scholarly journals Value Management in Practice: An Interview Survey

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Daddow ◽  
Martin Skitmore

Despite its obvious theoretical benefits, there has been some reservations regarding the practical implementation of Value Management (VM) for construction projects. In particular, these concerns the extra time and costs involved in conducting VM in relation to the actual benefits gained as a consequence of its use. This paper provides the result of an interview survey of the experiences and observations of 17 professionals working in the property and construction industry to establish the extent to which this is an issue. The main conclusion is that the process is working well, with VM being popular among those with experience in its use - which has been extended into the area of consultant selection. However, in contrast with the prescriptive literature, much of the participants' experiences appear to be more concerned with VM's contribution to the identification and management of the risks involved in project delivery than the straight value-for-money aspects. This may be due to the higher levels of uncertainty involved in construction work than in VM's original use in construction.

Value Management (VM) and Value Engineering (VE) are techniques concerned with defining, maximizing and achieving “value for money”. It should be noted that VM is not about reducing the cost but about adding value and where necessary the cost can be added to achieve value. Despite its proven significance in securing maximum output from limited resources, this approach is not a common practice in Rwanda’s construction Industry. This study therefore defines VM and describes all the processes and techniques involved in it. The merits and demerits of VM process in construction projects are discussed in details and relevance of its uses is discussed and recommended in consideration of the scope and complexity of the projects as well as the risks involved. While the benefits of a value management review are often perceived in terms of improved quality and reduced cost, this report discusses the exercise as a functional mechanism to measure value, taking into account monetary and non-monetary benefits and thus demonstrating value for money. While the author has not been able to obtain relevant literature on VM practice in Rwanda, It can be deduced from the review of the related literature that most of the evaluation techniques conducted for construction projects in developing world have mostly relied on evaluation of project performance in terms of cost, quality, delivery and progress. Since project evaluation is carried out after the work has been undertaken, the output of the analysis will just give the client an indication or a good understanding of the project performance. Such evaluations only reveal the competence or incompetence of the project participants instead of providing value for money which is addressed by VM practice which is an ex-ante analysis that takes into consideration of all value parameters. The study used a quantitative survey method of research to obtain responses from professional practitioners in construction industry in Rwanda. The sample size of 115 were selected from members of professional practitioners in the construction industry out of which 106 members were responsive. Finally, it is concluded that VM approach is not used in construction industry in Rwanda and recommended that VM practice be adopted in construction industry in Rwanda as a mandatory requirement for conception of all construction projects with a budget of $20M and above


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lekan Damilola Ojo ◽  
Deji Rufus Ogunsemi ◽  
Olusola Ogunsina

Purpose The Nigerian construction industry is bedeviled with poor project performance and outcomes which value management (VM) could address if applied. The application of VM on Nigerian construction projects is very minimal due to certain obstacles, namely, lack of VM experts, paucity of knowledge on the techniques, etc., which inhibits the adoption into the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework of the adoption of VM on construction projects in a typical developing economy. Design/methodology/approach This study engaged 15 selected VM experts in two rounds of Delphi survey to develop a conceptual framework of VM adoption. The method of data analysis includes mean score, standard deviation, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, chi-square (χ2) test, interrater agreement analysis and significant level analysis. The developed conceptual framework was sent to a team of local and international VM experts for validation. Findings This study reveals that the adoption of VM requires the collective effort of relevant stakeholders in the construction industry. The framework developed presents individual and collective activities to be undertaken by the stakeholders. The activities include training, legislation, government-funded research, etc. Thus, the adoption of innovative management methodology like VM requires the collaboration of academics, construction professional bodies and government parastatals. This will assist in the judicious use of limited construction resources and boost the relevance of the Nigerian construction industry among developing nations and in the global construction market. Originality/value This study used the opinions of few construction professionals that can be regarded as VM experts in Nigeria, as against engaging a pool of construction professionals who may not be knowledgeable in VM process. Engaging the few VM experts in the Nigerian construction industry is important to have a valid basis for drawing conclusion, as large questionnaire survey could be possibly filled by inexperienced or unqualified respondents if stringent criteria are not considered at the outset of this study.


Author(s):  
Peter S. P. Wong ◽  
Luke Edmonson ◽  
Michael Phillip Kanellopoulos

Prefabrication has been widely adopted in the construction projects in recent years. It has also been advocated as a greener and more sustainable approach of project delivery. However, with a wealth of evidence supporting other reasons as the drivers of using prefabrication, it is questionable whether the real goal of prefabrication is to achieve sustainable construction. This study aims to investigate the roles of prefabrication in fostering sustainable construction. The effectiveness of prefabrication on fostering sustainable construction was evaluated on the five aspects enlisted by the UK’s Green Construction Board: Waste, Water, Carbon, Materials, and Biodiversity. An industry survey was conducted in Melbourne, Australia for data collection. 200 questionnaires were sent via email or post to a variety of fields within the construction industry. Entropy ranking analysis was adopted to analyze the effectiveness of using prefabrication in construction. The results suggest that prefabrication is effective in reducing construction waste and sourcing energy efficient materials. However, the utilization of prefabrication was found unsuccessful in reducing carbon emissions during the construction process. It is suggested that proactive actions should be taken at the design stage to unleash the potential of prefabrication in construction.


2021 ◽  
pp. 44-48
Author(s):  
Anikwe Nnaemeka J ◽  
Agha Kalu A

Economic transformation and the provision of basic infrastructure to engender growth and development in any nation is vested in the construction industry hence the massive investment of the government in this sector. However, the expected gains of the construction industry have been eroded by the failure of many construction projects due to unethical professional practices on the part of the construction professionals. This study analyzed the causes and effects of unethical practices on the industry and project delivery with measures to combat the unethical practices among the stakeholders. The study adopted the survey design and a stratified random sampling technique was used to select 140 respondents. A structured questionnaire was designed and administered to construction professionals (Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Builders and Engineers). The relative importance index tool was used to analyse the severity of the factors identified. Findings revealed the absence of punishment for unethical practices (0.94), collusion between officials, consultants and contractors (0.91), availability of loopholes in project monitoring (0.89), weak law enforcement institution (0.87) and greed for money (0.83) among others as major causes of unethical professional practices which have serious effects on the construction industry. The result also revealed poor workmanship and substandard project delivery (0.88), high cost of construction (0.86), the collapse of structures/buildings (0.82), inflated contract sums (0.81), high maintenance cost (0.79), time and cost overrun (0.76) as the extremely severe effects of unethical practices in the industry. Prosecution and punishment of offenders (0.98), the whilstle blower protection policies and rewards (0.84), strengthening of institutionand anticorruption agencies (0.78), award of contracts on merit (0.75) and civil society participation and oversight (0.68) were identified as highly effective measures to curtail unethical professional practices. The study recommends that the government being a major actor should abide by the due process of contract award and letting, using Public Procurement Act (PPA) guidelines in executing all its construction projects. The professionals, contractors and clients’ representatives should also exhibit high professional excellence through adherence to professional ethics and codes of conduct.


The United Arab Emirates construction industry is beset with negative project performance outputs, such as defects, low productivity, delay in completion, and higher costs. Most critical among the recorded reasons for having these undesirable outputs is the engagement of unskilled craft workers. However, the demand for construction projects in the UAE is continually increasing, especially after Dubai won hosting of Expo 2020, as this consequently translates to increased demand for skilled construction craft workers, if optimal project delivery performance must be achieved. Therefore, subject matters related to skillfulness and productivity of construction craft workers become research windows for academic scholars and industry investigators in the UAE built environment. The main purpose of this study is to explicate the reasons behind employment of unskilled craft workers in the construction projects from the management level perspective. To meet this purpose, the authors conducted in-depth interview with construction project managers. The results show number of reasons why unskilled craft workers are been hired and the effect of specialized certificates on hiring the craft workers


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-267
Author(s):  
Apollo Tutesigensi ◽  
Nathan Kibwami ◽  
Saul B. Matege

In many developing countries, value management (VM) is not applied widely and systematically in construction projects. This limits the achievement of value for money. The objectives of this study were to describe the state of VM practice in Uganda and suggest strategies for improvement. Based on the extant literature, a conceptual framework depicting VM practice in the lifecycle of construction projects was developed. A questionnaire containing both nominal and ordinal measures was distributed to a sample of Ugandan construction industry professionals. During data analysis, the distributions of nominal variables were expressed in terms of percentages. A univariate analysis of the ordinal variables was undertaken using measures of central tendency (mean) and dispersion (standard deviation). A bivariate analysis of the ordinal variables was undertaken using Friedman, Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney U tests. The application of VM in Uganda was rudimentary, inconsistent and misguided, based on the reports of the respondents. This finding constitutes the first major contribution of this work to knowledge. It also led to the idea that the practice of VM in Uganda can be improved by raising awareness and the standard for VM application. Ten strategies for these two purposes have been put forward in this article. These strategies constitute the second major contribution to knowledge.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 818-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Omoregie Aghimien ◽  
Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke ◽  
Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the barriers to the adoption of value management (VM) in the construction industry of developing countries with a view to providing possible measures in avoiding these barriers and increasing the usage of the system within the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach The level of knowledge and adoption of VM practices, as well as the barriers to its adoption in the construction industry were assessed through a survey design. Construction professionals were sampled from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria through the use of a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis was conducted on data gathered on the barriers of VM. Findings The study revealed a moderate level of knowledge of VM among construction professionals. This implies that the problem of VM is not that of awareness, but readiness to adopt the system. The study also reveals that the barriers to the adoption of VM can be categorised under the general stakeholder’s barriers, training and education barriers, client barriers and government/top management barriers. Practical implications This study was conducted across the six geo-political zones of the country as against common practice of selecting a particular region or states to represent the entire country. The findings therefore show a true reflection of the barriers to VM adoption in the country and its recommendations can to a large extent promote the adoption of VM in the country and also other developing countries where construction projects are executed through similar method, style and approach. Originality/value This paper highlights the possible barriers to the adoption of VM in Nigeria construction industry and provides ways to avoiding these barriers in order to achieve better quality construction and value for money.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shang Gao ◽  
Sui Pheng Low ◽  
Sarah Xin Xuan Lee

PurposeDue to the fragmented and complex nature of the construction industry, many countries, including Singapore, have progressively encouraged greater collaboration amongst major stakeholders in the industry. It is hoped that doing so will result in an increase in the quality of construction projects. Given the long duration of typical construction projects, it is plausible for collaborating parties to develop close and personal relationships. In recent years, corruption cases arising from familiar collaboration have caught the public's attention. This study seeks to better understand familiar collaboration and its adverse impacts on the quality of construction projects.Design/methodology/approachA mixed research method was adopted, with a questionnaire survey distributed to 32 respondents representing client and contractors. This was followed by interviews to validate the survey findings.FindingsThe findings suggest that, when there is a lack of surveillance, familiar collaboration is likely to lead to favouritism and dishonesty, which can have an adverse impact on the quality of construction projects. The findings additionally suggest that value for money, conformance to specifications and fitness for purpose are the main aspects of quality that are likely to be adversely affected by corrupt practices bought about by familiar collaboration.Originality/valueIn this paper, these relationships are described using the term familiar collaboration. Strong and intimate relationships of this type may lead to a danger of parties committing corrupt practices. This study is one of the very attempts seek to better understand familiar collaboration and its adverse impacts on the quality of construction projects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 715-728
Author(s):  
Abdulhamid Al-Gheth ◽  
Md. Sayuti Bin Ishak

Globally, construction delay is the main factors which have a high impact on countries’ economy and development. The present paper reports an exploratory research study of previous international research into delay factors affecting project delivery. The objective of this study was to deliver an overview of construction delays in order to classify the main groups of delays and compare the UAE construction industry with international studies. In total, 14 groups were found to contribute to causing construction delays. Studies of the global and UAE construction industry are in agreement that the leading group of factors that affect project completion are management factors; then, the second group comprises financial factors.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 01025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Farhayu Ariffin ◽  
Mohd Faizal Md Jaafar ◽  
Mohamad Idris Ali ◽  
Noram Irwan Ramli ◽  
Khairunisa Muthusamy ◽  
...  

In Malaysia, the construction sector is one of the important sectors that contribute to economic growth and employments. However, a major concern facing the construction industry is the growing rate of delays in project delivery. In the worse cases, the projects were abandoned due to some reasons when the contract period ended. Abandoned building defines as construction work that has been continuously stalled for 6 months or more, during the project completion period or beyond the scheduled date of completion. When the projects become abandoned, it gives an adverse effect on many parties such as the developer, contractor, consultant and also client. According to previous researchers, the abandonment of building causes a serious problem and need some mitigation plan to avoid this problem from occurring. This study will investigate the fundamental factors that contribute to the abandonment of building and projects in Malaysia based on the current data of the abandoned building in most states in Malaysia. The data was collected from the respondents who is in the construction industry and had experience working with abandoned housing project. Form the respondents perspective, it shows that the main factor contribute to the building abandonment is due to the financial problem facing by the developer company.


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