Assignment 1 - Decision Framing - Taylor Wildberger

DECISION FRAMING 1

Taylor Wildberger

6/5/16

DATA 610

SUMMER 2016

Assignment 1: Decision Framing

[email protected]

Professor: Steward Huang, Ph.D.

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Introduction

A key element of using analytics to improve decision making when solving a problem is

to “frame” the decision. The purpose of this assignment is to implement real world problems

involving solutions based on everyday operational decisions and understand how to frame them

for a better comprehension. The Decisionfirst modeling software outlines decisions and breaks

down necessary factors that contribute to the decision making process. Models can be updated

and manipulated based on findings throughout development which results in a better framed

decision or problem. By generating an Analytics Requirements Document (ARD) all data

structures, knowledge sources, and decisions are represented by their relationships and take into

account organization resources necessary for the proposed solution outcome. The decision

framing assignment is appropriate to begin the journey of data analytics because without

defining and framing a decision using analytical solutions may not be effect.

The Prince Georges Public School Maintenance Facility is a department of the county

public school system that provides building upkeep and repairs. The department has over 250

employees on the payroll year round that perform maintenance duties. With roughly 200

buildings in total and more than half over forty years’ old there is a constant demand for

maintenance. All repairs are submitted by the building staff through an online work order

system, processed, then assigned specifically throughout the department employees. Most jobs

are simple in scope and can be completed easily by the trades employees.

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Currently the Maintenance Facility performs all necessary preparation work required

before either parties can begin the maintenance job. Inspectors from both the state of Maryland

and the school board are sent to examine the extent of the building disrepair. A harsh chemical

test is performed during the inspection as well to indicate “hot” chemicals such as Asbestos to

determine if the job requires an abatement (Most abatement related jobs must be performed by

contractors due to insurance issues). All jobs are estimated by an internal estimator that provides

the approximated requirements for job completions and are recorded into the pending job

working order database.

The Building Maintenance department has systems in place to help provide their

employees a with a proper work load and schedule. By using the pending work order database

system jobs are assigned and scheduled to employees. Taken from the job estimate data, the

system configures how many employees should be assigned and factors how long the job should

take. The employee leaves data bank that shows pending requested days off is also considered

when assigning and scheduling

Through state government regulations, the school system is obligated to dedicate a

portion of repair jobs to third party private contractors. The Maintenance Facility has created a

separate department called Capital Improvement Planning (CIP) that strictly develops policies

and contracts when dealing with outside contractors. Determining which contractor to use based

on previous encounters current bid CIP can develop the work production schedule. This

department is responsible for payment, inspection, and regulations regarding the work being

performed in our facilities by these contractors.

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The decision leaders of the facility insist on finding a better solution the problem of

determining which maintenance repairs should remain in-house to be performed by the internal

employees and which should be externalize to the private contractors. This question is often

proposed and the choices should be automatically determined using previous statistics and

obtainable knowledge sources. Our challenge when making this decision is determining which

factors and elements are involved. By using tools and information from all Maintenance Facility

departments a solution can be developed and implemented.

Analytics

When performing a Job Estimate Assessment, best practices and real world experience

are used mainly to gage the scope and scale of repairs. By developing an analytical model to

better understand how to govern these regulations and automate the scalability based on previous

jobs. The completed work order database will be analyzed to provide these predictions to provide

the accurate man hours and completion time specified in the job estimate assessment.

Regardless of state regulations the maintenance facility is looking at cost efficiency when

it comes to repairs. The department has the option to hire more employees, but feels reluctant to

because currently there is no way to measure their productivity. A solution can be implemented

make this decision easier by using the closed/completed work order history and the pending

work orders. The productivity model relies heavily on the job estimates by comparing and

contrasting the proposals verses the real world data. This model proposes how to automate the

calculation to determine employee productivity.

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The school board management has been pushing for the maintenance facility department

to increase their productivity and provide information for their lack thereof. The purpose of this

project is the inform the maintenance facility leaders of the current state of production process

and how current decision making can be improved. By understand the relationships of their

resources and how they are used, the leaders can understand the importance of framing decisions

and understanding current problems with productivity. Without this project, decisions will be

made with little to no insight or knowledge and continue to be made without any clear

determination of how it could impact all facility parties. We should implement these decision

making processes to ensure justification and provide improve productivity.

Analysis

This approach to decision making would be using in my organization compared to the

current status of our decision framing method. The Maintenance Facility department takes little

to no time framing their decisions for a number several reasons. Budgetary issues due to lack of

planning frequently arise causing decisions being made quickly and without total analyzation.

Calculated time on paper (or within a database) vs. real world time almost never comply with

each other when taking the human factor and accidents into account and lead to decisions being

made that were not originally foreseen. Being a government and dealing with several thousand

stake holders and human entities means we are bound with legal issues and are unable to make

certain decisions based those limitations. Our organization would benefit from this decision

making project because it serves as a platform to show how framing a decision and hammering

down on the elements helps determine a prolific outcome.

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The biggest resistance that will be encountered will be from the employee workers and

their union. The maintenance employee union is very strong (almost too strong) and have

opposed versions of these types of methods in the past. From my understanding they do not want

the maintenance leaders to have the ability to determine if their work should be taken from them.

Most of the decision making model/project promotes that jobs stay within the facility, but the

union will feel that it decision leans too far away from their side; even though a deciding factor is

to hire more of employees.

I also foresee the facility leaders apposing this model because of the amount of man

power and resources it requires to keep up while also presenting the extreme lack of productivity.

With our budget being cut next year, if they were to implement this decision making model and

present finding to the school board management. The facility leaders fear that the severity

regarding the lack of productivity may cause a complete shutdown of the Maintenance Facility

department and cause all jobs to be contracted out.

If implemented this approach would be useful in roughly all areas of our building

maintenance facility. I feel that this paticular decision would be able to bring all Maintenance

departments together and work on the same schedule. Currently the CIP and On-site Building

Maintenance facility are practically separate entities. An estimator determines which department

to send the work order/job to and no collaborating occurs between the two. Having our

departments working closely together could promote better scheduling and help further improve

the productivity model.

Using this decision model for all jobs could have down falls when involving all

departments. Our facility could lose insight of the goal objective and try to concentrate more on

model upkeep rather than actually completing building repairs. Currently our schedule plays fast

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and lose regarding timing and estimations. This model helps create a consistently tight schedule

for all jobs which may lead in an off balance of real world expectations vs. calculated estimates.

It is difficult to imply practical and logical decision based solutions to problems that do

not seem to exist. Cleary defining the decision of outsource building maintenance will have a

positive impact on the Prince Georges Public School Maintenance Facility by framing the

problem and defining all elements within. Providing easy decision making tools will help set the

maintenance facility in a forward thinking mind frame. Promoting the use of analytical

approaches to problems and deciding how to use them in the future. This solution will have a

positive key performance indicator throughout for the maintenance employees, the Maintenance

Facility and the entire School System.

References

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Davenport, T. H. (n.d.). Keeping up with the quants: Your guide to understanding and using

analytics.

Appendix A

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Outsourcing Building Maintenance to Contractors Decision DiagramDecision Requirements Diagram

Decision Framing to outsource

Source: University of Maryland University College and DecisionsFirst

Modeler

Reference: Taylor, J. (2015) Framing Analytical Requirements,

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http://www.decisionmanagementsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Framing-Analytics-Requirements-v5.13.pdf

Nodes Description

Decision Outsourcing Building Maintenance to Contractors

Due to the overwhelming amount of building repairs in the Maintenance Facility a decision needs to be made whether each job should be outsourced to a third party contractor or our current maintenance staff is capable of job completion.

Decision Scheduling The decision on when to schedule the repair Job within the building

Decision Man Hours The amount of man hours need to complete the job are determined based on the analytical Job Scope and Size model.



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Nodes Description

Decision Repair Or Replace In certain situations, it is more effective to replace damage completely rather than repair it. Maintenance Records and inspections determine the severity and history of the building repair in question

Decision Contractor Determination Deciding which contractor to use on the particular job. What determining factors should be included when selecting. Depending on the contractor and other factors, the determination on outsourcing will be effected with this matters in consideration.

Decision Hiring More Maintenance Workers Deciding if our facility should hire more maintenance workers based on the Productivity model and annual budget. With more employees available, the jobs should not be contracted.

Decision Job Estimate Assessment This decision determines how to Assess the job to get a rough estimate of the scope and price required for repair. These estimates will be used to compare Bids and employee cost.

DECISION FRAMING 12

Nodes Description

Decision Completion Time The amount of time need to complete the job are determined based on the analytical Job Scope and Size model.

Decision Asbestos Abatement Asbestos is in most of the buildings the repair job needs to be determined if an abatement is necessary. Abatements are performed by licensed professionals and need to be contracted out in this case.

Decision Availability Of Workers Decision to determine the current status of the facility maintenance employees and if they are available. If not enough employees are available at the time of scheduling, then the job will have to be contracted.

Data Source Contract Bids Each contractor submits a bid for each job defining their scope of work, time allotted, and price.

Data Source Inspections Data Collected from the maintenance inspector that is sent to record the severity of the problem.

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Nodes Description

Data Source Maintenance Records All records of previous maintenance that has been performed. Including both the in house maintenance staff and the Capital improvement contractors.

Data Source Job Assignments Scheduling Database that determines if the employee has been assigned to job at a specific time.

Data Source Employee Leave Database of when an employee is taking leave and will not be available for work.

Data Source Building Availability The schedule database of events determines when will the building or area be available

Data Source Annual Budget Annual Budget allotted to the Building Maintenance department.

Data Source Material Price The prices of the materials needed for each job are available from suppliers the facility already uses.

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Nodes Description

Data Source Availability Contractor Availability and Scheduling database provides when the contractor will be able to perform the work

Data Source Existing Material Tests All buildings have been tested for harsh building material such as Asbestos for the safety of staff members. These records determine the amount of harsh materials contained within certain parts of the building.

Data Source Contractor Terms and Conditions All contractors that work within our facilities must comply with the set policies and agree to the terms and conditions

Know How Job Scope and Scale Model This analytical model is created to determine the scope and scale of each individual job that is being evaluated. This model uses databases that include previous estimates and actual work completed: Man hours, Material Price and Job Size.

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Nodes Description

Know How Building Staff The occupants/employees of the building provide insight to the schedule of usage and when certain areas are occupied and if/when maintenance work can be performed. This includes if the area can be shut down completely and if they have room within the building to move staff members during this time.

Know How Productivity Model The analytical model developed to calculate the level of productivity of the in-house maintenance employees. Past and Future productivity is calculated with the data from the work order database including previously completed jobs and current work that needs to be completed.

Know How Capital Improvement Capital Improvement is a sub-department of the maintenance facility that interacts with contractors and over sees their job productivity. Using their insight and information to assist with the determination of using contractors instead of our in-house maintenance employees

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Nodes Description

Know How In-House Maintenance Department Full time employees of the Building Maintenance department that include trades workers, facility coordinators. These staff members work within these buildings and provide insight to the building conditions.

Know How Loyalty/ Quality Of Work Most of the contractors our department associates with have performed worked in our facilities before. This knowledge source stems from past experiences with them such as how easy they were to work with, the quality and timing of past projects and payments etc.

Outsourcing Building Maintenance to ContractorsStrategic Decision


Question: Should this building maintenance repair job be contracted out to a third party company instead of the in-house maintenance employee staff?Answer Type Yes / No

Answers

Default Answer: No

Supporting Information:

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PropertiesName Value Description

Variability Medium

Complexity High

Volume High

Measurability Medium

Repeatability High

Time to outcome Medium

Decision Value Decay

OrganizationsOwned by

Maintenance Facility

Made By

Maintenance Facility

RelationshipsImplemented in Systems

Work Order Portal

Contractor Portal

SchedulingOperational Decision

The decision on when to schedule the repair Job within the building

Question: Can this Work be performed and When?Answer Type Yes / No

Answers

Default Answer: Yes

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Volume Low

Variability Medium

Complexity Low


Repeatability High

Time to outcome Short



Capital Improvement Department

Made By



Employee Portal

Work Order Portal

Man HoursStrategic Decision

The amount of man hours need to complete the job are determined based on the analytical Job Scope and Size model.

Question: How much man power/hours does this job require for completion?Answer Type Number in range

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Answers

Default Answer:



Complexity Low

Volume Low

Variability Low

Repeatability Low


Measurability Low



Work Order Portal

Repair or ReplaceOperational Decision

In certain situations, it is more effective to replace damage completely rather than repair it. Maintenance Records and inspections determine the severity and history of the building repair in question

Question: Should this building restoration be a repair or a total replacement?Answer Type Value from explicit list

Answers Repair, Replace

Default Answer:


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Requirements NetworkRequires Description

Input Data Inspections Data Collected from the maintenance inspector that is sent to record the severity of the problem.

Input Data Maintenance Records All records of previous maintenance that has been performed. Including both the in house maintenance staff and the Capital improvement contractors.


Complexity Medium

Variability Medium

Volume High


Repeatability High

Measurability High



On-Site Maintenance

Made By

On-Site Maintenance

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Work Order Portal

Contractor DeterminationStrategic Decision

Deciding which contractor to use on the particular job. What determining factors should be included when selecting. Depending on the contractor and other factors, the determination on outsourcing will be effected with this matters in consideration.

Question: Should we hire this contractor for this repair job?Answer Type Yes / No

Answers

Default Answer: Yes



Input Data Contract Bids Each contractor submits a bid for each job defining their scope of work, time allotted, and price.


Complexity Low

Volume High

Variability Medium

Repeatability High



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Name Value Description




Made By



Contractor Portal

Hiring More Maintenance WorkersStrategic Decision

Deciding if our facility should hire more maintenance workers based on the Productivity model and annual budget. With more employees available, the jobs should not be contracted.

Question: Should the Maintenance Facility Department Hire More Employees?Answer Type Number in range

Answers

Default Answer:


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Knowledge Source

Productivity Model The analytical model developed to calculate the level of productivity of the in-house maintenance employees. Past and Future productivity is calculated with the data from the work order database including previously completed jobs and current work that needs to be completed.

Input Data Annual Budget Annual Budget allotted to the Building Maintenance department.


Complexity High

Variability Medium

Volume Medium

Repeatability High





On-Site Maintenance

Made By

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On-Site Maintenance


Work Order Portal

Employee Portal

Job Estimate Assessment Decision

This decision determines how to Assess the job to get a rough estimate of the scope and price required for repair. These estimates will be used to compare Bids and employee cost.

Question: What is the repair Job Going to Cost?Answer Type Number in range

Answers

Default Answer:




Input Data Material Price The prices of the materials needed for each job are available from suppliers the facility already uses.

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Requires Description

Decision Completion Time The amount of time need to complete the job are determined based on the analytical Job Scope and Size model.

Required by Description




Volume High

Variability Medium

Complexity High

Repeatability High


Measurability High



On-Site Maintenance

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Made By

On-Site Maintenance


Contractor Portal

Work Order Portal

Completion TimeStrategic Decision

The amount of time need to complete the job are determined based on the analytical Job Scope and Size model.

Question: How long will it take to complete the repair job?Answer Type Number in range

Answers

Default Answer:



Knowledge Source

Job Scope and Scale Model This analytical model is created to determine the scope and scale of each individual job that is being evaluated. This model uses databases that include previous estimates and actual work completed: Man hours, Material Price and Job Size.

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Decision Job Estimate Assessment This decision determines how to Assess the job to get a rough estimate of the scope and price required for repair. These estimates will be used to compare Bids and employee cost.


Volume High

Complexity High

Variability High

Repeatability High


Measurability High



Work Order Portal

Asbestos AbatementOperational Decision

Asbestos is in most of the buildings the repair job needs to be determined if an abatement is necessary. Abatements are performed by licensed professionals and need to be contracted out in this case.

Question: Does the Job Require and Abatement?Answer Type Yes / No

Answers

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Default Answer: No



Input Data Maintenance Records All records of previous maintenance that has been performed. Including both the in house maintenance staff and the Capital improvement contractors.

Input Data Existing Material Tests All buildings have been tested for harsh building material such as Asbestos for the safety of staff members. These records determine the amount of harsh materials contained within certain parts of the building.





Complexity Low

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Name Value Description

Variability Low

Volume High

Repeatability High

Measurability Low





Made By



Work Order Portal

Availability of WorkersOperational Decision

Decision to determine the current status of the facility maintenance employees and if they are available. If not enough employees are available at the time of scheduling, then the job will have to be contracted.

Question: Are the Facility Maintenance employees available for this job?Answer Type Yes / No

Answers

Default Answer: Yes


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Input Data Job Assignments Scheduling Database that determines if the employee has been assigned to job at a specific time.

Input Data Employee Leave Database of when an employee is taking leave and will not be available for work.





Volume Medium

Variability Medium

Complexity Low

Repeatability High

Measurability High



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On-Site Maintenance

Made By

On-Site Maintenance


Work Order Portal

Employee Portal

Contract BidsExternal, Semi-structured Input Data

Each contractor submits a bid for each job defining their scope of work, time allotted, and price.

InspectionsInternal, Structured Input Data

Data Collected from the maintenance inspector that is sent to record the severity of the problem.

Maintenance Records Pooled, Semi-structured Input Data

All records of previous maintenance that has been performed. Including both the in house maintenance staff and the Capital improvement contractors.

Job AssignmentsInternal, Structured Input Data

Scheduling Database that determines if the employee has been assigned to job at a specific time.

Employee LeaveInternal, Structured Input Data

Database of when an employee is taking leave and will not be available for work.

Building AvailabilityInternal, Structured Input Data

The schedule database of events determines when will the building or area be available

DECISION FRAMING 32

Annual BudgetInternal, Structured Input Data

Annual Budget allotted to the Building Maintenance department.

Material PriceExternal, Structured Input Data

The prices of the materials needed for each job are available from suppliers the facility already uses.

Availability Input Data

Contractor Availability and Scheduling database provides when the contractor will be able to perform the work

Existing Material TestsInternal, Structured Input Data

All buildings have been tested for harsh building material such as Asbestos for the safety of staff members. These records determine the amount of harsh materials contained within certain parts of the building.

Contractor Terms and ConditionsInternal, Structured Input Data

All contractors that work within our facilities must comply with the set policies and agree to the terms and conditions

Job Scope and Scale ModelKnow how– Analytic Insight

This analytical model is created to determine the scope and scale of each individual job that is being evaluated. This model uses databases that include previous estimates and actual work completed: Man hours, Material Price and Job Size.

Requirements NetworkRequired by Description


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Building StaffKnow how– Best Practice

The occupants/employees of the building provide insight to the schedule of usage and when certain areas are occupied and if/when maintenance work can be performed. This includes if the area can be shut down completely and if they have room within the building to move staff members during this time.

Productivity ModelKnow how– Analytic Insight

The analytical model developed to calculate the level of productivity of the in-house maintenance employees. Past and Future productivity is calculated with the data from the work order database including previously completed jobs and current work that needs to be completed.

Capital ImprovementKnow how– Expertise

Capital Improvement is a sub-department of the maintenance facility that interacts with contractors and over sees their job productivity. Using their insight and information to assist with the determination of using contractors instead of our in-house maintenance employees

In-House Maintenance DepartmentKnow how– Expertise

Full time employees of the Building Maintenance department that include trades workers, facility coordinators. These staff members work within these buildings and provide insight to the building conditions.

Loyalty/ Quality of WorkKnow how– Best Practice

Most of the contractors our department associates with have performed worked in our facilities before. This knowledge source stems from past experiences with them such as how easy they were to work with, the quality and timing of past projects and payments etc.

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Assignment 1 - Decision Framing - Taylor Wildberger

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