Procurement path influencing factors in Ghana: Managing the challenge of cultural shift

An integrated procurement planning effort is a precursor for the successful delivery of projects. For traditional reasons, the Ghanaian construction industry has a challenge of cultural shift in the adoption of contemporary procurement systems. This research sought to investigate factors influencing the continuous use of Design Bid Build (DBB) and the main procurement path influencing factors. Using quantitative methods, findings from the field study indicated that familiarity with the DBB has been the driver for the continuous use of DBB. It was established that the main challenges of DBB were high cost and schedule overruns and high variations. On the other hand, the main procurement influencing factors were identified as early start and completion, firm prices before committing to precede, reduction in cost and schedule overruns. It was evident from the study that the Ghanaian construction industry is not ready for cultural shift in procurement strategies, and may continue to embrace the DBB. It is recommended that contractor selection for projects should not necessarily be based on bulk volume of works but the unit of work. This would enhance the early selection of a contractor, whose early involvement would bring to bear buildability, increased contractor’s responsibility and reduce project risk.