Sumi, J A (2019) Enhancing the success rates through effective communication strategies: a case of the UK mid-sized construction projects. PhD thesis, University of the West of Scotland, UK.
Abstract
Construction firms usually undertake a range of distinct project-based activities that sometimes are geographically dispersed. Hence, developing and maintaining open, regular, and accurate communication tools is essential for enhancing the success rates. The technological advancement has also changed the communications landscape considerably. This study aimed to investigate the performance of project communication management in the construction industry in in the UK. Here, policy attention to the small and medium enterprises is increasing, and statistics reveal that more than 95% construction businesses fall in this category. However, medium and small construction firms often struggle to capture the attentions from the academics and governmental bodies. This study aims to propose effective communication strategies for enhancing the success rate of the UK medium-sized construction projects upon investigating the current communication practices and reviewing the tools used for the communication purposes whilst revealing the key features of medium-sized construction companies and identifying the major factors influencing the success of a construction project. This research followed a pragmatic approach by applying both qualitative and quantitative methods to answer the research question. A total of ten in-depth interviews from eight different companies enabled the researcher to elicit deeper insights into the behaviours, perceptions, and understanding of the current practices regarding communication tools and techniques. In addition, 307 survey questionnaires gathered information from construction firms operating in the UK regarding the key features and factors determining success for medium-sized construction projects. The findings of this research suggest that effective communication needs to be conceptualized not only as exchange of information, but also proper distribution of knowledge and lessons through common platforms of communication. External and internal communication should be addressed significantly in different ways and they need to be interlinked with proper coordination. Additionally, this study identified various communicational tools and techniques that can contribute towards enhancing the success rate of medium-sized construction projects, which will help the professional practitioners in the relative field. The findings related to the key features and success factors of the medium construction companies will help the governmental bodies to undertake realistic pipeline programs to support and connect with medium construction companies to ensure full benediction from the industry as well as to make the economy of the UK stronger.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | communication; construction firms; construction project; government; performance; policy; UK |
| Index terms: | questionnaire, quantitative method, practitioner, program, construction project, internal communication, project communication, interview, success factor, construction firm, construction company, survey, strategy, coordination, statistics, construction industry, platform, pipeline, small construction firm |
| Subjects: | management, software systems, professional development, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, data collection methods, mathematical modelling, data analysis and analytics, health monitoring assessment and metrics, production management, digital design, organization, practitioner |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Information Management, Health and Safety, Project Management, Engineering Principles |
| 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