The role of management in the causes, effects and incidence of construction project delays
- Authors: Smit, Gerrit
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Project management -- South Africa , Construction industry -- South Africa -- Management Industrial management -- South Africa Transformational leadership -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20681 , vital:29371
- Description: The construction industry is known as a very highly-fragmented industry with a large number of activities involving different parties and professionals such as project managers, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, contractors, suppliers and financiers. As it is a fragmented industry, management efficiency and competency in the industry is needed to gain a higher level of competitiveness. Although it is often clear what the causes and effects of construction projects delays are, little attention has been given to the role of management in the causes, effects and incidence of construction project delays. This research fills this gap in the literature. For the study, a theoretical framework to investigate the role of management in the causes, effects and incidence of construction project delays was developed. The framework showed how four management functions predicted the causes, effects and incidence of construction project delays. Nine factors were identified as the causes of construction project delays, namely, clients, contractors, labour, equipment, materials, consultants, community, contract and external issues. For the study, three effects of delays were proposed, namely, finance related delays, human related delays and legal related delays. In addition, the incidence of delays included the frequency of delays and duration of delays. This framework was empirically tested, and partial correlations were used to test the four hypotheses of the study. Three of the four hypotheses were accepted while the forth one was only partially-accepted. It was determined that demographics significantly predicted organising and leading of contractor managers in construction project delays. More specifically, demographics influenced how contractors with different educational levels executed organising and leading in managing construction project delays. The results further showed that management functions employed in construction projects, predicted five of the nine causes of construction delays. Further, the causes of construction project delays predicted both frequency and duration representing the incidence of construction delays. Lastly, the causes of construction project delays predicted the financial, human and legal effects of construction delays. The empirically-tested framework produced only two factors causing construction project delays. Factor one included variables relating to contractor and consultant related issues, and factor two included community, contractual and external issues. The factors for the effects of construction project delays and incidence of construction project delays remained the same. Respondent contractors in this study indicated that education was important as it influenced both leadership and organising functions of these contractors. Age, sex and other demographics did not influence the management functions for these contractors. Although much has been written on the causes, effects and incidence of construction project delays, very little attention has focussed on the role of management in these. For the respondent contractors who were included in the research, the two management functions that would influence the causes, effects and incidence of construction project delays, included organising and leadership. It further showed that these contractors were adequately dealing with planning and controlling, but needed to pay attention to organising and leadership.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Green building guidelines at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Authors: Smit, Gerrit
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Sustainable buildings , Sustainable architecture -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , College campuses
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9697 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1010974 , Sustainable buildings , Sustainable architecture -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , College campuses
- Description: Although much research has been conducted on the greening of universities in the international context, not many studies focus on this topic in the South African context. A literature overview also identified that there are insufficient guidelines for green buildings at South African universities. Even though the Green Star rating tool is implemented in South Africa, no set of guidelines for green buildings exits at South African universities. The development of guidelines for green buildings at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan is a challenge which needs to be investigated. From the literature overview, it was possible to develop a framework containing seventeen green building aspects which could assist in developing green building guidelines. For this study, a two stage process was used to obtain information to evaluate green building guidelines critically at South African universities. Green building guidelines, as available at South African universities, were firstly explored by conducting a content analysis of all South African university websites. The information available on South African university websites regarding green buildings was scant and only two universities, namely the University of Cape Town and the University of Pretoria, reported that they had a green building. Stage two in the research process involved the empirical investigation of guidelines for green buildings at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. The results of the descriptive statistics showed that most building guidelines were perceived as important, but difficult to implement. The building guideline that was ranked the most important was the design of buildings that required low levels of maintenance or were maintenance free. The building guideline that was ranked the easiest to implement was to save energy in general. Considering the 17 suggested aspects and the five groups identified, a proposed set of green building guidelines was developed. The data gathered in this study is important as it could be utilised by the university to develop and implement the proposed green building guidelines.
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- Date Issued: 2013