Mn601 Big Commercial Construction Company Assessment Answers

Assistant  Project  Manager  Jim  Rains  was  26  years  old,  when  he  newly  hired  at  a  large  commercial onstruction company, and assigned  to work on a $34 million dollar university classroom  project  in  the  southeast  United  States.  Upon  arriving  on  the  job  site,  Jim  was introduced to the head superintendent Bob Moore who had been with the firm for 25 years. Bob  was  an  exceptionally  proficient  organizer  and  was  often  requested  by  clients  for  the 
supervision  of  their  construction  projects.  As  the  project  began,  things  on  a  whole  went smoothly. In fact, Jim was learning and taking on more project management responsibilities every day. 

2. The winter and  spring months brought many days of  rain. Often, Bob would have  to send several carpenters home because there was nothing at the construction site for them to do  when it was raining. This did not sit well with the carpenters when they could only work 3 days per week (and were paid for 3 days work) because of rainouts. Other times, Bob would not send the carpenters home, but would have them sweep up the floors that were already 
under  roof. This activity would normally  take  2 hours with a crew of  4, but Bob would be forced to pay them for a full 8?hour day. Some days Bob, being one to hate inefficiency (and the potential loss of workers not returning to the site after being sent home), sent some of the carpenters (who would normally be just standing around and sweeping on rainy days) to his home to work. There the carpenters would work on interior framing, finish carpentry, and 
hang  drywall  in  Bob's  new  addition.  Bob  figured  that  as  long  as  the  carpenters  were  just hanging around the site with little to do, they might as well earn their pay. 

Answer:

The leadership qualities of a big commercial construction company are discussed in this unit of the paper. The head superintendent of this firm is Mr. Bob Moore who is working on this firm for the last 25 years. He is a very efficient employee with great managing skills and he is often recommended for the supervision of many other construction projects also. His unethical activity regarding engaging the employers in his personal work during the rainy season in organization is highlighted in this paper.

PM Execution

The working process of this commercial construction company was going smoothly before the appointed of a 26 years old assistant project manager Jim Rains. He was assigned to work on a 34 million AUD university classroom project. During the initial stages he was learning the all the project management responsibilities. The execution of the project is different in different seasons of the year. During the off seasons rains the employers were often sent back home due to the adverse conditions [2]. This was a point of concern from both the point of view of the employees as well as for the company. This unethical activity of the head superintendent should have been replaced by other activities related to the commercial construction company rather than making employees work for personal benefits.

This detailed examination of this unethical issue is helpful in identification of the possible risks and also gives the ideas about how the risk can be resolved by effective risk mitigation plans. The steps taken by the superintendent may have the risk of losing the employees to rival companies, a decrement of their efficiency due to lack of job satisfaction. These activities may have a direct impact on the professional perspective of the employees. Effective risk mitigation plans such as involving them to other activities related to this company such as the indoor works should have been practiced [5]. Other important risk mitigation plan such as giving training related to their activities should have been encouraged which might have increased the productivity of the organization.

Ethics Assessment

This case has different kinds of ethical perspectives which are should not be tolerated at all considering the labour laws of legislation. It can be stated that it is not the best possible solution during that time of the year when the employers cannot be working outside their premises because of the rain. Both the resources of this commercial company are wasted because of this practice, this also hampers the working environments of the organisation. The long-term policies of this organisation can be hugely damaged unless the higher authorities take all the necessary steps to resolve the issue [1]. The ethical choices of the head superintendent of this organisation such as responsibility, honesty and respect are missing as they are not compiling with the professional code.

Ethics Alternatives

There are different alternative choices associated with this unethical activity is discussed in this section of the paper along with their benefits and limitations. Involving the employers in different in-house tasks such the maintenance services and advance trainings which will help them to grow in the company should have been practiced other than engaging them in the personal works. Although the proposed alternatives have both advantages and disadvantages [3]. The main disadvantage is the need of experienced trainers which are not always readily acceptable in the organization; also, a separate investment is required for all the in-house maintenance activities which is a concern for the management of any organization. The foremost benefit of applying these choices is that the motivation of the workers is maintained and this would increase their job satisfaction as well.

Ethics Analysis

On the basis on the unethical activity Jim Rains wanted to communicate with his head superintendent Bob Moore but his position in the company over the years held him back to approach him after tolerating this for a few days he confronted the issue and asked about his issue. The main reason which the head superintendent gave to his fellow colleague that he wanted to motivate and satisfy his workers by engaging them in some kinds of activities. The ability of the newly appointed junior is highly appreciated considering the management of a construction company is considered [7].

The analysis of this ethical dilemma can be completed with the help of a systematic decision-making framework such as being aware of all the factors associated with this risk, the decision of the candidate can be supported so that the alternative measures such as the in-house maintenance activities can be stated. Proper ethical analysis should be done so that’s its validation can be acknowledged [8]. The validation can be tested if the alterations are adopted and reviewed by the project managers for a specific period of time. Before making any decision regarding implementing the changes ethical principles should be highly focused.

Ethics Application 

This unit of the paper will be highlighting about the choice made by the assistant project manager Jim Rains by directly approaching him during an unethical activity of his senior superintendent when he tried to engage the workers on his personal works as it would hamper the morale of the workers as they were supposed to work for the company not for any individual. The choice of involving them in other works is not at all good the growth and development of the company [6]. The proposed alternatives may prove to be beneficial for the company as well as for the perspective of the employees. It would help to reduce the issues from the off seasons rain which directly affect the company as the workers are to be paid during the rainy seasons in spite of the fact that no outside work can be done in that part of the season.

Ethics Action

Considering all the aspects of this case it can be acknowledged that the decision of the junior assistant project manager in approaching the experienced superintendents was very much necessary as the unethical activities of his senior may indirectly lead to business loss of the company and for himself as well [4]. The construction company should be looking for alternative choices rather than engaging their workers in fruitless jobs.

Reference

[1] Githui, Donatus Mathenge. "Ethical issues in the construction industry in Kenya: A critical analysis of the professional conduct in engineering technology management." (2012).

[2] Walker, Anthony. Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.

[3] Lock, Dennis. Project management in construction. Routledge, 2016.

[4] Abeydeera, L. H. U. W., Gayani Karunasena, and M. C. N. Hussain. "Constrains in integrating facilities manager in the project development process in construction industry." Proceedings of the 6th World Construction Symposium on What's New and What's Next in the Built Environment Sustainability Agenda. Ceylon Institute of Builders-Sri Lanka, 2017.

[5] Burtonshaw-Gunn, Simon A. Risk and financial management in construction. Routledge, 2017.

[6] Qazi, Abroon, et al. "Project Complexity and Risk Management (ProCRiM): Towards modelling project complexity driven risk paths in construction projects." International Journal of Project Management 34.7 (2016): 1183-1198.

[7] Harrison, Frederick, and Dennis Lock. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge, 2017.

[8] Zhang, Yao, and Zhi-Ping Fan. "An optimization method for selecting project risk response strategies." International Journal of Project Management 32.3 (2014): 412-422.