Wimalasena, N N and Gunatilake, S (2018) The readiness of construction contractors and consultants to adopt e-tendering: The case of Sri Lanka. Construction Innovation, 18(3), pp. 350-370. ISSN 1471-4175
Abstract
Purpose: Tendering is a process undertaken to obtain offers from interested contractors to carry out specific packages of construction work. Presently, most construction stakeholders in developing countries use a paper-based tendering method, which is time-consuming, costly and labour-intensive. It may be argued that considering increased calls towards efficiency improvements in the construction industry, adopting e-tendering can bring about several benefits by allowing electronic exchange of information and avoiding the errors of traditional tendering. However, the question of readiness of construction stakeholders to embrace this change remains. The aim of this study is to investigate the readiness of Sri Lankan construction contractors and consultants (who are the two key parties involved in the tendering process) to adopt e-tendering. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-methods research approach was used to achieve the aim. Initially, a literature review was used to compare typical conventional and e-tendering processes. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was conducted to identify the current level of usage of e-tendering and to investigate the readiness levels of consultants and contractors to implement e-tendering. Finally, seven expert interviews were conducted to propose suitable solutions to achieve a successful e-tendering implementation. Findings: The analysed data revealed that both consultants and contractors used electronic media in the tendering process but they were still not ready for complete e-tendering implementation. However, consultants were more hesitant than contractors. The main barrier that limited e-tendering implementation was the lack of legal rules to cover e-tendering. Originality/value: E-tendering implementation should be initiated from the government sector. Therefore, it is recommended to update the procurement guideline and required legal policies to enrich the current usage level of e-tendering among construction stakeholders.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | barriers; construction industry; developing countries; e-readiness; e-tendering; facilitators |
| Index terms: | tendering process, e-tendering, package, efficiency, facilitator, media, Sri Lanka, construction work, procurement guideline, construction industry, implementation, developing country, interview, survey, literature review, questionnaire, methodology, construction contractor |
| Subjects: | practitioner, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics, contractual arrangements, operations management, Geography, development economics, research methods, tendering, performance management, industry analysis, procurement strategy, information systems, sociology |
| Topics: | International Construction, Quality Management, Digital Applications, Procurement, Roles and Professions, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| 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