Pillay, P (2016) An empirical exploration of supply chain constraints facing the construction industry in South Africa. DTech thesis, Vaal University of Technology, South Africa.
Abstract
The South African Construction Industry is one of the largest contributors to the gross domestic product of the country as well as to employment. It has, however, been experiencing significant challenges due to multifaceted factors. The main objective of this research was to identify the supply chain management constraints within the South African Construction Industry and how these can be overcome. This study is by nature descriptive and exploratory and contains qualitative elements. The problems were identified through a literature review, focused group discussions and interviews with major construction companies in South Africa.The findings also indicate that the main supply chain management constraints are to a greater extent internal and typical of supply chain methodologies and approaches. These constraints are among others the lack of coordination, collaboration and commitment between suppliers and clients within the supply chain, poor leadership in key areas of systems, design problems (many changes and inconsistent information), deficient internal and external communication and information transfer, inadequate management within the supply chain, mainly poor planning and control just to mention a few.A model based on supply chain system management as well as the Theory Of Constraints (TOC) has been developed that can be a useful tool to address the constraints in the construction sector. Originating from the study are applicable recommendations for the South African construction industry supply chains, covering key themes that have been articulated in the study, particularly benchmarking to the theory of constrains. Such recommendations include further research core components of supply chain such as, collaborations, logistics and how each of system components can be linked to performance of the supply chain management system.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Pone, D |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | South Africa; benchmarking; collaboration; communication; coordination; employment; gross domestic product; leadership; logistics; supply chain management |
| Index terms: | coordination, construction industry, theory of constraints, employment, gross domestic product, benchmarking, South Africa, construction sector, methodology, exploration, collaboration, construction company, commitment, literature review, management system, interview |
| Subjects: | Geography, research methods, organization, economic analysis, psychology, environmental resource management, project management theory and practice, performance measurement, management, industry analysis, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Quality Management, Project Management, Geographical Context, Sustainability |
| 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