Contents 2011 • Issue 02 - Skanska

Hit the Ground Innovating
Innovation drives business success. There’s no question about it. Particularly in tough
economic times, it’s more important than ever to find new ways to be as efficient and
productive as possible while delivering evermore value to customers. Those who are
able to make this happen emerge as the true leaders of markets and set the pace for
the pack. Or as Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between
a leader and a follower.”
As the market becomes more competitive we’re often forced to find ways to do more
with less, to be more productive. The status quo is no longer an option. If you continue to
operate the same way as the market competition intensifies, you simply won’t survive.
At Skanska, we are committed to staying ahead of our competition and
continuing to be a leader in our industry. But to do so, all of us have a role to play
in thinking about how to continuously improve the ways we operate, so we can
have the most efficient operating base to support the delivery of our services.
We have to be open to fresh ideas and not be afraid to try new ways to do our jobs
and make them more productive. We also need our leaders and managers
to foster open environments in their organizations so that creative approaches and
open dialogue around change are the everyday norm.
I’m proud to say that this is exactly what we're doing here at Skanska – we see the great
value of investing in and encouraging innovation and we’re beginning to see the results.
Great examples of innovation can be found across Skanska USA. As you'll
read in this issue, innovative approaches are increasingly reshaping many of our
processes and helping to make us a more productive and efficient service provider.
These include Building’s Innovation Grant Program, which funds the development
of great ideas from all over the organization; the many ways we use Building
Information Modeling (BIM) across the company to increase our productivity;
and Civil’s national BIM Network, which shares best BIM practices and ideas.
One of the benefits of being a global organization is that we can share
innovation best practices across continents. To ensure this happens, we have
created the Skanska Knowledge Network. I encourage all of you to go to
OneSkanska, our global intranet, and explore how our Knowledge Network can
connect you to global experts throughout the company who are ready to share
some great innovative practices.
For us to continue the success of our company and maintain our leadership role,
each of us needs to put innovation at the forefront of everything we do. Don’t be
afraid to challenge the status quo and help drive change. It’s often said that the law
of the wild is “only the strongest survive.” Well, the law of the business world is
“only the strongest and most innovative survive.”
Enjoy this issue as you think about new ways to make Skanska great.
Mike McNally, President, Skanska USA
Contents 2011 • Issue 02
Page 02 Page 06
Page 08
Page 14 Page 16
Safety
02 Big Goals for 2011 and Beyond
The National Environmental, Health and Safety
Leadership Team's plan to enhance safety performance.
03 Dos and Don'ts
Our People
04 Building to New Heights
Jim Becker pens an editorial on the world
of virtual design and construction.
05 A Day in the Life... Christian Sandberg
05 Panel Question: How is your team using BIM?
06 Raising the Bar
06 Skanska Survey
07 Community Timeline
Our Projects
08 On the Cutting Edge
A look at the resourceful and progressive ways Skanska
project teams across the country are using BIM.
Focus
13 Sharing Best Practices
How two national groups are working to provide project
support and keep employees informed about BIM.
14 Bringing BIM to Light
16 Training Day
17 Taking a Stand
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coasttocoast Publisher Mike McNally Editor Shana Bitterman
Editors/Writers Shana Bitterman, Beth Miller, Mary Humphreys,
Shelby Adams, Jessica Murray, Marshall Jones, Jay Weisberger,
Nicole Didda, Kelly Smallwood Printer FLM Graphics coasttocoast
is the quarterly employee magazine from Skanska USA. Subscribe free
of charge by sending an e-mail to: shana.bitterman@skanska.com.
coasttocoast is printed on FSC certified environmentally friendly
paper. Feel free to copy from the magazine or quote us, but please
name the source. No responsibility is taken for unsolicited material,
though you are welcome to send your ideas and suggestions
to the editor at: shana.bitterman@skanska.com.