offered to voluntarily give up their seats for which they would be compensated. The initial compensation that was offered was $400 and an overnight stay in a hotel. 4 passengers needed to travel to the destination the very next day. However, nobody was willing to give up their seats. Upon seeing this response united express decided to increase their compensation from $400 to $800. 3 out of 4 passengers complied and accepted the travel vouchers and the compensation. But there was still one spot left to be swapped. As no passenger in the flight was agreeing to give up their ticket, united Airways told the passengers that they would select a passenger randomly. The passengers were selected based on a combination of criteria spelled out in Uniteds contract of carriage, including frequent-flier status, fare type, check-in time and connecting flight implications, among others, according to United(Bacon, 2017). This however, did not work out very well. The selected passenger was Dr. David Dao. David is a 69 year old doctor who needed to be in his home town, the very next day as he was expecting to see some of his patients. The doctor revolted and told the crew that he would not swap his ticket as he had to be in his home town the very next day. Things heated up after his non compliance as the doctor refused to leave his seat. The officers however, handled the situation in an extremely disrespectful manner. The arguments between the passenger and the security officers soon turned into a scuffle. The fight led the doctor bleeding and unconscious. Security officers literally dragged the unconscious body of Dr. Dao through the aisle all while the passengers were recording videos on their smart phones. Publics increasingly use social media during crises and, consequently, crisis communication professionals need to understand how to strategically optimize these tools(Fisher, 2011). Upon seeing the situation take a violent turn, some of the passengers decided to board down from the flight. The security officers mishandled the situation gravely. This was aggravated by the PR team of United Airlines sending out different statements in the next 2 hours, leaving an even worse impression on the already dissed passengers. There are a number of things one can learn from the above scenario. Crisis management in relation to its effect on corporate reputation is what PR companies are needed for(Antonio, 2014). Learning Outcomes It is the job of a PR team to manage delicate situations smartly. Failure can result in serious harm to stakeholders, losses for an organization, or end its very existence(Coombs, 2007). However, in the above case scenario, things seemed as if they had gotten out of hand. Management of information and effective communication at times of crisis is of great importance(Ashcroft, 1997). Below are discussed a few points that can help in understanding what went wrong and how it could have been handled better. Communication by an organization during an organizational crisis is essential and often neglected(Sturges, 1994). PR experts in their reports have said that such a scenario was completely avoidable with a little bit of better management. This is what we call in crisis management creating your own crisis, said Eric Rose, a crisis management expert(Martin, 2017). Overbooking of flights is not a new phenomenon and happens all the time. There were a total of four passengers that had to travel from Chicago to Louisville urgently. Instead of randomly selecting passengers who had already paid for their tickets as well, the company should have increased their compensations even further from $800. Even after that, if no passenger would have been willing to swap, the company could have let the 4 passengers know about the situation. They would have lost four customers but maintained their global goodwill(CROWLEY, 2017). Within the next 24 hours after the occurrence of this incident, the CEO of United Airlines sent out 2 different statements. He only apologized for the fact that the airlines had to reallocate passengers while keeping mum on a due apology to Dr. Dao. All of this points towards the mismanagement of the situation by the PR team. Public relations experts say the CEO should have quickly offered an unreserved apology after a customer was filmed on Sunday being forcibly removed from his seat and dragged down an overbooked aircraft's aisle(Petroff, 2017). An extreme outrage from passengers and general public could be seen on social media after t after this incident. This led to bad publicity for the united airlines and with many such incidences happening in a short period of time before and after this incident, United Airlines is rapidly gaining bad publicity. What one can learn from this is that it is essential for PR teams to assess the complete situation before sending out statements as k nee jerk reactions. One must always be prepared for such situations. In addition, one must also know how to handle such situations tactfully. Soon after the incident occurred, the United Airlines reportedly supported the mishandling and misdeeds of their staff and tried to put the entire blame on Dr. David Dao. Such behavior is not only unacceptable but also affects the credibility of a company. While managing PR, it is essential to stick to facts and not try to put blame on the other party as in the case of flight 3411. After the passengers in the flight shared their recorded videos on social media platforms, the public soon got to know everything about the incident. By this time, it was too late for the airlines to take back their statements. This resulted in extreme negative publicity of the company worldwide. In addition to the above incident, there were many other instances reported by people where United Airlines was on the bearing end of allegations such as not allowing two girls who were wearing leggings to board the plane and another passenger who was bitten by a scorpion. In a world filled with a smart phone is e very corner, it is extremely difficult to hide ones wrong doings, or carelessness for long. The more a person is educated in public relations, the more she or he may value social media as a strategic communication tool(Wakefield, 2016). This results in effective realization of how social media can spread both negative and positive publicity like wildfire. Handling public relations is a tough job. One needs to be aware of the sentiments of the other party as well as the public in general. The statement issued by the CEO expressed no remorse for Dr. David Dao. The companys response including the chief executive saying the airline had to re-accommodate passengers hasnt gone down well(Smith, 2017). This hurt the sentiments of not just the doctor but a lot of other people as well. First, the United Airlines overbooked a flight and upon refusal from passengers, the crew and security officers misbehaved with a passenger. This not only shows how inefficient the airlines is in handling their day to day bookings, but also how horribly they treat passengers if they refuse to give up their seats. It is essential that companies understand and teach their employees to respect one and all and to handle complex situations smartly. After the airlines had already issued statements supporting the wrong doings of their staff and the general public came to know about what actually happened, the company reached a point from where it could not turn back. Therefore one must understand the implications of their actions. Conclusion Public Relations can sometimes be tricky to handle. However, one must ensure he or she is behaving respectfully and responsibly. The case example discussed above shows how imperative it is to understand the implications of ones actions. One can also comprehend how easy it is to avoid tricky situations that have the potential to turn volatile quickly. Instead of resorting to fore and violence, one must try to handle complicated situations by bringing all parties involved to a common ground. How one handles a companys public relations holds extreme importance. In the above case scenario, united airlines suffered extreme negative publicity due to their horrible treatment of their passengers in addition to their PR team being weak, impulsive and not effective enough. References Antonio, M. (2014). Crisis Management to Avoid Damage for Corporate Reputation: The Case of Retail Chain Crisis in the Baltic Countries. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences , 452-457. Ashcroft, L. (1997). Crisis management ? public relations. Journal of Managerial Psychology , 325-332. Bacon, J. (2017, april 11). United Airlines says controversial flight was not overbooked; CEO apologizes again. Retrieved october 3, 2017, from USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/04/11/united-ceo-employees-followed-procedures-flier-belligerent/100317166/ BANNISTER, K. (2017, april 18). Lessons in Crisis Management From the United Incident. Retrieved october 5, 2017, from brandwatch: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/lessons-crisis-management-united-incident/ Coombs, T. (2007). Crisis Management and Communications. The SCIENCE Beneath the ART of PUBLIC RELATIONS , 89-103. CROWLEY, P. (2017, april 11). PR 101: United Airlines lessons in how not to manage a crisis. Retrieved october 4, 2017, from the hill: https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/transportation/328288-what-others-can-learn-from-uniteds-pr-disaster Fisher, B. (2011). Examining the Role of Social Media in Effective Crisis Management. Sage Journals , 74-94. Martin, H. (2017, april 10). United Airlines suffers more bad publicity after a passenger is dragged from an overbooked plane. Retrieved october 3, 2017, from Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-united-airlines-bad-pr-20170410-story.html Petroff, A. (2017, april 11). United Airlines shows how to make a PR crisis a total disaster. Retrieved october 3, 2017, from money.cnn.com: https://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/united-passenger-pr-disaster/index.html Smith, R. (2017, april 11). After United Airlines' response to a passenger being dragged from a flight here are six of the most memorable airline PR blunders. Retrieved october 4, 2017, from City AM Newsletter: https://www.cityam.com/262750/after-united-airlines-response-passenger-being-dragged Sturges, D. L. (1994). Communicating through Crisis. Management Communication Quarterly , 297-316. Wakefield, R. I. (2016). "Social Media and Strategic Communication: A Three-Year Study of Attitudes and Perceptions About Social Media Among College Students. Public Relations Journal , 310-356.

Why study Art an Example by

Why study Art? Since high school, I have had a desire to pursue art; disciplines of my immense interest which not only enable me understand the forces behind socio-economic, political, legal, and environmental happenings but also offer a practical way of relating these factors to the day to day live activities. First, I made my decision to study arts in order to fulfill my dreams and acquire more knowledge that would enable me correlate my imaginations with the history of human existence and how man attempts to adjust to the ever changing world in quest for better life, security and social order (teachers, 2008) Need essay sample on "Why study Art?" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Secondly my decision was based on the desire to experience and get more insight on the multifaceted human cultural diversity and their roles in the contemporary society. My decision was also guided by the awareness that Art would enable me develop specific academic traits that are crucial in my quest to fully understand human behavior as exhibited in various scenarios and the deep pertinent issues that are essential, not only in understanding life, but in living fully (teachers, 2008). My journey into the world of art was also guide by the abstractness of the discipline where one freely expresses his/her opinion on a given subject and is not necessarily tied to a given established formulae of making inferences. In the study of art, one uses critique, images, movements, and songs to form an opinion and attempt to explain the sate of affairs, the causative agents and also offer viable alternatives solutions to a situation. Lastly, I had desire to specialize in a filed that would enable me employ my skills in empowering my peer and members of my society hence the decision to begin the journey that would eventually lead me to further studies in community arts. Art is therefore not only enjoyable to me but also allows me think critically and creatively. Reference Teachers. (2008) Art Page. Retrieved February 3, 2009.

Marshal vs. Martial

Marshal vs. Martial Marshal vs. Martial Marshal vs. Martial By Mark Nichol Marshal and martial are a pair of words that, perhaps aided by similar associations, are often confused. Marshal The first image that marshal provokes in one’s mind, at least for Americans, is likely a lawman of the Old West, but the word’s origin is hundreds of years older. The term comes from a Germanic compound meaning â€Å"horse servant.† (The first word in the compound shares its etymology with mare, the word for a female horse.) From this humble beginning, the word was later associated with the leader of a medieval nobleman’s cavalry and later became a military rank equivalent to general. (It is this meaning that speakers of British English are more familiar with, because this military rank persists in the United Kingdom and in countries with military traditions inspired by that country.) It was then adapted to civilian usage as a law-enforcement position, so that now, in addition to your run-of-the-mill federal marshals, there are fire marshals, who enforce fire-prevention ordinances, and air marshals informally also referred to as sky marshals who provide security on commercial passenger airplanes. (The latter terms became much more ubiquitous after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when their numbers were increased significantly.) â€Å"Air marshal† is also a high military rank in certain air forces. In addition, the equivalent of a police chief in a large military unit is known as a provost marshal; the first word in that title, borrowed from French (and originally from Latin), is pronounced â€Å"PRO-vo.† Marshal is also sometimes used to identify a person in charge of a ceremonial event, though it appears more often modified to â€Å"grand marshal,† indicating the honorary leader of a parade. It is also a verb that means â€Å"to lead† or â€Å"to organize,† as in â€Å"The general marshaled his forces.† (Note that the preferred spelling for the past tense and other inflections is with a single l.) Marshal, influenced by the occupational surname Marshall (from an obsolete spelling), is often incorrectly spelled like the name. Martial Like marshal, martial has a belligerent background: It stems from the Latin word martialis, meaning â€Å"pertaining to Mars.† That Roman god, borrowed from the ancient Greeks’ similar god Ares (not to be confused with name of the Zodiac sign Aries, from the Latin word for ram), was the god of war, though he also had protective aspects lacking in his blindly bellicose Greek counterpart and was also an agricultural god. (He also gave his name to the third month of the year, the beginning of the season for both planting and campaigning.) Martial is used in the phrase â€Å"martial arts,† referring to disciplines for hand-to-hand combat ranging from Brazil’s capoeira to Israel’s krav maga to more familiar Asian practices such as karate and judo. It also modifies nouns in terms such as â€Å"martial law,† referring to extreme measures put in place by a government in times of national emergency, and court-martial (hyphenated as a holdover from its French origins), which refers to a military trial or a court in which a panel of military personnel presides over such proceedings. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should KnowWhat to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row10 Tips About How to Write a Caption

American Dream for Slaves, Indians, and Puritans Essay

American Dream for Slaves, Indians, and Puritans - Essay Example Over time, they establish their communities, and become a part of the cosmopolitan society of America. These people had dreams that pushed them to leave their original homes, and settle in America. In trying to analyze the truth in George Carlin’s comment, it is imperative to consider facts from such groups. In the colonial era, slaves, Indians, and puritans all had dreams; and this paper intends to examine the interpretation of these groups of the American dream. This paper will also consider the obstacles they encountered in their mission, and whether or not they pursued their course. Colonial Era In looking at American history, slaves were of African origin. They Africans could only be referred to as slaves, after they had been bough officially by a planter or an owner of a plantation. The first slaves arrived in America in the early 1500s1. Slavery was oppressive, and colonies with produce specialization relied heavily on slaves. The slaves had no rights, were not allowed to accrue wages, and they were given only what was enough for their survival. Slaves came mainly from West, and Central Africa. By 1700, the number of slaves in America was about 20, 000. The slaves were forcibly brought to America. Between 1700 and 1750, an additional 250, 000 people had been involuntarily brought to British to serve as slaves. At the time that Europeans arrived in America, there were between 10 and 90 million American Indians. This native population appreciated the resources that nature placed at their disposal. The respected it, and used it accordingly. When Europeans landed in America, the American Indians were accommodative of their visitors since they were fascinated by the tools they brought with them. As the number of Europeans grew, they wanted to conquer the land, and make it theirs. Though they tried to coexist with the Europeans, the American Indians were quickly overtaken by events. The Europeans took over the land, pushed them to the side, imposed thei r ideals on them, and became their rulers. The European governments laid claim on the land, and divided it amongst themselves2. The American Indians were even enslaved by the Europeans. The period between 1500 and 1776 is characterized, in American History, by the colonization of America by Europeans. Puritans were immigrants from England to America. The Puritans were established in America by 400 settlers. These settlers in 1629 began the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their numbers grew in leaps and bounds, and by 1640, their population had reached 1640. They extended their region of coverage to Connecticut, Saybrook, and New Haven3. American dream As time went by, the African population grew to outnumber that of the whites. The African slaves bore children who were born into slavery. These children knew no other home other that the fields in which they worked. To them, slavery was their destined way of life, and some of them did nothing to go against this. But as time passed, some sla ves were able to earn enough to buy their freedom4. They turned around to become advocates against slavery. They convinced their fellow Africans who were still bound in slavery that there was a better way of life. Though brought in captivity, the slaves dreamt of freedom in America. The American Indians, being a people who had respect for nature, found themselves in the midst of

The baby boom generation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The baby boom generation - Essay Example Because advertisers are trying to gain the attention of their target consumer group, they work hard to depict the ideals of the society. If young and slim is attractive, they will work that into their presentation in as many ways as they can. If macho and hard is the current fashion, this, too, will be reflected in the way a product is marketed. At the same time, by changing the way they combine different types of visual clues, these same media outlets can help to redefine a culture, to make it more tolerant of ecological issues, for example, or to change the way a society views gender roles. Studies are utilized by advertising agencies to identify potential buying demographics. This information is then used to target specific markets and to learn about public attitudes, why they buy specific products and what sort of promotions would most appeal to their desires to purchase. To some companies, marketing is about generating sales, period. It is therefore surprising to discover how li ttle advertising is actually targeted toward the baby boom generation. Although our culture seems to worship youth above all else, the reality is that the baby boom generation, now entering retirement, remains a large and greatly viable market. Baby Boomer is the term used to designate a specific age group in American society, generally defined as those who were born between the years 1946 and 1964. The generation is named this in recognition of the ‘boom’ of births that took place immediately following the return of soldiers home from World War II (Jones, 1981). These individuals shared a number of experiences during their generation that serves to unite them, including the murder of a president, the first footsteps on the moon, the ‘rebirth’ of the ‘60s and the large-scale introduction of psychedelic drugs into the marketplace. The Civil Rights Movement occurred during many baby boomers’ early

Allocating a Scarce Resource Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Allocating a Scarce Resource - Assignment Example According to FAO Director-General Dr. Jacques Diouf, â€Å"agriculture is the number-one user of freshwater worldwide. The agriculture sector must take the lead in coping with water scarcity by finding more effective ways to conserve rain-fed moisture and irrigate farmlands† (FAO Newsroom 2007). As validated by Rogers and Wilson (2000), â€Å"irrigation represents by far the largest use of water in the state of Kansas†. In recognizing the need to conserve this limited resource, the state has outlined guidelines for an irrigation water conservation plan which aims to assist irrigators in preparing plans for water conservation in their respective local areas (Kansas Water Office, et.al. 2006). As properly identified by state authorities and by the farmers themselves, and by preparing said guidelines for water conservation for irrigation purposes, the local residents of Kansas have recognized the imminent danger of water resource scarcity and state water conflicts. The state recognizes the need to â€Å"curtail waste of water and ensure that water use does not exceed reasonable needs† (ibid). Three state agencies are closely monitoring water irrigation practices of farmers. These are the Division of Water Resources (DWR), the Groundwater Management Districts (GMD) and/or the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). In an important study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Kansas Water Office, the effect of irrigation practices on water usage was determined. The results of the study revealed that despite increased efficiency in irrigation practices, water usage did not decrease or even increased significantly (US Water News Online 2006). Another study conducted by Perry (2006), â€Å"although irrigation water use for all Groundwater Management Districts showed no statistically significant trend, an apparently increased efficiency of center pivots irrigation systems with drop nozzles has allowed more water-intensive crops to be grown on  more irrigated acres†.

Cost Overrun in Construction Projects

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