Acosta, D (1986) Application of production planning methods to improve productivity: Issues from the Venezuelan construction industry. PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Abstract
One of the current most pressing problems in Venezuela is the growing low-income housing deficit. This problem has been attributed to a pronounced distortion of the housing market. Since 1973, supply has concentrated on the small upper-income market, while the large low-income sector has been neglected. New low-income housing and other programs have been reduced. Construction is currently the industry with the highest unemployment in the country. This dissertation considers the industry's low productivity to be an important contributing cause of these problems (the housing sector productivity is possibly the lowest of the Venezuelan economy. ) Productivity improvement is viewed as a key point in which to attack the industry's problems. An analysis of past trends of the housing sector suggests a possible link between productivity growth and reductions in overall prices and costs per unit as well as increases in production output and employment. The proposed approach for improving productivity considers two constraints: (1) avoidance of substitution of capital for labor, which increases unemployment, and (2) avoidance of indiscriminate technology transfer, which increases technological dependence. The approach is based on the contention that productivity problems in developing countries are not due to the alleged individual inefficiency of the workers, or to low mechanization, but to low global company productivity--a production organization and management problem. A systematic approach for diagnosing and attacking the construction companies productivity problems is presented. Measuring productivity changes is discussed as a preliminary step toward improvement. The adoption and application of production planning methods as a means of improving production planning and organizational practices is proposed. In previous research and in the two case studies included, it was found that changes in production organization designed with the use of the proposed methods produced significant increases in productivity. The introduction of new procedures in an organization requires changes in management style. A strategy to promote and support the changes required to implement the methods is presented. The dissertation concludes with a set of specific recommendations for dealing with the industry's productivity problems addressed to research institutions, government agencies, and companies and industry associations.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Venezuela; case studies; developing countries; employment; government; income; low-income housing; market; production planning; productivity; technology transfer; unemployment |
| Index terms: | strategy, Venezuela, production planning, construction company, developing country, government agency, technology transfer, unemployment, housing, distortion, program, productivity, employment, management style, research institution, case study, low-income housing, dissertation, construction industry, income |
| Subjects: | administrative law, industry analysis, management, software systems, project delivery, data collection methods, housing and residential development, networking, research management, Geography, development economics, knowledge management, economic analysis, research dissemination and communication, construction type, organization |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Project Management, Urban Studies, Digital Applications, International Construction, Human Resources, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Construction Technology |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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