The effects of state right-to-work laws on unions Essay

The effects of state right-to-work laws on unions - Essay Example â€Å"By comparison with the voluminous literature on the theories of the firm and consumer, the amount of space devoted to the theory of union is small indeed. This is not accidental; it results from the fact that the behavior of firms and consumers can be easily interpreted as maximizing while that of a union cannot† (ibid, 290). Certainly, since the statement of Reder, there is proof that curiosity and interest in unionism generally collapsed. Nevertheless, because of the significance of trade unions in the activities of the economy, there is a necessity for a systematic framework which can present theoretical concepts into the economic performance of unions to fill the empty spaces that presently exist. As highlighted above, insignificant development has been made in shaping the performance of trade unions since the conventional economic paradigm assumes some form of making the best use of behavior by the entity being investigated. More particularly, the consumer is presupposed to take full advantage of utility, while the company is expected to maximize profit. Neither comparison is relevant to the trade union. Dunlop tried to formulate a framework of the union grounded on the assumption that the wage income of the members of a union is the revenue function and revenues is to be capitalized on rather than profits, as costs to the union are zero. On the contrary, some analysts believed labor unions as a generator of member services which should consider both the proceeds from membership fees and the costs related with the prerequisite of different stages of services. A correlation between an assumption of the consumer and the activities of labor unions has been designed by Cartter i n that the union has an apathy plot which indicates its inclinations between the levels of wages and the level of service (Davis, 1993). In other words, traditional economic assumption demands that the economic player, such

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Essay Example for Free

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Essay In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twains characters play an intricate roll in the literary structure of the book. They come into Huck and Jims life almost like the changing wind, and changed their characters indefinitely. The character that I found interesting was Colonel Sherburn who is the owner of the largest store in a town that Huck happens upon. The town Huck ventures into a town that is in the middle of a festival; all the families have their wagons and are eating their dinners in them. During their dinner many begin to drink whiskey very heavily and Huck saw three fights. Then the town drunk, Mr. Boggs ventures into the town for his monthly drink and that every one expected but did not fear what he would do. On man says, I whisht old Boggsd threaten me, cuz then Id know I warnt gwyne to die for a thousan year. (Twain143) This just goes to show that the town had been through this whole routine before; they even knew whom Boggs was going to chaw up. Boggs announced to every one that had now begun to follow him, that he could not waist his time with them because he was there to kill Colonel Sherburn. So, he marched right up to the front Sherburns store and demanded that he come out and meet the man youve swindled. (Twain 143) Boggs then continued to call Sherburn every offensive remark he could think of while even though he was under the influence. Then comes Sherburn, a proud-looking man who carried himself very well, so well that when he stepped out onto the steps of the store the crowd steps back almost in awe. He was about fifty-five and was the best-dressed man in that town, he wore Mark Twains later look of all white. Then he warns Boggs to leave by one oclock or he will hunt him down and make sure we will not bother him or the town again. Boggs could not let it go so he returned and sure enough Sherburn steps out into the street and shoots him and kills him. The angry mob goes to Sherburns house and thought that he ought to be lynched because he murdered Boggs in cold blood. Sherburn doesnt believe they have enough pluck to lynch him and he knows that a mob of angry men mean nothing. He says, Why, a mans safe in the hands of ten thousand of your kind-as long as its day-time and youre not behind him. (Twain 147)Â  He refers to the Ku Klux Klan or a similar organization that was formed in the south and they wear masks when the commit their crimes. He knows that wearing a mask and only going out at night is the only way for them to commit their crimes because they are cowards. A mob is nothing with out a solid leader and Sherburn knows this that is why he doesnt feel threatened by them. This characters roll in the novel is to show that one single man can stand up to an any mob and be stronger than them if he is confident in what he believes. Sherburn believed that he did the right thing and that is why he doesnt back down even when he is faced up against staggering odds. Huck sees all of these events unfold but doesnt seem troubled by them because right after the mob leaves he goes to the circus. This shows that he is still a child and that the only way to get this out of his mind is to go somewhere were everyone is forever young. Twain often fevers to the idea of forever child hood and he doesnt want his characters to grow up. That is why he places a horrific scene of death next to childlike scene at the circus showing a great contrast. Twain has a brilliant way of keeping the character young but he still lets it grow emotionally.

Beloved, by Toni Morrison :: Literary Analysis, Toni Morrison

The novel Beloved, written by Toni Morrison, shows a family’s life before and after slavery. The main character, Sethe, escaped from slavery and had a daughter, Denver, while she was escaping. Although Denver never actually experienced slavery, her life has still been affected by it. Morrison uses Denver to show how although people can be affected by a life destructing experience such as slavery they do have the ability to move forward in life if they believe they can. Before Beloved comes to 124, Denver was not able to learn much about the past because of Sethe’s inability to experience the past again. She feels left out because she is not involved. This causes her to consume herself in the events of the past. Denver also starts out very shy. When Paul D first comes to 124, he and Sethe reminisce about the past. Denver says, â€Å"How come everybody run off from Sweet Home can’t stop talking about it? Look like if it was so sweet you would have stayed† (17). Sethe replies, â€Å"Girl, who you talking to† (16). Sethe’s surprised tone shows this is not normal behavior for Denver and she is usually much more soft-spoken. Denver’s outspoken behavior comes from her frustration with her ignorance of the past. Denver also locks her self away from the rest of the world before Beloved comes. After the incident with Nelson Lord, Denver â€Å"never went back† to Lady Jones’ house (121). Denver was cut off from the outside world even more when â€Å"she walked in a silence too solid for penetration† (121). Denver’s hearing returned â€Å"by the sound of her dead sister trying to climb the stairs† (122). The dense diction used by Morrison shows Denver’s deafness was very powerful. Denver believes Beloved got her hearing back for Denver, which makes Denver look to Beloved to solve her problems later in the novel. This makes Denver and Beloved’s relationship even more powerful because something very strong had to happen to bring back Denver’s hearing and Beloved was it. Unlike the other characters in the novel, Denver refers to Beloved as an actual family member and not just a baby further connecting the two characters. Before Beloved returns to 124 in person, Denver has a connection with her spirit and she relies on her companionship.

Mousetrap Car Essay

The purpose of this project is to determine the effect the size of an automobile’s wheel radius will have on that vehicle’s performance. To determine this, the distance a car travels when tested with the same propulsion force but different wheel diameter is measured. We expect that there will be an optimum size that should be utilized in order to achieve maximum efficiency. A larger or smaller wheel size should change the distance that the car will travel. The cars we will test will be made of common and inexpensive materials. The design of the cars will consist of simple wheel and axel setups and a lever; two simple machines that can be used to cause forward movement. The means of propulsion for our cars will be spring-loaded mousetrap with a length of string that connects to the axel supporting the wheels being tested. As the trap is set the lever will pull the line and thus rotate the axel causing movement. The size of the wheel should have a direct relationship with the distance that the car will travel. Small wheels will require more revolutions to move the same distance while large wheels will require more torque to make them begin to turn. The goal of the project is to find the most efficient use of the energy provided by the mousetrap for both speed and distance by adjusting the size of the wheel. A mousetrap car is a combination of two simple machines designed to operate much like a gas-powered car. However, a mousetrap is used instead of an internal combustion engine for the motor. The most common design involves positioning the mousetrap on the chassis of the cars and attaching an extended lever on the trap to one of the car’s axles by using a length of string. The end of the string on the mousetrap is tied to the arm of the trap while the opposite end is wound around the axle. When the mousetrap is â€Å"loaded,† potential energy is stored. The pulling force of the arm turns the potential energy into kinetic energy, causing the wheels to turn and boosting the vehicle. The mousetrap will provide a limited amount energy that the car can use as propulsion force that causes forward movement. The length of the string connecting the lever on the trap to the axel will remain constant through out the duration of the experiment. This will ensure that each of the wheel sizes will receive the same amount of energy. The wheels will also be made of the same material so that each will have the same traction, be about the same weight, and attach to the axel in a similar fashion. Since the radius is directly proportional to the circumference, larger diameter will obviously have larger circumferences. This is important because the circumference the part that actually touches the track. The larger the circumference of the wheel is as compared to the radius of the axel, the more mechanical advantage the wheel will have. Mechanical advantage is a phenomenon that increases the efficiency of a simple machine. Engineers try to design cars that make the most of this force when designing cars and other motor vehicles. A circumference of five inches will travel 25 inches in five revolutions while a circumference of three inches will travel only 15 inches with the same number of revolutions. The larger wheels seem to make more efficient use of the revolutions provided by the springing mousetrap. However the larger diameter also requires more energy to make them revolve. The energy required to turn an axel is known as torque. The more torque an engine (or a mousetrap) can provide, the faster the car will accelerate. Acceleration is also important to the efficiency of the mousetrap car. The faster a car can accelerate, the more momentum it can build up. Momentum is a force that keeps moving objects moving in the same general direction and force until some outside force acts upon the object. Momentum will conserve the energy from the mousetrap while providing thrust. If the wheels are too small, the axels will have to revolve more times to build up any significant momentum. If they are too large, they will require much more torque, which would reduce the amount of energy available to turn the axel once momentum is built up. Friction also plays a major role in the performance of mousetrap-powered cars. Friction between the car’s wheels and the surface it is traveling on is beneficial to the operation of the vehicle. This traction helps the wheels to propel the cars across further distances and at greater speeds. However, friction can also occur between the axles and the cars, which can be detrimental to performance. To combat this, lubricants are used on the axels where they are in contact with the chassis of the car. Also, more mass involved with the rotation of the axels will cause more friction. Therefore, heavier cars will be much less successful than vehicles using much lighter materials due to the amount of friction and inertia, which will not allow the car to travel as far or as fast under the same conditions. Methods The design used in the testing phases of the experiment consisted of thin pieces of plywood for the chassis and axel supports while 3/16-inch dowel rods were used for axels. The wheels were made of three sizes of circular pieces of foam board supported by a slice of a cardboard tube. A standard sized mousetrap was secured to the chassis and a 3-inch length of copper pipe was used to lengthen the lever to provide more mechanical advantage. A two-feet length of nylon string was secured to the copper pipe and the rear axel. The wheels were attached to the axels with rubber cement. The various larger sizes were designed to fit over the smallest ones that were attached to the axels. A single front wheel was used throughout the experiment Tests were ran to determine how far the car would travel and how fast they traveled a distance of five and feet. Each wheel size was tested three times and the results were then averaged: |Wheel size |Distance |Speed (5 feet/ 10 feet) | |2.25 inches |11 feet, four inches |1.45sec. / 2.4sec. | |4.75 inches |16 feet, 11 inches |2.1 sec. / 3.05 sec. | |7.00 inches |18 feet, two inches |3.6 sec. /4.42 sec. | Results Our results show two distinct characteristics. The larger wheels traveled a significant amount further than the smaller wheel sizes. However the smaller wheels were capable of quicker acceleration than the larger wheels. Since the wheels all had about the same amount of mass, the amount of friction did not increase of decrease enough to effect the results significantly. The wheel sizes could thus be adjusted depending upon the type of race the car was involved in; distance, in which the largest wheels would be used, or speed, in which the smallest wheels would be used. Experience in the design and function of the mousetrap cars would help us to design an even more efficient vehicle. Two layers of foam board would probably be used to cause the wheels to be more level and stable. Also, a longer lever would likely be attached to the existing lever on the mousetrap so that more advantage is achieved.

A Critical Analysis of Homi K. Bhabha’s “How Newness Enters The World” Essay

The Indian theorist Homi K. Bhabha shifted the limelight from the binary1 of the colonizer and the colonized to the liminal spaces in-between in the domain of Postcolonial studies. In Difference, Discrimination, and the Discourse of Colonialism, he stated, â€Å"There is always, in Said, the suggestion that colonial power is possessed entirely by the colonizer which is a historical and theoretical simplification† (200). He asserted that colonization is not just a conscious body of knowledge (Said’s manifest Orientalism) but also the â€Å"unconscious positivity† of fantasy and desire (Bhabha’s latent Orientalism) (Young, â€Å"White Mythologies† 181). Bhabha used that vantage point — of liminal spaces — to study the phenomenon of cultural translation in his essay â€Å"How Newness Enters the World†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which was published in a collection of essays titled under The Location of Culture (1994). The liminal zone that the postcolonial immigrant occupies is the guiding question of this essay. Bhabha explains: I used architecture literally as a reference, using the attic, the boiler room, and the stairwell to make associations between certain binary divisions such as higher and lower†¦. The stairwell became a liminal space, a pathway between the upper and lower areas†¦. (3-4) In â€Å"How Newness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bhabha directs this framework to critique Fredric Jameson’s Postmodernism Or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. He argues that the category of Postmodern assumes a neat categorization of subject positions, which leaves no room for subjects to exist in the liminal space. He asserts, â€Å"For Jameson, the possibility of becoming historical demands a containment of this disjunctive social time.† (217) Bhabha elaborates upon the concept of liminal space with the help of the idea of blasphemy, as it comes out in Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses and  underlines the controversy of the Rushdie Affair2. Bhabha says, â€Å"Blasphemy is not merely a misrepresentation of the sacred by the secular; it is a moment when the subject-matter or the content of cultural tradition is being overwhelmed, or alienated, in the act of translation.† (225) In essence, Bhabha is arguing that the very act of inhabiting the liminal space — whether by Rushdie or his characters — is blasphemy. However, it is necessary to consider that critics like Timothy Brennan claim that Rushdie â€Å"†¦ is not abroad at all. Politically and professionally he is at home.†(Wars 65) Brennan adds that Rushdie’s knowledge of Islam is limited to some childhood experiences and a course that he did at Cambridge University. If we look at Rushdie from this perspective, then Rushdie would cease to inhabit what Bhabha calls the liminal space between two cultures and instead belong to and speak for the imperial west. Nevertheless, apart from Rushdie’s fiction, Bhabha employs various other kinds of evidence to support his theoretical stand in this essay. The first of which is the epigraph3 from Walter Benjamin’s â€Å"On Language as Such†¦Ã¢â‚¬  in this essay Benjamin suggests that translation is the origin of all knowledge: â€Å"The language of things can pass into language of knowledge and name only through translation† (70-71). It is the gap between the original and the translated text that Bhabha terms as the liminal space. To illustrate this use of translation in cultural terms Bhabha cites Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. He argues that Marlow’s lie to the intended (about her fiance’s last words) is an example of cultural translation where â€Å"Marlow does not merely repress the ‘truth’ †¦ as much as he enacts a poetics of translation†¦.† (212). Marlow inhabits the in-between space of the colony and the western metropolis, where nothing crosses from one to the other in its original form, without a certain degree of cultural translation. This essay is organized in three sections: New World Borders, Foreign Relations and Community Matters. However, it is strung together by the common idea of liminality. The first section draws a parallel between Marlow’s lie and Jameson’s theory of the postmodern, which Bhabha calls his â€Å"theme park†. Both of these, according to Bhabha’s framework, are attempts to keep the â€Å"conversation of humankind going† and â€Å"to preserve the neo-pragmatic universe†. (212) Bhabha elucidates his criticism of Jameson by re-visiting the poem China, which Jameson had earlier commented upon in his book4. He contests Jameson for not appropriating the newness of China but translating it back into certain familiar terms. He destabilizes Jameson’s periodization and claims that communities cannot be explained in pre-modernist terms, the history of communities parallels the history of modernity. In the next section, Bhabha scrutinises Jameson’s postmodern city through the subject position of migrants and minorities. He challenges the importance given to class relations in the Marxist discourse by shifting the focus to minority groups. It is important to note that minority is a not just a matter of quantity, but as Deleuze and Guattari point out in â€Å"Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature†, it is a matter of subject position. The last section poses the last challenge to Jameson, as Bhabha pitches communities directly against class, using Partha Chatterjee’s â€Å"A Response†¦Ã¢â‚¬  as evidence. Bhabha comments, â€Å"Community disturbs the grand globalizing narrative of capital, displaces the emphasis on production in ‘class’ collectivity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (230). In other words, minority subject position of belonging to a community punctures the larger Marxist narrative of class-consciousness; he calls community the â€Å"antagonist supplement of modernity.† Bhabha concludes the essay by proposing an alternative perspective through Derek Walcott’s poems. Bhabha draws a bridge5 between the central concerns of naming in Walcott’s poem (â€Å"Names†) and the central idea of his essay by asserting that the right to signify, the right to naming, is itself â€Å"an act of cultural translation.† (234). He suggests a breakthrough in the form of the spaces that lie between â€Å"above and below and heaven and hell†. He argues that the only possibility of an agency that enables one to posses something anew lies in the in-between spaces — the liminal spaces. Concepts, such as liminality are indispensible in today’s ever-globalising context but many other theorists have criticized his theoretical model on various grounds. The Indian Marxist critic Aijaz Ahmad says that Bhabha uses a â€Å"†¦ a theoretical melange which randomly invokes Levi-Strauss in one phrase, Foucault in another, Lacan in yet another.† (68), he asserts that in such a framework â€Å"theory itself becomes a marketplace of ideas†¦.† (70). Viewed from a Marxist standpoint, Bhabha’s theories may seem as if they leave no room for resistance and action, Ahmad claims that Bhabha is irrelevant for a majority of the population that has been denied access to such benefits of â€Å"modernity† (69), and that Bhabha cuts access to â€Å"progress† as well as a sense of a â€Å"long past†. Ahmed’s criticism can be taken a step further to conduct a theoretical study of the effectiveness of Bhabha’s arguments. In Nation and Narration Bhabha announced that his intention was to engage â€Å"the insights of poststructuralist theories of narrative knowledge †¦ in order to evoke this ambivalent margin of the nation-space†¦.† (4) Catherine Belsey in Poststructuralism†¦ explains that the simple inference of poststructuralism is that language is â€Å"differential† and not â€Å"referential† in nature. (9) Taking from Saussure’s theory on language, it studies language synchronically where the signifier is not referentially tied to the signified. On the other hand, it is evident from Benjamin’s essays6 that he views language as a diachronic system where it represents the â€Å"†¦medium in which objects meet and enter into relationship with each other, no longer directly, as once in the mind of the augur or prie st, but in their essences† (68). In other words, Benjamin’s theory of language is referential, where the word has or once had a direct connection with the thing it represents. These two models of language seem like blocks from different puzzles, which do not really fit with one another. This poses a serious challenge to the effectiveness of Bhabha’s theoretical groundwork, as he does not address this rift between the two models and employs them simultaneously. However, we cannot discount Bhabha’s breakthrough on this ground, as his  theories are essential to make sense of the postcolonial condition of immigrants and diasporic Literature, especially in the ever-globalizing world that we inhabit. He has given an indispensible insight into the possibilities that lie in these liminal spaces. Works Cited Ahmad, Aijaz. In theory: Classes, nations, literatures. London: Verso, 1994. Belsey, Catherine. Poststructuralism: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Benjamin, Walter, and Knut Tarnowski. â€Å"Doctrine of the Similar (1933).† New German Critique 17 1979: 65-69 —. â€Å"On Language as Such and on the Language of Man.† Walter Benjamin: selected writings 1 1996: 62-74 Bhabha, Homi K. (1983a), â€Å"Difference, Discrimination, and the Discourse of Colonialism† The Politics of Theory. Ed. Francis Barker et al. Colchester: University of Essex. —. â€Å"How Newness Enters the World: Postmodern Space, Postcolonial Times and the Trials of Cultural Translation.† The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 2004. 212-235. —. Nation and narration. New York: Routledge, 1990. —. â€Å"The Location of Culture. 1994. â€Å"With a new preface by the author. London: Routledge, 2004. Brennan, Timothy. Wars of position: The cultural politics of left and right. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Chatterjee, Partha. â€Å"A Response to Taylor’s â€Å"Modes of Civil Society†.† Public Culture 3.1 1990: 119-132. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and Other Tales. Oxford: World’s Classics, 1990. Deleuze, Gilles. Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature. Theory and History of Literature. Vol. 30. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1986. Jameson, Fredric. Postmodernism, Or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke University Press, 1991. Rushdie, Salman. The Satanic Verses. 1988.† London: Vintage, 1998. Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage 1979. Walcott, Derek. Collected Poems, 1948-1984. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1992. Young, Robert. White Mythologies: History Writing and the West. London and New York: Routledge (1991).

Writing Tips Percent, Per Cent and Percentages - Get Proofed!

Writing Tips Percent, Per Cent and Percentages - Get Proofed! Percent, Per Cent and Percentages We’ve been told that putting 110% into anything is mathematically impossible. But we’re proofreaders, not mathematicians! As such, we’re not going to let math get in the way of putting everything we have into solving your writing problems. Today, for example, we’re looking at writing percentages. Words and Numbers As with any numbers, percentages can be written as either words or numbers: Words: Around nine percent of people dislike coffee. Numbers: Approximately 91% of people like coffee. The examples above reflect three important guidelines when writing percentages: Numbers up to ten are usually written as words, while larger numbers are written as numerals When a percentage is written as a word, it should be followed by â€Å"percent† When a percentage is written as a numeral, it should be followed by the â€Å"%† sign However, this can vary depending on the context (e.g., measurements in scientific writing are almost always written as numerals, even for numbers under ten). It’s therefore a good idea to check your style guide for advice on how to write percentages. Percent vs. Per Cent The question we’re asked most often about writing percentages is whether to use â€Å"percent† or â€Å"per cent.† Ultimately, though, this doesn’t really matter: both are accepted spellings of this term. Again, we recommend checking your style guide if you have one, as some publishers and colleges have a preference. And â€Å"percent† is much more common these days than â€Å"per cent.† But other than that, the main thing is picking one spelling and using it consistently throughout your work. Percent vs. per cent When to Use â€Å"Percentage† Finally, we have the word â€Å"percentage.† Although similar to â€Å"percent,† this word has a slightly different usage: â€Å"Percent† is used with specific numbers, while â€Å"percentage† is used when referring to a general or non-specific amount of something. For example: A small percentage of the forms were coffee stained. Almost seven percent of the forms were coffee stained. As shown above, you should use â€Å"percentage† when the exact amount is unspecified.

Abortion misc1 essays

Abortion misc1 essays Abortion, the ending of pregnancy, has been a very controversial topic for decades. Is abortion moral or immoral? People all over the world have different opinions. There are different ways that abortion can be performed: surgically or medicinally. The 1973 Supreme Court decision known as Roe vs. Wade marked an important turning point in abortion. This decision made it legal to have abortions. Different states have various laws on abortion. Abortion continues to be debated worldwide. Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy. It is the removal of a fetus from the uterus before the fetus is mature enough to live on its own. Abortion has been around for decades. Each year, more than 50% of all pregnancies among young woman are unintended. Half of the unintended pregnancies will end in abortion, which is 1.5 million each year. There are no specifications on who will have an abortion. Women who have abortions come from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds. Calculating abortion rates, older teenagers and young adults have the highest abortion rates. Young women between the ages of 11 and 19 account for about 21% of all abortions; women 20 to 24 account for another 34 %; and about 22% of abortions are brought about by women who are 30 or older. Over half of all abortions are obtained within the first eight weeks (Women who..., 1995). Is abortion moral or immoral? People who favor abortion most invoke the right to choose of woman who conceived the child. The people who oppose abortion focus on the right to life of the fetus. John Paul II, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church, contends that abortion is a particularly heinous crime because it kills an innocent human being who has yet to be born. He feels that every human being has a sacred and inviolable right to life. New York Archbishop John J. OConnor linked abortion with the Nazi Holocaust. He stated Now Hit...

Life and Work of Joan Mitchell, New York School Painter

Life and Work of Joan Mitchell, New York School Painter Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925–October 30, 1992) was an American painter and a so-called â€Å"Second Wave† Abstract Expressionist. (The title does not do justice to her originality as a colorist; the artist preferred the label â€Å"New York School† instead.)  Mitchell’s life was characterized by a robust individualism, and much of her success is owed to her ability to unabashedly broadcast her talent despite the roadblocks set before a female artist painting on such a large scale. Fast Facts: Joan Mitchell Occupation: Painter and colorist (New York School)Born:  February 12, 1925 in Chicago, IllinoisDied: October 30, 1992 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, FranceEducation: Smith College (no degree), Art Institute of Chicago (BFA, MFA)Key Accomplishments: Featured in the 1951 9th Street Show; regarded as a key figure of second wave Abstract ExpressionismSpouse:  Barney Rosset, Jr. (m. 1949–1952) Early Life Joan Mitchell was born February 12, 1925 to Marion and James Mitchell in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents’ behavior often left young Joan alone to develop a staunch sense of self in the absence of her parents’ guidance, not unusual of the upper crust world to which the Mitchell family belonged (her mother was an heiress to a steel fortune, her father a successful dermatologist). Mitchell was marked by a sense that her father would always be disappointed in her, as she was born a second daughter when her parents had wanted a son. She cited her father’s attitude as the reason she became an abstract painter, as it was one realm in which he had no experience nor talent and therefore was a space in which she could fully become her own self. Mitchell’s mother was one of the early editors of Poetry magazine and a successful poet in her own right. The presence of poetry, as well as her mother’s contemporaries (like poets Edna St. Vincent Millay and George Dillon), ensured that Mitchell was always surrounded by words, the influence of which can be found in many of her painting titles, such as â€Å"The Harbormaster,† after a poem of Frank O’Hara’s, and â€Å"Hemlock,† a Wallace Stevens poem. At the age of ten, Mitchell was published in Poetry, the second youngest poet to be published in those pages. Her precociousness earned her respect from her mother, jealousy from her sister Sally, and only occasional approval from her father, whom she worked so hard to please. Mitchell was pushed to excel in all endeavors, and as a result was a superb athlete, a champion diver and tennis player. She was dedicated to figure skating and competed at a regional and national level until she suffered a knee injury and abandoned the sport. Eidetic Memory and Synesthesia Eidetic memory is the ability to vividly recall sensations and visual details of moments in the past. While some children possess the ability to keep images they have experienced in their mind’s eye, many adults lose this ability once they are taught to read, replacing visual with verbal recollection. Joan Mitchell, however, retained the ability into adulthood and as a result was able to summon memories decades past, which had a profound influence on her work.  Ã‚   A Joan Mitchell canvas for sale at Christies in London. Getty Images   Mitchell also had a case of synesthesia, a crossing of neural pathways that manifests in the mixing of senses: letters and words evoke colors, sounds would create physical sensations, and other such phenomena. While Mitchell’s art cannot be described exclusively through her synesthetic eye, the constant presence of vivid color in Mitchell’s everyday certainly had an affected her work. Education and Early Career Though Mitchell wanted to attend art school, her father insisted she have a more traditional education. Thus, Mitchell began college at Smith in 1942. Two years later, she transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to complete her degree. She then received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1950. Mitchell married high school classmate Barnet Rosset, Jr. in 1949. Mitchell encouraged Rosset to found Grove Press, a successful mid-century publisher. The two separated in 1951, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1952, though Mitchell remained friends with Rosset all her life. Mitchell began traveling to Paris in 1955 and moved there in 1959 to live with Jean-Paul Riopelle, a Canadian abstract artist with whom she had a sporadic and drawn-out twenty-five year affair. Paris became Mitchell’s second home, and she purchased a cottage just north of Paris with the money she inherited after her mother’s death in 1967. Her relationship with France was reciprocated, as she was the first woman to have a solo show at the Musà ©e d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1982, received the title of Commandeur des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, and was awarded Le Grand Prix des Arts de la Ville de Paris in painting in 1991. Critical Success True to the character she developed during her long tenure as a champion athlete, Mitchell exhibited a toughness that her father would have disparaged as un-ladylike, but which may have been essential to the milieu in which she operated. Mitchell drank, smoked, swore, and hung around in bars, and while not befitting a high-society lady in Chicago, this attitude served Mitchell well: she was one of a handful of female members of the Eighth Street Club, an iconic grouping of downtown artists in 1950s New York. The first hint of critical success came in 1957, when Mitchell was featured in ArtNews’s â€Å"....Paints a Picture† column. â€Å"Mitchell Paints a Picture,† written by prominent critic Irving Sandler, profiled the artist for the major magazine. In 1961, Russell Mitchell Gallery staged the first major exhibition of Mitchell’s work, and in 1972 she was recognized with her first major museum show, at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY. Soon after, in 1974, she was given a show at New York’s Whitney Museum, thus cementing her legacy. The last decade of Mitchell’s life saw continued critical success. A life-long smoker, Joan Mitchell died of lung cancer in Paris at the age of 67 in 1992. Artistic Legacy Mitchell’s work was by no means conventional, as she frequently used her fingers, rags, and other instruments she had lying around to apply paint to her canvas. The result is an impactful emotional encounter with her canvases, though Mitchell was often reticent to describe what emotions she was feeling at the painting’s inception and why. Mitchell is often labeled as an Abstract Expressionist, but she deviated from stereotypes of the movement in her deliberateness and distance from her work. She began a canvas not by emotional impulse as her forefathers Pollock and Kline may have, but rather worked from a preconceived mental image. Listening to classical music as she worked, she would regard her work in progress from a distance in order to monitor its progress. Far from the canvas as â€Å"arena,† a term coined by critic Harold Rosenberg in reference to the Abstract Expressionists, Mitchell’s process reveals the premeditated vision she had for her work. Sources Albers, P. (2011.) Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter. New York: Knopf.Anfam, D. (2018.) Joan Mitchell: Paintings from the Middle of the Last Century 1953-1962. New York: Cheim Read.Timeline. joanmitchellfoundation.org. http://joanmitchellfoundation.org/work/artist/timeline/

Learning to read and write Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Learning to read and write - Essay Example Fredrick Douglass, in his article â€Å"Learning to Read and write,† gives an account of slavery and how depriving it was to him as well as other slaves under the abolition movement. He takes us through his seven year life under his master and mistress in a captivating manner that clearly brings out the situation many slaves had to encounter. The master was consistently against his slave’s learning while the mistress initially supported and even thought him how to write but later succumbed to the husband’s directives not to have Fredrick literate. But out of a great personal resolve and determination he was able to succeed in learning how to read and write. The mistress was such a kind woman and initially treated Fredrick just the way she supposed a human being should be treated by another. She even could teach him how to read and write but with time gave in to the husband’s directions not to do that. She not only stopped instructing him but also discouraged anyone from instructing him. But Fredrick had been given the inch when the mistress taught him the alphabet and therefore nothing could stop him from taking the ell. He therefore used all strategies available to acquire literacy and understand what certain words like slavery, abolition and others meant. Generally slaves were seen as lesser humans with limited capability in academics and other fields of life. They did not have any constitutional rights hence most of them were even not allowed to marry, those who were married were separated from their families and their children could be taken and sold off any time without their permission. They were used in lotteries, were not allowed to testify in courts and were not entitled to education. Their movements as well as interactions were closely monitored and they had to carry around the pass every time. (Brumley, 1999). The slaves therefore employed different strategies sometimes to reverse their situations. The slave in

Longitudinal Strategic Development Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Longitudinal Strategic Development Study - Essay Example Most of these strategies were put in place and implemented not more than twenty (25) years ago. Among other things, Sony has seen results from strategies such corporate restructuring, recreation of products, and invention of new technology. Corporate restructuring is an important component to determine the success of any company. It is more of a managerial strategy than a marketing strategy. In the view of Trevor (2011), â€Å"Corporate restructuring is a term used to denote a companys reorganisation at the highest corporate level. This can also include legal status, ownership, operational, and financial restructuring to improve profitability and provide better organisation for the present and/or prepared for market changes.† Tatum (2011) posits that â€Å"Restructuring a corporate entity is often a necessity when the company has grown to the point that the original structure can no longer efficiently manage the output and general interests of the company.† To buttress the advantages are the procedure and reason for undertaking such corporate restructuring. In the case of Sony consumer electronics, restructuring has been going on every now and then for the past 25 years. The focus has mostly been to shake up the working staff and executives of the company to ensure that the right people are at the right place, doing the right thing. For instance in 1995, the company under a major restructuring in it topmost position by naming a new president, Nobuyuki Idei, a man who was only 34-years at the time. This move saw a lot of growth in Sony because Idei had served in the company for a very long time. Another massive corporate restructuring that took place in the company took place in the year 2003. This restructuring started with the laying off of staff – another bitter decision to take in corporate government. In all, Christman &

The concept of stakeholder management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The concept of stakeholder management - Essay Example To address the role of stakeholders in governance analysis, the concept of stakeholder management was created. The challenge of stakeholder management, then, is to see to it that the organization's primary stakeholders achieve their objectives and that other stakeholders are dealt with ethically and are also satisfied. This is the classic "win-win" situation. It does not always occur, but it is a legitimate goal for management to pursue to protect its long-term self-interests. Management's second-best alternative is to meet the goals of its primary stakeholders, keeping in mind the important role of its owner investors. Without economic viability, all other stakeholders' interests are lost. Thus, the important functions of stakeholder management are to describe, to understand, to analyze, and, finally, to manage. Reference: Buchholtz, A., & Carroll, A. (1999). Business and society: Ethics and stakeholder management. US: South- Western Educational

Amidst the Moral Attack on Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Amidst the Moral Attack on Abortion - Essay Example Wade (Payment, 1993). However, even until today, abortion has been consistently challenged by many Christians and anti-abortionists because they find the act immoral and cruel. According to an article by Haven Bradford Gow (2002), abortion is a violation of human rights and that â€Å"making abortion illegal is necessary to guarantee preborn persons equal rights.† In this essay, I aim to challenge the views of those who oppose abortion by addressing three issues: the concept of killing a fetus, socio-economic outburst, and women’s civil rights. As women make up 50% of human population (UN Statistics Division, 2002), they deserve all the rights accorded to every individual. In the case of abortion, women have the rights that a fetus does not have until its personhood can be established. Going back to the case of Roe v. Wade, the personhood of a fetus is generally understood to â€Å"begin between 22 and 24 weeks† (Payment, 1993). In the same case, the concept of p ersonhood is viewed as different from the concept of human life. Human life occurs at conception, but fertilized eggs used for artificial fertilization are also human lives and those not implanted are routinely thrown away. If abortion is murder, then it is fair to say artificial fertilization should be also treated as human killings.

Project motorcycles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project motorcycles - Essay Example This structure is advantageous because there is a clear chain of command, autonomy of departments, quick decision making and sharing of skills. The following model indicates the functional structure that is intended to be applied in the developing of the larger touring class motorcycle. This implies that, a project can be completed by a specific functional group equipped with the necessary skills. The process of developing a larger class touring motorcycle involves two main stages. They include manufacturing and quality control. At the manufacturing department, the necessary materials are assembled to completion and at the quality control department; the quality control inspectors conduct a visual inspection (Cooke, Tate, & Cooke, 2011). The functional groups form reservoirs of knowledge in the areas of specialization. The groups’ efficiency is attributed to well-structured communication processes, which eases decision-making. The process of developing motors larger than 1100cc intended for long distance and a proposed global market target of males aged 35-60 years requires systematic functional units to ensure that, the company does not make losses during the changeover (Cooke, Tate, & Cooke, 2011). The following are the primary raw material essential for the development of a motorcycle. The process of manufacturing should start at the weld department. This process should be aided by the computer-controlled fabrication of frame lofty strength materials (Henshaw, 2012). The components are shaped into hollow tubular metal shells. The diverse sections are jointly welded. The process engrosses manual, automatic and computerized equipment. The plastic and metal components are painted in the booths of the paint department. The process is called powder coating. It is done by a pressurized system, which disperses the paint evenly (Henshaw, 2012). Installation of other parts such as brakes, foot pegs, seats, lights, radios, wheels and many others

Amidst the Moral Attack on Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Amidst the Moral Attack on Abortion - Essay Example Wade (Payment, 1993). However, even until today, abortion has been consistently challenged by many Christians and anti-abortionists because they find the act immoral and cruel. According to an article by Haven Bradford Gow (2002), abortion is a violation of human rights and that â€Å"making abortion illegal is necessary to guarantee preborn persons equal rights.† In this essay, I aim to challenge the views of those who oppose abortion by addressing three issues: the concept of killing a fetus, socio-economic outburst, and women’s civil rights. As women make up 50% of human population (UN Statistics Division, 2002), they deserve all the rights accorded to every individual. In the case of abortion, women have the rights that a fetus does not have until its personhood can be established. Going back to the case of Roe v. Wade, the personhood of a fetus is generally understood to â€Å"begin between 22 and 24 weeks† (Payment, 1993). In the same case, the concept of p ersonhood is viewed as different from the concept of human life. Human life occurs at conception, but fertilized eggs used for artificial fertilization are also human lives and those not implanted are routinely thrown away. If abortion is murder, then it is fair to say artificial fertilization should be also treated as human killings.

Business Code of Ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Code of Ethics - Research Paper Example On the other hand, ethics is more social and more specific than morality and the practical counterpart of it (Stewart, 2011, p. 7). It serves as the guide for the actions and behaviors especially in professions and organizations. In business, it is also very important especially in companies where complex system works together with many people involve. Some actions are not tolerated as those may become detrimental to the individual and to the whole organization. Misbehaviors may destroy the reputation of the business and may affect its sales (Boone and Kurtz, 2011, p. 197). Later on, profits may also decline as a result of losing sales that may lead to more undesirable conditions of the organization. It may not be able to sustain its operations and the management may decide to have massive lay-off to save the company. If it comes to the worst case scenario, the company will close due to bankruptcy. The illustrated possibilities that may happen to the company due to misbehavior only s how how ethics is important to guide each person in his course of actions in his daily life especially during the times he spend in working for the company. It shows how it is important for the management to place some ways of control over the working system of the company to ensure that ethics is followed by the members of the organization and prevent the occurrence of undesirable conditions. Rules and regulations are then presented to the employees as they must know the allowable actions and disallowable actions that are subjected to sanctions. Good performance leads to rewards while misconduct leads to punishment. Standards are also held in place to provide a guide for the employees to follow regarding the level of productivity and performance that they must render. Standards and the rules and regulations are affected by the code of ethics. Since conducting a business is also a profession, it requires a list of norms that people must follow. To make the concept of code of ethics clearer, a specific definition must be given. As said in the preceding sentences, code of ethics is established for certain particular professions to ensure quality services and meet the needs of the clients. The code contains a list of norms that professionals must follow throughout their careers (Marquis and Huston, 2009, p. 77). Therefore, the code defines the identity of the certain profession being practiced while ensuring the values to reflect on the performance. Sometimes code of ethics is called code of conduct as it pertains to the correct or wrong actions and behaviors. In business, it is installed in the company to ensure the top-of-the-line services and products are delivered to the clients as they are important to the profits that drive the operations of the company (Ferrell et. al., 2011, p. 347). Without profits, company will not be sustainable and may eventually close. In making a code of ethics, it requires to have a basis. The basis then for the code of ethics to s ubstantiate is to identify the underlying values. Values are then important not only in adding ease to the lives of people but also bringing a progressive uplift to the society as a whole. It also leads to the enhancement of the quality of lives around the world (Shaikh, 2010, p. 480). Therefore, the code then must consider not only the values and service quality but also the prevailing culture and beliefs in the locality where it operates

From A Basement on the Hill and School Life Essay Example for Free

From A Basement on the Hill and School Life Essay Farewell speech 1:- In this farewell speech I am not saying goodbye to the five years I have spent here, for in every facet of school life we have left a mark and each experience can return upon reflection These experiences compose the pages of our book of life. Tonight we, the authors of this book, are writing again. This graduation experience will become a part of it. If you re-read it some day, it will tell you of success. A success of symbolizing years of patience and encouragement on the part of our parents who have raised us, given us guidance in our quest for happiness and success; teachers who have helped us over this step in school life; our friends who are an essential part of your life. To the students in the auditorium now, I say this. Live your life to the fullest and get every ounce of worth out of it. High school life will now open new doors for you. You will meet new friends and learn to get along with people, to give and to take. You will belong to athletic teams and will learn sportsmanship, learn acceptance of victory and defeat. Scholastically, more demands will be made of you. You will learn to take responsibility. Make your years at high school full in every respect. You will never live these years again and there is so much to do. Prepare yourself now for the job to come or university life. Because there is more to learn, more people to meet, more demands. So very much is up to you. Dont be discouraged by failure or disappointment. Failure is a challenge which we must all pick up and fight openly. In overcoming it, we add excitement and suspense to our story. By learning everything I can from this world and its people, by doing everything I can for this world and its people, in years to come I may find the answers, the strength, whatever I see, when I reread what I have writtenwhat you have helped me to write. Tonight I believe that I have stated my preface, the reason for writing my book. If I have fulfilled my purpose, then I have said something that will merit some attention in the book you are writing The words of a song: The web of time entangles and enslaves Enjoy the world. Enjoy it while you may. Each moment that your heart is beating Time is passing, Time is fleeting Live your life. Live it every day. Farewell speech 2:- Farewell 98 Beware, Its a Wide World Respected Principal Sir, Vice-Principal Sir, Teachers, and all my dear friends, including those who are graciously bunking. I looked around for farewell speeches but I couldnt find any worthwhile so I wrote this myself which is why this wont take long. We are gathered here, as most of us probably know, not only for the kachoris, but to bid a fond farewell to the students of Class XII who are leaving the esteemed establishment of the Kendriya VidyalayaSangathan, and venturing out into the real world. We dont know what truths they will find out there, what experiences they will have and we can only shower them with our best wishes and words of encouragement. Im not too good with words so I thought Id make my message clearer with a few lines from a Maxi Priest song. I think it goes somewhat like this But if you want to leave, Take good care. Hope you find a lot of nice friends out there. Just remember theres a lot of bad. Beware. Its a wide world. But most of us wont have a problem there because weve spent a lot of our years in KV, where along with the regular by the book education we are imparted with values. All through your school life you have probably been wondering what exactly the teachers were prattling on about but now that its time for you to leave your sheltered life and go out into the real world, now, you will realise the value of those words that our teachers painstakingly drone into us. And these moments of emotion will be the last that youll be spending in the shelter of our school. Within a month youd have left the shelter of your cocooned school lives and all you ugly caterpillars will flutter off in various directions as beautiful butterflies into a world where you know not what awaits you. But through your lives youll always remember your days here, fondly I hope. And within those memories of friends, teachers and the muddle of pleasant and unpleasant experiences may you remember the lessons that this school and its dedicated staff of teachers have taught. And may those lessons guide you on your paths to realise the dreams youve set out to make true. Because no matter what you do, no matter where you go, all through your lives youll only be richer with the experiences and knowledge that youve gathered in your schooling lives. Id just like to sign off with a line from a Bob Dylan number that really contain the essence of what Ive been trying to say here. Goodbye is too good a word, so Ill just say fare-thee-well.

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