Setting the Line

Setting the Line

Continuing last week’s risk discussion: Recognizing, identifying, and measuring risk is a critical pre-bid task. A Las Vegas sports book doesn’t wait to set the line until after the game. A handicapper who failed to take a key player’s injured wrist into account or...
Envisioning The Future

Envisioning The Future

Envisioning The Future Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. “What do you mean by envisioning the future?” was the first question I received just minutes after posting last week’s message. Whenever a poetic phrase like that occurs to me, I often hesitate to use it because I...
Can You Be Flexible?

Can You Be Flexible?

Can You Be Flexible? Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. The construction industry is an outlier that evades classic management theory taught at all the nation’s prestigious business schools. The price of our construction services is set well in advance typically through...
Back To the Beginning

Back To the Beginning

Back To the Beginning Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. For 30 years I have been researching the causes of construction business failure. The study began years ago when I operated the largest national consultancy firm completing projects interrupted when bonded contractors...