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INTRODUCTION
1.1Background
Productivity is one of the key components of every companys success and
competitiveness in the market. Productivity translates directly into cost savings
and profitability. A construction contractor stands to gain or lose, depending on
how well his companys productivity responds to competition. Construction
companies may gain advantage over their competitors by improving upon
productivity to build projects at lower costs; yet, most contractors do not
systematically and properly address this strategic issue or evaluate its impact on
the projects profit. It is no longer sufficient to outbid a singular, neighboring
contractor because many companies compete nationally and/or internationally
for construction contracts. Contractors must strive to improve productivity
continuously or risk losing important contracts. A company has the ability to
increase its competitiveness through enhanced productivity by raising the level
of value-added content in products and/or services more rapidly than
competitors. The concept of productivity is importantly linked to the quality of
input, output, and process. Productivity is also a key to long-term growth. A
sustainable improvement in productivity, when associated with economic growth
and development, is that productivity generates noninflationary increases in
wages and salaries. A productive industry also may be profitable, allowing for
growth and innovation while having a positive effect on society. For example,
productivity improvement in the housing construction market may contribute to
the supply of more affordable housing; however, sometimes the very nature of
construction industry makes the productivity concept a complex one, due to such
variables as small firm sizes, low profit margins, industry fragmentation,
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unions, and politics. Some of the factors that are labor-related include
motivation, experience, skill, and training. Some of the management-related
factors include planning and direction of project. This study addresses labor and
management-related factors.
1.2Objective of Study
The objective of this study is to highlight the importance of the various factors
that affect productivity and outline them in simple and affordable manner to be
utilized as powerful control tools for project managers to enhance profit.
The objective is intended to be accomplished as follows:
1- Consideration of productivity parameters of previous studies and retrieving
list of productivity factors.
2- Performing a survey of construction practitioners to measure their perception
of productivity factors and gain better insight of construction productivity.
3- Formation of productivity evaluation checklist from the review of literature.
1.3Organization of Research
The first chapter provides background information about the importance of
productivity in the construction industry. The objective of the study is included
in Chapter One as well. The second chapter provides an overview of the
productivity concept and productivity measurement methods/techniques, and
describes factors that influence productivity of construction projects. Chapter
Three provides information about the methods and procedure of study used to
achieve the stated objective. It provides background information of research
methodology. Chapter Four presents the results of the survey and discussion of
the results. The last chapter involves the conclusion. It offers recommendations
for future research in the area of construction productivity.
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