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An investigation into the impact of culture on construction project performanceFor many years, government backed reports have continued to deplore the poor performance of the construction industry with many projects failing to exceed or live up to the expectations of clients. There is a common belief that the culture of the construction industry is one of the factors that has an impact on its performance. The culture of the construction industry at the project level is often associated with such attributes as fragmentation, antagonism, mistrust, poor communication, short-term mentality, blame culture, casual approaches to recruitment, machismo and sexism. These attributes are in turn associated with project outcomes like litigation, poor health and safety performance, and inferior quality. Whilst such associations are helpful to the extent that they focus attention on the failings of the industry, and point to aspects that need to be improved, they are arbitrary and often based on no more than anecdotal evidence, and as such do not provide a systematic basis for assessing the real impact of culture on performance. This research was thus undertaken to look for empirical evidence of a relationship between cultural orientations and project performance outcomes. Adopting social cognitive theory and defining culture as the unique configuration of solutions – embodied in attitudes, behaviours and conditions – that a construction project organisation and its members adopt in dealing with problems at the project level, a quantitative research methodology was employed in investigating the culture within the project coalition, also referred to in this thesis as the construction project organisation (CPO). CPOs were profiled to determine their cultural orientations. Several project performance indicators were also assessed and the relationships between these performance measures and the cultural orientations were examined. Analysis revealed five principal dimensions of culture along which project organisations differ. These dimensions are workforce orientation, performance orientation, team orientation, client orientation and project orientation. With the exception of performance and client orientation, the other dimensions of culture were found to be significantly associated with project performance outcomes. These associations were modelled using multiple regression, and from these models it can be inferred inter alia that projects with higher workforce orientation have better participant satisfaction and innovation and learning outcomes. Projects with higher team orientation have better participant satisfaction and health & safety and quality outcomes. Likewise projects with higher project orientation have better health & safety and quality outcomes. Although causality cannot be assumed, these findings support the thesis that culture matters. It is therefore recommended that project participants – and in particular contractors, devote more effort and resources towards improving the orientations of their CPOs in respect of the dimensions of culture identified as having significant association with project performance outcomes, particularly workforce, team and project orientations.
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A comparative study of contractor performance based on Japanese, UK and US construction practiceGlobalisation of world economy requires that any robust benchmarking of contractor performance be conducted on an international level. The Japanese and US construction industries are internationally renowned as world leaders. Notwithstanding this, when at its best, UK construction has been shown to be excellent, and capable of matching any other construction industry in the world. A comparison of contractor performance and practices between the three countries can distinguish their respective strengths and weaknesses and provide an opportunity for contractors to learn from each other and improve their performance. However, comparing international construction is onerous because of the uniqueness of construction products and the complexity of the production process. Each of the existing methods developed for this purpose has its own limitations in terms of comparability and/or representativeness of data. Having undertaken an international review of contractor performance, the research has: e defined 'best practice' for contractors and established criteria to evaluate contractor performance and practice in terms of construction cost, construction time, construction quality and sustainable development; * developed a new research approach towards comparing international contractor performance based on a hypothetical construction project which maintains the comparability and representativeness of data; 9 conducted a questionnaire survey arnong contractors in the three countries to collect information in regards to their performance and practices; * identified the significant differences in contractor performance and practices between the three countries and revealed the possible causes for the disparities; e developed six best practice performance models by means of multiple regression analysis. The thesis concluded that there exist significant differences in contractor performance and practice between Japan, the UK and the US. Based on the practices of contractors in the three countries, factors significantly influencing contractor performance are identified and measures for performance improvement are recommended for contractors.
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A methodology for predicting the performance of construction contractorsThis thesis addresses a fundamental decision problem, encountered by U. K. construction clients faced with a construction contract to assign: the judicious selection of a contractor. Initially, the inadequacies of current selection practices are confirmed. These findings influence the development of a new selection model, with emphasis on promoting a rationalised, quantitative technique able to identify the potential (project) performance of those contractors evaluated. This approach contrasts with present trends which promote subjectivity and rely heavily upon practitioner experience /judgment. A nationwide survey of practitioners and client groups identifies discriminating criteria essential to contractor selection, whilst also facilitating the knowledge of their importance (via weighting indices) within the selection process. The multiattribute analysis (MAA) technique embraces these criteria and is employed for its ability to aid decision making in the presence of multiple, often conflicting objectives, as characterised by this `real life' decision problem. Within the model contractor's attributes are measured, the resulting scores serving as multiplicands for the aforementioned weighting indices. The aggregate resultant yields a comparison measure. Utility values are also exercised to mirror client preferences and thereby influence optimal choice. The new technique is fully elucidated by worked example with validity being achieved by application to live selection situations. Finally, the potential for any change to existing tendering practice is investigated, via nationwide survey of U. K. construction contractors. The author has to some extent encompassed building and civil engineering, but the emphasis of this work is on the building sector.
