Chinyio, E (1999) An evaluation of construction clients' needs and preferences. PhD thesis, University of Wolverhampton, UK.
Abstract
The research investigated factors influencing construction clients’ needs with the aim of identifying predictors which could be used for assessing or verifying requirements on future projects. The literature review confirmed that a significant number of clients were not fully satisfied with their project outcomes. It was therefore hypothesised that clients’ dissatisfaction could be traced to their needs not being understood and well defined during briefing. In a structured survey, 593 clients were asked to define and prioritise their project needs; the analysis in this thesis is based on 133 respondents (22%) to this main survey. Clients’ transitivity in making preference-choices was first analysed using the psychometric technique of ’paired-comparisons’. 50 clients (41%) were perfectly transitive while the remaining 73 (59%) were intransitive to one degree or the other. To enhance the subsequent scaling of clients’ values and development of hypotheses towards new lines of inquiry, the preferences expressed were used to classify the clients into needs-based homogenous groups using ’cluster analysis’. Four distinct groups of clients were identified, and two of these were chosen for further analysis. The pairedcomparisons methodology was again used to measure these clients’ values, and, the evaluated desires were statistically contrasted. Although the two groups had similar requirements, their prioritisation of needs differed significantly. Out of the six factors identified as influencing clients’ desires, four were found to predominate in the two groups studied, namely: Social; Personal; Legal; and ProjectInduced considerations. Linking clients’ needs with these predominant factors will provide an empirical basis for evaluating their requirements during briefing. Project delivery and client satisfaction will be optimised if the impact of these factors on client’s needs is identified at project inception.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | client; questionnaire survey; requirements; values |
| Index terms: | questionnaire, cluster analysis, methodology, briefing, preference, survey, literature review, client satisfaction, project delivery, scaling, construction client, project outcome |
| Subjects: | decision-making and reasoning, research methods, project delivery, data analysis and analytics, organization, client relations, project completion, data collection methods, scope management, practitioner |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Research Practice, Project Management, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Procurement |
| 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