INTRODUCTION

The knowledge of the materials, equipment, work force, and construction methods which are required to complete a certain task and how these tasks are interrelated in order to complete the construction project in the most efficient and profitable man­ner possible both for the construction firm and the client is of supreme impor­tance to the construction manager. To find that much of the course work required in most Construction Management or Construction Science programs around the country emphasizes these technical aspects of construction then is not surprising. These courses center around the philosophy Frederick Taylor introduced in the early 1900's and which has since evolved into what has become known as the Scientific Management approach to management. At the University of Nebraska, approximately 75 credit hours out of the 135 required credit hours can be attributed to the gaining of knowledge which would be useful in applying Taylor's management theories. Another large portion of the credit hours

total in the CM program (approximately 30 credit hours) concerns the management theories first presented by Henri Fayol in the early 1920's in France, but not widely known until his book General Industrialized Man was translated into English in the 1940's. This area of man­agement centers upon those management techniques which, if properly applied, could be of benefit to all companies. Some of the principles are: unity of com­mand, authority equals responsibility, limited span of control, delegation of routine activities, etc. This field has become known as organizational theory. Although Fayol originally introduced 14 major categories or areas of concern they can generally be categorized as consisting of those functions contained in the planning, organizing, coordinating, communi­cating and controlling operations of a company (POCCC). These are functions which most management programs center upon and would postulate as being necessary ingredients for the successful operation of any business. Our accounting, eco­nomics, finance, communication, law and cost control courses comprise the bulk of course work which concentrate on these functions. There is a third piece to the management triangle, however, which if not properly utilized and applied can render all of our well-intentioned efforts useless and the whole process to tumble like a house built of sticks, that is Human Resource Management (HRM). Only two courses in the CM program at UNL focus entirely on the human resource question, this paper centers on the content included in one of these courses.

COURSE SETTING AND GOALS:

Construction Management 481, Human Elements in Construction, is a two credit hour course taken by senior level CM students who have completed approximately 90% of their course work and is intended to try to tie all the management pieces to­gether from the human relations stand-

point. The subject is approached from both the labor and management viewpoints. One of the intentions of the course is to impress upon the student the importance of creating an environment and espousing a mind set wherein management and labor are viewed as a team. As such, any management directive should, to the best of one's ability, create a win-win situation for both labor and management. A secondary goal is to attempt to provide the students with as much knowledge and insight into human behavior as possible so that management can to some degree predict and control outcomes based upon this understanding. The course is taught from the Human Relations perspective, and attempts to identify those aspects of both the Scientific Management approach and the Organizational approach which impact upon the human beings which are part of the company. Three management approaches are presented as being representative of those Human Resource Management (HRM) theories typically presented in management courses and seminars today. The first approach would tell the manager to attempt to gather all the possible information which can be accummulated concerning the needs, desires, environment, aspirations etc. of each person under his/her charge, then try to manage each person based upon this knowledge about him/her as a person. The second approach would be to try and create a job which satisfies the company's objectives and at the same time motivates a person regardless of who the person occupying the position may be. The last approach is to try to control outcomes by reinforcing those behaviors which are acceptable and by attempting to extinguish those behaviors which are not. Thus, in summary:

COURSE ORGANIZATION

The course begins with an short examination of the history of management, management theories and philosophies and the main people responsible for these theories (i.e. Taylor, Gilbreth, Fayol, Bernard, Mayo, to name a few) and identifying those parts or processes of these major theories which are directly related to human resource management. For example, in the POCCC approach, the processes involving the recruitment, selection and induction of personnel, both from the perspective of the employer and employee, are examined since these processes are critical to the planning process in management if both long-range and short-term plans are going to be effectively met. Also, research has shown that the selection- preinduction induction period is critical for the employee in terms of how he perceives the company and the role he will play in the company's plans. Thus, the company wins and the employee wins when proper recruitmerit, selection and induction methods are employed to obtain a better mesh between job opening and prospective employees. Actual case studies provide the student with practical problems upon which to test their expertise and application skills. Actual case studies also provide a forum for generating discussion. Next, the HRM topic of managing people as people is explored. A review comprising a survey of the work done by Likert, Argyris, Herzberg, Mazlow, McGregor, Mayo, Vroom, Porter & Lawler and others, who have done considerable research on the needs and attitudes of people, provides a background for case studies and panel discussions which provide the student with an opportunity to deal with problems involving the varying needs and attitudes of people. One area which is explored as being intimately related to the needs and attitudes of the work force is productivity. An examination of virtually any current government or industry periodical will reveal how timely and important this topic is to the construction industry and industry in general. Indeed, the one area where the US has been consistently losing ground to foreign competition in recent years is in the productiveness of the work force, and people like Waterman and Peters have made a fortune telling companies how to increase the productivity of their work force. The HRM approach of managing people as people is not without its shortcomings however. People's needs change with time. Also, since people are individuals, and each person has needs, desires and goals which are different from every other person, it is extremely unlikely that you will find any two employees with exactly the same needs, desires, attitudes, etc. at any point in time, Even if you did understand all of your employees perfectly at one point in time, all this knowledge may be confounded and/or negated by some immediate happening which causes a change in the primary needs. Assuming then that management's goal is to understand so that it can predict and control outcomes, the students soon realize that managing people as people has some drawbacks and deficiencies. The second approach to Human Resource Management involves managing jobs, and involves the work done in the mid 70's by J. Richard Hackman and others involving job enrichment, job redesign, job rotation, cross-training, autonomous work groups, and other related topics. Students are encouraged to think creatively of ways in which these topics could be more closely integrated in the construction industry. In particular, does this research lend itself to raising the productivity levels of workers if applied properly? Are there: drawbacks and shortcomings to this' approach? Again, case studies and panelf discussions provide the forum. The third approach to Human Resource Man-, agreement which is examined is the behavioral approach whereby management attempts to effectively manage employee behavior. B. F. Skinner's philosophy which states that behavior is a function of its consequences is examined in the context of management's need to predict and control outcomes. Fred Luthan's recent work on Organization Behavior Modification and Beyond provides much of the research background and foundation for this topic.            Briefly, three "Laws" of behavior are postulated:

There is a catch-24 (Luthans' phrase-not a misprint) to this approach, however, and that is the fact that often there are competing consequences which reinforce the behavior, either negatively or positively. The one consequence which reinforces is called the contingent consequence. To be, effective, management must ascertain which of the competing consequences is actually doing the reinforcement and then either* continue the consequence f^- the behaviors is positive or attempt., to eliminate or diminish the impact of the consequence if it reinforces negative behavior. Luthans: says that based upon his research, attention and feedback are positive rein forcers, (this should come as no surprise: to anyone who has examined the Hawthorne' studies). He also states that reinforcement to be effective must be PIGS reinforcement(i.e.                        Positive, Immediate, Graphic and Specific).To optimize this approach the manager should constantly be alert for positive behavior and then immediately reinforce that behavior with PIGS! rewards. That is, to use a phrase coined;. by Ken Blanchard in his best seller One Minute  manager "catch employees doing something right", this approach is a pro­active approach, not a reactive approach; to management. Examples which would uti­lize this management style are also pre­sented to the students in case studies derived from actual field situations. The remainder of the course is devoted to selected topics which more intimately involve the worker and which are often al­luded to in other courses but rarely given more than a cursory examination. These topics are presented with as much actual case study background and examples as possible. A partial list of the more stimulating topics along with a few comments about each topic follows. Alcoholism, drug abuse and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This topic is consistently a real conversation gen­erator, the recent rise in the insurance rates for construction firms, and the corresponding rate breaks for firms which have actively attacked the drug, alcohol and possible emotional problems among their workers provides ample ammunition for implementation for any firm. A few of the students have been involved in initiating programs at their places of employment while still in college. Unions, non-union workers productivity and motivation studies. Students are challenged to provide factual, research based evidence which compares the productivity and economic data concerning the union and the non­union worker in the construction industry. Also identified is the growing problem in some parts of the nation involving the training of the work force. Physical. hazards and diseases common to the construction

worker. Hazardous materials (chemicals, asbestos, etc.) common to the construction industry, long term effects and diseases which mayor may not affect the worker. Prolonged exposure to noise, high altitudes, adverse reactions to construction materials are examined with regard to current research and legal opinions. Developing and maintaining effective safety and training programs. This is an increasingly important topic when viewed against the escalating insurance and liability premium rates.

OSHA and its regulations. An examination of OSHA documents and examples of what happens when violations occur. Minority/sex discrimination impacts upon productivity and performance. A timely topic gener­ally presented by a minority speaker.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

It is the intent of the course and the instructor to impress upon the student that Scientific Management Theory, Organization Theory and Human Resource Management techniques. are not to be viewed in a vacuum and are not to be thought of as ul­timate solutions to management's problems.