Kakar, A S; Hasan, A; Jha, K N and Singh, A (2024) Project cost performance factors in the war-affected and conflict-sensitive Afghan construction industry. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 22(5), pp. 1570-1590. ISSN 1726-0531
Abstract
Purpose: The Afghan construction industry faces resource shortages and heavily relies on foreign aid to fund public projects on the path to recovery and reconstruction. While the resource constraints demand cost-efficient delivery of construction projects, many Afghan public projects experience delays and cost overruns. This study aims to evaluate various attributes and factors influencing cost performance in public construction projects in Afghanistan. Design/methodology/approach: The literature review and Delphi method identified 30 cost performance attributes relevant to the context of Afghanistan. Next, a questionnaire survey was conducted with construction management professionals working in the public sector in the Afghan construction industry to evaluate these attributes. Findings: This study found that the lack of resources, poor project management skills and corruption in procurement are the leading causes behind cost overruns in Afghan public projects. This study also identified five latent factors influencing cost performance in public projects in Afghanistan: competency of the project team, socioeconomic and political support, governance and public procurement, planning and risk management and project characteristics. Research limitations/implications: The exploratory factor analysis did not reveal the relative significance of different cost performance success factors. Moreover, the ranking of cost performance attributes is based on the responses from the public sector construction professionals only. Practical implications: The construction industry in Afghanistan significantly contributes to the country’s social and economic growth and employment. This study’s findings will help researchers, project sponsors, government departments and industry practitioners interested in improving the cost performance in Afghan public projects. Originality/value: Given the scarcity of research in war-affected and conflict-sensitive regions, this study fills a research gap on project cost performance by providing insights into the cost performance success factors in public projects in Afghanistan.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Afghanistan; conflict-sensitive regions; cost performance; project and construction management; project cost; project success factors; war-affect regions; questionaire survey |
| Index terms: | project sponsor, foreign aid, exploratory factor analysis, success factor, project cost, survey, literature review, face, practitioner, corruption, resource constraint, questionnaire, methodology, construction project, public project, shortages, cost performance, project success, governance, Delphi method, reconstruction, recovery, public sector, employment, cost overrun, risk management, construction professional, war, public construction, project management, project team, construction industry, Afghanistan, economic growth |
| Subjects: | statistical analysis, administrative law, professional ethics, industry analysis, building construction, sociology, professional development, project management theory and practice, infrastructure engineering, conflict and crisis studies, economic concepts, production management, Geography, research methods, economics, management, economic development, financial and cost management, project delivery, health monitoring assessment and metrics, economic analysis, data analysis and analytics, operations management, psychology, practitioner, business, data collection methods, risk assessment |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Legal Issues, International Construction, Human Resources, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Risk Management, Governance, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Cost Management, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| 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