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Study of the Impact of Management Skills on Labour Productivity in the Building Construction Industry in Uganda

Received: 27 November 2020    Accepted: 18 December 2020    Published: 31 December 2020
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Abstract

The construction industry plays a significant role in integrating the economy of any developing country. It is also noted that the increasing rate of building construction projects has led to the increasing demand of competent first line managers in the building construction industry, who possess the right skills to effectively manage and supervise construction projects. First line managers’ incompetence leads to cost and time overruns as well as poor quality work thus affecting labour productivity. This study investigated the impact of management skills on the productivity in the building construction industry in Uganda. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used to collect data from 155 respondents who were purposively selected. Management skills were categorized under three groups: conceptual, interpersonal and technical skills. Their impacts were assessed using Relative Importance Index (RII) as a basis for analysis. Regression analysis in R-Studio software was employed to develop a model, to be used in prediction and to forecast the impact of construction management skills on labour productivity during building construction stages. Findings revealed technical skills as the most significant management skills, followed by interpersonal skills and lastly conceptual skills. Model results showed existence of a fairly strong correlation between construction management skills and productivity. Based on the model results, the study concluded that there is significant impact of construction management skills on labour productivity in the building construction industry. It is recommended that adequate attention should be paid to training, retraining and continuous professional development of people charged with supervisory roles on construction sites so as to achieve higher construction workers productivity.

Published in Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (Volume 5, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14
Page(s) 167-177
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Management Skills, Productivity, Building Construction, First Line Managers

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Nathan Natukunda, Lawrence Muhwezi, Ruth Sengonzi. (2020). Study of the Impact of Management Skills on Labour Productivity in the Building Construction Industry in Uganda. Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, 5(6), 167-177. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14

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    ACS Style

    Nathan Natukunda; Lawrence Muhwezi; Ruth Sengonzi. Study of the Impact of Management Skills on Labour Productivity in the Building Construction Industry in Uganda. J. Civ. Constr. Environ. Eng. 2020, 5(6), 167-177. doi: 10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14

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    AMA Style

    Nathan Natukunda, Lawrence Muhwezi, Ruth Sengonzi. Study of the Impact of Management Skills on Labour Productivity in the Building Construction Industry in Uganda. J Civ Constr Environ Eng. 2020;5(6):167-177. doi: 10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14,
      author = {Nathan Natukunda and Lawrence Muhwezi and Ruth Sengonzi},
      title = {Study of the Impact of Management Skills on Labour Productivity in the Building Construction Industry in Uganda},
      journal = {Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering},
      volume = {5},
      number = {6},
      pages = {167-177},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jccee.20200506.14},
      abstract = {The construction industry plays a significant role in integrating the economy of any developing country. It is also noted that the increasing rate of building construction projects has led to the increasing demand of competent first line managers in the building construction industry, who possess the right skills to effectively manage and supervise construction projects. First line managers’ incompetence leads to cost and time overruns as well as poor quality work thus affecting labour productivity. This study investigated the impact of management skills on the productivity in the building construction industry in Uganda. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used to collect data from 155 respondents who were purposively selected. Management skills were categorized under three groups: conceptual, interpersonal and technical skills. Their impacts were assessed using Relative Importance Index (RII) as a basis for analysis. Regression analysis in R-Studio software was employed to develop a model, to be used in prediction and to forecast the impact of construction management skills on labour productivity during building construction stages. Findings revealed technical skills as the most significant management skills, followed by interpersonal skills and lastly conceptual skills. Model results showed existence of a fairly strong correlation between construction management skills and productivity. Based on the model results, the study concluded that there is significant impact of construction management skills on labour productivity in the building construction industry. It is recommended that adequate attention should be paid to training, retraining and continuous professional development of people charged with supervisory roles on construction sites so as to achieve higher construction workers productivity.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AU  - Nathan Natukunda
    AU  - Lawrence Muhwezi
    AU  - Ruth Sengonzi
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14
    T2  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
    JF  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
    JO  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
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    EP  - 177
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2637-3890
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.14
    AB  - The construction industry plays a significant role in integrating the economy of any developing country. It is also noted that the increasing rate of building construction projects has led to the increasing demand of competent first line managers in the building construction industry, who possess the right skills to effectively manage and supervise construction projects. First line managers’ incompetence leads to cost and time overruns as well as poor quality work thus affecting labour productivity. This study investigated the impact of management skills on the productivity in the building construction industry in Uganda. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used to collect data from 155 respondents who were purposively selected. Management skills were categorized under three groups: conceptual, interpersonal and technical skills. Their impacts were assessed using Relative Importance Index (RII) as a basis for analysis. Regression analysis in R-Studio software was employed to develop a model, to be used in prediction and to forecast the impact of construction management skills on labour productivity during building construction stages. Findings revealed technical skills as the most significant management skills, followed by interpersonal skills and lastly conceptual skills. Model results showed existence of a fairly strong correlation between construction management skills and productivity. Based on the model results, the study concluded that there is significant impact of construction management skills on labour productivity in the building construction industry. It is recommended that adequate attention should be paid to training, retraining and continuous professional development of people charged with supervisory roles on construction sites so as to achieve higher construction workers productivity.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda

  • Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda

  • Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda

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