Project title

An Integrated Web-based Value Management Centre for Construction Undergraduates (February 2004 - December 2004)
supported by LEARNet Production Grant, University of Hong Kong

Abstract:

Today, construction professionals should not only acquire technical knowledge, they must also develop various management skills for setting primary goals. A number of formal documents (WTBC16/1998; Tang2001; WTBC35/2002) strongly recommend a wider adoption of Value Management (VM) techniques in order to achieve an excellence in the quality of construction products. A recent survey with construction professionals in Hong Kong indicates that VM is one of the most useful decision tools for the industry (Leung et al. 2002), while another, similar survey revealed that most of the practitioners in the Hong Kong construction industry had false perceptions of VM (Fong and Shen 2000). To meet the dynamic expectations of the external environment and the industry, a VM course has been added to the construction programmes (Construction Engineering and Management, Building Surveying and Quantity Surveying) offered by local universities (e.g., City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University). The use of web techniques facilitates a teaching and learning environment that allows students to get acquainted with the rules at a pace suited to their level of proficiency. The focus of the web-based VM centre is on proactive learning and the development of critical thinking skills, including VM analyzing methods, problem-solving skills, creativity/evaluation techniques, etc. The aims of this study are: (1) to devise a universal framework to represent the VM processes at the project level; (2) to simulate the VM techniques for construction projects; and (3) to develop a psychological test for VM research.


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