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| Preface | |
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| The New Business Model | |
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| What Has Changed in the Construction Industry over the Last Four Decades? | |
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| What We Know | |
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| Some Parts of the Construction Business Remain Unchanged | |
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| Volume-Based, Fixed-Cost Business | |
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| Volume-Sensitive, Variable-Cost Business | |
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| Part of the New Approach: The Quantitative Method | |
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| The First Quantitative Model of Construction Contracting | |
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| The New Business Model of Construction Contracting | |
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| Profile of a Profitable Contractor in This Millennium | |
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| Two Sources of Personal Wealth for the Contractor | |
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| Summary | |
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| Corporate Objectives and Strategies | |
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| The Owner's Goals Are Primary | |
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| The Learning Curve | |
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| Strategic Planning for Construction Businesses | |
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| Vision/Mission: How You Want to Be Seen and How to Get There | |
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| Construction Compared with Manufacturing | |
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| Strategic Planning to Change the Market | |
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| The Cold Hard Strategic Truth | |
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| Summary | |
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| Work Acquisition | |
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| Win Three Times to Win One Project | |
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| Selecting the Right Work | |
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| Market Analysis | |
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| Marketing versus Selling | |
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| Marketing | |
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| Common Marketing Rules for Contractors | |
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| Comparing Market Share and Profits: A Quantitative Method for Marketing and Selling | |
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| Selling | |
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| Common Errors in Selling | |
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| Estimating Cost and Proposing Price | |
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| Bidding: The Price Proposal Process | |
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| Pressures to Be Low Bidder | |
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| Using Job Sizing to Consider Establishing a Small Projects Division | |
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| Bid Conditioning | |
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| A Critical Consideration: When Should Cost Savings Be Reflected in Bids? | |
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| Beware of Questionable Procurement Procedures to Win Bids | |
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| Be Proactive for Better Procedures in Procurement | |
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| Annual Job Cost Budgeting | |
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| Alignment of the Work Acquisition and Field Staffs | |
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| The Importance of Forward-Thinking Measurements | |
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| Measuring Work Acquisition Success | |
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| Use Past Performance to Make Adjustments for Future Work | |
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| Summary | |
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| Operations Management | |
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| What Is the Current Status of the Industry? Construction Productivity Is at a 15-Year Low | |
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| The Basic Process to Better Operations Management | |
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| Proven Principles | |
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| Construction Business Planning Is Critical | |
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| Taking the Lean Approach to Construction Contracting | |
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| Creation and Implementation of Quality-Lean-Processes | |
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| Processes That Consistently Deliver Results | |
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| Management Load Balancing | |
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| Management: A Short Course | |
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| Planning, Forecasting, and Scheduling | |
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| Managing a Construction Firm in a Down Economy | |
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| Firing Your Worst Client to Improve Your Risk Profile | |
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| Summary | |
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| Human Resources | |
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| The Key Role of the Human Resources Manager | |
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| Self-Actualization Motivates More Than Money | |
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| Knowing Yourself Well Is Critical to Management and Leadership | |
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| Personality Assessment | |
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| Leadership/Management Assessment | |
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| Time Management Essentials | |
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| Teaching and Mentoring: Investment with Hard-Core Results | |
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| New Employee Orientation and Continuing Education | |
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| Leader-Manager: New Definition of Leadership in Construction Contracting | |
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| Four Habits of Highly Effective Construction Managers | |
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| Managing Yourself Better | |
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| The Most Important College Class Not Taught | |
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| Compelling Reasons to Manage Labor Well | |
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| Beginning the Learning Curve in College | |
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| You Are the Chief Morale Officer | |
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| Best Organizational Structure for Optimal Use of Human Resources | |
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| The Age of Less Delegation | |
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| Proactive Management | |
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| Multiple Delegation by Electronic Means | |
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| Managing the Latest Generation | |
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| Recruiting Tips | |
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| Advice to Young Construction Professionals | |
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| Summary | |
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| Financial Management | |
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| The Cost of Doing Business | |
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| Tracking Revenue and Costs | |
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| Accounting versus Financial Management | |
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| Financial Management of Individual Projects: Job Cost Reporting | |
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| Financial Statement | |
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| Rate of Return Measures | |
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| What Is a Reasonable ROI to Expect? | |
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| Additional Financial Indicators: Critical Metrics to Compute | |
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| If Limited to One Indicator, Which Financial Ratio Would I Choose? | |
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| Overhead Management | |
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| Retention Management | |
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| Budgeting | |
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| Keep a Cushion of Funds in Your Account | |
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| Smart Billing and Collection Practices | |
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| Typical Financial Trouble Spots for a Construction Firm | |
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| How Financial Policies Affect Your Construction Business | |
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| Increasing Employees' Awareness of Key Financial Data | |
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| DuPont Analysis | |
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| Ours Is a Recession-Resistant Industry | |
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| Ways to Weather Down Economic Times | |
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| What to Do with Profits? Remember the Rule of 72 | |
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| Summary | |
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| Technology | |
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| Reticence about Adopting Technology | |
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| First Things First | |
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| Technology to Have and Master | |
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| Emerging Trends | |
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| Virtual Construction | |
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| Measuring the ROI of Your Technology Investment | |
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| Compelling Business Reasons to Invest in Technology | |
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| Summary | |
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| Good Operating Practices | |
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| Risk versus Reward | |
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| Characteristics of Superior Projects | |
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| Strategic Actions and Operational Methods Make Up Good Operating Practices | |
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| The Indices | |
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| Strategic Value Index for Construction Contractors | |
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| WorkSmart Leverage Analysis | |
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| Good Operating Practices Research Using WorkSmart Leverage Analysis | |
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| Summary | |
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| Summary and Conclusions | |
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| Case Studies | |
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| Digest of Additional Management Insights | |
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| Great Management Books and How They Apply to Construction Contracting | |
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| Management Parables | |
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| Bibliography | |
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| Index | |