Lewis, T M (1984) A review of the causes of recent problems in the construction industry of Trinidad and Tobago. Construction Management and Economics, 2(1), pp. 37-48. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
The rise in the price of oil in the early 1970s provided Trinidad and Tobago with the wealth to finance a dramatic push for development. Much of the development programme that was launched involved construction work. The industry was soon overwhelmed with work, and for various reasons its performance deteriorated rapidly. In order to try and improve the situation, the government decided to let all of its major projects to foreign engineering firms. Although the main intention was to complete important public works as expeditiously as possible, it was also hoped that the local firms would learn-by-example from having internationally recognized firms working in their midst. The government was to be disappointed on both counts. Whilst some of the reasons for the continued poor performance of the construction industry can be put down to physical circumstances beyond its control, there were, and are, other factors at work which the industry has allowed to develop and handicap itself.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Construction industry; labour productivity; organization; problems with performance; services |
| Index terms: | major project, public work, Trinidad and Tobago, construction work, labour productivity, construction industry, engineering firm, programme |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, project controls, infrastructure engineering, firms, Geography, management, strategic project management, operations management |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Project Management, Geographical Context, Roles and Professions, Time Control, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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