OBLEPIAS, Jan Carlo A. ALBARICO, Marc Jayvee L. PICAZO, Jerric Christian Z.

This research aimed to magnify the operational and financial best practices of Makati Development Corporation. The study used descriptive method of research to gather information about present existing conditions needed in the chosen field of study. The respondents of the study were composed of 30 top and middle management of Makati Development Corporation.

Survey-questionnaires were distributed to the management people who provided the data for analysis and interpretation. The data gathered from the questionnaires were analyzed and interpreted with the use of the statistical tools such as the percentage and frequency distributions for establishing the perspective of the management people, weighted mean in determining the average respondents of different options provided in the various parts of the survey questionnaire used, and analysis of variance in testing the significant differences among the lead variables.

This research aimed to magnify the operational and financial best practices of Makati Development Corporation. Moreover, this study sought to draw the profile of the management people, company perspectives, construction best practices, financial implications, maintaining quality, problems encountered and its proposed solutions and any significant difference between the profile of the management people and the lead variables.

Specifically, this study aimed to answer the following:

1.0 What is the profile of the management people of Makati Development Corporation as to: 1.1 Age; 1.2 Sex; 1.3 Civil Status; 1.4 Highest Educational Attainment; 1.5 Position in the Company; and 1.6 Length of Employment?

2.0 What is the company perspective of Makati Development Corporation as to: 2.1 Form of Business Organization; 2.2 Years in Operation; 2.3 Sources of Capital; and 2.4 Number of employees? 3.0 How do the management people view the construction best practices of Makati Development Corporation with regards to: 3.1 Contracts; 3.2 Contract Change Orders; and 3.3 Safety? 4.0 How do the management people view the financial implications of Makati Development Corporation as to: 4.1 Accounting System; 4.2 Accounting for a Project; 4.3 Measurement Methods; and 4.4 Financial Reports?

5.0 How does Makati Development Corporation maintain high quality construction projects? 6.0 What are the problems encountered and the proposed solutions thereto? 7.0 Is there a significant difference between the profile of the management people and the lead variables?

The following summaries were drawn from the findings presented in the prior chapter: 1. Profile of Management People Management people that belong to the age bracket of below 26 have the highest percentage of 40% of the total management people. Sixty percent of them were female and majority of them were single with 63.3% or 19 out of the 30 management people. Findings showed that 30 or 100% were college graduates. Lastly, out of the 30 management people surveyed, 15 or 50% of them were from 1 up to 3 years in position.

2. Company Perspective
After reviewing the information gathered, the researchers found out that the company has been operating from 10 years and above. It also has more than 15 employees. Lastly, the company is a corporation and its primary source of capital is investment from parent company.

3. Construction Best Practices As to contracts, management people agreed with an average weighted mean of 4.39, that the company provides policies to ensure that contracts are entered into with high consideration. They agreed that the general contractor should issue bid invitations to subcontractors, in sufficient time for subcontractors to review the project documents and prepare responsible and responsive bids and that several factors like expenses and desired profit are being considered in deciding the contract price. Also, the general contractor allows the project financing information accessible to the subcontractor even before the deadline of the sub bids and guidelines are used on whether a contract should be treated as a single construction contract or a group contract.

As to contract change orders, management people agreed with an average weighted mean of 4.18, that the company ensures that contract change orders are added or deducted from the original contract price based on nature, that every change order is documented and reported to the customer and that every aspect in the construction must be carefully examined whether it is a part of the original contract or a change order. Also, the management people agreed that change orders may due to the personal requests of the clients, change orders may be due to some unforeseen conditions and any work done that is not present in the original contract is considered as a change order. On the other hand, the management people were undecided on whether change orders may go without pricing even though the work is defined and costs are incurred, and whether errors made by the contractor may also result to change orders.

As to safety, the management with an average weighted mean of 4.76, strongly agreed that the company ensures the safety of its employees and workers. They strongly agreed that construction work can be particularly hazardous and personal protective equipment, fire safety, electrical safety, and other precautions are essential for safe construction work. Permanent safety engineers and inspectors permit is secured for safety, any area that poses a physical threat to workers and/or pedestrians requires barriers or guards, site inspections are carried out to ensure that the safety and health standards, rules and practices are being complied with and corrective actions are taken as necessary and accident investigations are conducted and corrective actions are recommended for preventing similar accidents.

4. Financial Implications As to accounting for a project, the management people strongly agreed with an average weighted mean of 4.51, that materials and supplies inventory are maintained; a purchasing department which handles all the purchase transactions is established; purchase order form is sent from purchasing department to supplier for purchases of materials; receiving reports, purchase invoices and purchase order forms are being tallied for checking purposes; completion reports are prepared to document the progress of the project; and there should be an acceptance of the client in order for a project to be considered close. Also, the management people agreed that daily information reports from projects are carefully monitored to account for daily transactions; upon completion of a project, technical close-out is performed; upon completion of a project, financial close-out is performed; and during a financial close-out, every aspect which relates financially are settled.

As to measurement methods, the management strongly agreed with an average weighted mean of 4.54, that project costs are initially estimated; percentage of completion is usually measured by an expert engineer to provide accurate progress documentation; and to accurately recognize revenue, percentage of completion accounting and project cost allocation is applied.

As to safety, the management with an average weighted mean of 4.76 strongly agreed that the company ensures the safety of its employees and workers. They strongly agreed that construction work can be particularly hazardous and personal protective equipment, fire safety, electrical safety, and other precautions are essential for safe construction work, permanent safety engineers and inspectors permit is secured for safety, any area that poses a physical threat to workers and/or pedestrians requires barriers or guards, site inspections are carried out to ensure that the safety and health standards, rules and practices are being complied with and corrective actions are taken as necessary and accident investigations are conducted and corrective actions are recommended for preventing similar accidents.

With regards to its financial reports with an average weighted mean of 4.57, the management people strongly agreed that financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; contract revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable; when the outcome of a construction contract cannot be estimated reliably, revenue shall be recognized only to the extent of contract costs incurred that it is probable will be recoverable; when the outcome of a construction contract cannot be estimated reliably, contract costs shall be recognized as an expense in the period in which they are incurred; and when it is probable that total contract costs will exceed total contract revenue, the expected loss shall be recognized as an expense immediately.

Also, they agreed that contract revenue shall comprise the initial amount of revenue agreed in the contract; contract revenue shall comprise variations in contract work, claims and incentive payments to the extent that it is probable that they will result in revenue and they are capable of being reliably measured; and when the outcome of a construction contract can be estimated reliably, contract revenue and contract costs associated with the construction contract shall be recognized as revenue and expenses respectively by reference to the stage of completion of the contract activity at the end of the reporting period.

As to maintaining quality, the management agreed with an average weighted mean of 4.32, that the organization reviews the proposed contract to ensure that all requirements are adequately dened, that all verbal requirements are documented, all differences are resolved, and the organization is capable of meeting all contract requirements; the top-ranked contractors indicated that inspection and testing activities are performed during all phases of the projectreceipt, storage, field fabrication, erection, and upon completion prior to handing over to the client; the top-ranked contractors have well-documented procedures to identify the acceptability of construction items with regard to inspection and tests performed throughout the construction process;

whenever a Nonconformance Report (NCR) is issued and the disposition is agreed upon, the value of the problem (i.e., the cost of rework, replacement, project delay, etc.) is calculated and documented on the Nonconformance Report (NCR); the top-ranked contractors showed evidence that the procured project materials and equipment, when received at the site or during construction, are handled properly and in such a way that their quality will not be degraded because of inappropriate handling, lifting, and rigging.

5. Problems Encountered and Proposed Solutions As to the problems encountered, the management people strongly agreed that hits and misses are always a lessoned learned in a project. Also, they encountered problems regarding delays caused by environmental factors and the targeted time completion may not be attained and the prepared budget may sometimes focus a managers attention of goals that are not necessarily in harmony with the organizations over all objectives. Also, they strongly agreed that large projects can involve highly complex financial plan; prepared budget estimates may be missed; facilities requested by the client are custom designed and constructed and may also require a long time to complete and that both design and construction of a facility must satisfy some conditions.

On the other hand, they were undecided on whether management may sometimes become impatient and losses interest because it expects too much too soon. As to the possible solutions, the management people agreed to the proposed solutions for the problems encountered, that the company is encouraging participation of employees in each level of organization; the management is appointing a team to monitor and control the compliance of employees to the rules and regulation; internal and external factors in preparing the budget are considered by the Budget Personnel; the management uses high technology devices in making up the complex budget; the data is accessible in a timely and understandable way and that the company plans the flow of information.

6. Difference Between the Profile of the Management People and the Lead variables On the account of the difference among variables, shows that there is no significant difference between the construction best practices, except for the age, and the gender, civil status, highest educational attainment and the length of employment of the management people. It also shows that there is no significant difference between the financial implications, except for the length of employment, and the age, gender, civil status and the highest educational attainment of the management people.

It showed that there was no significant difference between maintaining quality and the age, gender, civil status, highest educational attainment and the length of employment of the management people. No other significant differences are found except for the above mentioned.

After applying the appropriate statistical tools on the data gathered and analyzing the results thereon, the aforementioned findings were revealed. In relation with this, the researchers had formulated the following conclusions: 1. Profile of management people The profile of the management people belongs to the age bracket of below 26, of which are female, single and are all college graduate. Moreover, majority of the management people are accountants and in the position for 1 up to 3 years.

2. Company Perspective Makati Development Corporation has been operating for more than 10 years. Also, it is a corporation whose primary source of capital is investment from its parent company and has more than 15 employees.

3. Construction Best Practices The management people agreed that they have good construction practices as to their contracts, contract change orders, and safety. The management clearly analyzes the contracts they are entering and changes in the original contract are given consideration in order for the changes to reflect to the contract price. Workers safety is also ensured by the management through its safety policies and personnel.

4. Financial Implication The management people strongly agreed that proper policies and procedures are being followed on the financial implication of their accounting system, accounting for a construction project, measurement methods and in maintaining their quality.

5. Problems Encountered and Proposed Solutions With regards to problems encountered, problems are given enough consideration, since these hinder them from achieving their goals. In relation to possible solutions, the management people perceived that these proposed solutions are effective ways to avoid those problems that the company may encounter in the future.

6. Difference Between the Profile of the Management People and the Lead Variables

The null hypothesis shows that there are no significant differences between the profile of the management people and the lead variables hence, should be accepted.

Based on the findings and the conclusions drawn, the following recommendations are hereby offered:

Makati Development Corporation reflects an outstanding performance as to safety. Keeping up their current policies and measures will continue this pleasing rate. Also, the corporation should keep their current policies and measures concerning contracts. Maintaining current quality control during operations will also satisfy clients and maintain the reputation built by the company.

On the other hand, the management must update with the latest trends and techniques to enhance their operations and profitability. With regard to the employees, new personnel must be informed more about the contract change orders usually encountered by the corporation, activities or seminars relating to these contract change orders may help. For further research study, the study provides additional information with regard to the subject matter and how it may help further researchers in their study.

Readers and other researchers may use the information established for the improvement of the study itself and their related study. It is highly recommended that they should seek appropriate advice from suitable qualified professionals in the field of construction and obtain independent advice and verification of the relevance and appropriateness of the use of any information prior to the use of these.