Collapse of CTV Building - Assignment Example

? Collapse of CTV Building Table of Contents Collapse of CTV Building 4 Introduction 4 Analysis of the Case Study 5 Identify the Roles of Key Role Players and Stakeholders 5 Evaluation of Key Management and Organizational Factors 6 Identification of Ten Role Players 8 Identification of 10 Stakeholders 10 Evaluation of Consequences 11 Summary and Conclusions 12 Recommendations 13 References 14 Appendices 15 Executive Summary Nowadays, business organizations are following strong business ethics in their business processes in order to avoid several types of legal challenges. The governments of several countries are motivating the organizations to follow proper business policies in order to improve countries’ business environment. This study will focus on the collapse of CTV building during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The study will try to find out several other reasons behind the collapse of this building. Collapse of CTV Building Introduction CTV Building was the headquarters of several leading organizations including Canterbury Television. This building was established in the Christchurch Central City (Kunstler, 2005). The CTV building became one of the significant symbols of 2011 Christchurch earthquake. 115 people lost their lives due to the collapse of CTV building during the earthquake. A series of construction, council, decision making, and engineering related errors over the last 20 years caused the catastrophic collapse of the CTV building. Prime Minister John Key ordered to set up the Royal Commission in order to investigate this incident. According to several reports it can be stated that the collapse of CTV building was the biggest life-taking incident. The Royal Commission stated that the CTV building’s engineering design was deficient in several ways. This building was not developed according to the appropriate standards. Therefore, Christchurch City Council did not make a right decision by issuing a building permit for CTV building. During the construction of the office block, it was found that the construction had been inadequately supervised by the appointed construction manager (Wilson, 2012). This study will identify the stakeholders and key role players associated with CTV Building and its consequences. Moreover, this study will critically analyze and evaluate the key management and several organizational factors associated with the critical incident. Analysis of the Case Study The government of New Zealand is trying to find legal reasons behind the collapse of this building. First of all, the government has stated in the report of the Royal Commission that the construction plan was not created according to the standard level. The Royal Commission has concluded that serious deficiencies in its construction and design are the major reasons behind the accident (Figure 1). CTV building did not meet the standard construction criteria. Moreover, the designing engineer constructed the building out of his depth (Stursberg, 2012). Moreover, as for the council staff that inspected this building after the incident of the earthquake, none of them were the engineers. The Construction and Building Minister said that the report of the commissions would be handed over to the professional engineers’ institute. The government wanted to find out the level of corruption and crime associated with the collapse of CTV building (Xu, 2012). Alan Reay Consultants Ltd. were in charge of CTV building construction. The commission blamed the groups for establishing a noncompliant and inadequate design (Figure 2). Moreover, the council stated that city officials were also responsible for the incident as they had not sent notice to the owner of the building. According to the report, the building got a green sticker after the earthquake of 2010. Signalling authorities gave it thumbs up for the individuals to use in future. Identify the Roles of Key Role Players and Stakeholders The owner and principle engineer did not follow the legal aspects. The principle engineer Alan Reay provided inadequate and poor supervision to the employed structural engineer to work on this particular project. David Harding was appointed as the supervisor engineer for this project. David Harding was doing his job beyond his competence as he was not responsible for building of such a complex multi-storey structure. Moreover, he did not have any experience with the computer modelling program. Several construction defects were identified after the collapse of CTV building. Gerald Shirtcliff was the construction manager of the project (Brewster, 2011). He did not carry out an appropriate or proper inspection at the site. According to the report of the Royal Commission, it can be stated that one point of the entire construction had not been reviewed and supervised for five months after the earthquake of 2010. The building was declared as a safe construction without any kind of supervision by a professional engineer’s group. The building was not in the position to achieve a yellow sticker, but most surprisingly a green sticker was awarded to CTV building by the commission. The Government is not giving any kind of an official response to the recent investigation conducted by the Royal Commission. First of all, they are trying to identify all the reasons behind the incident. The government of New Zealand promised that they would bring transparency in the investigation and find out the real truth. Several stakeholders tried to increase their profit margins through some corrupt activities. They never tried to rectify the internal safety issues of the building. Moreover, they tried to appoint the engineers for the purpose of supervision who were not professional engineers. Therefore, it can be stated that the stakeholders never tried to sustain. Evaluation of Key Management and Organizational Factors It is the responsibility of business organizations to maintain effective ethics in business. An employer is not only responsible for the business outcome, but also he or she needs to ensure the safety and good health issues of his or her employees. The business environment is rapidly changing in New Zealand due to the rapid transformation of resources, technological revolution, and a growing market demand for several products and services. Therefore, it is important for the organizations or stakeholders to maintain an ethical stand of a business venture. Considering the case of CTV building collapse, it can be stated that several political reasons are responsible for this issue. First of all, the owner of the building should have developed proper planning of the building based on the appropriate standard. On the other hand, the City Council did not monitor the issue significantly (Beynen, 2012). It was their responsibility not to pass the plan of a building with such a design. However, several other issues are associated with the building. The stakeholders and owners did not bother to review the plans and rectify the issues accordingly. They followed the pathway of corruption in order to increase their profit margin. The Government of New Zealand forced the commission to investigate the structure and design of CTV building after the 2010 earthquake. Here, the government of New Zealand did one thing wrong by appointing the City Council for the purpose of property investigation (Roberston, 2012). It was the responsibility of the City Council to appoint a group of professional engineers who could measure the safety of the building. However, the supervision team was not aware of several technical things. As a result, the building collapsed due to а heavy earthquake. The inadequate decision-making process of stakeholders and several negative organizational factors affected the building’s construction. The shareholders were trying to minimize the cost and improve the profit margin through inadequate business activities. It has been found out by the investigation and reported by the Royal Commission that three different aspects of the construction and design of the CTV building did not meet the required standards. This investigation report was sent to New Zealand Government by the Royal Commission for the purpose of further investigation and identifying real criminals (Morgan, 2011). The police of Christchurch have advised that they will be seeking a legal opinion in order to carry out a required preliminary assessment. It will help to determine the effective outcome. The investigation report of the Royal Commission made significant recommendations around five important areas. These are non-ductile columns, an irregular structure, pre-cast concrete masonry infill walls, inadequate quality and design of construction, and diaphragm connections. Identification of Ten Role Players This part of the report will identify 10 key role players associated with the collapse of CTV building. Principle Engineer Lack of qualification and effective technical knowledge of the principle engineer is the major reason behind the collapse. Junior Engineer Lack of experience, skills and capability of junior engineers led them to provide inadequate approval of the project. Construction Manager Lack of formulation and implementation of effective construction and design plans of construction managers is another significant reason behind the collapse. Operation Manager Operation manager is another key role player in this collapse. Selection of poor quality raw materials and inefficient suppliers raised huge quality concern. Building Architecture From the investigation report it was found out that there were critical flaws in the designing of the CTV building. Particular asymmetric design was the major reason behind the collapse of CTV building. City Council Christchurch City Council is another key role player. They should have appointed group of professional engineers. Inexperienced and incapable chief engineer gave green approval. Rescue Team Late response and arrival of rescue team could not save precious lives. Audit Team Lack of regular survey for safety standards regarding the possibility of any hazard is another reason behind the collapse. People inside the Building Lack of basic disaster control and management skills of the management of the companies inside the building are another key reason behind the deaths. State Government State government did one thing wrong by appointing City council in these investigation activities. Structural issue within the council is another reason behind the collapse. Identification of 10 Stakeholders This part of the assignment will identify 10 major stakeholders associated with the collapse of CTV building. Owner Inadequate supervision process by the owner of entire building is one of the major reasons behind the collapse. This incident can harm the business entity the building belongs to. Industry Associations There is specific part of the organizations’ advisory committees. These committees should share their opinion regarding the restructuring process of the building. Insurance Companies Majority of the office premises are insured. Therefore, specific insurance companies have to take care and pay for the damages. Facilitators Regional facilitators supported the construction and designing plan of the project. They have to make sure that they did not get a refund before providing a credit. Project Consultants Several project consultants have to make sure that the issues associated with the building are corrected in order to provide advisory in near future. Raw Material Suppliers Inadequate quality of raw materials and change of suppliers are major aspects behind the collapse. Organizations The companies within the building have to set up a new office as they are affected by the collapse. It is a matter of huge money. Community Groups They need to come forward to provide support and help to victims based on the impact of the damages. Political Parties If the compensation is not equally distributed and damages are not accurately managed, then they have to face some difficulties in future. Residents of that particular place Residents of that place would also have to face the heat of pollution and damage due to the collapse. Evaluation of Consequences The role players should take appropriate responsibility in order to overcome the situation. Proper supervision, audit and investigation could help to avoid the incident. Summary and Conclusions The collapse of CTV building was the major consequence of 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Officially 155 individuals lost their lives due to the collapse of that building. The consenting officer of CCC named Graeme Tapper identified that the building’s design and construction quality were not up to the required standard, but surprisingly he set to approve the structure and design after the supervision of engineering Design Company. Alan Reay was the head of the Engineering Design Company (Green, Rozell & Wilcox, 2006). He convinced the immediate boss of Tapper that his specific concerns were not founded. Alan Reay employed several inexperienced and unprofessional engineers in order to supervise the building. He did not check Harding’s design. Reay convinced the building engineer of CCC that the design of the building was quite satisfactory. It was not true. He drew the conclusion without knowing anything about the structural details. Moreover, he did not review any of the drawings of the building structure. Alan Reay Engineering consultants were the designer and developer of the CTV building. It has been found that the Council did not inspect the construction design and quality for a period of five month during the construction of the building. After the 2010 earthquake, the building was finally inspected by the Christchurch City Council and the owners of the building. The consultants also took part in the inspection. Despite the inspections, the building achieved a safety standard and a green sticker. After the collapse of the building, the Government of New Zealand tried to arrange an investigation through the Royal Commission. It was found and reported that the building had not been eligible to achieve a yellow sticker due to the inadequate designing and construction quality. However, the Government allowed the police of New Zealand to get involved in the matter after a preliminary investigation. The Government and the police of New Zealand are assuming that the stakeholders are the major reasons behind the collapse of the building. They avoided several inspections in order to cover up the issues associated with the construction design and quality of the building. Recommendations It is clear from the above discussion that CTV collapsed due to the inadequate design and quality of structure. In addition, several critical issues, such as lack of effective inspection by Christchurch City Council and lack of organizational ethics are responsible for the incident. The following recommendations plan will help both the Government and organizations to reduce similar issues and challenges. The Ministry of Innovation, Business and Employment should develop effective guidelines or legal policies for the organizations. The Government needs to motivate the organizations to follow the guidelines. The Government of New Zealand should focus on the implementation or the adoption of the structural failure investigation. A strict random investigation will force the organizations to follow business ethics. Moreover, the Government has to take strict legal action in case of violation of laws. These policies and strategic actions will help to improve the business environment of New Zealand. Health and Safety are a major aspect for any business unit. The Government should develop effective health and safety employment policies. These policies will reduce several workplace hazards as the employers have to follow the policies in order to overcome the legal issues. The Government should focus on rapid formal forensic examinations in case of accidents to provide justice within a short period of time. References Beynen, M. (2012). Trapped. London: Penguin. Brewster, M. (2011). The Savage War. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Green, J., Rozell, M., & Wilcoix, CF., (2006). The values campaign. Springer: New York. Kunstler, J. (2005). The long emergency. London: Grove Press. Morgan, J. (2011). Bankrupt representation and party system collapse. Christchurch: Penn State Press. Roberston, L. (2012). The kind of life it’s been. London: Harper Collins. Stursberg, R. (2012). The Tower of Babble. London: Routledge. Wilson, B. (2012). Moments in time. New York: Trafford Publishing. Xu, Q. (2012). Starting from zero: Rebuilding CTV Building in Christchurch. Auckland: University of Auckland. Appendices Figure 1. Post collapse investigation. (Source: Xu, 2012). Figure 2. Evaluation of Western part of the building (Source: Xu, 2012). Figure 3: After the collapse of CTV Building (Source: Xu, 2012). Figure 4: Investigation of the Building (Source: Xu, 2012). Read More