Development of a Framework for Enhancing the Performance of Small-Scale construction Firms in Nigeria

Abstract

The construction industry in developing countries is under tremendous pressure to improve its performance and the quality of its products and services. The small-scale construction firms dominate the construction industry and governments had globally recognized micro and small-scale enterprises as an instrument of economic growth and development. Past studies by various researchers have recommended a number of performance improvement strategies. However each country has peculiar problems, priorities and at different stages of infrastructure and national development. Considering Nigeria operating environment, this study focuses on examining the challenges being faced by the small-scale construction firms and measures to be implemented in order to improve performance. The study adopted a mixed methodology involving focus group discussion and questionnaire survey of 125 small-scale construction firms undertaking the federal government mass housing projects in the seven North-West states of Nigeria. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, percentage contribution, relative importance index and principal component analysis (PCA). The study identified five (5) composite factors affecting the performance of small-scale construction firms such as; company internal constraints, financial problems and construction client related factors. The study in addition, identified fourteen (14) measures comprising six (6) internal measures and eight (8) external measures that are crucial in improving performance if implemented by the construction firms and other stakeholders. Furthermore, the study using relative importance index and percentage contribution established the common methods of performance measurements and performance indicators. The ten (10) most important performance indicators for small-scale construction firms include increase in productivity, more customer satisfaction, increase in company turnover; increase in company profits; quality price and awards, increase in number of employees, increased use of plants and equipment and getting repeat business opportunities from clients. On these bases, performance improvement framework was developed with levels of implementation, to guide towards improving the performance and development of small-scale construction firms.