Blogs

A Reflection on Faith and Risk Management in challenging times

By Rufran C Frago posted yesterday
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For the Christian faithful, prayer is a major component of risk-based management. No matter how he/she tries to separate divine providence from the pressing undertakings, when big risk events occur like this COVID-19, people naturally go back to the certainty of their belief. It makes them significantly stronger and ready for the consequence, no matter what. In effect, some of the adverse and stressful impacts, become amazingly more manageable. I find it very timely sharing my pen and ink drawing (circa 1991/92) about the end of times. For many believers of biblical prophecy, the signs we saw in the last year or so, were confirmations, undeniably ...
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Managing Black Swans?

By Rufran C Frago posted 20 days ago
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The phrase “science in managing black swans” can be contentious, as there is none yet. I guess it is a statement anticipating a future where the science to successfully predict these events becomes available. The core of any black swan discussion these days is finding a way to identify it by using big data, so that risk managers can manage the risk the moment black swans become known. The intention is practically removing the black swan status. There is great potential for successfully foretelling black swan events through science. We are not there yet, but it is bound to happen. If those unknown events suddenly become visible, known, and predictable ...
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West Texas crude in negative territory

By Rufran C Frago posted 04-25-2020
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Another devastating blow to Oil and Gas businesses and producers everywhere! Here in Alberta, while sitting on the grand oil reservoir of Canada, we can only shake our heads in disbelief. No single expert knows exactly how much oil out there exceeds the global volumetric demand but all seem to agree that the entire world is drowning in it. The Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, in tandem with Russia have been reportedly pumping at almost maximum capacity without blinking an eye. Canada continued to be one of the heaviest hit oil producers in the world. Alberta is a premier oil producer and considered by many to be the bread basket of the whole of ...
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Website security: What to do if your Website Form reCaptcha is not showing?

By Rufran C Frago posted 04-20-2020
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As the founder of a young company, I have to learn and do IT things that I have no specific formal education of. Starting in September 2017, I spent three months planning and studying web development using the WordPress platform. After choosing my host provider, I spent the next three months executing the plan and building my first website. It was not an easy feat navigating very slowly through thick technological bushes. It’s been three years and still, I felt still pretty much wet behind the ear. One of the company websites I managed was gravely impacted by bots attack recently. The first indicator was some noticeable changes to the websites standard/original ...
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Solution to Acumen Fuse Issue - Acumen S2/Diagnostic Phase Ribbon Analyzer rows won't scroll (Why?)

By Rufran C Frago posted 04-07-2020
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The Acumen S2/Diagnostic Window ribbon rows won't scroll up. It is fixed on the window page. I’m referring to the rows of the Ribbon Analyzer vs. Timeline (see are where the arrow pointer is). It won't scroll up to show the bottom row where the score is located. Please tell me that this is not actually fixed and that I can do something to get the scrolling feature activated. I’ve asked this same question in the Deltek Support Center but no reply yet. I’m trying to fish for additional answers. Please see attached picture grab. After reaching out to a Deltek Support person named Josh, who was very helpful, I came to the conclusion that there was no built-in ...
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Can access to RRSP sans the tax burden bridge the financial strait of some Canadians amid COVID-19?

By Rufran C Frago posted 03-30-2020
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Many of Canada’s economic soothsayers predict an unprecedented economic slowdown no one alive today has ever seen before. They foresee that the financial downturn that COVID-19 brought forth could take several years to rise from. “The speed at which we can come out the other side really depends on how much of the economy is left intact once we get through this,” said Nathan Janzen, a senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada (Sharp, A., 2020.National Observer). The  immediate risk  is to the livelihoods of some two million workers in retail stores, hotels and restaurants, airports and other businesses that are either forced to close or are sharply curtailed, ...
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Risk Management: Typical Lapses in Store Procedure on Social/Physical Distancing amid threat of COVID-19

By Rufran C Frago posted 03-29-2020
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I was in a Real Canadian Superstore @Macleod Trail recently and immediately experienced a big gap in the store social/physical distancing procedure when I reached the cashier lane where customers line up their goods on the conveyor belt to be scanned. This was my first day of grocery errand after a long while and I was buying plenty of groceries. Bagging them takes a bit more time than usual. The Cashier seems to be in hurry scanning items but does not have the common sense needed in today’s situation. She was scanning and cramming my groceries down the conveying line before I could bag them. After I've made my payment, she immediately started scanning the ...
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Learn How DCMA 14-points Schedule Quality Metric can improve your Projects

By Rufran C Frago posted 03-23-2020
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The main objective of this course is to walk you through the US Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) 14-point schedule quality criteria. This metric generates various indicators that are used as handle to improve the quality of your client's project schedules. It is considered as an industry standard in many places around the world. To the rest of its users, it is seen as industry-accepted guidelines on achieving good schedule quality. DCMA-14 had been used by several software applications like Deltek Acumen Fuse, Oracle Primavera P6 and others. Your project organization might already be using this metric now or might entertain the use of this ...
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Do you know that PM Solution Pro has since endorsed Business Products that could've helped prevent and/or mitigate Threats of Transmissible Diseases?

By Rufran C Frago posted 03-14-2020
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I'm republishing this old article I've written in June last year (2019). It was several months before Canada and the world got their first taste of the dreaded COVID-19. Unfortunately, it seemed that only few people listened and understood. Many were actually laughing at my idea of including health and sanitizing products in our product lines. There were several risk benchmarks in the past that such move should not have been too hard to accept. Still it didn't make sense to a lot of people. Now, the growing impact of nCoV made them understand where I was coming from. For factual, reliable up to date information about this new corona virus COVID-19, please click ...
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Lessons Learned concerning Schedule Quality Assessment

By Rufran C Frago posted 03-10-2020
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A schedule quality metric is a measure of quality for project schedules; a means of deriving a quantitative measurement or approximation for otherwise purely descriptive qualitative assessment.  What precaution should a project management professional take into consideration to ensure that his/her schedule quality evaluation is sound and reliable? The quality metric designed to measure the project’s Execution Schedule should not be used to measure its DBM schedule. While the former might be a complete, fully detailed schedule ready for execution, the latter lacks maturity, details and completeness. It is like giving the University Senior Year Final examination ...
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BIG things in store for the 2020 Conference & Expo

By Jennie Cunningham Amos posted 02-06-2020
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We have some big things in store for AACE International's 2020 Conference & Expo. (In my best Chris Traeger (from Parks & Rec ) impersonation: LITERALLY!  One of those big things was literally so big that it couldn't fit through the front door of AACE's Headquarters office! When it arrived yesterday, it required multiple staff members being pulled away from their desks, unearthing a few tools, and some assistance from a good-natured maintenance worker in our building. Every year we look to make improvements to the Conference & Expo. This year is no exception. Are you curios as to what is inside? Join us in Chicago to see. Go to our ...
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Risk, What are you? Children’s Book for all Professionals

By Rufran C Frago posted 01-27-2020
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I am happy to announce the official publication of my fifth book titled “Risk, What are You? The Risk Management Book, Children’s Book for all Professionals.” Written and illustrated for children of reading age (with some guidance), young leaders, future managers and all professionals. See the Youtube Book Video Introduction below to learn more. It is now available in Amazon and various international outlets. It is inspirational to hear words that rhyme, uplifting our being when a line and a stanza impart a meaning using the song-like attributes of articulated statements. The uncanny characteristic and power of a poem to send the intended message ...
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Integrated Schedule, a Must Have in Program Management

By Rufran C Frago posted 01-21-2020
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Program management is the process of managing several related projects typically to enhance an organization's outlook, better its industry reputation, to improve overall productivity and to avail of long-term opportunities. I would like to re-share with you today one of the approaches I've formulated and used in achieving Program Schedule Integration in the not too distant past. Management of interdependent multiple projects calls for an integrated approach. Interdependent in a sense that some activities of one project cannot start or finish without the predecessor project activities from another project or supporting group started or completed. For small ...
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Dealing With Delays in EPC Projects

By Mujahid Akhtar posted 01-17-2020
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Being part of the project management community, most of us have a chance to manage engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) projects either as contractors, clients or as part of a consultant’s team. Regardless of your role, you may have noticed that most EPC projects experience delays with respect to the contractual project completion date. Project delays almost feel inevitable. However, they can be avoided if we understand and identify their causes   before   the start of the project—and try to mitigate the gaps during the project lifecycle. An effective PM manages all aspects of an EPC project as it develops in order to identify and mitigate the ...
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Book cover for my new book

By Rufran C Frago posted 01-17-2020
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Hello All, I’d like to ask for your inputs in choosing the cover design of my upcoming new book, RISK, What are you?  The Risk Management Poem. Children’s Book for all Professionals.  Please click the survey link or any of the image below to choose and send your choice. https://survey.app.do/which-one-is-the-best-book-cover-for-my-upcoming A) Red cover design B) Blue cover design C) Green cover design I have always wanted to write about risk-based management principles in a poetic form. The uncanny characteristic of a poem to send information with amazing clarity catches our senses so that we suddenly become more receptive. ...
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Christmas Day Reflection : “It’s about God, Families and Friends.”

By Rufran C Frago posted 12-07-2019
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It is my prayer that many of you will be spending some great time with your respective close families and friends. In all the upcoming festive gatherings, make sure you don’t forget the grandparents who started you all! They are very much a part of each family unit that came to be. They’d be thrilled with even just a call from their kids and of course, from their loveable, innocent and amazing grandchildren. Enjoy a few days with the people you truly care about. Share traditional foods, common table, good-natured jokes, lessons learned, unforgettable experiences, plenty of hugs, heart-felt embraces full of affections, forgiveness, and love. The absence ...
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How to Search & Access Technical Resources

By Jennie Cunningham Amos posted 11-21-2019
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Earlier today, AACE International Headquarters hosted a section leader virtual meeting. The topic was technical guidance resources available for section leaders and members. To find more information regarding how to search within AACE's Virtual Library which includes technical papers from previous Conference & Expo presentations, the TCM Framework , Recommended Practices (RPs), and more, watch this video. Members have access to the TCM Framework , RPs, technical papers from previous Conference & Expos, and more. If you haven't paid your 2020 dues, please do so today so you don't experience an interruption of member services.
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AACE International to Participate in SAME CEO Roundtable on Cost Engineering

By Jennie Cunningham Amos posted 11-19-2019
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Michael Nosbisch, CCP PSP FAACE, former AACE International President (2011-2012), will be representing the Association at tomorrow’s Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) CEO Roundtable in Dallas, TX. A a component of SAME’s Industry–Government Engagement (IGE) Plan, the topic of discussion for this year's CEO Roundtable is Cost Engineering/Estimating for Military Construction Projects, and will focus on improving the accuracy of cost estimates as the basis for federal construction project planning/funding decisions. AACE is a key stakeholder in this discussion since our cost engineering-related certifications have long been specified by the U.S. Army ...
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Remembrance Day Reflection : “Fear is a Reaction. Courage is a Decision”

By Rufran C Frago posted 11-13-2019
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Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Fear is a Reaction. Courage is a Decision.” Such a statement makes me appreciate more of our fallen heroes. The awesome pride and inspiration they brought to those who survived strengthened the resolve of all freedom-loving people of the world. Quite clearly, nations remembering their fight to preserve liberty for future generations make all emotionally happy. We are all fortunate recipients of their ultimate sacrifice. God bless their souls! In today’s modern world, courage has taken a variety of forms in pursuit of certain subterfuge goals. Sadly, unbeknownst to many, they’re being led as sheeps to a slaughter. As a reflection, ...
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The Risk Manager’s Poem (Children’s Book for Risk Managers)

By Rufran C Frago posted 11-06-2019
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I have always wanted to write about risk-based management principles in a poetic form. The uncanny characteristic of a poem to send the intended message with amazing clarity catches our senses so that we suddenly become more receptive. We listen more and even unconsciously let down our guard. Our biases disappear to consider the intended message. Today, I am happy to share some segments of that original 18-stanza rhyme poem of (8-6-8-6 metric). The poem wants to present the fundamental concepts of risk in simple terms that even children can understand. Nurturing the belief that risk must be the major consideration while managing any endeavor throughout ...
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