Kelowna Green Builders

Abstract
Kelowna Green Builders is a firm that specializes in design and construction of Public works projects and lays emphasis on sustainable building practices. This has made it a company of choice for a specific client who wishes for their construction to be done by use of only the locally available resources. The client allows for the use of externally available resources, they should be at a minimum. The project manager has a hard time working around the budget allocated and the stipulated time. The company seeks to make the client increase the funds allocated by 50% and to allow for the use of external resources which are readily available and more reliable for to ensure that the firm delivers quality at the time given.

Key Words: Local resources, External resources, sustainable

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Case Analysis
Kelowna Green Builders is a construction firm which specializes in design and construction of public works projects, utilizing sustainable building practices. It has its headquarters in Kelowna, B.C. The firm is made up of a team of young innovators who are focused on cultivating, generating and dissemination of new, unique and exemplary ideas as far as construction is concerned.
The firm is reputable for the use of local and sustainable resources which has minimized production costs and in essence increased profits. This is one of the fundamental reasons as to why the Kelowna Green Builders Construction bid successfully on the new Visitor Centre to be constructed in Revelstoke National Park, B.C.
The firm is growing rapidly, with current annual revenues of $400 million and revenue growth averaging 6% annually, even during the recent Recession. This has been due to innovative and sustainable strategies and approaches in planning, problem solving and implementation of activities. This has also been enhanced by the effective and creative management structures in place. There is the President of the firm who oversees the implementation of new ideas, the Project Manager who develops the Project Plan and executes the acceptance of the firm’s deliverables, the Finance manager who ensures that the activities are implemented at the stipulated time within the budget outline. The team leaders also ensure accountability in their various positions for the success of the firm.
The paper seeks to address the problem of limited resources and its effect on the overall implementation of the project goals. The client specifically requires the use of locally available resources for construction which are not readily available. However, the client allows for very minimal use of external resources. This is because of inadequate funds to cater for the extra manpower, transport costs and building materials. The client’s budget which is $3.5 million is strenuous for the completion of the new Visitor Centre. Due to this problem, they may be forced to make use of external resources which are not sustainable and are very expensive to acquire. Consequently, the client may be forced to revise their budget or source for external funds.
The time allocated for the completion of the project is limited. This will in turn lead to the 10% commission penalty thereby undermining the reputation of the Kelowna Green Builders Construction firm. The completion of the project should be done by the end of May 2011, according to the client, at the time for the opening of the 2011 tourist season in the park. This is also impractical due to the unavailability of the resources as well as the strenuous budget. Such resources as water, waste systems and electricity are the major resources which must be put in place in time before the commencement of the building project. This also affects the capacity of the building which is to accommodate 50 visitors simultaneously, in the sense that the budget cannot allow for the construction of a building with such a capacity. In essence, the structures that may be ultimately put in place may not accommodate such a capacity of visitors.
Due to the limited time and resources, the architectural design, creation of working drawings and construction from excavation to final inspection and approval may not be effectively done. This is because such processes are gradual and demanding in terms of time and finances hence they should be allocated sufficient time, resources and finances. In addition, resources such as food may not be sufficiently provided for using local resources due to scarcity of such resources.
In essence, the construction firm is determined to find the root cause of the problem. According to the article “5 why Analysis”, which was made as part of Toyota Production Systems in the 1970s, the root cause of the problem, is found rather fast. This 5 why analysis also helps in finding the relationship between the root causes of the problem. It is also simple and can be learned fast since it does not require a lot of statistics. By repeatedly asking the why question, we get to know the root cause of the problem. An illustration of the 5 why analysis is given as follows:
1. Why are there constraints in the budget? This is because of inadequate funds allocated for the completion of the project.
2. Why were inadequate funds allocated for this project? This is because local available resources were to be used for construction which included water, electricity as well as waste systems.
3. Why did the client insist on the use of the local available resources? This was because the client wanted to reduce on the transportation, materials and manpower costs so as to enhance sustainability.
4. Why did the client insist on the reduction of transportation and manpower costs? This was because the client wanted to complete the project within the shortest time possible and to minimize on the construction costs.
5. Why did the client want to minimize on the construction costs? This is because the client wanted the use of locally available materials for construction to enhance sustainability.
In a nut shell, the main cause of the problem is identified after the fifth question. In this case, the root cause of the problem is the use of locally available resources which led to the constraints in the budget.

Alternatives
• There is need for the client to increase the budget allocation by 50% to cater for external acquisition of resources. The money previously allocated was only sufficient for locally available resources hence the constraints in the budget.
• There is also need for the client to maximize the use modern technology which is more efficient as opposed to over reliance on locally available resources. This would also enhance the completion of the project within the stipulated period of time.
• There is also the need to increase the human resource so as to implement the completion of the project within the stipulated period of time. According to the Article “Time Management Process”, there is efficient control and monitor of time .............