Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Institute of Engineering
Pulchwok, Lalitpur
By
Kiran Basukala
073MSCM303
Lalitpur, Nepal
To
Research Methodology
April, 2018
1. Background of Study
1.1. Introduction
Construction Industry is different from other industry but however much similar in
nature of delivery, purposes, monitory, etc. Many industries use different raw
materials for unique output which is made for the purpose of satisfaction to
customers. The satisfaction can refer to the feedback after consuming it. Here
feedback can be quick effect or effect after long term. Similarly, Construction
industry is same but they are more service providers in terms of quality rather than
quantity. Furthermore, most of construction companies are failed due to problems and
challenges like poor workmanships, delay, budget overrun, extensions of time, poor
contingency planning, etc in projects. So each construction company needs to
improve and correct its approach for planning best quality. (Zwikael & Smyrk, 2011)
states that planning, analysis and controlling by project management were the system
for successfully achieving the goals through the analysis of 776 projects across seven
industries in different countries. So, it clarifies about the importance of quality
management approach in construction project for success.
Thus this research was carried out with motto of evaluating quality management
approach of construction project (cost, time, and quality/scope) and its application for
the organization to be sustainable and success.
This research is also important for determining the critical factors or elements within
the construction project for achieving quality in organization. It also determines the
factors or management techniques and factors for the sustained success of
organization. Construction companies are the group of different personnel involved
i.e. from site preparation or cleaning staff to auditor, who deals in transaction of
companies. Thus this research is totally based on the management of sustained
success of organization through quality management approach with parameters
considering timing, cost and output quality.
Thus this research will help about the application of quality management approach for
the sustained success of construction organization and aware of quality in projects.
The research scope of this study is limited to construction projects in Nepal which
was accomplished by Nepalese construction contractor. However, this research will
divide project performance into two key areas. The first area will focus on quality
standard requirement for the operation of construction project at site. In addition,
relevant research studies in this area will be reviewed and analyzed to explore the
possibility of creating an improved method to measure quality performance.
The second area concentrates on the current practice of quality management in the
construction field of Nepalese construction industry. And for evaluation of success of
projects, project performance is studied in accordance to input to projects i.e. use of
quality management tools and organizational structure within organization and finally
output of projects in terms of their application of quality management systems and
other parameters that evaluate the performance of projects.
2. Research Methodology
For this particular research success of organization is based on the performance of
construction project which has different variables. However it is very difficult to find real
truth behind the success of organization. Existence of multiple variable on this research
control the conclusion and conclusion will be based on the most likely relation of such
variables which is determined on accordance most strong relation from the research. So
paradigm used in the research is Post-Paradigm. The conclusion won’t be based on the
discussion among two persons. For most likely decision and real truth or valid
knowledge, research should be based on discussion with many groups. So the nature of
problem is Ontology. After discussion with many respondents different variables are
identified and analyzed in order to get the conclusion which is epistemology. The
strategies to find out relation of the variables are correlation strategies in order to
proportionate the different variables that derived from the literature review. For the
purpose of correlation, questionnaire and interviews with respondent’s on the basis of
research questions and objectives can be considered as methodology.
For all of those research paradigms, research strategies the main source of knowledge or
ideas to extract in order to fulfill the research objectives are the people or stakeholders
involved in the construction projects or construction industry.
3. Literature Review
3.1.Quality in Construction Projects
It was revealed that project or organization success is the most efficient key to assess
projects in construction industry, and the customer’s satisfaction as business objectives,
and iron triangle (cost, time, quality) are the most significant elements in success of
construction projects (Neyestani, 2016). Building process is considered as a set of
activities going from User’s needs and ends at User’s Satisfaction. From those statements
for the success of organization in construction industry user’s satisfaction are important
to be considered in quality management system. Traditionally, success in construction is
measured through the iron triangle: budget, quality and costs (Karna). So customer
satisfaction has been part of quality management approach.
Also quality has been the critical factor to consider in construction industry. Quality has
different meanings for different people. The American Society for Quality (ASQ)
glossary defines quality as
1. The characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated
or implied needs.
2. A product or service free of deficiencies.
The International Organization for Standardization ISO) defines quality as “the totality of
characteristics of an entity that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.”
However, the definition of quality for construction projects is different from that of
manufacturing or services industries as the product is not repetitive but a unique piece of
work with specific requirements. Quality in construction projects is not only the quality
of product and equipment used in the construction of a facility but the total management
approach to complete the facility. The quality of construction depends mainly upon the
control of construction, which is the primary responsibility of the contractor. (Rumane,
2011), defined Construction project quality as the fulfillment of the owner’s needs per
defined scope of works within a budget and specified schedule to satisfy the
owner’s/user’s requirements. The phenomenon of these three components can be called
the “construction project trilogy”. Similarly (Barrie & Paulson) present the three
dimension of quality in construction projects to determine the degree of conformance to
design specifications.
Quality is the most significant factor for the success of organization in construction
field which are more concerned with productivity, quality and quality system. But
quality can be related to the process, system and management as well (Neyestani,
2016). Quality Management approach can be implied in external aspects not only
internal aspects. According to (Rahim, 2004), quality approach is the systems that
involve internal and external aspects. An internal quality system covers activities
aimed at providing confidence to the management of an organization that the intended
quality is being achieved. This is called a “quality management system”. Successful
implementation of quality management system can contribute to an increase in
product quality, improvement in workmanship and efficiency, a decrease in wastage,
and increase profit. Meanwhile, an external quality system covers activities aimed at
inspiring confidence in the client that the supplier’s quality system will provide a
product or service that will satisfy the client’s quality requirements. This is called a
“quality assurance system”. So here it revealed the main components of quality
management approach that is quality management system as internal aspects that
direct affect the organizational structure whereas, quality assurance system as the
external aspects that results the customer satisfaction, and within time, budget and
quality so that it can assure or confirm for the best quality.
As per study done by (Neyestani, 2016) on Metro Manila the implementation of
quality management can be affected mostly on customer’s satisfaction, followed by
cost and time respectively, while minimum effectiveness of quality approach was on
scope. Further it also state that this approach include systematic approach,
documentation, guidance, and audit that can be a part of project management process
from the beginning to the end of the project. It also relates quality management
approach as quality management and marketing tools for developing organizational
performance.
Construction projects are unique in nature. Every project is different from the nature
but similar to the approach considering the dimension of quality. However
organization is also one of the important things to be considered for proper execution
of projects. The parties involved in the projects have own responsibilities and
relations to each other. Such balance of involvement of parties in construction
management plays vital role for construction management. (Barrie & Paulson)
defined organization team of construction project or other specified project as task
force. It relate the team as integrated organization which is comprised of different
personnel or manpower working together to achieve common goal. The goal can be
quality, cost and time but ultimate goal is to achieve construction project’s
organization objective as well as business objectives. Types of organizations are as
follows:
Quality management approach is not new concept in the construction project but it is
a systematic method to arrange all the existing system with focus on both business
objectives and owner’s objectives. Some of the factors that determine the success of
construction projects are as follows:
i. Customer focus:
Customer focus is very important in construction project. The main function of
construction industry is to provide customers with facilities that meet their needs.
For organization to be success, it is required to determine the needs of customers
and provide the framework or environment and culture in order to meet those
needs. In each stage of process there should be control so that it minimize the cost
of rework as well as other associated cost and the quality of products.
Juran defined this as the triple role concept. These three roles are carried out at
every level of the construction process. The designer is a customer of owner. The
designer produces the design and supplies plans and specifications to the
contractor. Thus, the contractor is the designer’s customer, who uses the
designer’s plan and specifications to carry out the construction process and
supplies the completed facility to the owner. The owner supplies the requirements
to the designer, receives the facility from the contractor, and is responsible for the
facilities operation.
iii.Continuous Improvement
The goal of continuous improvement is common to many managerial theories;
however, it specifies a specific step-by-step process to achieve this. This process
consists of nine steps as below: Identify the process, Organize a multi-disciplinary
team to study the process and recommend improvements, Define areas where data
is needed, Collect data on the process, Analyze the collected data and brainstorm
for improvement, Determine recommendations and methods of implementation,
Implement the recommendations outlined in step six, Collect new data on the
process after the proposed changes have been implemented to verify their
effectiveness, and Circle back to step five and again analyze the data and
brainstorm for further improvement. Management in the construction industry has
two functions:
a. To maintain and improve current methods and procedures through process
control
b. To direct efforts to achieve, through innovation, major technological advances
in construction processes.
For the improvement in quality, different tools are available which is to be used to
problem solving. Different tools and techniques should be used in combination to get
maximum benefit. These types of tools help the construction organization to organize
the process, problems, risk, etc. throughout the process of construction. Some of tools
used for improving quality are:
i. Flow chart
It depicts process or flow of steps from beginning to end. It serves as a kind of
road map for improving quality. For this it identify the responsibilities and
subsidiary steps and represented in diagram through flow chart.
ii. Checklist
It is simple data check off sheet designed to identify type of qyality problems at
each work station like per shift, per machine, per operator.
v. Brainstorming
Brainstorming is used to generate ideas in quantity to identify possible causes of
problems and solutions. Brainstorming is used to generate a list of problems,
identify possible causes and its solution and develop action plans. For
brainstorming, leader’s role is very important to have effective brainstorming and
to have quality decision on any causes.