Sinesilassie, E G; Tripathi, K K; Tabish, S Z S and Jha, K N (2019) Modeling success factors for public construction projects with the SEM approach: Engineer's perspective. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 26(10), pp. 2410-2431. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: The study of the success factors of a project is a means of improving the effectiveness of the project. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify various determinants and validate their effects on the success of public construction projects in Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a questionnaire survey to collect data and structural equation modeling (SEM) to empirically examine the effect of determinants, namely, project manager’s competence, owner’s competence, management support and updates, scope clarity (SC), effective partnering, and monitoring and feedback on success of public construction projects which has been measured by performance on cost, schedule, quality and no-dispute parameters. Out of 407 questionnaires distributed among the selected respondents, a total of 200 completed questionnaires were received. The response rate was 49.1 percent. Findings: The results depict that the investigated factors have a significant positive influence on the success of public construction projects with path coefficient of 0.82, the model is substantial in representing the relationship of the factors on the success of public construction projects and the factor “SC” plays a decisive role in the success of a project as it has a path coefficient of 0.98, and it is followed by “effective partnership, and owner’s competency” having equal path coefficients of 0.96. Research limitations/implications: The proposed model was validated by collecting data from many senior construction executives in Ethiopia only, hence may induce certain bias in the outcome of the study. Practical implications: The significance of six constructs is highlighted to help the project manager in understanding the role of various constructs in public construction projects. The results would enable researchers and industry practitioners to focus on a few factors to take proactive measures and get the optimum result in the successful delivery of public construction projects. Utilization of SEM in the understanding of the significance of various success determinants is an important contribution to the body of theoretical literature in construction management. Since the model includes constructs, SEM has been used for construct validation. Social implications: The implications of this study are not limited to researchers and construction industry practitioners alone. The Ethiopian Government could adopt the results of this study to reduce/avoid additional cost incurred due to the poor performance of public construction projects which results in poor utilization and increased social and economic costs. Furthermore, the study may also help the government efforts to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public funds for construction projects which are an ongoing concern of government and of the international development community. Originality/value: This work is original and has neither been published nor under consideration for publication elsewhere. This study can add value to the construction professional in public construction project management as well as the Government of Ethiopia.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; interview; methodology; project management; questionnaire survey |
| Index terms: | interview, structural equation modelling, international development, Ethiopia, survey, success factor, construction project, competence, bias, methodology, questionnaire, validation, practitioner, publication, efficiency, partnering, project manager, dispute, partnership, engineer, owner, public construction, monitoring, construction professional, executive, effectiveness, determinant, modelling, construction industry, project management |
| Subjects: | strategic management, profession, risk assessment, research dissemination and communication, data collection methods, practitioner, dispute resolution, control systems, health monitoring assessment and metrics, analytical methods, performance management, research methods, personnel development, project management theory and practice, professional development, probability and distributions, Geography, production management, sociology, building construction, partnership management, statistical analysis, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Risk Management, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Site Management, International Construction, Human Resources, Quality Management, Legal Issues |
| 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