2. Questions
1. What does an internal analysis entail? What
aspects of the organization are most important
to identify?
2. What is a core competency? Why would an
organization seek to establish a competitive
advantage? A sustainable competitive
advantage?
3. Prepare a SWOT analysis for Taylor’s University.
4. Explain the role of an external environment.
What sort of trends are most important to
monitor?
4. Cloud Computing for the Construction
Industry
Let’s say you are a construction company,
running operations for multiple sites.
Now imagine your employees only being able to
update project information when they arrive
back at their office. This leads to reams of
paperwork being carried into the office for
processing. An arduous process to say the least.
The alternative? Cloud-based technologies.
5. Explanations
• On the cloud, you can utilize the new web-
based environment to provide information
and system access for all your contractors.
• Suffice to say, leveraging the cloud within the
construction industry can prove advantageous
due to the constant turnover of workers and
continual setup of new job-sites.
6. Explanations
• Many contractor and subcontractors that work in
the field need much better access to company
data to help in their decisions while working on
site.
• Traditional server software solutions provide
users access to this information from designated
locations, but cloud solutions have allowed for
new possibilities that allow instant connections
to be made beyond these traditional office sites.
7. Explanations
• Being on the cloud, it is feasible to securely
access office information and reporting
functionality from any location with an
internet connection.
• Construction firms are in a unique position to
benefit from the cloud’s ability to provide
greater freedom to access information at any
time, from anywhere — job sites or customer
locations.
8. Benefits
Contractor Collaboration
• Making the most of cloud-based services and solutions moves beyond the workings of your
construction company. Today’s professionals work within a team, but the word “team” has
taken on a different meaning.
• Contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers are expected to have accountability to the
property owner. Team members also need to be highly collaborative in order to satisfy the
customer and create an edge in a highly competitive industry, that will set the team up for
receiving future business and opportunities for growth.
• Cloud-based technologies are best used when connecting team members, and increasing
opportunities for collaboration, and increase management. Having access to the correct
information at an opportune time creates opportunities for better collaboration and reduce
the chance of mistakes.
• Cloud solutions should ensure that team members can easily find and see the information
they need at the time they need it most. And management needs to be absolutely certain
that they ultimately control who sees the information provided and can limit or restrict
access as needed to protect sensitive data.
• Top areas of concern will continue to be ease-of-use, security, and timely access to the right
functionality and information. Addressing these concerns with the right technology will free
up project teams to focus on their work, producing quality work on time and within budget.
9. Benefits
Increased Mobility
• It’s now become commonplace to come across
construction workers using their own mobile devices
(smartphones, laptops and tablets) while onsite.
• These mobile devices are providing real value by
allowing workers to not only report from the field but
carry out project management and scheduling
remotely.
• Given the ubiquity of mobile device use, today’s
construction companies need to leverage this and work
to serve up the project information and capabilities in
this format to drive construction productivity forward.
