School of the Built Environment

BSc (Hons) Construction Project Management
Lean Organisational Management
Coursework
Submission Deadline: 01 March 2015 16:00hrs
This assessment contributes 40% of the marks for the above module

1. BRIEF

“Lean production…is ‘lean’ because it uses less of everything compared with mass production – half the human effort in the factory, half the manufacturing space, half the investment in tools, half the engineering hours to develop a new product in half the time.”

(Womack, Jones and Ross, 1990, p13)

Select a practical example of lean construction and demonstrate how it can be applied in the construction industry. Analyse the potential cost and time savings that may be achieved utilising this example.

Marks will be awarded for the following:

1. An essay that is approximately 2500 words in length (excluding references);
2. Selection of a practical example and the identification of the key issues involved in the application of the example;
3. Detailed analysis of the literature showing the potential savings in cost and time utilising this concept;

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d. An essay that is grammatically correct and shows good use of English and is logical in its format and correctly referenced Harvard style.

Please note the following:

1. Students are required to acknowledge all sources from which they obtain information, by stating the references clearly using The Harvard Style of referencing (see Blackboard guidance).
2. The main emphasis in referencing should be on high quality reference material such as peer reviewed journal articles, peer reviewed conference proceedings and recent text books. However, students can also refer to websites where relevant.
3. Please note that each student is required to do, and submit work individually.

2. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

FORMAT

All submissions should have a cover sheet identifying the module, the date and the student’s name and roll number. In addition to the in-text citations, all submissions shall have a reference list (and an optional bibliography), listing the sources used in the preparation of the report. The School has adopted the Harvard system (APA 6th) as standard.

LENGTH

Approximately 2500 words essay excluding references/bibliography and cover sheet.

SUBMISSION

This assignment MUST be submitted electronically through Turnitin®
Further information and support for students using Turnitin can be found here:

http://www.salford.ac.uk/library/help/blackboard-and-collaborate

3. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Marks will be awarded for the following: Item

Marks

An essay that is grammatically correct and shows good use of 15% English and is logical in its format
Depth of understanding of relevant theory and identification of key 40% issues in relation to lean construction

Ability to research, analyse and précis the literature in respect of the 35% potential savings

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Correct use of Harvard referencing 10%

MARKING SCALE

At Undergraduate Level 4, 5 and 6 the following marking scale shall be used:

Outstanding Excellent Very good Good

Fair
Adequate Unsatisfactory Poor
Very poor Extremely poor

LEARNING OUTCOMES ADDRESSED

90% – 100% 80% – 89% 70% – 79% 60% – 69% 50% – 59% 40% – 49% 30% – 39% 20% – 29% 10% – 19%

0% – 9%

Knowledge and Understanding

•   Demonstrate a theoretical and practical understanding of key organisation and management issues which are relevant within the construction and property sectors.
•   Demonstrate the concepts and impact of change on construction and property organisations.
•   Demonstrate the key principles of Lean thinking and toolkit and their application in construction processes. Transferable/Key Skills and other attributes

•   Develop independent learning skills
•   Identify and reduce design and construction waste from a wider process point of view 5. RETURN & FEEDBACK ARRANGEMENTS Coursework marks and feedback will be available within 15 working days of your submission and will be loaded into Blackboard. IMPORTANT INFORMATION I. OBLIGATION TO KEEP COPIES OF ALL WORK Students MUST keep a spare copy of all work which they hand in as well as the receipt which is issued to them at the time of submission.

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II. PROVISIONAL NATURE OF MARKS & GRADES

All marks and grades issued to students are provisional until ratified by examination boards.

III. LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Submissions made after 16:00hrs on the fourth working day following submission will be deemed inadmissible and recorded as a non-submission.

IV. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS

If the submission document file up-loaded to Blackboard is corrupt and cannot be viewed – This is classed as a NON submission. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure their submission material can be opened by others.

To ensure your submission can be opened please follow this simple step:

Go back to the submission area and the blue button that was labelled Submit will now be a button labelled View – select this button and what you see upon doing so will be the file/format that your Lecturer can see. If you can open and view the document then so can the lecturer.

V. PENALTIES FOR LATE SUBMISSION

Where coursework is submitted late, the following penalties shall be applied to the mark:

(a) if the work is no more than four working days late, then five marks shall be deducted for each working day (08:30-16:00 Mon- Thursday or part thereof) , but if the work would otherwise pass then the mark for the work shall be reduced to no lower than the pass mark for the component

(b) if the work is no more than four working days late and marked and the mark is lower than the pass mark, then no penalty shall be applied;

(c) if the work is more than four working days late then it cannot be submitted and shall be recorded as a non-submission (NS).

VI. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

The University takes a serious view of all acts of academic misconduct. Such acts are considered dishonest and as attempts to gain unfair advantage. Acts of

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academic misconduct can take many forms. They are likely to fall into one or more of the following categories:

1. a)  Plagiarism
   Plagiarism involves taking the work of another person or source and using it as if it were one’s own.
2. b)  Self plagiarism
   Self-plagiarism (or double submission) is resubmitting previously submitted work on one or more occasions (without proper acknowledgement). This may take the form of copying either the whole piece of work or part of it. Normally credit will already have been given for this work.
3. c)  Collusion
   Collusion occurs when, unless with official approval (e.g. in the case of group projects), two or more students consciously collaborate in the preparation and production of work which is ultimately submitted by each in an identical, or substantially similar, form and/or is represented by each to be the product of his or her individual efforts. Collusion also occurs where there is unauthorised co-operation between a student and another person in the preparation and production of work which is presented
   as the student’s own.
4. d)  Falsifying experimental or other investigative results
   This could involve a range of things that make it appear that information has been collected by scientific investigation, the compilation of questionnaire results etc whereas in reality it has been made up or altered to provide a more favourable result.
5. e)  Taking unauthorised material (including electronic devices) into an examination
6. f)  Contracting another to write a piece of assessed work / Writing a piece of assessed work for another
   This involves any means whereby a person does work on behalf of another. It includes assessments done for someone else in full or in part by a fellow student, a friend or family member. It includes sitting an examination for someone else. It also covers obtaining material from internet ‘cheat sites’ or other sources of work. Penalties for this type of unfair means will normally apply both to a student of the University who does work on behalf of another and a student of the University who has work done for him/her.
7. g)  Copying from, or communicating with, another examination candidate during an examination
8. h)  Bribery
   This involves giving money, gifts or any other advantage to an academic

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member of staff which is intended to give an unfair advantage in an assessment exercise.

VII. Particular care should be taken in respect of the following:

a) Getting help from others / helping others

Students are encouraged to discuss and share ideas and information, however those who knowingly assist others to commit academic misconduct whether or not for payment (e.g. by giving another student the opportunity to copy part or all of a piece of work, by providing copies of assessments or by providing bespoke assignments to another student) will be subject to the same penalties as those who use unfair means. Students must ensure that they protect their own work, submit it themselves and do not allow other students to use their memory stick and/or print off work on their behalf.

b) Use of Readers/Note Takers

Students with special learning requirements who require the services of readers or note takers are advised to use appropriately trained individuals. Further advice can be obtained from the Disability Service Team within Student Life Directorate. http://www.advice.salford.ac.uk/disability

c) Referencing

Students using work which has been produced by other people within an assignment will need to ensure that they acknowledge or reference the source of the work. Students should check with their Schools for particular requirements. Marks may be deducted for poor referencing. If poor referencing is extensive throughout a piece of work it could appear that the student is trying to claim credit for the work and he/she may be deemed to have committed plagiarism. Guidance on good referencing practice is available from Schools or may be provided through research training programmes, the Study Skills Programme located in Student Life and on-line guidance provided by Information & Learning Services. Some useful resources are: http://www.advice.salford.ac.uk/

Penalties

If satisfied that unfair means has occurred, a penalty will be imposed on the student. Penalties vary depending on whether the matter is referred to the School Academic Misconduct Panel or the University Disciplinary Committee and on the particular circumstances. A range of penalties may be imposed including:

• –  A penalty of 0% for the assessment component attempted using unfair means;
• –  A penalty of 0% for the module affected by unfair means;

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– A penalty of 0% for the module affected by unfair means and the marks of all other modules at that academic level being capped at the pass mark (40% for undergraduates, 50% for post graduates).

In the most severe cases, where there are aggravating factors (e.g. that this is a repeated case of the use of unfair means by a student at an advanced stage in their studies), a student found guilty of using unfair means may be permanently expelled from the University.

Further details of the Academic Misconduct procedure are available from:

http://www.governance.salford.ac.uk/page/student_policies

Pre-submission checklist

Before submitting your assessment; ask yourself the following questions, just to be sure you’ve met all the requirements:

•   Have I correctly referenced all the sources which I have used?
•   Have I used Turnitin to check my referencing and bibliography so that my tutor knows where I have found all my information?
•   Have I completed the assignment within the word limit and/or stated my word count?
•   Have I used a spell checker and proof read my work?