Causal relationship between project quality problems and communication
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Date
2021-06-23
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Abstract
The Ghanaian construction industry faces numerous problems mostly associated with quality.
Some of these problems are design changes, poor planning, poor supervision and low
mechanization. Therefore, this study aims at exploring the relationship between quality problems
and communication. With this aim, three (3) objectives were set which were to identify the quality
problems that exist in the Ghanaian construction industry, to identify the factors that aids in
effective communication in the Ghanaian construction industry and to identify the relationship
between project quality problems and communication in the Ghanaian construction industry. With
these objectives, an extensive literature review was conducted from which variables on quality
problems and communication were identified. The variables were subsequently used in the
development of a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed and forty-nine (49)
were retrieved and used for the analysis of the study. The analysis was done using the mean score
ranking and the multiple regression analysis. The findings of the first objective were that, the most
significant problems as indicated by the respondents were inexperienced consultant, inexperienced
contractor and time constraints. With the second objective of the study, the most significant factors
that affect effective communication were unclear message, the timing of the communication,
inappropriate medium, and semantic barriers. With the third objective, the complexity of the
project, lack of sensitivity of the receiver, unclear messages, the number of companies involved
and the process barrier shown significant relationship with the problems associated with quality.
However, the complexity of the project shown the highest relationship with quality problems. The
results indicated that, there is a significant relationship between communication and quality
problems in the Ghanaian construction industry. With these findings, it was recommended that, a
project manager must be experienced enough to spend a substantial amount of his time to formally
or informally communicate at appropriate points in time to all stakeholders to enhance the project
success. Also, a project manager must endeavor to adopt the appropriate communication medium
at any particular point in time to expedite the communication process. Furthermore, the client and
his advisors should be very keen in selecting a suitable project manager for the project as the
selection of an incompetent project manager can affect the delivery of the project and the project
manager must develop a strict and an appropriate communication system during the execution of
complex projects to enhance communication effectiveness. The study was limited by the number
of dependent variables that could be used. The regression analytical tool adopted could only be
used for one dependent variable at a time. Therefore, further studies can also be conducted using
a different analytical tool that can incorporate more than one dependent variable like the Structural
Equation Model. Also, the study was limited to only D1K1 and D2K2 construction firms in the
Sekondi-Takoradi and Accra metropolis. Therefore, further studies can he conducted using other
stakeholders in the construction industry
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management,College of Art and Built Environment in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Science.
Keywords
Causal Relationship, Project Quality Problems, Communication, Construction Industry