Improvement of Labour Performance and Productivity in Uganda´s Building Industry
(2008) In ISRNLUTVDG/TVBP--08/1025--SE 150.- Abstract
- Productivity of labour is particularly important especially in developing countries where most of the building work is still carried out on manual basis. Previous research has pointed out that productivity in the building industry is low and in some cases declining. Poor productivity of craftsmen is one of the causes of cost and time overruns on building projects. The objective of this research was to find the current state of efficiency of building craftsmen, the factors that affect labour productivity, and ways of improving labour productivity.
There are a number of philosophies that have been proposed to improve the performance of the building industry. Most of them have been borrowed from manufacturing industry.... (More) - Productivity of labour is particularly important especially in developing countries where most of the building work is still carried out on manual basis. Previous research has pointed out that productivity in the building industry is low and in some cases declining. Poor productivity of craftsmen is one of the causes of cost and time overruns on building projects. The objective of this research was to find the current state of efficiency of building craftsmen, the factors that affect labour productivity, and ways of improving labour productivity.
There are a number of philosophies that have been proposed to improve the performance of the building industry. Most of them have been borrowed from manufacturing industry. Literature indicates that even in developed countries improvement based on these concepts has been anecdotal. Most of them have not achieved success especially in developing countries.
Performance improvement for labour was addressed in this research by studying
the dimensions of efficiency, effectiveness, quality, quality of work life, profitability, productivity and innovation.
In order to find the state of efficiency of craftsmen, activity sampling was used.
Activity sampling performed on the major activities among building craftsmen shows that craftsmen use about 40 percent of available time on productive activities and of this only about 20 percent is used for making buildings grow. It further shows that building craftsmen spend about 33 percent of the time on nonvalue adding activities.
Results from a questionnaire survey indicate that ten of the most significant problems affecting labour productivity in Uganda are incompetent supervisors; lack of skills of the workers; rework; lack of tools/equipment; poor construction methods; poor communication; inaccurate drawings; stoppages because of work rejected by consultants; insecurity; tools/equipment breakdown; and harsh weather conditions.
It was found out that having an educated technically qualified workforce and having an experienced diverse workforce are regarded as the greatest enablers to innovation in building firms for driving forward productivity. The effect of design on construction and the level of tax regimes are regarded the greatest barriers to innovation in building firms. The level of training in science, engineering and technical education; and the level of research and development at the national level are looked at as the greatest enablers to innovation in building that will drive forward productivity. The size of the domestic market and the level of security are the worst barriers to innovation that lead to low productivity in the building industry in Uganda.
The factors that affect the effectiveness of building craftsmen have been identified and ranked. According to the survey of workers, the most critical factors to address are the level of financial rewards, inability to achieve personal goals and poor level of training. In addition, workers are not satisfied with the level of participation in decisionmaking. There is a need to find solutions in these grey areas in order to improve the organisational effectiveness of building firms.
To investigate the quality of work life, the degree of industrialisation was investigated. Case studies were used to assess the level of industrialisation in Uganda and the effect on productivity. The studies included the level of prefabrication; extent of use of mechanisation; degree of automation; use of robotics; reproduction; degree of standardisation; professionalised skilled labour; continuity of production; research and development (R&D); use of labour saving technologies; extensive use of forms and types of contract used. Results indicate that these are lacking and that the cost of labour is of the order of 30 to 40 percent of project costs and therefore labour is a significant factor in the cost of building.
The quality of work life was also reflected in accidents on work sites. The major causes of reportable accidents in Uganda are being hit by objects, falls, machine injuries, and cuts from tools and materials. Accidents cause about 37 percent permanent incapacity for those workers who are affected hence greatly reducing their productivity.
In order to look at the profitability and therefore the benefit they receive from clients, the roles of the client in having a more efficient building process were investigated. The three roles in which clients were found to be most defaulting are payment of contractors on time, lack of support on training and inadequate support for worker health and safety.
The barriers to waste minimisation efforts in the Uganda’s context have been identified and a graphical aid is provided to enable decision makers to concentrate their efforts on the most influential (strongest), yet easy to overcome barriers. The barriers that were identified as strong but easy to overcome include lack of provision of inputs just when required i.e. pull driven scheduling, and inability of teams to maintain alignment with other teams.
These findings should be addressed by policy makers, practitioners and researchers in order to increase labour productivity. There is need for further research to improve productivity in the building industry. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Nivån på arbetsproduktivitet är särskilt betydelsefull i utvecklingsländer där det mesta av byggnadsarbetet utförs manuellt. Tidigare forskning har konstaterat att produktiviteten i byggindustrin är låg och i några fall sjunkande. Bristande produktivitet hos byggnadsarbetarna är en orsak till kostnadsöverskridande och förseningar av byggprojekt. Syfte med detta forskningsprojekt var att beskriva byggnadsarbetarnas effektivitet, de faktorer som påverkar produktiviteten samt ange vägar att förbättra produktiviteten.
Det finns ett antal filosofier och koncept som föreslagits för att förbättra byggverksamheten. Många av dem har lånats från tillverkningsindustrin. Litteraturen... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Nivån på arbetsproduktivitet är särskilt betydelsefull i utvecklingsländer där det mesta av byggnadsarbetet utförs manuellt. Tidigare forskning har konstaterat att produktiviteten i byggindustrin är låg och i några fall sjunkande. Bristande produktivitet hos byggnadsarbetarna är en orsak till kostnadsöverskridande och förseningar av byggprojekt. Syfte med detta forskningsprojekt var att beskriva byggnadsarbetarnas effektivitet, de faktorer som påverkar produktiviteten samt ange vägar att förbättra produktiviteten.
Det finns ett antal filosofier och koncept som föreslagits för att förbättra byggverksamheten. Många av dem har lånats från tillverkningsindustrin. Litteraturen indikerar att förbättringsåtgärder baserade på dessa koncept även i utvecklingsländerna i många fall innehållet misslyckanden. De flesta av dessa koncept har inte varit framgångsrika utvecklingsländerna.
Byggnadsarbetarnas prestation studerades genom att studera i olika aspekter på
effektivitet, kvalitet, arbetsmiljö, lönsamhet, produktivitet och innovation kan förbättras.
I avsikt att studera byggnadsarbetarnas nuvarande effektivitet genomfördes en
stickprovsundersökning. Denna baserasdes på byggnadsarbetarnas huvudaktiviteter och visar att ca 20 % procent av tillgänglig tid används för att byggnadens tillväxt. Byggnadsarbetena använder ca 40 % av tillgänglig tid på produktiva aktiviteter. Studie visar vidare att byggnadsarbetarna använder 33 % på icke värdeskapande aktiviteter.
Resultat från en enkätundersökning indikerar att de tio av de mest signifikanta faktorer som påverkar arbetsproduktiviteten i Uganda är inkompetent arbetsledning, brist på yrkesutbildning, utfört arbete måste görs om, brist på verktyg och utrustning, olämpliga arbetsmetoder, felaktiga ritningar och handlingar, stopp på grund av konsulterna ansett arbetet varit felaktigt, bristande säkerhet, verktygen eller utrustningen har inte fungerat eller olämpliga väderförhållanden.
Det konstaterades dessutom att då det finns utbildad, teknisk kvalificerad och erfaren arbetskraft skapas störst möjligheter till innovation i byggföretaget som förbättrar produktiviteten.
Påverkan av projektering och skattereglerna betraktas som de två största hindren för innovationer som stödjer utvecklingen av produktiviteten. Nivån på ingenjörsutbildning, teknisk utveckling och forskning och utveckling på nationell nivå är de två största möjligheterna inom byggande som kan driva på utvecklingen av produktivitet.
Storleken på hemmamarknad och nivåer på säkerhet är de värsta hindren till innovationer vilket leder till fortsatt låg produktivitet i Ugandas Byggindustrin. Faktorer som påverkar byggnadsarbetarnas effektivitet har identifierats och rangordnade. En enkät till arbetarna visar att de viktigaste faktorerna är nivå på ekonomisk ersättning, oförmåga att nå personliga mål och bristfällig nivå på utbildning. Dessutom är arbetarna inte tillfredställda med nivån på deltagande beslutsprocessen. Det finns ett behov av att finna lösningar på dessa problem om byggorganisationens effektivitet skall kunna effektiviseras.
Fallstudier användes för att värdera graden av industrialisering i Uganda och dess påverkan på produktivitet. Graden av industrialisering bedömdes genom att studera: Förtillverkningsgraden, mekaniseringsgrad, graden av automation och användning av robotar, upprepningsgraden, standardisering, kontinuitet i produktion, forskning och utveckling och användning av arbetskraftsparande teknik. Det flesta resultat indikerar att det finns brister inom alla ovan nämnda områden. Resultat indikerar att arbetskostnader utgör 30-40 % av projektkostnaden och därmed är arbetskraften en betydande faktor i
byggkostnaderna.
Arbetsmiljön återspeglas i olyckor som händer på byggarbetsplatsen. Huvudorsaken till rapporterade olycksfall i Uganda är att bli träffad av nedfallande föremål, fall, maskinskador och skärskador.
I syfte att studera beställarens nytta av arbetarnas insats och det bidrag arbetarna erhåller för sin insats studerades beställarens bidrag för effektivisering av byggandet. De uppgifter som beställarens befanns brista i var betalning av entreprenörerna i tid, brist på stöd av utbildning som uteblivet stöd av arbetarskydd.
Hindren för ansträngningarna att minimera slöseriet i Ugandas byggande har identifierats och ett grafiskt stöd tillhandahålles som stödjer beslutfattare så att de kan koncentrera sitt arbete på de mest betydelsefulla faktorerna för att lättast övervinna förekommande hinder.
Avhandlingens resultat har stor betydelse för dem som utarbetar strategier och arbetar inom byggbranschen i syfte att förbättra arbetsproduktiviteten. Det finns ett starkt behov av ytterligare forskning inom området arbetsproduktivitet. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/777637
- author
- Mwanaki Alinaitwe, Henry LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Gibb, Alistair, Department of Civil & Building Engineering, UK
- organization
- publishing date
- 2008
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- performance improvement, Labour productivity, building industry, Uganda
- in
- ISRNLUTVDG/TVBP--08/1025--SE
- volume
- 150
- pages
- 237 pages
- publisher
- Construction Management, Department of Construction Sciences, Lund University
- defense location
- Sal LU206, Universitetshuset, Paradisgatan 2, Lund
- defense date
- 2008-01-31 13:15:00
- ISSN
- 1651-0380
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d2f60e02-90b9-44fd-92e9-00fdddc55af4 (old id 777637)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:17:15
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 14:56:03
@phdthesis{d2f60e02-90b9-44fd-92e9-00fdddc55af4, abstract = {{Productivity of labour is particularly important especially in developing countries where most of the building work is still carried out on manual basis. Previous research has pointed out that productivity in the building industry is low and in some cases declining. Poor productivity of craftsmen is one of the causes of cost and time overruns on building projects. The objective of this research was to find the current state of efficiency of building craftsmen, the factors that affect labour productivity, and ways of improving labour productivity.<br/><br> <br/><br> There are a number of philosophies that have been proposed to improve the performance of the building industry. Most of them have been borrowed from manufacturing industry. Literature indicates that even in developed countries improvement based on these concepts has been anecdotal. Most of them have not achieved success especially in developing countries. <br/><br> <br/><br> Performance improvement for labour was addressed in this research by studying <br/><br> the dimensions of efficiency, effectiveness, quality, quality of work life, profitability, productivity and innovation.<br/><br> <br/><br> In order to find the state of efficiency of craftsmen, activity sampling was used.<br/><br> Activity sampling performed on the major activities among building craftsmen shows that craftsmen use about 40 percent of available time on productive activities and of this only about 20 percent is used for making buildings grow. It further shows that building craftsmen spend about 33 percent of the time on nonvalue adding activities.<br/><br> <br/><br> Results from a questionnaire survey indicate that ten of the most significant problems affecting labour productivity in Uganda are incompetent supervisors; lack of skills of the workers; rework; lack of tools/equipment; poor construction methods; poor communication; inaccurate drawings; stoppages because of work rejected by consultants; insecurity; tools/equipment breakdown; and harsh weather conditions.<br/><br> <br/><br> It was found out that having an educated technically qualified workforce and having an experienced diverse workforce are regarded as the greatest enablers to innovation in building firms for driving forward productivity. The effect of design on construction and the level of tax regimes are regarded the greatest barriers to innovation in building firms. The level of training in science, engineering and technical education; and the level of research and development at the national level are looked at as the greatest enablers to innovation in building that will drive forward productivity. The size of the domestic market and the level of security are the worst barriers to innovation that lead to low productivity in the building industry in Uganda.<br/><br> <br/><br> <br/><br> <br/><br> <br/><br> <br/><br> <br/><br> <br/><br> The factors that affect the effectiveness of building craftsmen have been identified and ranked. According to the survey of workers, the most critical factors to address are the level of financial rewards, inability to achieve personal goals and poor level of training. In addition, workers are not satisfied with the level of participation in decisionmaking. There is a need to find solutions in these grey areas in order to improve the organisational effectiveness of building firms.<br/><br> <br/><br> To investigate the quality of work life, the degree of industrialisation was investigated. Case studies were used to assess the level of industrialisation in Uganda and the effect on productivity. The studies included the level of prefabrication; extent of use of mechanisation; degree of automation; use of robotics; reproduction; degree of standardisation; professionalised skilled labour; continuity of production; research and development (R&D); use of labour saving technologies; extensive use of forms and types of contract used. Results indicate that these are lacking and that the cost of labour is of the order of 30 to 40 percent of project costs and therefore labour is a significant factor in the cost of building.<br/><br> <br/><br> The quality of work life was also reflected in accidents on work sites. The major causes of reportable accidents in Uganda are being hit by objects, falls, machine injuries, and cuts from tools and materials. Accidents cause about 37 percent permanent incapacity for those workers who are affected hence greatly reducing their productivity.<br/><br> <br/><br> In order to look at the profitability and therefore the benefit they receive from clients, the roles of the client in having a more efficient building process were investigated. The three roles in which clients were found to be most defaulting are payment of contractors on time, lack of support on training and inadequate support for worker health and safety.<br/><br> <br/><br> The barriers to waste minimisation efforts in the Uganda’s context have been identified and a graphical aid is provided to enable decision makers to concentrate their efforts on the most influential (strongest), yet easy to overcome barriers. The barriers that were identified as strong but easy to overcome include lack of provision of inputs just when required i.e. pull driven scheduling, and inability of teams to maintain alignment with other teams. <br/><br> <br/><br> These findings should be addressed by policy makers, practitioners and researchers in order to increase labour productivity. There is need for further research to improve productivity in the building industry.}}, author = {{Mwanaki Alinaitwe, Henry}}, issn = {{1651-0380}}, keywords = {{performance improvement; Labour productivity; building industry; Uganda}}, language = {{eng}}, publisher = {{Construction Management, Department of Construction Sciences, Lund University}}, school = {{Lund University}}, series = {{ISRNLUTVDG/TVBP--08/1025--SE}}, title = {{Improvement of Labour Performance and Productivity in Uganda´s Building Industry}}, volume = {{150}}, year = {{2008}}, }