Evaluation of field labor and management productivity in the USA construction industry

Purpose: The health of an economy is heavily dependent on the productivity of the economy's major industries including construction. While most macro-measures of productivity in the USA construction industry indicate a decline, corresponding studies at the individual task level indicate an increase in productivity. Therefore, this paper aims to identify areas where productivity challenges exist and thus provide recommendations for improvement in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach: A model that relates the way construction projects are executed with the sources of data that inform productivity analyses is developed and presented. This effort/value-flow model informs the data analysis that is performed to determine productivity trends for management and field labor. Further analysis for field labor productivity using field data and management productivity was separately conducted. Management productivity was particularly difficult to gauge, resulting in the use of surrogate measures. Findings: It was observed that while both field labor and management productivities at the industry level have been decreasing, the decrease in management productivity was five times that of field labor productivity. A similar trend was observed for management productivity at the project level. Originality/value: The primary contribution of this paper to the body of knowledge and industry is the introduction of a holistic analysis of USA construction productivity. Recommendations to improve management productivity include the use of technology, especially project management software.