Abimbola Olukemi Windapo

Understanding the gap between green building practice and legislation requirements in South Africa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine green building legislation requirements and practices in the construction project execution stage within the context of the South African construction industry. The rationale for this examination rests with the perception that the implementation of green practices (per se) has been recognised as being “behind” the legislation enacted to control the design and construction of green buildings. Design/methodology/approach – The research process consisted of a literature review to identify existing green building legislation and practices applicable to the project execution phase. This was supported by a sequential mixed-method research approach, which involved a survey of contracting companies based in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to undertake focused interviews with management staff and site operatives. Findings – Research findings established a number of issues, not least: a gap between green building practices and ...

Mitigating Risks in African Construction Markets through the Interactive Behavior of Resources and Capabilities in Multinational Construction Companies and Entry Decisions

AbstractThe presence of African-based construction companies in African markets is low compared with their foreign counterparts. Unlike local markets, overseas markets exhibit more types of risk. Perceptions of risk in overseas markets differ, and levels of resources and capabilities influence them. Adequate perception of risk also influences entry decisions. This paper examines whether interaction exists between the level of resources and capabilities in South African construction companies (SACCs) and their choice of entry mode in entry decisions, with a view toward mitigating the perceived impact of risks and enhancing ease of entry into African construction markets (ACMs). Research data were collected through a convergent mixed-methods research approach from SACCs graded 8 and 9 in the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) register of contractors in South Africa. It emerged that the significant risks in ACMs are payment risk, volatility in exchange rate and currency, threat of terrorism, lega...

Relationship between competitive strategy and construction organisation performance: The moderating role of organisational characteristics

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible moderating role of organisational characteristics (organisational structure, management style and decision-making style) in the relationship between strategy and organisational performance among large construction organisations in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quantitative research approach using a questionnaire survey to obtain data from 72 large construction organisations in South Africa. Using hierarchical multiple regression, the paper examines the relationship between the constructs discussed in the study. Findings The internal characteristics of the organisation form the vital basis for achieving optimal performance. The results obtained from the analysis revealed that decision-making style directly influences the measure of organisational effectiveness, while it could also be inferred that organisational characteristics partly moderate the relationship between competitive strategy and organisational performance. The findings indicate that internal characteristics is one of the means through which organisational strategic factors and contextual aspects are organised to achieve greater organisational performance levels. Originality/value The findings have theoretical implications for strategic management literature in construction as it extends the scope of research on strategic management from assessing a set of individual management practices to evaluating a complex mechanism that connects internal characteristics and competitive advantage. It is believed that this study will contribute positively to the role of organisational characteristics in the competitive strategy-performance relationships in large construction organisations in South Africa and to the ongoing discussion on emerging strategic management issues in construction.

Measuring strategic performance in construction companies: a proposed integrated model

Purpose – This paper aims to examine and compare a performance measurement system and performance frameworks commonly used within the construction industry. The paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of balanced scorecard (BSC) and business excellence model (BEM) to propose an integrated model for measuring strategic performance of construction organisations as a single model. The purpose is to help organisations achieve performance excellence, financial integrity and continuous improvement in business results to sustain competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines and compares performance measurement system and performance frameworks commonly used within the construction industry. The paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of BSC and BEM to propose an integrated model for measuring strategic performance of construction organisations as a single model. The purpose is to help organisations achieve performance excellence, financial integrity and continuous improvement i...

Value-based perspectives of stakeholders' building requirements in low cost and government subsidised housing projects in South Africa

Purpose – South Africa still has a considerable housing shortage. Government has tried to overcome this situation by creating programs to provide affordable housing to poor people. However, such housing is either often rejected by the beneficiaries or these express considerable dissatisfaction. This paper thus examines how value is constructed by key role players by looking at the building requirements that they promote, and asks whether there are any significant differences between the perceptions of housing providers and that of end-users, based on building requirements and location indicators. The rationale for the paper stems from the detection that low cost housing projects provided by government housing departments in South Africa (specifically, within the Western Cape Province) are either abandoned or considered non-satisfactory by beneficiaries and, therefore, seemingly not valued by them. This leads to the perception that low cost housing developments are unsustainable. Design/methodology/approac...

Understanding the Underrepresentation of Qualitative Research Approaches to Built Environment Research in Nigeria

ABSTRACT There is evidence that scholars in some countries, including Nigeria, primarily employ the quantitative approach to research, and that in some cases this approach is used inappropriately. This leaves research questions that should be tackled from a qualitative standpoint either unaddressed or incorrectly addressed. The aim of this study is to understand why the qualitative approach (QA) has failed to gain similar recognition in Nigeria and other countries, and by extension, the disposition of researchers towards its use. The impact of the disposition of researchers toward QA was also explored. Researchers in the various built environment (BE) disciplines in Nigeria were interviewed. The results revealed that there is a preference for quantitative research, while QAs are used if convenient. Furthermore, the study revealed that the educational background of academics and their poor understanding of the qualitative paradigm explain their disposition toward the adoption of the QA in research. This finding suggests that academic followers instead of leaders are being produced, and that research is done for ad hominem promotion. In advancing the understanding of QA in BE research in Nigeria, this study also draws the attention of stakeholders in the academia to the implications of a preference by researchers for quantitative research.

Determinants of construction organisational performance: A partial least square-path analytic method

Literature suggests that there are sets of common variables that are capable of explaining organisational performance differentials. These variables are used to examine performance variance and its contribution to organisation profitability. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of large construction organisations’ performance in South Africa using a partial least squares path analytic method.,This study examines the interrelationship between a number of constructs, namely, organisational characteristics, resources/capabilities, competitive strategies, business environment and performance, using a questionnaire survey to obtain data from 72 large construction organisations in South Africa. Using a path analytic approach, the paper examines the relationship between the constructs discussed in the study.,The findings from the analysis of the data show that organisational characteristics do indeed influence the performance of organisations, and that the business environment is capable of moderating the relationship between competitive strategies and performance. The results, however, indicate that organisations that combine sustained organisational characteristics and strategy tend to experience high performance over those that do not.,The study findings have implications for management practice, as it could help managers of construction organisations to acknowledge the influence of organisational characteristics, unique resources/capabilities, competitive strategies and business environment as sources of competitive advantage. The study contributes to the current debate on the causes of performance differentials among large construction organisations.

Exploring the use of financial capacity as a predictor of construction company corporate performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the resilient operational variables that impact the corporate performance of construction companies in the South African construction industry and to explore whether financial capacity can be used as a predictor of construction company performance in the context of the South African construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – The operational variables of construction companies that impact their corporate performance were identified through an in-depth review of the extant literature. A combination of convenience and snowball sampling techniques were used in identifying 185 building and civil engineering construction companies based in four provinces of South Africa and registered in Grades 2-6 of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) contractor grading register. The data used in the study were collected from this cohort of respondents through the use of structured questionnaires. At the end of the study period, 62 valid responses repr...

Competitiveness of construction organisations in South Africa

The government patronizes and awards public sector construction projects to large construction companies in South Africa based on the premise that they are technically and financially capable of executing the projects. In spite of this assumption and important contributions made by the construction organisations in delivering high-profile construction projects, many clients report poor performance of contactors on public projects. This paper therefore investigates the competitive strategies being used by large construction companies, their financial performance and whether their knowledge of the business environment help in obtaining beneficial strategic fit and fiscal performance. This study intends to use the synthesis of industrial organisation, contingency and resource-based theories in developing measures of environmental factors and competitive strategies used by construction companies. Parametric and non-parametric statistics is used in analysing quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the questionnaire survey. It emerged that corruption and lack of transparency was perceived as the key exogenous environmental factor influencing the strategies adopted by construction companies, while manpower problems associated with trade unions was perceived as the key endogenous environmental factor. The results also indicate that the differentiation competitive strategies of achieving high quality and time which are negatively correlated to financial performance were viewed by the respondents as the best strategies to adopt. This research will contribute to the discourse on competitive strategies in the construction industry and best practices.

The Role of Entrepreneurial Strategies and Innovation in the Sustainable Growth and Success of a South African Construction Company

The study examines how the South African construction industry can nurture an entrepreneur and a large successful entrepreneurial construction company, even though the founder had no formal education and the company was founded during the Apartheid era. The question of whether entrepreneurs are born or are made is based on the age-old question of nurture and nature. The paper presents the narratives of a successful entrepreneur Mr. Sam Lubbe. The narratives presented are collected through a case study research approach. The data collected suggests that although Sam does not have any formal education, he succeeded based on nurturing given to him when he had the opportunity to work for a large South African construction company, his innate characteristics of self-confidence, task-result orientation, originality, future direction, and a unique business model which also helped him access international construction work opportunities.