IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT IN IMPROVING THE CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTIVITY

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 09 Issue: 03 | Mar 2022 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2021, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 24
IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT IN IMPROVING THE CONSTRUCTION
PRODUCTIVITY
R.V.K. Vigneshwar, S. Shanmugapriya
1Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India.
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Abstract - Maintaining the schedule and avoiding cost
overruns are critical constraints during the construction
project's execution. Since, it involvestheprojecttotalduration,
final cost, resources requirements, and the most important
element is managing all these factors. Proper project
management can reduce the cost of a project by 30% to 50%.
But still, the management approaches are not given proper
priority, which enhances the project performance by detailed
planning, realistic scheduling, and proper execution of unique
projects. This paper discusses the critical role of various
management roles and site characteristics in achieving
desired productivity. Predicting the methods to maintain
productivity throughout the project will benefit the
organization in numerous ways. As a result, a model has been
developed to demonstrate the critical nature of management
performance in project execution. Theproposed modeloffers a
simple explanation of overall management performance,
which may be useful for competitors at all levels in the
industry. The findings indicated that assessing management
performance in terms of management control, limitations,
organizational roles, resource management, and team
efficiency may yield more insightful results. Thereby, this
paper can enable a better way of understanding proper
project management.
Key Words:Productivity,Management,ProjectPerformance,
Site Characteristics, Construction Industry.
1. INTRODUCTION
The construction sector will continue to play a significant
role in economic growth. The major success of construction
projects is determined by the proper management of time,
cost, safety, and quality (Gadekar, 2013). Since construction
is a massive industry with many departments and different
levels of responsibility. The management plays a pre-
dominant role in every phase of the project like pre-
construction, construction, and post-construction. The role
of management in planning, controlling, organizing, and
leading each construction activity determines the project
efficiency. Based on the complexity and the buildability of
the project, the percentage of productivity gets varied.
Where, Liberda et al., (2003) had listed that lack of standard
practice or methodology to measure productivity, lack of
management skills, legal issues for monitoring of labor
productivity, and lack of pre-project planning are the most
common barriers during project execution.
2. MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE
Since construction involves huge initial funds and multiple
stakeholders with complex relations, it requires advanced
project management skills (Loosemore et al., 2003). The
management practices and principlesadopted by theproject
team, and the properutilizationofresources,areperceivedto
be essential factors of this complex system (Loosemoreetal.,
2003). Many project owners will not realize the necessity of
management that begins at the project conceptual and
planning phases. Kirschenman (1987)statedthattheowners
of construction projects need to be informed of the potential
costs savings that could accrue to their projects if adequate
management was performed duringtheearlyplanningphase
of a project. Efficient plans and procedures are needed to
improve the efficiency of an organization in the im-
plementation of projects (Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017).
Project management refers to the management of the entire
project: i.e., the definition of project objectives, a project
financial diagnostic, and strategic project management (Kim
et al., 2015). Good project management in construction must
vigorously pursue the efficient utilization of the resources
(i.e., labor, money, material, and equipment) and managethe
operational efficiency (i.e., quality, risk, and safety) of the
project. Severalattempts hadbeen madebytheresearcherto
recognize the importance of allocating the resources to
building operations as a way to improve the project
performance (Ahmadian Fard Fini et al., 2017). The term
"performance" has been of special importance in the
business, however, its interpretation may differ among
construction practitioners (Georgy et al., 2005). Therefore,
improving the management performance can enhance the
organization's efficiency.
3. SITE CHARACTERISTICS
The site characteristics are been varied based on the
specified project target, owner's requirement, time
limitations, coordination between different departments,
flexibility, individual performance, local practices, risk
calculations, safety measures, etc. In that, the risk
management and safety concerns are identified as the
indirect causes in predicting project profitability. The
selection of advanced techniques and technology based on
the project type and project need creates additional

differences in the site practices. Even the soil topology,
project layout, site congestions, workspace, project
complexity, the unfavourable atmosphere at work, traffic
conditions, language barriers, etc., have a different effect on
the project which may affect the project duration and cost.
The sum of different factors listed above will produce a
measurable amount of effect duringtheprojectexecution. At
the different conditions, the management experiences the
challenges and barriers in producing the required outturn.
Moreover, the evolution of information and technology
brings new software, techniques, and machinery for the
improvement of the construction processes. In that, the
understanding, adoption, implementation, and utilization
also get diverse by every project. Therefore, the project site
characteristics play a major role during every construction
project.
4. PRODUCTIVITY
Generally, productivity is the measure in a ratio between
outputs to the input (Chau & Walker, 1988). Mostly the
output is measured in terms of fixed quantity ortermsofcost
(₹). Similarly, the productivity ofconstructiondirectlyaffects
construction project costs (Nasir et al., 2012).
Fig -1: Equation of operational productivity (Source:
Durdyev et al., 2018)
Productivity is one way of achieving economic development
and improving quality and standards(Chau & Walker, 1988).
Equally, productivity is a measure for all the initiative of the
work done at the site. The problems with productivitycanbe
split into macro and micro levels. At the macro level, it
focuses on contractual techniques, labor law, and labor
organization; at the micro-level, on project management and
project functioning, especially at the worksite (Dozzi &
AbouRizk, 1993). The action towards the productivity en-
hancement provides possibilities to increase company
success and improve staff performance (Yates, 2014).
Predicting the methods to maintain productivity throughout
the project will benefit the organization in numerous ways.
Understanding construction productivity is vital in
formulating strategies and in evaluating the efficiency of
policies and programs (Chau & Walker, 1988). Ultimately,
improving productivity implies, reduced construction costs
and better money value.
5. DISCUSSIONS
Construction managementisthemostefficientdepartmentin
the construction industry for controlling, organizing, and
managing the project from start to end. The substantial
progress of proper project management can minimize the
project cost by 30 -50%. The well-developed organization
concentrates on every minor management challenge that
makes a great difference in achieving the expected result.
Since projects differ in terms of properties and conditions of
implementation, each organization's predicted performance
could change from project to project (Georgy et al., 2005).
There is a need exists for developing efficient plans and
systems to increase an organization’s efficiency in executing
projects (Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017). The best
opportunity to improve productivityistofocusonthefactors
that management can control (Thomas et al., 1990). Site
characteristics, management performance, and project
execution are the critical factors in producing the desired
output and that provides the basis to construct the model as
shown in figure 2.
Fig -2: The proposed model.
Each construction project is said to be unique because of the
need, type, and on-sitevariations. Where the externalfactors
deal with the environmental (climate, weather, etc), social,
political, cultural, market demand, and legislative elements
affects the construction projects. Figure 1 explains the
operationalproductivity,wherealltheoperationalfactorsare
controlled by the management.Whenconsideredindetailthe
involvement and commitment of management during the
execution puts fort the desired productivity. During the
project execution, several reasons might cause the list of
some unproductive time in a working day. These may be
reflected in the level of supervision, resourceshortages,poor
wages, unequal distribution of the resources, and
interference among the operators (Olomolaiye et al., 1987).
Similarly, the efficiency oftheteam,projectmembers,andthe

organization's roles can distantly vary the executionprocess.
Improved management can reduce the risk of low pro-
ductivity causes (Gurmu & Ongkowijoyo, 2020). Scheduling
the work properly is the most important part of the
management to produce good results. While planning for
proper scheduling of the activities, most of the predictions
are calculated only based on the direct work involved by the
resources (Chui et al., 2012) rather it should be focused on
adding to the indirect work and non-working constraint
involved in the site during the project execution.
Moreover, there is no single simplemeasureforproductivity;
instead, there is a whole array of ways to measure
productivity with the site characteristics and management
performance. While the construction sector hasthepotential
to enhance productivity by using new technology, materials,
and innovations, its effect is not considered until manag-
ement techniques are essential to support (Ghodrati et al.,
2018). Since the selection of construction techniques and
methods for certain site characteristics are based on the
management performance.Previousresearchhadstatedthat
proper management has a positive influence over project
performance (Zhai et al., 2014). The significance of manag-
ement and the specification of management practicesarethe
results for determining the level of productivity (Yates,
2014). In other words, it can be expressed as management
performance is directly proportional to the productivity of
the project. When the management performance at the site
execution is comparatively high can produce maximum
productivityand vice versa.Achievingpropermanagementis
a long-term process, the research regarding management
models and different approaches for maintainingthemanag-
ement performance have to be focused on (Demirkesen &
Ozorhon, 2017). Thereby the management performances
have to be measured in terms of management control, limit-
ations, organization roles, resource management, team eff-
iciency, etc. Additionally, the study regarding the various
extents of site characteristics and the site operations can
make the management perform better.
3. CONCLUSIONS
This paper emphasizes the importance of management
performance and site characteristicsinprojectperformance.
Understanding the relationship between job site
performance and level of productivity is essential to
developing the best innovative site practices. Therefore, the
model has been developed. As the model prescribes, the
involvement and commitment of management during the
project execution produces the desired productivity. Hence,
the need to investigate the various factors affecting
management performance and site-local practices has been
increased. Thereby developing the strategies to enhancethe
managementperformancein thelarge/mediumorganization
and framing the proper management structure in MSE’s
(Micro and Small Enterprises) will provide better guidance
to the industry.
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