Santoso, D S and Gallage, P G M P (2020) Critical factors affecting the performance of large construction projects in developing countries: A case study of Sri Lanka. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 18(3), pp. 531-556. ISSN 1726-0531
Abstract
Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the factors affecting the performance of large construction projects in Sri Lanka. The causes, impacts and mitigations in association with the critical factors are explored and discussed. Design/methodology/approach: The research focuses on the evaluation and perspectives of clients and contractors of large projects in Sri Lanka. Combined quantitative and qualitative methods were applied in this research. Initially, a questionnaire survey was conducted with clients and contractors involved in large projects to evaluate the factors affecting the performance of projects and to identify the ten most critical factors. Interviews with the clients and contractors of three large projects were conducted to examine the causes and impacts of the critical factors and the approaches used to mitigate them. Findings: Significant differences in the factors were observed for more than 40 per cent of the total factors under study, the contractors assigning more weight to most of the factors than the clients. The study identified nine internal factors and one external factor as the critical factors. Of these, seven were related to the contractors, which suggested that the contractors have greater roles in defining performance. Lack of management and technical skills of the parties involved, human capacity, lack of understanding and knowledge of the local context, changes in government policies and political interference were identified as significant causes of the critical factors. Originality/value: The study analysed the factors affecting the performance of large projects in Sri Lanka, which, at the time of research, had just ended a 26-year-long civil war and was pushing the construction of large projects to be competitive. The challenges faced in this effort were explored as lessons learnt that might improve the efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure development in Sri Lanka. The combined quantitative and qualitative methods applied in this study are expected to provide new insights in the project performance research, especially the interviews of the critical factors to gain an understanding on how the factors occurred and manifested themselves in real projects. The findings are, however, expected to be applicable to other developing countries that are currently aggressively developing their large infrastructure.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | developing countries; infrastructure project; large project; project performance; project success; risk |
| Index terms: | questionnaire, mitigation, methodology, large construction project, technical skill, interview, developing country, infrastructure development, qualitative method, survey, project performance, effectiveness, Sri Lanka, government policy, war, infrastructure project, case study, project success, efficiency, critical factor |
| Subjects: | public policy, risk assessment, data collection methods, research design and methodology, infrastructure and transport systems, performance management, research methods, organizational theory, Geography, conflict and crisis studies, project management theory and practice, financial risk, infrastructure engineering, professional development, development economics |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Governance, Cost Management, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Project Management, Legal Issues, International Construction, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here