Transcription

A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY ON BUILDING
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
Transcription
1 ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES ADDIS ABABA

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY(AAIT) SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING (CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT STREAM) A
STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY ON BUILDING
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA A Thesis submitted to School
of Graduate Studies of Addis Ababa University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the
Degree of Master of Science in Civil Engineering (Construction Technology and Management)
By: Mekides Amanuel Advisor: Abebe Dinku (Prof. Dr.-Ing.) GC Addis Ababa
2 ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES ADDIS ABABA

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY(AAIT) SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING (CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT STREAM) A
STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY ON BUILDING
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA By Mekides Amanuel June,
Approved by Board of Examiners; Abebe Dinku (Prof. Dr.-Ing.) Advisor Signature Date Dr.
Gashaw Yayehyirad Internal Examiner Signature Date Eng. Yibeltal Zewdu External Examiner
Signature Date Chairman Signature Date MSc. in Construction Technology and Management II
3 Declaration I, Mekides Amanuel, declare that this thesis is my own original work and that it
has not been presented and will not be presented to other university for a similar or any other
degree award... Mekides Amanuel MSc. in Construction Technology and Management III
4 Abstract The objective of the study is to overview the productivity measurement practices in
the Ethiopian construction industry. It mainly aims to investigate and rank the critical factors
affecting labor productivity in building construction projects according to the rate given by
respondents and to compare the investigated critical factors affecting labor productivity in
Ethiopia to that of other studies in different countries. Furthermore, it describes approaches
suggested by construction practitioners to improve labour productivity on building projects. The
study result indicates that the performances of building construction projects are influenced by
the effect of poor labour productivity; however, most of the contractors do not have experience
of measuring labour productivity on their projects due to negligence, lack of awareness and
believing that measuring productivity is difficult to implement. Hence, contractors are
recommended to participate in trainings and workshops to increase their knowledge and level of
awareness. The top ten labour productivity influencing factors rated by their level of effect and
frequency of occurrence are rated and ranked as; 1)Shortage of material, 2)Delays in decisions
making, 3)Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings, 4) Lack of follow up the work progress, 5)
Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay, 6)Incomplete facilities (water & power
supply, and sanitary facilities), 7)Inspection and Instruction delay, 8)Lack of Motivation,
9)Frequent damage of equipments and 10)Change of work order/variation. The result indicates
that among the top ten ranked critical factors five (50%), four (40%) and 1 (10%) of them lies
under the responsibility of Contractors, Consultants and Clients respectively. Results of the
comparative analysis show that the findings of each study are different from the others. These
differences indicate that the factors affecting construction productivity change based upon
different circumstances. It is found that; timely supply of Material & Equipments, using work
Plan (schedules) and Continuous monitoring of the progress of the project, Acquiring complete
drawing & specification, Motivating labours, and Subcontracting works are labour improvement
approaches suggested by the respondents in the rank of their effectiveness. Key words:
Construction, Building, Productivity, Labour, Factors, MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management IV
5 Acknowledgments First of all, thanks pass to the almighty God, who gave me the commitment
and tolerance to pass various obstacles and come to the accomplishment of this thesis in a
situation of many challenges. I would like to thank my advisor Abebe Dinku (Prof. Dr. - Ing), for
structuring the research, for providing different research papers for reference, for his
encouragement, excellent guidance creative suggestions, critical comments and ideas as well as
his precious time in reviewing this work. I would also like to thank for his tolerance with great
patience when I delay in the research work. I would like to acknowledge the support given by all
respondents from various companies that made this research possible by responding the
questionnaires and share ideas on research related issues. Last but not least, I would like to thank
my family and friends especially my husband Mindaye Hailu, for his continued support, I would
not be where I am today if I stood alone in my day-today endeavors. Mekides Amanuel MSc. in
Construction Technology and Management V
6 Contents Abstract... IV Acknowledgments... V List of Figures... IX List of Tables... X List of

Abbreviations... XI 1. Introduction Background Significance and Application of the Research
Statement of the Problem Objective of the Study Scope and limitation of the study Organization
of the study Literature Review Construction Project Management Delivery or handover of
projects on time Budget/Cost Quality of the Work Balancing the three primary objectives
Construction Performance Management Construction Productivity Defining Productivity
Productivity and Related Terms Productivity Measurement on Construction Site Approaches of
Productivity Measures Three Dimensions of Construction Productivity: Task, Project, and
Industry Level Task Level Productivity Measures Project Level Productivity Measures Industry
Level Productivity Measures Does Task-Level Productivity Reflect Industry-Level Productivity?
MSc. in Construction Technology and Management VI
7 2.5. Factors affecting productivity on construction site Design Related Factors Work plan
Related Factors Material Related Factors Equipment and Technology Related Factors Labor
Related Factors Health and Safety Related Factors Supervision Related Factors Project
Characteristics Related Factors Quality of Work Related Leadership, coordination and
Organization Related Factors Stakeholders Related Factors External Factors Improving Labour
Productivity Ethiopian Construction Industry Overview of Ethiopian Construction Industry
Productivity in Ethiopian Construction Industry Gap Analysis Research Methodology Research
Approach Survey Questionnaires Research Population and Sampling Data Analysis Method
Analysis and Discussion Overview of Labour Productivity Practices of Contractors in Ethiopia
Respondents Profile Companies Profile The impact of poor labor productivity on the
performance of projects Labour Productivity Measuring Practices of Building Contractors
Labour Productivity Data Basis used for Setting of Unit Rates Labour Productivity Data Basis
used for the preparation of Working Schedules Survey of Factors Affecting Labour Productivity
in Building Construction Project site.. 50 MSc. in Construction Technology and Management
VII
8 Introduction Major Factors Affecting Labour Productivity with respect to level of Effect Major
Factors Affecting Labour Productivity with Respect to their Frequency of occurrence Factors
having Critical Impact on Labour Productivity Least Ten Factors with Low Impact on Labour
Productivity Suggestions for Improvement of Labour Productivity Comparison of Critical
Factors Affecting Construction Productivity in Ethiopia with other countries practice abroad
Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusions Recommendations References Appendices
MSc. in Construction Technology and Management VIII
9 List of Figures Figure 1-1 Flow Chart of the Research Outline... 5 Figure 2-1 Relationships of
Performance, Profitability and Productivity[11] Figure 4-1 Respondents Working Position/Job
Title Figure 4-2 Respondents Working Experience Figure 4-3 Grade of Respondent Firms Figure
4-4 Number of active Projects in the Firms Figure 4-5 Contract amount of projects Figure 4-6
The impact of poor labor productivity on the Performance of Projects Figure 4-7 Reasons for not
Measuring Productivity Figure 4-8 Productivity Measurement Approaches Implemented Figure
4-9 Top Ten Factors having Critical Impact on Labour Productivity MSc. in Construction
Technology and Management IX
10 List of Tables Table 2-1; Examples of Definitions of Productivity [3] Table 2-2 Summary of
construction labour productivity in real (PPP-converted) international dollars and nominal US
dollars [21] Table 3-1 Targeted Respondents Table 3-2 Ordinal Scale Used for Measuring of the
level of Effect Table 3-3 Ordinal Scale Used for Measuring of the Frequency of Occurrence
Table 4-1 Summary of questionnaire distribution and response rate Table 4-2 Top Ten Factors
affecting Labour Productivity with Respect to Level of Effect Table 4-3 Top Ten Factors
affecting Labour Productivity with Respect Frequency Occurrence Table 4-4 Top Ten Factors
having Critical Impact on Labour Productivity Table 4-5 Least Ten Factors having Low impact
on Labour Productivity Table 4-6 Top five factors in different countries MSc. in Construction
Technology and Management X
11 List of Abbreviations KPI...Key Performance Indicators TQM.Total Quality Management

ILO...International Labour Organization Yrs....Years Mill...Million GC General Contractor
BC....Building Contractor RII...Relative Importance Index No...Number SI Severity Index
CE..Critical Effect HE..High Effect ME..Medium Effect LE...Low Effect NE..No Effect
VO..Very Often O.....Often ST...Some Times NO. None Ex...Example Eq...Equation MSc. in
Construction Technology and Management XI
Background
1. Introduction
Range of construction projects is wide and divided into various segments usually residential
buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, road construction, utility construction etc.
Construction involves various people, skills, organizations, technologies, contracting methods,
financing arrangements and regulatory mechanisms and has different phases such as planning,
designing and building, then they are used, maintained, repaired, renovated and eventually
demolished or replaced in their life cycle. This diversity of construction projects makes it
difficult to manage. In line with this adopt a common productivity measurement system. Now a
big question is that how can we measure construction productivity considering all these
segments, aspects and phases. The construction industry remains one of the few most labor
intensive industries in the developing countries. It is therefore very important to understand the
concept of construction labor productivity. In different researches it was argued that productivity
measurement techniques could be perceived as theoretical, difficult and expensive for
construction companies to adopt. Good project management in construction must strongly
measure and monitor productivity on construction site [1]. Construction productivity has got
increased attention from different construction researchers. Researchers and practitioners around
the world have provided several contributions on areas related to construction work
productivity. In addition, the result of different researches indicated that productivity is a
complex issue as many factors influence productivity such as labor, capital, material, equipment,
tools and equipments, poor communication or relationship between workers and management,
disorganized projects, poor supervision, lack of cooperation and communication between
different workers, and unfair workloads are the some of the factors that affect productivity.
Technical problems like inadequate designs or incomplete engineering work can also lead to a
decrease in construction productivity [2]. The main findings of previous studies indicate that the
critical areas affecting
construction productivity were related to materials, tools, equipment availability, and the workers
performance. Increasing the construction work productivity benefits a contractor in several ways:
projects can be completed more quickly, project cost will be lowered, the contractor can submit
more competitive bids, the project becomes more profitable and in addition it makes the firm to
be capable and also helps to have good will among different stakeholders. Therefore measuring
productivity, identifying factors affecting productivity and use productivity improving
approaches should be a major and continual concern for construction contractors to increase the
probability of projects to be completed as per the budgeted cost and specified time Significance
and Application of the Research Productivity has a great significance in the construction
industry. Labor productivity constitutes a significant part of production input for construction
projects. In the construction industry, many external and internal factors are never constant and
are difficult to anticipate. This factor leads to a continuous variation in labor productivity. It is
necessary to bear in mind that a reduction in productivity affects the schedule of the work and
causes delays. The consequences of these delays could result in serious money losses. Further,
considerable cost can be saved if productivity is improved because the same work can be done
with less manpower, thus reducing overall labor cost [3]. Increased productivity in the
construction industry benefits the two Contracting parties; the Client and the Contractor of the
project. From the Clients s perspective, increased productivity lowers costs, shortens
construction schedules and achieves better returns on investments. From the contractor s
perspective, increased productivity leads to a more satisfied customer, leads to faster turnover
and increased profits. The conclusions that will be drawn from this study could be used by the
construction practitioners of the Ethiopian construction industry to take account of these factors
at an early stage in order to minimize the time and cost overrun. Besides the investigated factors
can serve as a checklist for construction practitioners to give attention to enhance the
productivity of labours so as to make the project to be completed as per the plan. MSc. in
Construction Technology and Management 2
14 1.3. Statement of the Problem In the construction industry productivity loss is one of the
greatest and severe problems. Previous researches shown that, from various project-costs
components such as labors, materials and equipment s, labor component is considered the most
risk. Whereas others components (equipment and material) can be determined by the market
price. Labor cost in construction industry is estimated to be about 33%- 50% of the entire project
cost [4]. Because labor is more variable and unpredictable than other project-cost components, it
becomes necessary to understand the effects of different factors on labor productivity. An
increase in productivity can reduce the labor cost in a direct proportion Objective of the Study
The objective of this research is to assess the productivity measurement practices in the
Ethiopian construction industry. This research mainly aims to investigate important factors
affecting labour productivity in building construction projects. Understanding these factors is
helpful for the construction professionals in order to efficiently deliver the project as per the
plan. Hence, the main goal of the study is to provide essential information about factors affecting
labour productivity to construction professionals to enable the project s to be successful. This
study can also be used by other researchers as an input for further studies related to labour
productivity on construction projects. By exploring the real situations in Ethiopian construction
industry the following are the specific objectives of the study. 1. To overview the productivity
measurement practices in the Ethiopian construction industry 2. To Identify and rank factors
affecting labour productivity on construction projects. 3. To propose methods suggested by
construction practitioners to improve productivity 4. To compare the critical factors affecting
labor productivity in Ethiopia to that of other studies in different countries abroad Scope and
limitation of the study The scope of this research is limited to the study of labour productivity on
building construction projects. Low labour productivity affects all contractors of different class
and category. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 3
15 However, the research focus is only on building construction companies and projects due to
the fact that construction of buildings uses many labours with various positions. On the other
hand grade three and above building & general contractors are selected by taking in to
consideration these contractors have more experience on many projects related to the study area.
Besides building projects located in Addis Ababa which are under taking by grade three and
above contractors are the targeted projects of the study. As it is studied by different researches
most of construction projects fails to be completed within the contract time and budgeted cost.
Low labour productivity is one of the reasons for delay and cost over run for the construction
projects. Thus, this research studies mainly the critical factors which affect labour productivity
on building projects Organization of the study This thesis is organized with major five parts. The
first chapter describes the basic research information as an introduction part of the research. The
second chapter covers the basic literature review on construction productivity related issues to
make up the conceptual framework of the study. The third part covers the Research design and
methodology. Analyses of findings and discussion on the basis of results are presented in the
fourth part. The last part consists of the conclusions made and recommendations forwarded.
MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 4
16 This study will contain the major categories as described below; Chapter I: Introduction/the
Research Basic Information Chapter II: Literature Review Chapter III: The Research
Methodology Chapter IV: The Research Analysis and Discussions Chapter V: The Research
Conclusions and Recommendations Figure 1-1 Flow Chart of the Research Outline Chapter I;
Introduction; this part contains discussions on background, significance and application,
statement of the problem, objective, scope and limitation and organization or contents of the
study. Chapter II; Literature Review; will discuss general descriptions by different researchers
about construction productivity based on previous publications. It is divided into different parts
containing the concepts of construction productivity. Chapter III; Research Methodology; covers
the research methodology as one chapter. The methodological approach consists of the overall
research strategy, the research instrument and the method of data analysis. Chapter IV;
Discussions and Analysis; this part will contain results of the assessment of productivity on
Ethiopian construction projects. It is divided into different parts containing findings on factors
affecting labour productivity and the suggested approaches to improve labour productivity on
building projects. It has also compared the factors affecting construction labor productivity with
other countries practice. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 5
17 Chapter V; Conclusions and Recommendations; at the end based upon the data collected and
analyzed during the study period conclusions and recommendations are forwarded. MSc. in
18 2. Literature Review 2.1. Construction Project Management A project means doing something
new. In the business world this usually means creating something that someone else wants and is
prepared to pay for. According to Namho Kim et al (2007), the construction industry's core
business is undertaking projects in generating new buildings or renovating existing ones for a
variety of clients. Since the construction industry is mostly project-oriented, the performance of
the construction company is dependent on the performance of projects. Projects have targets,
which means they have to be built right, within a cost budget, and finished by a certain date.
Project management is simply making sure that all these targets are met. According to the Project
Management Institute, the discipline of project management can be defined as follows: Project
management is the art of directing and coordinating human and material resources throughout
the life of a project by using modern management techniques to achieve predetermined
objectives of scope, cost, time, and quality and participation satisfaction[1]. Therefore project
management aims to plan, organize and control to make a project successful. The simplest way
of defining a project as successful is to show that three primary objectives have been met. These
might possibly be called the three graces of project management and they are [5]; Time;-
Delivery or completion on or before the date agreed with the customer Cost;-Completion within
the budgeted cost Quality;-A building that meets the set standards of quality Delivery or
handover of projects on time Time is often the most important objective of all. Time is an
irreplaceable resource. A job that has missed its target date is late and incurs additional cost
through time. Costs tend to follow time and grow with time. A project that is finished late
usually also overruns its budgets. So, MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 7
19 controlling progress against the plan goes a long way towards controlling the costs of a
project[5] Budget/Cost All work should be carried out against budgets. For a small builder this is
just a list of jobs executed with their estimated labor and material costs. For larger projects built
by some of the bigger contracting companies, budgets will exist not only for jobs, but also for
each of the head office departments involved and for other elements of the project and its
organization. When actual costs exceed their budgets the contractor s profits are at risk. If the
losses are very great, the contractor s business is at risk. The project might even have to be
aborted, or restarted with another contractor. A project that costs more than intended might not
be a failure. If the contractor can complete the overspent project successfully and stay in
business, and if the contract was agreed at a fixed price, then the project owner at least should be
satisfied. The contractor should, of course, learn from his mistake [5]. In order to monitor the
projects profitability, the contractor is better to have some cost controlling mechanisms Quality
of the Work According to Dennis Lock (2004), However the project is big or small, every project
must be fit for its intended purpose by satisfying all specifications in respect of performance,
appearance, safety and reliability Balancing the three primary objectives The three primary
objectives are all interrelated. For example, time is usually related to costs. Project owners
sometimes have to decide whether or not more emphasis should be given to one of the
objectives, perhaps at the expense of the other two. A special word is needed in this context
about quality. Many writers have listed quality as one of the three primary objectives of project
management. A good, generally accepted definition of quality is that the object should be fit for
its intended purpose. Of course every project must be fit for its intended purpose. So, quality as
such is an objective that is not negotiable: it is an absolute requirement and cannot be part of an
objectives balancing exercise [5]. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 8
20 2.2. Construction Performance Management Many construction companies have to manage

their business performance in order to achieve their enterprise purpose. A number of companies
have managed to make individual goals be coincident with organizational goals in order to
maximize effectiveness against the crisis; rapidly changing business environment. To encounter
this change, companies have started to bring in Performance Management, in order to
accomplish organizational goal, to enhance their competitive power in the marketplace at the
same time [6]. In order to have good performance for a company, Slack et al. (2001) offer the
following description of high-performance operations that most companies aim to accomplish:
Quality; High-quality operations do not waste time or effort having to re-do things, nor are their
internal customers inconvenienced by flawed service. Speed; Fast operations reduce the level of
in-process inventory between micro operations, as well as reducing administrative overhead.
Dependability; Dependable operations can be relied on to deliver exactly as planned. This
eliminates wasteful disruption and allows the other micro operations to operate efficiently.
Flexibility; Flexible operations adapt to changing circumstances quickly and without disrupting
the rest of the operation. Flexible micro operations can also change over between tasks quickly
and without wasting time and capacity. Cost; Low cost operations lead to higher profits as well
as allowing the company to sell their products to a competitive price. Traditionally, three
indicators have been used to evaluate the success of construction projects: cost, time and quality.
Kagioglou et al. (2001) contend that these measures are insufficient, and that many other factors
exist that can influence customer satisfaction and the client s willingness to pursue a given
procurement route in the future. It has been proposed, for example, that project success should
also take into account the project s psychosocial outcomes, which refer to satisfaction of
interpersonal relations with project members. Also the absence of criteria related to legal claims
has recently been highlighted [7]. The memories of other people involved and MSc. in
21 impressions of harmony, goodwill and trust or, conversely, of arguments, distrust and
conflict, linger long after financial success or early completion has been attained [8]. The UK
best practice programme (cbpp) has launched the key performance indicators (KPIs) for
construction [9]. These KPIs give information on the range of performance being achieved on all
construction activity and they comprise of: 1. Client satisfaction product 2. Client satisfaction
service 3. Defects 4. Predictability cost 5. Predictability time 6. Profitability 7. Productivity 8.
Safety 9. Construction cost 10. Construction time These KPIs are intended for use as
benchmarking indicators for the whole industry whereby an organization can benchmark itself
against the national performance of the industry and identify areas for improvement i.e. where
they perform badly. It is clear to see that those measures are specific to projects and offer very
little indication as to the performance of the organisations themselves from a business point of
view apart perhaps from the customer perspective. Furthermore, none of the measures deals
successfully with the innovation and learning perspective apart perhaps from the predictability
indicators whose accuracy can illustrate some form of learning from previous projects. This
study mainly deals with construction productivity which is one of the dimensions of
performance. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 10
22 2.3. Construction Productivity Defining Productivity Productivity is a multidimensional term,

the meaning of which can vary, depending on the context within which it is used. However, there
are common characteristics that tend to be embraced by the term. In industrial engineering,
productivity is generally defined as the relation of output (i.e. produced goods) to input (i.e.
consumed resources) in the manufacturing transformation process [8]. However, there are
several variations on this basic ratio, which is often too wide a definition to be useful in practice.
Table 2-1 shows a number of these variations, created from examining the term from different
perspectives [3]. Table 2-1; Examples of Definitions of Productivity [3] Definition Reference
Productivity = faculty to produce (Littre, 1883) Productivity is what man can accomplish with
material, capital and technology. Productivity is mainly an issue of personal manner. It is an
attitude that we must continuously improve ourselves and the things around us (Japan
Productivity Centre, 1958 (from Bjorkman, 1991)) Productivity = units of output/units of input
(Chew, 1988) Productivity =actual output/expected resources used (Sink and Tuttle, 1989)
Productivity = total income/(cost + goal profit) (Fisher, 1990) Productivity =value added/input of
production factors (Aspe n et al., 1991) Productivity is defined as the ratio of what is produced to
what is required to produce it. Productivity measures the relationship between output such as
goods and services produced, and inputs that include labour, capital, material and other resources
Productivity (output per hour of work) is the central long-run factor determining any population s
average of living (Hill, 1993) (Thurow, 1993) MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 11
23 Productivity = the quality or state of bringing forth, of generating, of causing to exist, of

yielding large result or yielding abundantly (Koss and Lewis, 1993) Productivity means how
much and how well we produce from the resources used. If we produce more or better goods
from the same resources, we increase productivity. Or if we produce the same goods from lesser
resources, we also increase productivity. By resources, we mean all human and physical
resources, i.e. the people who produce the goods or provide the services, and the assets with
which the people can produce the goods or provide the services (Bernolak, 1997) Productivity is
a comparison of the physical inputs to a factory with the physical outputs from the factory
Productivity= efficiency * effectiveness = value adding time/total time (Kaplan and Cooper,
1998) (Jackson and Petersson, 1999) Productivity = (output/input) * quality =efficiency *
utilisation *quality (Al-Darrab, 2000) Productivity is the ability to satisfy the market s need for
goods and services with a minimum of total resource consumption (Moseng and Rolstadas,2001)
Mathematical definitions, on the other hand, can be used as the basis of performance measures,
where the major aim is to improve (not to explain) productivity. Since it can be difficult to
translate a verbal definition to a mathematical one, mathematical definitions do not always
reflect all the characteristics that represent the concept of productivity. Compromises are often
made when mathematical definitions are formulated, which in turn means that they usually only
show a part of the true meaning of productivity. Broman (2004) suggests that it is necessary to
have a clear distinction between a concept and a particular mathematical definition attached to
the concept, in order to effectively evaluate the characteristics of the mathematical definition.
24 Broman (2004) points out the inherent similarities in many definitions of productivity; the
basic content seems to be the same. However, Ghobadian and Husband (1990), suggest that,
within the similar definitions, there are three broad categorizations: I. Output/input, the
relationship between ratios of output to the inputs used in its production II. A combination of
efficiency and effectiveness III. Includes any characteristics that makes the organization function
better Most definitions of productivity fall into one of three categories I. The first is the
economist/engineer definition: the ratio of outputs over inputs. An example of productivity under
this definition would be the number of refrigerators produced this month. II. The second
definition of productivity is a combination of efficiency (outputs/inputs) and effectiveness
(outputs/goals). In this definition a company making refrigerators could measure productivity by
a combination of the efficiency measure above plus an effectiveness measure, such as number of
refrigerators divided by the objective or goal for the number to be produced that month. III. The
third definition of productivity is the broadest and considers productivity as anything that makes
the organization function better. In this definition, productivity would include not only efficiency
and effectiveness, but also things like absenteeism, turnover, morale, innovation, etc The
definition in this research is the first approach. That is, productivity is the ratio of outputs over
inputs. Many definitions of the word productivity exist. For the basis of this study the Merriam-
Webster definition will be used. Merriam-Webster defines productivity as the quality or state of
being productive. Labor productivity is typically measured as output per worker or output per
labor-hour. Although there are endless definitions for productivity, they all refer to productivity
as a comparison of input versus output. Productivity = Output/ Input. Increased productivity
occurs when either 1. Output is constant, while input is reduced, and/or 2. Input is constant,
while either the quantity or quality of output has been increased or enhanced [9]. MSc. in
25 Productivity and Related Terms Productivity vs Profitability Profitability is often confused

with productivity. The difference between these concepts is that profitability takes into account
monetary effects, while productivity relates to a real process that takes place among purely
physical phenomena. Like productivity, profitability is also seen as a relationship between output
and input, but the relationship is monetary [10]. In the long run, productivity is considered more
suitable than profitability as a measure for monitoring manufacturing excellence since profits are
influenced by many factors over the short term that can give a misleading indication of long-term
success [10]. Nevertheless, profitability is a crucial indicator for a company because it shows
whether the company is making money with its business[11]. Profitability does not have a direct
impact on improvement purposes since it is a result of, rather than a contributor to, the actions
and processes in operations. However, profitability is a good supplement to performance and
productivity measures since it helps to identify the effects of monetary changes and distinguish
them from true performance and productivity changes [12]. An integrated analysis of
profitability and productivity makes the application of productivity theory more practical for
managers. Combining those two ratios can help to clarify the true reasons for increased profits
(13) Productivity vs Performance Performance is another concept that is often confused with
productivity. Whereas productivity is a fairly specific concept related to the ratio between output
quantity (i.e. produced products) and input quantity (i.e. resources that are consumed in the
operation process), performance is a broader concept that covers both the economic and
operational aspects of an industry. Performance refers to excellence, and includes profitability
and productivity among other noncost factors, such as quality, speed, delivery and flexibility.
Figure 2.1 explains how all of these concepts relate to one another [11]. MSc. in Construction
Technology and Management 14
26 Out Put In Put Figure 2-1 Relationships of Performance, Profitability and Productivity[11]
The generic areas of performance that most companies aim to improve are cost, speed and
quality [14]. These areas relate to a company s ability to compete and meet customer
expectations; they provide some insights into the overall performance of a company [11]
Productivity Measurement on Construction Site While each contractor or owner is free to use its
own system to measure labor productivity at a site, it is a good practice to set up a system which
can be used to track productivity trends over time and in varied locations. Considerable efforts
are required to collect information regionally or nationally over a number of years to produce
such results. The productivity indices compiled from statistical data should include parameters
such as the performance of major crafts, effects of project size, type and location, and other
major project influences. In order to develop industry-wide standards of performance, there must
be a general agreement on the measures to be useful for compiling data. Then, the job site
productivity data collected by various contractors and owners can be correlated and analyzed to
develop certain measures for each of the major segment of the construction industry. Thus, a
contractor or owner can compare its performance with that of the industry average [1]
Approaches of Productivity Measures The basic concept of measuring productivity in
construction is the ratio of input to output. According to a research conducted by the Federal
Government of United States, there are two MSc. in Construction Technology and Management
15
27 basic approaches to measuring productivity, single factor or partial and multifactor or total
productivity measures. Choosing between them usually depends on the purpose of the
productivity measurement and the availability of data Single/Partial Factor Measures
Single/Partial factor measures use only one input in the denominator. Most commonly used
single factor measure of productivity is the labor productivity, the ratio of output to either
employment or labor hours. Labor Productivity = Output/Labour Input.. [Eq. 2.1] Labour can be
measured as: Persons employed (the most available) Hours worked (the most accurate) Labour
cost Account also needs to be taken of changes in the quality of labour. Educational attainment is
the usual criterion for quality measurement. In construction, this criterion is less reliable, since
many skills are acquired through experience. In this research labor input is measured in hours
worked. For example labor productivity is associated with units of product per labor hour, such
as cubic meters of concrete placed per hour or squired meters of block works constructed per
hour. High levels of labor productivity may reflect a high efficiency level. In certain situations,
other single factor measures might also be useful, such as capital productivity (the ratio of output
to capital input). Capital Productivity = Output/Capital Input. [Eq. 2.2] Capital refers to physical
capital, not investment. Physical capital is machinery and equipment. Physical capital is
measured at a depreciated value, which is only an approximation of wear and tear. The capital
input is the service provided by a piece of capital in the production of output. MSc. in
28 The service is the amount of the capital that is consumed in production as a result of wear and
tear Multi/Total Factor Productivity Measures Multi/Total factor productivity measures use a
weighted average of all inputs in the denominator. The weights usually correspond to each input
s share of total expenditures. Multifactor measures reflect the joint impact of all inputs on
productivity more accurately than single factor measures because the quantities of all inputs are
in effect held constant, whereas only one input is held constant in the single factor approach.
Multifactor measures do not seem to be widely used in construction. An increase in total factor
productivity implies more output can be produced for a given level of inputs. Total Factor
Productivity = Construction Output/Resources Used. [Eq.2.3] Three Dimensions of Construction
Productivity: Task, Project, and Industry Level According to Allison L. Huang et al, the nature
of the construction process points to a need for measures of construction productivity at three
levels: (1) task; (2) project; and (3) industry. Tasks refer to specific construction activities such
as concrete placement or structural steel erection. Projects are the collection of tasks required for
the construction of a new facility (e.g., the construction of a new commercial office building) or
renovation (i.e., additions, alterations, and major replacements) of an existing constructed
facility. Industry measures are for the construction sector and represent the total range portfolio
of projects. The basic concept underlying construction industry productivity measures is a
comparison of the output of a task, project, or industry with the corresponding factors of
production (inputs) required to generate that output. The output and inputs of production thus
constitute the basic components of every productivity measure. Typically, productivity measures
are formulated as a ratio of output to one or more inputs. If only one of the inputs is used, then
the ratio is a single factor productivity measure. A common example of this type of measure is
output per labor hour. If all of the inputs are used, then the ratio is a multifactor productivity
measure [15]. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 17
29 Task Level Productivity Measures Tasks in construction refer to specific construction

activities such as concrete placement or structural steel erection. Task-level measures are widely
used within the construction industry. Most task-level metrics are single factor measures and
focus on labor productivity. Typical tasklevel productivity measures published by R.S. Means
estimate how much a given output is produced by a designated crew in a normal 8-hour day. In
this case, the denominator is the number of hours associated with a designated crew day. Thus,
for a designated crew day, higher output is better. In this case higher output equates to higher
task labor productivity. For some tasks, equipment may be involved, in such cases, R.S. Means
provides estimates of output that is produced by a designated crew in an 8-hour day along with
the equipment they use, and these measures can be considered multifactor. Goodrum and Haas
examined productivity measures for 200 construction activities over a 22- year period. They
found that average activity productivity has increased. Furthermore, studies by Goodrum and
Haas show that activities that experienced a significant change in equipment technology (i.e.,
hand tools and machinery) generally also witnessed substantially greater longterm productivity
improvements. Activities that experienced a significant change in material technology in terms
of modularization, reduction in unit weight, or installation flexibility, also experienced greater
productivity improvements Project Level Productivity Measures Projects are the collection of
tasks required for the construction of a new facility (e.g., the construction of a new commercial
office building) or renovation (i.e., additions, alterations, and major replacements) of an existing
constructed facility. Since a project is a collection of tasks, project level productivity Measures
are more complicated as compared to task level productivity measurement. The inputs and
outputs for a given task, say concrete placement, differ from those of another task, say structural
steel erection. Thus, it is not possible to aggregate the individual raw task productivity metrics
into a project productivity metric unless adjustments are made. One way to make these
adjustments is to use a reference data set to calculate baseline values for each task. Information is
still needed, however, to calculate a meaningful project level productivity metric. For instance,
information yielding the task weight (share that it represents to MSc. in Construction Technology
and Management 18
30 the overall project) is required, as is an understanding of the task flows. Because some tasks
are completed in parallel, while other in series, the composition of the task flows affects overall
project productivity. Therefore, each component of the project productivity metric contains: (1)
the task weight; (2) the raw task productivity baseline value in the denominator; (3) the raw task
productivity value for that project in the numerator; and (4) a measure of the task mix (in parallel
versus in series task flows). The project productivity index value is a function of the individual
components[15]. The project level productivity metric just described is useful in measuring how
an individual project compares to the overall average in the reference data set. In addition, data
from all projects can be compiled into a distribution. Further analyses can then be conducted to
identify characteristics associated with the best performing or worst performing projects. A
related measure of productivity on project level is cost per square footage data for a particular
type of building. R.S. Means produces a square footage model that requires limited inputs, such
as building type, exterior wall type, structural system, and square footage, and yields rough
estimates for the overall cost of a project Industry Level Productivity Measures At the industry
level productivity, the amount (or value) of output produced per unit of input provides a measure
of industrial efficiency. Industry level productivity measures can be developed for different
building types or infrastructure types. For each building or infrastructure type, productivity
measures can be created, and these productivity measures can serve as benchmarks for
practitioners who engage in such projects. Industry level productivity measures can be either
single factor (labor) productivity or multifactor productivity. Increases in labor productivity may
be due to increases in labor quality or labor efforts. However, it can also increase simply due to
other factors such as technology, even when labor quality and worker efforts are held constant.
Multifactor productivity is often a preferred measure compared to labor productivity. This is
because labor productivity measures are more open to misinterpretation. Increases in labor
productivity may reflect increases in the capital-labor ratio, rather than increases in labor quality
31 and efforts. Additionally, a unit of production may achieve high levels of labor productivity,
but the overall productivity may be compromised because the underlying capital-labor ratio may
not be optimal. Similarly, low labor productivity might be efficient in the sense that low wages
induce contractors to adopt more labor intensive practices and save on capital costs. Labor
productivity measures are limited in the sense that they do not reveal a complete picture and are
prone to misinterpretation. While labor productivity is often a less preferred measure of
productivity compared to multifactor productivity, it is calculated with much more precision with
fewer assumptions. Obviously, the data requirement for labor productivity calculation is also
significantly less compared to multifactor productivity calculation Does Task-Level Productivity
Reflect Industry-Level Productivity? Construction projects tend to be unique and are
increasingly more complex. Task-level productivity does not capture project-level uniqueness
and complexity. The trend of increasing project complexity could partly explain productivity
decline at the industry level. High productivity at the task level also does not necessarily translate
into high productivity at the project level. A project level success depends on managerial
coordination and planning, which task-level productivity does not capture. For instance, idle time
is not included in task-level productivity measurement, but it certainly can hinder progress and
productivity at the project level. Regulation is sometimes cited as one reason for low
productivity in the construction industry. Regulation does not generally apply to task-level
productivity, but it does affect project-level and therefore industry-level productivity. This paper
focuses on a single factor productivity measurement at task level, rather than multifactor
productivity. Task/Lower-level measures are more useful for monitoring individual activities,
while higherlevel measures may be more convenient for developing industry-wide standards of
performance [1]. By measuring productivity and its changes during construction projects, you
can identify problem areas and resolve them more quickly, resulting in better productivity on job
sites. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 20
32 2.5. Factors affecting productivity on construction site Identification and evaluation of factors
affecting labor construction productivity have become a critical issue facing project managers for
a long time in order to increase productivity in construction [16]. Understanding critical factors
affecting productivity of both positive and negative can be used to prepare a strategy to reduce
inefficiencies and to improve the effectiveness of project performance. Knowledge and
understanding of the various factors affecting construction labor productivity is needed to
determine the focus of the necessary steps in an effort to reduce project cost overrun and project
completion delay, thereby increasing productivity and overall project performance. This study
aimed to identify factors affecting or contributing to the delay of projects completion in
Indonesia through a survey. The results will be useful information to improve construction
productivity in Ethiopia [17]. There are a wide range of factors that influence the productivity of
construction industry. Much has been published about the factors that affect construction
productivity and several key factors are usually cited in the literatures. Based on past researches,
supervision, resource availability, project uniqueness, organization of the work, labor
availability, changes in technology, management (poor or good), labor organizations, wages,
training of workers, motivation, training of the work force, weather conditions, uncertainty,
location, monitoring of performance and others have been identified as factors affecting
construction labor productivity. Different researchers have studied the factors that affect
construction productivity and the key factors are summarized and categorized based on their
characteristics as stated bellow; According to Carl T. et al., 1999, the factors are summarized and
categorized in to five groups according to their characteristics, namely: 1. Project Uniqueness, 2.
Technology, 3. Management, 4. Labor Organization, 5. Real Wage Trends and 6. Construction
Training. David Stiedl, 1998, groups the factors as; 1.Motivation and experience of the
workforce, 2.Organization of the work, 3. Type and condition of tools and equipment provided to
the worker, and 4.Continual monitoring of performance. MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 21
33 Allison L. et al., 2009, categorizes the factors as: 1. Skilled labor availability, 2. Technology
utilization, 3. Offsite fabrication and modularization and 4. Use of industry best practices. The
casual factors for low productivity is critically reviewed from the above researches and in this
research the factors are summarized and categorized in to twelve groups according to their
characteristic; 1. Design related factors, 2. Work/Execution plan related factors, 3. Material
related factors, 4. Equipment and Technology related factors, 5. Labor related factors, 6. Health
and safety related factors, 7. Supervision related factors 8. Project related factor factors, 9.
Quality of work related factors, 10. Leadership, coordination and organization related factors, 11.
Owner and/or consultant related factors, 12. External factors. These factors are discussed in the
following sections; Design Related Factors Generally, projects come across some design,
drawings and specification changes during construction. If drawings or specifications are with
errors and unclear productivity is expected to decrease since laborers in the field are uncertain
about what needs to be done. As a result, task may be delayed, or have to be completely stopped
and postpone it until clear instruction. As it is studied in different researches, there is a 30% loss
of productivity when work changes are being performed [3]. The following are design related
issues that lowers labour productivity; Design changes Incomplete drawing Inaccurate design
Work plan Related Factors When there are early delays in a project, compressions of the overall
time frame for a later activity are often the way to compensate interruptions and to complete the
assigned task on schedule. From a professional scheduling perspective, schedule compression
may be possible without accelerating individual work activities by utilizing float in the project s
overall schedule. However, on many projects, schedules are not fully resource loaded. As a
consequence, a MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 22
34 properly updated schedule reflecting the delays may show the project finishing on time
without shortening individual activities. Schedule compression may result to force extra labors
for the desired task by the contractor because of shortening the overall duration, allowing the
contractor to complete the total remaining work. Schedule compression, when linked with
overtime, often results in major productivity losses due to shortages of material tools or
equipment to support the extra labor s, resulting in difficult for planning and coordinating the
task, and unavailability of experienced labors (National Electrical Contractors Association,
1983). Improper scheduling of work, shortage of critical construction equipment or labor, may
result in loss of productivity. Improper planning of project-initiation procedures generally lead to
lost labor productivity. Absence of working schedule Lack of updating Schedule Material
Related Factors Poor material management is one of the most key factors that affect productivity
in the construction industry. Productivity at the projects can be affected if required materials are
not available at the correct location and time. The size of the construction site and the material
storage location has a significant impact on productivity because laborers require extra time to
move required materials from inappropriate storage locations, thus resulting in productivity loss
[3]. Poor-quality material used for work is the other factor because poor materials generally lead
to unsatisfactory work and can be rejected by supervisors, thus reducing the productivity
Equipment and Technology Related Factors Inappropriate type and size of construction
equipment often affects the productivity of construction projects. In order to increase job-site
productivity, it is beneficial to select equipment with the proper characteristics and a size most
suitable for the work conditions at a construction site. Lack of equipment and frequent damage of
equipments are investigated from previous researches as the main casual factors for low
productivity because it takes a long time for the laborers to complete the specific work. MSc. in
35 Technology advancement has also an effect on overall productivity on construction site. Tools
and machinery have increased both in power and complexity. These advances in technology can
significantly change skill requirements. Goodrum and Haas have shown that when the
technology is becoming more advanced, the productivity of labors will be improved by 30 % to
45 %. Literatures describe that technology can enhance productivity of individual tasks. Note
that while technology can generally improve labor productivity, there is a cost associated with
employing technology. Improvement in labor productivity is not an ultimate goal. For example,
capital investment in technology can be increased to improve labor productivity, but this
approach may not be the optimal solution when overall costs and benefits are considered [15].
Decrease in productivity is usually caused when there is insufficient quantity or quality of tools
and equipment to meet the needs of the project, frequent damage of equipment and absence of
technological advancements for machineries Labor Related Factors Literatures show that to
achieve good productivity, labor plays a significant role. The following are the major causes for
low productivity on construction projects those are related to labor. There should be sufficiently
skilled and experienced laborers on projects in order to make the projects productive. If labors
are unskilled and in lack of experience, they take longer time to complete specified task and
there will be a possibility of rework, therefore incompetence of labors can be considered as one
of the possible causes for the decrease in productivity. Misunderstanding among laborers creates
disagreements about responsibilities which leads to a lot of work mistakes resulting rework and
consequently it decreases labor productivity. Lack of compensation and increased laborer age
negatively affect labor productivity because labor speed and strength decline over time and
reduce productivity [18]. Overcrowded labor force on projects is found out to be one of the main
reasons for low productivity. This is caused when work planners hire too many workers for the
estimated work scope and duration. One of the causes for overstaffing is the false assumption
that increased manpower will always result in increased work productivity. MSc. in Construction
36 Lack of labor experience, high absenteeism of labors, incompetence of labors, use of alcohol
and drugs, overcrowded labor force, poor relationship between labors, indiscipline labors, and
personal problems are the main factors which negatively affects labor productivity Health and
Safety Related Factors At construction projects accidents are frequently happened which have
high impact on labor productivity. Various accident types occur at the site, such as an accident
causing death and resulting in a total work stoppage for a number of days. An accident that
causes an injured person to be hospitalized results in a work decrease of the crew for which the
injured employee worked. Small accidents resulting from nails and steel wires can stop work
and, thus, decrease productivity [3]. Providing safety equipment and employing a safety officer
helps labors to recognize the required safety regulations and to follow them, which can reduce
the number of accidents, thus increasing productivity Supervision Related Factors Work
inspection by the supervisor is an essential process to proceed the work. For example, the
contractor cannot cast concrete before an inspection of the formwork and steel work, thus
affecting labor productivity (Zakeri et al., 1996). With non-completion of the required work
according to the specifications and drawings, supervisors may ask for the rework of a specific
task. Unclear instruction given by supervisors, change of supervisors, incompetence of
supervisors and supervisors absenteeism are some of the major contributing factors for low labor
productivity Project Characteristics Related Factors Productivity on construction projects is
highly dependent on the characteristics of the project such as uniqueness, complexity, size, site
congestion, contract type and appropriate site layout for temporary facilities. Construction
projects are complex, unique and more often difficult. Projects in construction are never
designed or built exactly in the same manner as previous projects. Environmental factors such as
the landscape, weather and physical location force every project to be unique from its MSc. in
37 predecessors. There are also aesthetic factors that create uniqueness from project to project.
Such factors have a significant impact upon major project characteristics. While most
construction personnel find this uniqueness to be an attractive element for a career in
construction, it can have an adverse effect upon construction productivity [19]. Project
uniqueness requires modifications in the construction processes. These modifications require
workers to go through a learning curve at the beginning stages of each project activity. Therefore
modifications due to uniqueness of projects decrease the productivity of workers at the beginning
of each project activity. To accomplish substantial productivity, every member of a crew requires
adequate space to perform task without being affected with/by the other crew members. When
more labors are allotted to perform particular task, in a fixed amount of space, it is probable that
interference may occur, thus decreasing productivity. The types of activities and construction
methods also influence labor productivity [3]. Additionally, poor site layout can contribute to a
loss of productivity. Laborers have to walk or drive a long way to stores, lunch rooms, rest areas,
washrooms, entrances, and exits, affecting overall productivity (Association for the
Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) International Recommended Practice No. 25R-03,
2004). Furthermore, absence of sanitary facilities, Power supply and insufficient lighting
contributes to decrease in productivity. When work is in a confined space with limitations on
ventilation, this can result in nonproductive labor to provide. Time is also lost when getting to
and from the work area Quality of Work Related Quality of work related issues have an
influence on the productivity of labour on the construction projects. Ambiguous Specification,
correction/rectification of works and rework are some of the factors related to quality issues that
affects labour productivity by increasing labour lost hours. MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 26
38 Ambiguous Specification Correction/Rectification of works Rework Leadership, coordination

and Organization Related Factors Management complicates progress in productivity within the
construction industry. Past studies found that poor management was responsible for over half of
the time wasted on a job site (Business Round Table, 1983). Good management is required for
profitability and success. As the previous researches show there is currently a lack of formal
training in the construction industry. This lack of training is due to practical concerns such as
employers completing the increased percentage of nonunion work. In general, the workforce of
contractors is highly mobile. For this reason, contractors are often reserved to invest capital to
train those who may soon be someone else's employees. The result may be a decrease in the
construction workforce average capability level. These also affect the productivity of the site as
they are the providers of most resources to the construction project. Poor scheduling and
communication between the project office and the head quarter contribute a lot besides cash flow
problems in causing disruption of projects temporarily. According to Gundecha; Managers skill
and attitudes have a crucial bearing on productivity. In many organizations, productivity is low
even though the latest technology and trained manpower are made available. Low productivity is
because of inefficient and indifferent management. Experienced and committed managers can
obtain surprising results from average people. Employees job performance depends on their
ability and willingness to work. Management is the catalyst to create both. Advanced technology
requires knowledgeable laborers who, in turn, work productively under professionally qualified
managers. It is only through sound management that optimum utilization of human and technical
resources can be secured. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 27
39 Motivation is one of the important factor affecting construction labor productivity. Motivation
can best be accomplished when labors personal ambitions are similar to those of the company.
Factors such as payment delays, a lack of a financial motivation system, non-provision of proper
transportation, and a lack of training sessions are grouped in this topic [20] Stakeholders Related
Factors Preconditions are factors which affect the productivity of a construction site by the action
of external bodies. They are not controllable by the project management; however, the consultant
project manager can control them to some extent by applying integration management. Client:
These are one of the most important bodies which influence the productivity of the project site
by changing their requirement; the project scope. This action causes change and additional
design to be produced causing temporary shortage of design information to the contractor unless
prior design revision and engineering control is done in before the execution of works. Studies
made in other countries shows that the increase in percentage of change orders is directly
proportional to loss of productivity. At other time clients may limit the project completion time
but providing design changes in such a case the contractor may be forced to use overtime works
which has also similar effect in reducing productivity. Consultant/Designer: These are among the
most important parties affecting the overall productivity of the construction site. It is known that
design information in the form of drawings and specifications are one of the most important
inputs of the construction process. Unless the engineering information is appropriately scheduled
and controlled like other resources it will cause loss of productive time of workers. The
following are some of the factors lays under this category; Financial difficulties of the
owner/payment delay Misunderstanding between the Owner, Consultant and Contractor Lack of
General support to the contractor External Factors Weather conditions are significant factor to
consider for completion of any construction project. Adverse winter weather, such as winds and
rains, reduces productivity, particularly for external MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 28
40 work such as formwork, T-shape work, concrete casting, external plastering, external
painting, and external tiling. Adverse weather sometimes stops the work totally [3]. Law and
order, stability of government, etc. are essential for high productivity in the construction
industry. The government s taxation policies influence willingness to work and expansion of
plants. Extreme weather conditions (such as extreme heat or cold) will also increase absenteeism
and turnover. Various natural factors affecting labor productivity collected from previous study
are weather conditions of the job-site and geographical conditions. Others factors such as fuel,
water, and minerals also affect productivity to certain extent. Productivity is found to be highly
affected if weather recorded are too be extreme (too cold, heavy rainfall, too hot. If workers
work on holidays, there is not only a cost factor for holiday pay, but there is usually a loss of
productivity as well. It may be addressed as a morale factor since workers are away from
families and working instead of enjoying the holidays, or it can also be factored separately.
Either way, there is usually a productivity loss to consider. The following are some of the factors
lays under this category; Bad weather (rain, hotness, etc.) Unstable political conditions Holidays
2.6. Improving Labour Productivity Productivity is one of the key components of every company
s success and competitiveness in the market. For projects located in the same construction area,
labor, equipments and materials costs are basically the same. One of the few opportunities to
increase the bottom line of profitability is to increase productivity. Increasing productivity
benefits a contactor in several ways [18]; Projects can be completed more quickly Project cost
can be lowered The Contractor can submit more competitive bids The Project can be more
profitable MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 29
41 According to Michael P.Rollage (2012), improving labour productivity at construction site is

easy to pose as a strategy plan, but not so easy to achieve given the complexity of the
construction process. To improve labour productivity at construction sites the construction
company should be committed to improving productivity and reinforce that with implementing
best practices for planning and implementing projects then it is possible to achieve improvement.
As it is mentioned in previous studies, the different working cultures which results in improved
labor productivity would include: Implementing best practices for quality engineering Effective
planning of all phases Lessons learned and continuous improvement across projects Supply
Chain management and materials management Right tools and equipment Effective collaborative
team building and communications 2.7. Ethiopian Construction Industry Overview of Ethiopian
Construction Industry As it is studied in various researches, the construction industry is growing
at a fast pace all over the world. In line with the growth of the construction industry, subsequent
growth of construction companies are internationally observed. In our country Ethiopia, the
growth and increasing demand for the construction industry has followed a similar pattern as
observed in the trend of the world. Currently, construction is one of the sectors leading the way
towards modernization and industrialization in Ethiopia. Different researches indicate that, the
construction sector in Ethiopia, generally in the world, contributes to about fifty percent of the
total capital. It is also said that the construction industry is being the second largest employer in
the country and it s also an engine for technology, innovation and overall development
(Ethiopian Roads Authority in 2000, a study on Domestic Construction Industry). MSc. in
42 As many researchers witnessed that, the construction industry in Ethiopia is a sector that
opens the door for the growth of many additional industries. Specially, Building works require
high input of other industries. For instance, they require different metal products, clay works, and
cement and cement products, etc. as such, the growth of these industries will surely follow the
growth of the construction industry. Similarly, when the construction and renovation of housing
increase, the demand for household furniture increased; thereby, indirectly, opening the door for
the growth of the furniture industry. All in all, the construction industry is a sector that can
entertain big micro companies, that is widely labor based. Industry Policy of the Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia says that the construction industry is being given special focus
in the policies of the country. The construction industry is one of the three sectors of the
economy identified by the Ethiopia Government for special consideration to foster the country s
economic development. However, the general state of the domestic construction industry in
Ethiopia is still characterized by inadequate capital base, old and limited numbers of equipment,
low levels of equipment availability and utilization, deficiencies in technical, managerial,
financial and entrepreneurial skills, limited experience and participation of the private sectors in
construction and consultation works, and insufficient and ineffective use of labor-based road
construction and maintenance technology. According to the Ethiopian Economic Association
(fifth annual report on the Ethiopian Economy published in March 2007), the construction
industry has important contributions to the Ethiopian economy, as demonstrated by its share in
the GDP. The report has described that, there has been increased investment on the development
and expansion of various infrastructure projects like roads, airports and residential and non-
residential housing units in Ethiopia. The role of the construction industry in terms of creating
employment opportunities especially in urban areas is becoming visible as it is reported by
Ethiopian Economic Association Productivity in Ethiopian Construction Industry Different
researches show that the construction projects management in Ethiopia is not scientific. In line
with this as it was confirmed during past studies the performance of most construction projects
were not good. The performance of projects were usually measured with the tendency MSc. in
43 of projects to be completed with in the specified time, budgeted cost and quality standards
stated in the specification and contract documents. The impact of low labour productivity on the
performance of construction projects is a significant factor that lowers the overall performance of
the project. A study has conducted by Chia F. et al, for estimating the construction labour
productivity of 79 selected countries, among these Ethiopia was the one. The real (purchasing
power parities converted) and nominal construction expenditure from the Report of 2005
International Comparison Programme published by the World Bank and construction
employment from the database of labour statistics (LABORSTA) operated by the Bureau of
Statistics of International Labour Organization were used by the researcher in the estimation.
According to the study conducted by Chia F. et al, the following comparative analysis (Table
2.2) is conducted with construction expenditure and construction employment data obtained from
the World Bank s International Comparison Program 2005 and the database maintained by
LABORSTA, an International Labour Office database on labour statistics operated by the ILO
Department of Statistics. Real construction expenditure of 79 countries from the 2005 ICP report
and total employment in construction obtained from LABORSTA are used as 'output' and input
respectively for the labour productivity estimation. Table 2-2 Summary of construction labour
productivity in real (PPP-converted) international dollars and nominal US dollars [21] Country
Name Real (PPP-converted) construction labour productivity Nominal construction labour
productivity International $/ Employee Ranking US $/ Employee Ranking Iceland 188, ,185 1
Norway 123, ,657 2 Ireland 114, ,954 3 France 132, ,337 4 Luxembourg 140, ,920 5 Canada 155,
,113 6 MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 32
44 Finland 126, ,653 7 Netherlands 103, ,123 8 Switzer land 85, ,957 9 Belgium 118, , Denmark
83, , United States 119, , Australia 110, , Austria 88, , Sweden 60, , Germany 88, , Macao, China
188, , Ja pan 87, , Italy 98, , New Zealand 69, , United Kingdom 62, , Greece 110, , Slovenia
139, , Israel 132, , Spain 81, , Korea, Rep. 140, , China 283, , Kuwait 179, , Cyprus 76, , Estonia
74, , Peru 176, , Malta 83, , Croatia 82, , Madagascar 164, , Hungary 58, , Montenegro 87, ,
Portugal 57, , Taiwan, China 83, , Armenia 86, , Czech Republic 57, , MSc. in Construction
45 Poland 61, , Albania 58, , Turkey 46, , Lithuania 39, , Argentina 72, , Slova k Republic 44, ,
Mexico 36, , Latvia 40, , Georgia 54, , Romania 45, , Kazakhstan 47, , South Africa 28, ,
Colombia 50, , Macedonia, FYR 50, , Russian Federation 32, , Mauritius 34, , Bulgaria 41, ,
Hong Kong, China 27, , Uruguay 34, , Chile 29, , Serbia 36, , Indonesia 44, , Malaysia 46, ,
Brazil 25, , Moldova 26, , Bhutan 57, , Ukraine 28, , Thailand 39, , Iran, Islamic Rep. 36, ,
Bangladesh 37, , Azerbaijan 19, , Venezuela, RB 9, , Egypt, Arab Rep. 25, , Pakistan 20, , MSc.
in Construction Technology and Management 34
46 Mongolia 26, , Philippines 17, , Ethiopia 14, , Bolivia 9, , Kyrgyz Republic 4, , The above
Table 2-2 shows that among the 79 selected countries on real measurement basis, the top five
ranked countries are 1)China, 2)Macao, China, 3)Iceland, 4)Kuwait and 5)Peru. To see the
positions of African countries among the 79 selected countries on real measurement, the above
table indicates that, Madagascar is ranked in the 6th position, Mauritius is ranked in the 63th
position, South Africa is ranked in the 66th position, Egypt, Arab Rep. is ranked in the 71th
position and Ethiopia is ranked in the 76th position. Among selected African countries,
Madagascar is the 1 st, Mauritius is the 2 nd, South Africa is the 3 rd, Egypt. Arab Rep. is the 4
th and Ethiopia is 5 th (last) in attaining higher construction labour productivity Gap Analysis As
it is studied in different countries construction projects worldwide have been experiencing
significant cost and time overruns, with low labour productivity identified as a major reason for
project delays and cost overruns. The comparative analysis above indicates that labour
productivity is different from country to country. Ethiopia is ranked on 76 th among the 79
selected countries on real measurement basis. The position of Ethiopia has a critical implication
about the productivity of labour in the Ethiopian construction industry. This might be a possible
reason for projects being delayed and completed over the budgeted cost. In order to enhance the
construction industry in Ethiopia, improving of labour productivity has a significant role due to
the fact that the construction industry involves an employment of huge number of employees to
carry out the work. In line with this all the related stakeholders of the construction industry
including the government should take their parts in the improvement of construction labour
productivity. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 35
47 It is known that most of the contract types of the construction projects in Ethiopia are fixed
rate types; hence Contractors specially face serious problems due to lower labour productivity in
their projects. The contractors should study and identify internal and external factors influencing
the productivity of labours to minimize the impact on the performance of their projects.
Furthermore it is very vital to identify opportunities that enable the construction productivity to
be improved. As it is assured by various studies most of the labour productivity influencing
factors are related to contractors inability to supply of materials, deployment of machineries,
assignment of competent personnel, financial stability and overall project managment. Different
previous studies indicate that issues related to the responsibilities of Consultants and Clients are
among the major factors affecting labour productivity. Factors related to incompleteness of
design, lack of appropriate supervision, technical competency of Engineers and unclear
specification are the major gaps forwarded by many studies as a major gaps of consultants
attributes for lower labour productivity in the construction projects. On the other hand employers
interference, variation orders and delayed issuance of payments are the major factors related to
Clients that influences the productivity of labour in the construction projects. Effect of bad
weather, rain, wind, high/low temperature and unforeseen conditions (Eg. ground condition) are
among the critical reasons for lower labour productivity. Like other countries, the construction
industry in Ethiopia has a significant role in the development of other industries. Accordingly the
improvement of the growth of the construction industry contributes for the growth of many other
sectors. Improvement of construction labour productivity is therefore critical. A critical attention
should be given by the construction professionals in Ethiopia to improve the productivity of
labour in the construction projects. In order to improve the construction productivity identifying
the influencing factors is very vital. After productivity factors are identified, all the related
stakeholders can take respective actions to mitigate these issues. MSc. in Construction
48 Hence, this study aims to identify the critical factors influencing labour productivity in
building construction projects. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 37
49 3.1. Research Approach 3. Research Methodology The study aims to assess the practice of
labour productivity measurement on building construction projects mainly focuses to investigate
critical factors affecting labor productivity in building construction projects and rank the factors
according to their frequency of occurrence, level of impact and the combination of the two.
Different literatures related to this research are reviewed, and in order to see the Ethiopian
building construction practices the following research methodology is implemented. Therefore
the actual data is collected and analyzed to find the actual practices in relation to labour
productivity and the critical factors affecting labour productivity in building construction
projects. For this study, data was collected using both primary and secondary sources. The
primary data was obtained through questionnaire directed to contractors that are involved in
Ethiopian building projects. The secondary data was obtained from previously done different
researches, internet, journals, books and different articles in published documents. The secondary
data was used as a source for problem identification and was used as criteria for developing and
analyzing the primary data. Questionnaire is chosen as a research instrument to gather data; the
questionnaire contains an introduction part which defines the different terms that were used in
the research. The nature of the research is both qualitative and quantitative because of some of
the data collected is in descriptive form while the others of the data are in numeric form Survey
Questionnaires The research instrument used in this research is questionnaire which was
designed in such a way that it ensures to address the objectives of the study categorized by
different parts. The first part of the questionnaire is targeted to gather information about the
respondents and firms profile; questions in this part were created to collect information such as
job position, work experience and projects contact information. The second part of the
questionnaire aims to have data about the awareness and understanding of contractors on
productivity in the construction projects. The third part contains the various aspects of
productivity affecting factors to be rated by the MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 38
50 respondents with respect to their frequency of occurrence and level of impact as well as the
general experiences implemented to improve productivity and proposed suggestion to improve
productivity on construction projects. The factors which were identified from previous research
will be used as a basis for preparing a questionnaire to investigate its influence on the
productivity of Ethiopian construction industry. The questionnaire was design based on the fact
that they had to be simple, clear and understandable for the respondents and at the same time
they should be able to be interpreted well by the researcher. The questionnaire contains both
close and open ended questions. The close ended questions had a number of choices of possible
answers and the respondents selected whatever they feel was most appropriate. The closed ended
questions were selected because they are easier to answer and assess. Open ended questions were
used only in few places where the response options were relatively wide. Two different types of
questionnaires are designed to be responded by Construction contractors Company s Head office
and project sites. The main intention of the questionnaires prepared addressed to head offices is
to study the productivity related issues that can only be answered by head office and in addition
to have an overall look on the productivity of their projects since there are many projects
administrated in a single company. A total of 25 questionnaires were distributed for construction
contractors at their head offices and 15 are successfully collected. Most of these questionnaires
were filled by Contract Administration Engineers, Technical managers, deputy managers, Project
Coordinators and office engineers in different companies. On the other hand project sites are the
direct sources of data relevant with the objectives of this study. Hence, a total of 37
questionnaires were distributed for 37 building construction projects undertaking by grade three
and above contractors and 23 are successfully collected. Most of these questionnaires were filled
by Project Managers, Project Engineers, Site Engineers and office engineers at different projects.
Table 3-1 Targeted Respondents Targeted Respondents No of Distribution No of Respondents
Building Construction Projects Contractors Head Offices Total MSc. in Construction
51 3.3. Research Population and Sampling Low labour productivity affects all contractors of
different class and category. However, the research focus is only on building construction
companies and projects due to the fact that construction of buildings uses many labours with
various positions. On the other hand grade three and above contractors are selected by taking in
to consideration these contractors have more experience related to the study area. Therefore, the
study populations included for this research work are domestic contractors of grade three and
above and building projects under taking by grade three and above contractors in Addis Ababa
Data Analysis Method The analyses of the data obtained from questionnaires have processed
which involves simple statistical approach, examining, tabulating and categorizing based on the
chosen measurement scale. Most of the findings were presented in the form of tables, pie charts
and bar graphs to clearly illustrate the result and to help to easily understand. In this research,
ordinal scales were used. An ordinal scale, as shown in the Tables 3-2, is a ranking or a rating of
data that normally uses integers in ascending or descending order. The numbers assigned (1, 2, 3,
4,5) are simply numerical labels. Table 3-2 Ordinal Scale Used for Measuring of the level of
Effect Item Critical High Medium Low No Effect Effect Effect Effect Effect Scale In this study,
an ordinal measurement scale 1 to 5 was used to determine the effect level. Respondents were
asked to rank factors affecting labour productivity according to the degree of importance (5 =
affects with very large degree; 4 = affects with large degree; 3 = affects with average degree; 2 =
affects with little degree; and 1 = Not affects); For analyzing data by ordinal scale, a relative
importance index (RII) was used for each factor by the following equation 3.1 [22]: MSc. in
52 Importance Index = 5n1+3n2+4n3+2n4 +n (n1+n2+n3+n4+n5) Eq.3.1 where n1 represents

the number of respondents who answered "Critical effect", n2 represents the number of
respondents who answered " High effect", n3 represents the number of respondents who
answered "medium effect", n4 represents the number of respondents who answered "low effect"
and n5 represents the number of respondents who answered "no effect". In order to study the
frequency of occurrence, an ordinal measurement scale 1 to 4 was used to determine the level of
the Effect. Respondents were asked to rank factors affecting labour productivity according to the
degree of importance (4 = Frequency of very large degree; 3 = Frequency of large degree; 2 =
Frequency of little degree; and 1 = Frequency of no occurrence); Table 3-3 Ordinal Scale Used
for Measuring of the Frequency of Occurrence Item Very Often Often Some Times None Scale
For analyzing data by ordinal scale, a relative importance index (RII) was used for each factor by
the following equation 3.2 [2]): Frequency Index = 4n1+3n2+2n3+n4 4(n1+n2+n3+n4) Eq.3.2
where n1 represents the number of respondents who answered "Very Often", n2 represents the
number of respondents who answered "Often", n3 represents the number of respondents who
answered "Some Times" and n4 represents the number of respondents who answered None. In
order to rank the overall impact of labour productivity affecting factors on construction projects,
the Severity Index (SI) which is the multiplication of the importance and frequency indices was
used for each factor [22]; MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 41
53 Severity Index = Importance Index X Frequency Index Eq.3.3 As it is discussed above, the SI
was used to rank the different factors affecting labor productivity. These rankings are used to
compare both the level of effect and the frequency of occurrence of the factors as perceived by
respondents. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 42
54 4. Analysis and Discussion 4.1. Overview of Labour Productivity Practices of Contractors in
Ethiopia In order to see the contractors overall practice in relation to labour productivity at their
construction projects, questionnaires were designed and distributed to contractors head office and
projects. Construction companies their grade > 3 were randomly selected to respond to the
questionnaires. The survey of selected building projects is done for investigating major factors
that influence labour productivity on the projects. Moreover, the study is intended to assess the
productivity improvement practices, and indicate the direction of how the labour productivity on
projects will be improved. The reliability of the returned questionnaires were checked before
starting the analysis, two questionnaires from were rejected due to incompleteness and two
questionnaires from contractors head office were rejected due to their grade is below grade three;
hence, out of the returned 38 questionnaires 34 were found to be suitable for data analysis. As it
is described in the Table 4-1 below; a total of 62 questionnaires were targeted to be collected and
out of these 38 which is 61% are successfully responded, and it is believed to be adequate for
this study. Table 4-1 Summary of questionnaire distribution and response rate Total Number of
Questionnaires Distributed Successfully Responded Response Percentage (Rate) % Respondents
Profile Respondents Working Position/Job Title As it is illustrated in the figure below, the
respondents for the questionnaire are mainly Contract Engineers (26%), Project Managers (24),
Office Engineers (15%), Technical Managers (12%) and Project Coordinators (12%) of the
selected construction firms. Therefore, the following MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 43
55 analysis and discussion of the study are performed based on the responses received on the
questionnaire from these professionals. Figure 4-1 Respondents Working Position/Job Title
Experience of Respondent s in the Construction Industry The work experience of the respondents
in the construction firms are assessed and found to be 50% above ten years, 26% from five to ten
years and 15% from two to five years. The overall profile implies that most of the respondents
have adequate experience in the construction firms. This indicates that, the respondents could
provide the required information for all items included in the questionnaire. Figure 4-2
Respondents Working Experience MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 44
56 Companies Profile Grade of Construction Firms 41% of the selected contractors are grade one
building contractors, 35% of the selected contractors are grade one general contractors and 21%
of the selected contractors are grade three building contractors. This implies that majority of the
data are collected from grade one contractors. Figure 4-3 Grade of Respondent Firms Number of
Active Projects in the Firms The total number of active projects at hand indicates the size of the
firms. As it is described in the figure below the number of active projects at the hands of the
respondent s firms are; 46% of the firms have from 5-10, 38% have from 10-20, 8% have below
5 and 8% have above 20 active projects. Hence the data surveyed from most of the firms are the
indication of various projects. Figure 4-4 Number of active Projects in the Firms MSc. in
57 Projects Contract Amount The figure below shows that 69% of the respondents were in
handling projects with a contract amount of Birr above 50 Million, 23% of the respondents were
in handling projects with a contract amount of Birr between Million and 8% of the respondents
were in handling projects with a contract amount of Birr between Million. Most of the
respondents have projects with amount of Birr above 50Million; this indicates that most
respondents administer huge projects having different type of works. In these types of projects
the involvement of labour to execute the works is high. Figure 4-5 Contract amount of projects
The impact of poor labor productivity on the performance of projects The performance of
projects to be completed within the planned time and budgeted cost is assessed and found to be
3% Very Good, 41% Good, 53% Bad and 3% Very Bad. This shows that the performances of
above half of the projects of the respondents are bad with respect to time and cost of the project.
The impact of poor labor productivity on the performance of the projects are also assessed and
47%, 32%, 18% and 3% of the respondents rate the impact of low labour productivity on the
performance of building projects as high, very high, low and very low respectively. MSc. in
58 From this result it can be said that most construction professionals practiced that the tendency
of projects performance to be affected by poor labour productivity is high. Figure 4-6 The impact
of poor labor productivity on the Performance of Projects Labour Productivity Measuring
Practices of Building Contractors Do Contractors have an experience of measuring labor
productivity in the projects? This question answers whether contractors measure productivity on
their projects or not. The assessment indicates that 12% of the respondents measure productivity
and the rest 88% do not. The reason of why Contractors do not Measure Productivity is studied.
The reasons given by 36% of the respondents are negligence, 27% of the respondents believe
that it is due to lack of awareness and 18% of the respondents consider that measuring
productivity is difficult to implement. The result of this assessment indicates that most of the
contractors do not measure labour productivity as it is responded by 27% of the contractors do
not measure productivity due to lack of awareness, 36% of them are due to negligence and 18%
of the contractors believes that measuring of labour productivity is difficult to implement. MSc.
59 Figure 4-7 Reasons for not Measuring Productivity Labor Productivity Measurement
Approaches Implemented As it is mentioned above 12% of the respondents have a practice of
measuring labour productivity. Hence, it is found out that Jobs completed per jobs scheduled and
Output per worker hours are implemented by 54% and 38% of the respondents respectively as
approaches to measure labour productivity. It might be correct to measure labour productivity
based on Jobs completed per jobs scheduled, if the work schedule is prepared based on the
reliable data. Figure 4-8 Productivity Measurement Approaches Implemented MSc. in
60 Labour Productivity Data Basis used for Setting of Unit Rates Setting of competitive prices
for contractors is crucial, the prices set by contractors should be reasonable to minimize the
probability of being non profitable and should not be higher to increase the chance of being
successful in bid competition. Labour cost is one of the major components to compute unit prices
of each work items of the building works, hence the labour productivity (output per hour) is the
main input to determine labour costs. Therefore, Contractors experience is assessed inorder to
see their cost computation experience in relation to the considering the existing real situation of
their labour productivity. In line with this, 17% of respondents partially consider the real labour
productivity data recorded by their companies to set labour prices, while the rest 83% of the
respondents do not consider it at all rather they use data sources available in their company.
Respondents who partially consider the labour productivity of the existing real data to set labour
cost is only for some types of trades of works. It is also tried to assess the respondents labour
productivity data basis which is used by most of the respondents and it is found that it is a
document published by Ministry of Works and Urban Development (1998), which they call it
standard" in their response. From this survey it can be generalized for most of the contractors
that the basis of computing labour cost was based on the labour productivity data published by
Ministry of Works and Urban Development (1998) Labour Productivity Data Basis used for the
preparation of Working Schedules Preparation of working schedule (time plan) is one of the
major works performed by the contractors in order to plan the completion period of the works of
project. Labor Productivity (output per hour) is the main input to determine the duration required
to execute an activity. Working schedule preparation experienced by contractors is assessed and
18% of the respondents partially use the real labour productivity data recorded by their
companies to MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 49
61 determine the required time that will be taken to perform a specific activity, while the rest
82% of the respondents do not consider it at all. The respondents were also asked how they
determine the completion time required for the execution of the activities and most of them reply
that they simply distribute the total works of the project to be completed in the given time
specified in the contract agreement. Respondents who partially consider the labour productivity
of the existing real data for determining the required completion time is only for some types of
trades of works Survey of Factors Affecting Labour Productivity in Building Construction
Project site Introduction The survey of Contractors involved in the construction of building
projects and building projects is done for investigating major factors that influence labour
productivity on the projects. The factors that affect labour productivity are taken from previous
different studies and fifty three factors are selected by taking in to consideration their weights
given by the previous researchers. The fifty three factors are summarized and categorized in to
twelve groups according to their characteristic in order to help the respondents to easily
understand. The respondents were requested to rate all the 53 factors with respect to their level of
effect and frequency of occurrence. The top ten factors rated by respondents with respect to their
level of effect and frequency of occurrence are ranked by calculating using relative importance
index (RII) and the impact of the two is also studies and discussed below Major Factors
Affecting Labour Productivity with respect to level of Effect The study was performed by
considering the rate given by the respondents for the 53 factors affecting labor productivity for
building construction, and their RII was calculated. MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 50
62 The top ten factors affecting labor productivity with their level of effect as rated by
considering all responses are 1) Shortage of material with a value of RII=0.833, 2) Lack of
follow up the work progress and Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay with a value
of RII=0.820, 3) Lack of Motivation with a value of RII=0.800, 4) Incomplete facilities (water,
power supply & sanitary) and Delays in decisions making with a value of RII=0.787, 5)
Inspection and Instruction delay with a value of RII=0.780, 6) Incomplete and Inaccurate
drawings with a value of RII=0.773, 7) Mistakes during construction(rework)with a value of
RII=0.767, 8) Cash flow and financial difficulties with a value of RII=0.760, 9) Poor resources
management and Incompetence of labors with a value of RII=0.753 and 10) Lack of equipment
and tools and Poor quality of material with a value of RII= On the other hand, among the top
ranked factors 10 (71%) of the critical factors lays under the responsibility of contractors, 3
(21%) of them lays under the responsibility of consultants and 1 (8%) lays under the
responsibility of the Client. The top ten ranked factors with their RII are as described in the table
below; Table 4-2 Top Ten Factors affecting Labour Productivity with Respect to Level of Effect
Rank Top Ten Factors with Respect to Level of Effect Responsible RII Stakeholder 1 Shortage
of material Contractor Lack of follow up the work progress Contractor Financial difficulties of
the owner/payment delay Client Lack of Motivation Contractor Incomplete facilities (water,
power supply & sanitary) Contractor Delays in decisions making Consultant Inspection and
Instruction delay Consultant Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings Consultant Mistakes during
construction(rework) Contractor Cash flow and financial difficulties Contractor Poor resources
management Contractor MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 51
63 9 Incompetence of labors Contractor Lack of equipment and tools Contractor Poor quality of
material Contractor Major Factors Affecting Labour Productivity with Respect to their
Frequency of occurrence As it is stated above, the study was performed by considering the rate
given by the respondents for the 53 factors affecting labor productivity on building construction,
and their frequency index FI was calculated. The top ten factors affecting labor productivity with
their frequency of occurrence as rated by all respondents are The top ten factors with the highest
level of effect on labor productivity by considering all responses are 1) Delays in decisions
making with a value of FI=0.758, 2) Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings with a value of
FI=0.742, 3) Shortage of material with a value of FI=0.734, 4) Frequent damage of equipments
with a value of FI=0.724, 5) Change of work order/variation with a value of FI=0.700, 6) Change
of workers with a value of FI=0.696, 7) Inspection and Instruction delay and Incomplete
facilities (water & power supply, and sanitary) with a value of FI=0.692, 8) Lack of follow up
the work progress with a value of FI=0.683, 9) Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay
with a value of FI=0.667 and 10) Lack of Motivation with a value of FI= On the other hand,
among the top ranked factors six (54%) of the critical factors lays under the responsibility of
contractors, four (36%) of them lays under the responsibility of consultants and 1 (10%) lays
under the responsibility of the Client. The top ten ranked factors with their FI are as described in
the table below; Table 4-3 Top Ten Factors affecting Labour Productivity with Respect
Frequency Occurrence Rank Top Ten Factors with Respect to Frequency Occurrence
Responsible Stakeholder 1 Delays in decisions making Consultant Incomplete and Inaccurate
drawings Consultant FI MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 52
64 3 Shortage of material Contractor Frequent damage of equipments Contractor Change of

work order/variation Consultant Change of workers Contractor Inspection and Instruction delay
Consultant Incomplete facilities (water & power supply, and sanitary) Contractor Lack of follow
up the work progress Contractor Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay Client Lack of
Motivation Contractor Factors having Critical Impact on Labour Productivity The top ten factors
rated by respondents with respect to their level of effect and frequency of occurrence are ranked
as described above and the factors those have high effect and frequently occurred on the projects
are rated by multiplying the rates of the two. The study was performed by considering the rate
given by the respondents for the 53 factors affecting labor productivity for building construction,
and their Severity Index (SI) was calculated. The top ten factors with the highest level of effect
on labor productivity by considering all responses are 1) Shortage of material with a value of
SI=0.613, 2) Delays in decisions making with a value of SI=0.597, 3) Incomplete and Inaccurate
drawings with a value of SI=0.574, 4) Lack of follow up the work progress with a value of
SI=0.560, 5) Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay with a value of SI=0.547, 6)
Incomplete facilities (water & power supply, and sanitary) with a value of SI=0.544, 7)
Inspection and Instruction delay with a value of SI=0.540, 8) Lack of Motivation with a value of
SI=0.531, 9) Frequent damage of equipments with a value of SI=0.523 and 10) Change of work
order/variation with a value of SI= On the other hand, among the top ten factors five (50%) of
the critical factors lays under the responsibility of contractors, four (40%) of them lays under the
responsibility of consultants and 1 (10%) lays under the responsibility of the Client. MSc. in
65 The top ten ranked factors with their SI are as described in the table below; Table 4-4 Top
Ten Factors having Critical Impact on Labour Productivity Rank Top Ten Factors having
Critical Impact Responsible SI Stakeholder 1 Shortage of material Contractor Delays in
decisions making Consultant Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings Consultant Lack of follow up
the work progress Contractor Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay Client
Incomplete facilities (water & power supply, and sanitary) Contractor Inspection and Instruction
delay Consultant Lack of Motivation Contractor Frequent damage of equipments Contractor
Change of work order/variation Consultant The following graph shows the top ten critical factors
with their values of relative importance index, frequency index and severity index. Figure 4-9
Top Ten Factors having Critical Impact on Labour Productivity MSc. in Construction
66 The highest ranked top ten factors are discussed below; 1. Shortage of material (SI=0.612);
according to the respondents rate; lack of material was ranked as the most critical factor causing
low labour productivity with a SI=0.61. Lack of material refers to problems encountered due to
unavailability of materials on the project. As a result the labours become idle for waiting of
materials. The contractor should plan ahead to ensure that the critical materials are available at
site in adequate quantity all the time. 2. Delays in Decisions Making (SI=0.297); The result
shows that delay of consultants in making decisions was believed having critical impact on the
productivity of labor on projects with a SI=0.60. This has an indication that consultants are
frequently delayed in decision making and the late decision had a high level of effect on the
productivity of labour. 3. Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings (SI=0.574); incomplete and
inaccurate drawings issued by consultants frequently affects the productivity of labor with a high
level of effect as it is rated by respondents. This has a critical consequence of having more idle
time of workers. It can be said that incomplete and inaccurate drawings are one of the critical
factors that should get attention by consultants and contractors. 4. Lack of follow up the work
progress (SI=0.560); lack of follow up of the progress of the work is rated as one of the factors
that highly affect the productivity of labour. This indicates that the contractors did not perform a
proper follow up of the progress of the works of the projects and the result of this highly affects
the productivity of labour frequently. 5. Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay
(SI=0.547); delay issuance of payment by client to contractor is believed by the respondents
severely hinder the work progress. This delay factor was ranked fifth among the other factors.
Delay in payment affects cash flow of contractors which in turn affects the payment to workers.
This causes significant effects on workers motivation. MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 55
67 6. Incomplete facilities (water & power supply and sanitary facilities) (SI=0.544); Incomplete
facilities provided by the contractor was ranked sixth among the most critical factors with an
severity index of This severely causes workers idling as result of interruption of works due to
unavailability of water and power. In addition lack of appropriate sanitary facility for the labour
critically affects the productivity of workers. 7. Inspection and Instruction Delays (SI=0.540);
Delayed inspection and instruction by the consultant was ranked as seventh with a severity value
of SI=0.54 having a critical impact on the productivity of labor. The delay in inspection and
instruction by the consultant causes workers idling resulting from waiting for their decision. 8.
Lack of Motivation (SI=0.531); results show that lack of motivation for workers has a critical
impact in lowering the productivity of labours with a severity index of Lack of motivation is
ranked eighth its impact in lowering the productivity of labour. Lower salary, lack of recognition
and lack of promotion are some of the grounds that might affect the workers motivation. 9.
Frequent Damage/breakdown of Equipments (SI=0.523); frequent breakdown of equipments
causes major idle time since employed workers are unable to progress their work. The frequent
break down of equipments was ranked ninth in its impact in lowering the productivity of labour
with a severity index of Change of Work Order /Variation (SI=0.513); Change work order by
consultants was ranked the tenth factor causing low labour productivity (SI=0.513). Change
order might occur due to design errors, modification works, additional works and/or due to other
related reasons that results change of work orders. The change of work order disturbs the
sequence of works planned by the contractor. In addition the change of work order needs the
consultants approved work order and other required documents MSc. in Construction
68 Least Ten Factors with Low Impact on Labour Productivity The least ten factors with the
lowest impact on labor productivity by considering all responses are 1) Contract type of the
project with a value of SI=0.221, 2) Increased labor Agewith a value of SI=0.243, 3)
Overcrowded labor force with a value of SI=0.267, 4) Indiscipline labor with a value of
SI=0.312, 5) Congestion of Site with a value of SI=0.339, 6 Change of supervisor with a value of
SI=0.345, 7) Design changes with a value of SI=0.350, 8) Bad health of labors with a value of
SI=0.352, 9) Unforeseen Conditions (Ex. Ground Condition) with a value of SI=0.357 and 10)
Lack of Safety tools with a value of SI= The least ten ranked factors with their SI are as listed in
the table below; Table 4-5 Least Ten Factors having Low impact on Labour Productivity Rank
The Least Ten Factors having Low Impact SI 1 Contract type of the project Increased labor Age
Overcrowded labor force Indiscipline labor Congestion of Site Change of supervisor Design
changes Bad health of labors Unforeseen Conditions (Eg. Ground Condition) Lack of Safety
tools Suggestions for Improvement of Labour Productivity The practice of contractors with
regarding to improving productivity of their labours is studied and 65% of the surveyed
construction companies have used different approaches to improve labour productivity on their
projects while the others 35% do not. Contractors ideas based on their experience were collected,
tabulated, grouped and prioritized in accordance to the number of times quoted by respondents.
Respondents made different MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 57
69 suggestions for construction labour productivity improvement. The following are lists of top
five areas recommended by respondents for improvement of labour productivity on construction
projects. 1. Timely supply of Material and Equipments 2. Using work plan(schedule) and
monitoring of the progress of the project 3. Acquiring complete drawing and specification 4.
Motivations, incentives, recognition and related approaches 5. Subcontracting works It is found
that; timely supply of Material & Equipments, using work Plan (schedules) and Continuous
monitoring of the progress of the project, Acquiring complete drawing & specification,
Motivating labours, and Subcontracting works are labour improvement approaches suggested by
the respondents in the rank of their effectiveness Comparison of Critical Factors Affecting
Construction Productivity in Ethiopia with other countries practice abroad This study compares
the survey results of the critical factors affecting labour productivity identified in this study with
other countries. The Table 4.6 lists the top five critical factors affecting labor productivity in
construction projects of different countries studied in the past five years (Indonesia, New
Zealand, Kuwait, India, Egypt and this study (Ethiopia) ; MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 58
70 Table 4-6 Top five factors in different countries Rank Indonesia Soekiman et al. (2011) Lack
of Materials Labors strikes Delay in arrival of materials Financial difficulty of owner Unclear
instruction to laborer New Zealand Tran and Tookey (2011) Reworks Level of skill and
experience of the workforce. Adequacy of method of construction Build-ability issues
Inadequate supervision and coordination Kuwait Jarkas and Bitar (2012) Clarity of technical
specifications The extent of variation/change orders during execution Coordination level among
various design disciplines Lack of labor supervision Proportion of work subcontracted India
Mistry and Bhatt (2011) Payment delay Egypt El-Gohary and Aziz (2014) Ethiopia This Study ()
Labor experience and Shortage of material skill Skill of labor Incentive programs Delays in
decisions Clarity of technical specification Material shortage Motivation Availability of the
materials and their ease of handling Leadership and competency of construction management
Competency of labor supervision making of the Consultant Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings
Lack of follow up the work progress Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay
71 Results of the comparative analysis show that the findings of each study are different from the
others. These dissimilarities indicate that the factors affecting construction productivity are
different from country to country, place to place and project to project based upon different
circumstances. The study concludes that these dissimilarities are due to differences in the
situations such us climatic conditions, Political conditions, availability of innovative technology
and other circumstances from country to country. However, there are some common factors
observed among the studies in different countries, including a delay in providing drawings, a
delay for payments from the owner to contractors, equipment-related delays, Supervision and
instruction by consultants, labor skills related, motivation of labors, material related delays,
clarity of specifications and drawings, and slowness of consultant for decision. The common
factors identified in most of the countries as a critical factor are 1.Material supply and
availability related 2.Payment Delay, 3.Improper Supervision by the consultant, 4.Unclarity of
drawings and specification, and 5.Incompetency of labours. The four factors identified in this
study in our country are among the five most common factors investigated in most of the
selected countries. As a major objective of this study, it is to identify and rank factors influencing
labour productivity in the building construction projects of the Ethiopian construction industry.
As it is described in the previous chapter; the top ten critical factors that frequently occurred with
high level of influence in lowering labour productivity is identified and ranked with their level of
severity are 1)Shortage of material, 2)Delays in decisions making, 3)Incomplete and Inaccurate
drawings, 4) Lack of follow up the work progress, 5) Financial difficulties of the owner/payment
delay, 6)Incomplete facilities (water & power supply, and sanitary facilities), 7)Inspection and
Instruction delay, 8)Lack of Motivation, 9)Frequent damage of equipments and 10)Change of
work order/variation Good productivity in construction projects has a significant impact in the
successful completion of a project, and it also influences the growth of a company as a whole.
72 The findings of this study can be used as focus areas to improve labour productivity in
building projects. The Contractors, Consultants and Clients can use the identified factors as a
checklist to take their responsibilities for the improvement of labour productivity. 5. Conclusions
and Recommendations The results of the questionnaire survey and discussion of the findings in
line with the literature review were presented in the previous section. Conclusions derived from
the research findings are made and the relevant recommendations & future research areas are
forwarded Conclusions 1. The survey result indicates that most construction professionals
practiced that projects performance is highly affected by poor labour productivity 2. Most of the
contractors do not have experience of measuring labour productivity on their projects due to
negligence, lack of awareness and believing that measuring productivity is difficult to
implement. 3. The data basis for the computation of labour costs to set unit rates is based on the
national standard for most of the contractors. They are advised to consider the actual recorded
company level labour productivity data. 4. The top ten labour productivity influencing factors
rated by their level of effect and frequency of occurrence are; 1)Shortage of material, 2)Delays in
decisions making, 3)Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings, 4) Lack of follow up the work
progress, 5) Financial difficulties of the owner/payment delay, 6)Incomplete facilities (water &
power supply, and sanitary facilities), 7)Inspection and Instruction delay, 8)Lack of Motivation,
9)Frequent damage of equipments and 10)Change of work order/variation 5. Among the top ten
critical factors five (50%), four (40%) and 1 (10%) of them lays under the responsibility of
Contractors, Consultants and Clients respectively 6. The study result shows that 1) Contract type
of the project, 2) Increased labor Age, 3) Overcrowded labor force, 4) Indiscipline labor, 5)
Congestion of Site, 6) Change of supervisor, 7) Design changes, 8) Bad health of labors, 9)
Unforeseen Conditions (Ex. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 61
73 Ground Condition) and 10) Lack of Safety tools factors were ranked in the lowest position
with their lowest impact on productivity of labour. 7. The result of the comparative analysis
made on the investigated critical factors affecting labour productivity studied in different
countries differs to each other due to differences in situations of one country to the other
Recommendations 1. Contractors are advised to give serious attention in measuring labour
productivity and they are also recommended to participate in trainings and workshops to increase
their knowledge, since negligence and lack of awareness were identified as a major causes for
not measuring productivity in building construction projects. 2. Special attention should be given
by the contractors on the issues related to Shortage of material, Lack of follow up the work
progress, Incomplete facilities (water & power supply, and sanitary), Lack of Motivation and
Frequent damage of equipments in order to minimize their impacts on affecting labour
productivity 3. Special attention should be given by the consultants on the issues related to Delay
in Decision making, Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings, Inspection and Instruction delay, and
Change of work order/variation in order to minimize their impacts on affecting labour
productivity 4. Special attention should be given by the clients on the issues related to Financial
difficulties of the owner/payment delay in order to minimize the impact on affecting labour
productivity 5. The contractor should plan ahead to handle the effect of the critical factors by
taking in to consideration the ranks as listed in this study 6. It is found that; timely supply of
Material & Equipments, using work Plan (schedules) and Continuous monitoring of the progress
of the project, Acquiring complete drawing & specification, Motivating labours, and
Subcontracting works are labour improvement approaches suggested by the respondents in the
rank of their effectiveness. 7. The following are suggested for future studies; A study on
assessing effective ways to measure labour productivity MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 62
74 Identifying the factors affecting labour productivity in the Ethiopian construction industry
75 References 1. Chris Hendrickson (2000), Project Management for Construction, Fundamental
Concepts for Owners, Engineers, Architects and Builders, Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. 2. Dozzi, S.P. and
AbouRizk, S.M.(1993), Productivity in Construction, Institute for Research in Construction,
National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 3. Thomas, H. R. (1991), Labor
productivity and work sampling: The bottom line, Journal of Construction Engineering and
Management, Texas 4. Hanna, A. S., Taylor, C. S., and Sullivan, K. T. (2005), Impact of
extended overtime on construction labor productivity, ASCE Journal of Construction
Engineering Management, Canada 5. Dennis Lock (2004), Project Management in Construction,
England. 6. Namho Kim, Hyun-Soo Lee, Moonseo Park and SeungjunRoh (2007), Performance
Management Method for Construction Companies, 24th International Symposium on
Automation and Robotics in Construction(ISARC 2007), Department of Architecture, Seoul
National University, Korea. 7. Chan, A.P.C. and Chan A.P.L.(2004), Key performance indicators
for measuring construction success,benchmarking: An International Journal 11(2), Ward, S.C.
Curtis, B. & Chapman, C.B. (1991), Objectives and Performance in Construction Projects.
Journal of Construction Management and Economics, 9. Casey Jo Kuykendall (2007), Key
Factors Affecting Labour Productivity in the Construction Industry, University of Florida 10.
Stefan Tangen (2001), Professional Practice Demystifying Productivity and Performance,
Sweden MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 64
76 11. Aki Pekuri, HarriHaapasalo, MailaHerrala(2011), Productivity and Performance

Management Managerial Practices in the Construction Industry, International Journal of
performance management, Vol. 1, Finland 12. Gru nberg, T. (2004), Performance improvement
towards a method for finding and prioritizing potential performance improvement areas in
manufacturing operation, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management,
Vol Bernolak, I. (1997), Effective measurement and successful elements of company
productivity: the basis of competitiveness and world prosperity, International Journal of
Production Economics, Vol Slack, N., Chambers, S. and Johnston, R. (2001), Operations
Management, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow. 15. Allison L. Huang, Robert E. Chapman,
and David T. Butry, (2009), Metrics and Tools for Measuring Construction Productivity:
Technical and Empirical Considerations. 16. Motwani, J. Kumar, A. and Novakoski, M. (1995),
Measuring Construction Productivity: A Practical Approach. Work Study, 44(8), pp A.
Soekiman, K. S. Pribadi, B.W. Soemardi, and R.D. Wirahadikusumah (2011), Factors Relating
To Labor Productivity Affecting The Project Schedule Performance In Indonesia, Indonesia 18.
Heizer, J., and Render, B. (1990), Production and Operations Management Strategic and Tactical
Decisions. Prentice Hall, NJ. 19. Carl T. Haas, John D. Borcherding, Eric Allmon, Paul M.
Goodrum (1999) Construction Labor Productivity Trends, U.S. 20. DeCenzo, D, and Holoviak,
S. (1990). Employee Benefits. Prentice Hall, City, New Jersey, Chia F., Skitmore M., Runeson
G., Bridge A. (2010), International Comparisons of Malaysian Construction Labour Productivity,
Queensland University of Technology, Australia MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 65
77 22. Mohammed Salleh HAMMAD, Abdelnaser OMRAN, and Abdul Hamid

KadirPAKIR(2011), Identifying ways to Improving Productivity at the Construction Industry.
23. Wilson Boulevard, Measuring Productivity and Evaluating Innovation in the U.S.
Construction Industry, Building Futures Council 2300, Suite 400 Arlington, Virginia 24.
Sumanth, D. (1985), Productivity Engineering and Managemen, McGraw-Hill Book Company,
USA 25. Bprc (1999) The Construction Industry Key Performance Indicators. 26. Paul Chan and
Ammar Kaka, Construction Productivity Measurement: A Comparison of Two Case Studies, UK
27. Benjamin Franklin (1748), Time is money: in Advice to a Young Tradesman 28.
TewodrosAlemu (June 2006), Measurement of labor productivity in Construction, Department of
Civil Engineering, AAIT, AAU Construction Resource Management: Improving Contractor
Business Performance 30. Powl, A and Skitmore, R M (2005) Factors hindering the performance
of construction project managers. School of Construction Management and Property, Queensland
University of Technology, Australia. 31. MichailKagioglou, Rachel Cooper &GhassanAouad
(2001), Performance Management in Construction: a conceptual framework, Research Institute
for Design and Manufacture, University of Salford, UK. 32. Mark Rogers (May 1998), The
Definition and Measurement of Productivity, The University of Melbourne, Australia 33. David
Stiedl,(1998), Productivity Norms for labour-based construction, Nairobi, Kenya , Factors
Affecting Construction Labor ProductivityITY 35. Sherif M. Hafez, Remon F. Aziz, Enas S.
Morgan, Madeha M. Abdullah, Eman K. Ahmed(2014),Critical factors affecting construction
labor productivity in Egypt, American Journal of Civil Engineering MSc. in Construction
78 36. Abdul Kadir, W.P. Lee, M.S. Jaafar, S.M. Sapuan and A.A.A. Ali (2011), Factors
affecting construction labour productivity for Malaysian residential projects,universiti Putra
Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia 37. Anu V. Thomas and J. Sudhakumar (2014), Factors
Influencing Construction Labour Productivity: An Indian Case Study, India 38. Ethiopian Roads
Authority (2000), Ethiopian Domestic Construction Industry Study 39. Ethiopian Economic
Association,EEA (2007), Report on the current state of the construction industry on Ethiopian
Economy 2006/07, Volume vi, Addis Ababa Ethiopia 40. E. W. Merrow, K.A. Sonnhalter, R.
Somanchi, and A.F. Griffith (2009), Productivity in the UK Engineering Construction Industry,
UK 41. David Stiedl (1998), Productivity Norms for labour-based construction, Nairobi, Kenya
42. DemetLeblebici (2012), Impact Of Workplace Quality On Employee s Productivity: Case
Study of a Bank In Turkey, Turkey 43. Joseph Prokopenkoand Klaus North (1997),Productivity
and Quality Management;a Modular Programme, Geneva 44. Bui TrungKien (2012), Factors
Affecting the Fluctuation of Labour Productivity on the Construction Projects, Vietnam 45.
ShamubeelEaqub (2013), Construction productivity, an evidence base for research and policy
issues, New Zealand 46. A.A.Attar, A.K.Gupta and D.B. Desai (2012), A study of Various
Factors Affecting Labour Productivity and Methods to Improve it, India Broman, M. (2004),
Assessing productivity in assembly systems, Stockholm. 49. Jackson, M. (2000), An analysis of
flexible and reconfigurable production systems,linko ping University, Linko ping, 50. Andy
Neely, Mike Gregory and Ken Platts(2005), Performance measurement system design, UK MSc.
79 51. Tran V. and Tookey J. (2011), Labor productivity in the New Zealand construction
industry: A thorough investigation, Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and
Building, New Zealand. 52. Jarkas A. and Bitar G. (2012), Factors AffectingConstruction Labor
Productivity in Kuwait, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Kuwait 53.
Mahesh G. (2012), Study of Factors Affecting LaborProductivity at a Building Construction
Project in the USA: web survey Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For thedegree of Master
of Science; USA 54. Durdyev S., Ismail S. and Abu Bakar N. (2012), Factors Constraining
Labor Productivity: Case Study of Turkmenistan Razak School of Engineering and Advanced
Technology, Malaysia 55. Mistry S. and Bhatt R. (2013), Critical Factors AffectingLabor
Productivity in Construction Projects: Case Study ofsouth Gujarat Region of India. India 56. El-
Gohary K. and Aziz R. (2014), Factors Influencing Construction Labor Productivity in Egypt:
Journal ofmanagement MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 68
80 Appendices MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 69
81 Questionnaire to Construction Contractors at Project MSc. in Construction Technology and

Management 70
82 Questionnaire to Construction Contractors at Project ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY ADDIS

ABABA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAM Research Topic
LABOR PRODUCTIVITY MEASURMENT ON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
This research survey is designed to fulfill an academic requirement for an M.Sc program in
Construction Technology and Management at the Addis Ababa University. I can assure you that
the research data will only be used solely for the academic purpose and will be treated with strict
confidentiality. Particular mentioning of names will not be required anywhere. Your open and
prompt response is highly appreciated. Definition Productivity is a multidimensional term, the
meaning of which can vary, depending on the context within which it is used. The basic concept
of measuring productivity in construction is the ratio of input to output. According to a research
conducted by the Federal Government of United States, there are two basic approaches to
measuring productivity, single factor or partial and multifactor or total productivity measures.
Choosing between them usually depends on the purpose of the productivity measurement and the
availability of data. Single/Partial factor measures use only one input in the denominator. Most
commonly used single factor measure of productivity is the labor productivity, the ratio of output
to either employment or labor hours. Labor Productivity=Output/Labour Input MSc. in
83 Multi/Total factor productivity measures use a weighted average of all inputs in the
denominator. The weights usually correspond to each input s share of total expenditures.
Multifactor measures reflect the joint impact of all inputs on productivity more accurately than
single factor measures because the quantities of all inputs are in effect held constant, whereas
only one input is held constant in the single factor approach. Multifactor measures do not seem
to be widely used in construction. Total Factor Productivity=Construction Output/Resources
Used Thus, a total productivity measure reflects the joint impact of all the inputs in producing
the output. However, it is important to note that labor productivity is a measure of the overall
effectiveness of an operating system in utilizing labor, equipment and capital to convert labor
efforts into useful output, and is not a measure of the capabilities of labor alone. Productivity in
this research is defined as the ratio of outputs over inputs (single factor labor productivity),
example the ratio of the Volume of concrete casted per hour. OBJECTIVES OF THE SURVEY
The objective of the survey is to gather reliable information so as to achieve the following
research objectives; 5. To assess the productivity measurement practices in the Ethiopian
construction industry 6. To identify factors affecting construction productivity on building
projects. 7. To assess productivity improvement measures taken on building construction
projects. 8. To compare the major factors affecting construction labor productivity on building
projects in Ethiopia with other country projects abroad. Thank you in advance for your time!
RESEARCHER S INFORMATION Name; Mekides Amanuel Phone; ; MSc. in Construction
84 Field of study; MSc. in Civil Engineering (Construction Technology and Management

Stream) Advisor; Abebe Dinku (Prof. Dr.-Ing.) I. Personal and Company Information 1. What is
your position in the firm? 2. Total years of your experience in the construction industry: Below 2
years 2-5 years 5-10 years above 10 years 3. What is the grade of your company? GC 1 GC 2 GC
3 below GC 4 BC 1 BC 2 BC 3 below BC 4 4. What is the contract amount(in Birr) of the
project? < 10 Million Million Million > 50 Million 5. What is the contract duration (in Months)
of the project? < 6 months 6-12 Months months > 18 Months 6. What is the progress/status of
the project (ahead/lag) as per the schedule)? Ahead from the schedule Lags from the schedule As
per the schedule Not known II. General Questions Related to Productivity 1. In general, how do
you describe the performance of your project (the tendency of project to be completed with in the
planned time? MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 73
85 Very Good Good Bad Very Bad 2. If your answer is bad/very bad, how do you rate the
impact of poor labor productivity on the performace of your project? Very High High Low Very
Low 3. Do you measure productivity in your construction project? Yes No 4. If you say yes for
question no.3, what is your approach/method of productivity measurment? Output per worker
hours Output per inputs of material, labor & machineries Jobs completed per jobs scheduled
Other, (please specify) 5. If you say No for question no.3, what could be your reason? Lack of
awareness Negligence It is Unneccessary It is expensive Scarcity of Time Scarcity of trained
manpower Measuring productivity is difficult to implement Other, (please specify) III. Factors
Affecting Productivity 1. Rating of the effect and frequency of factors on Productivity 1.1. From
your experience, how do you rate the level of effect of the following factors on the Productivity
of your project? Please mark from 1-5, in the table below: 5 to be the factor which has critical
effect and 1 to be the factor which has no effect. MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 74
86 Legend; CE=Critical Effect=5 HE=High Effect=4 ME=Medium Effect=3 LE=Low Effect=2

NE=No Effect= From your experience, how do you rate the occurrence frequency of the
following factors on your project? Please mark from 1-4, in the table below: 4 to be the factor
which is very frequently occurred and 1 to be the factor which is not occurred. Legend;
VO=Very Often=4, O=Often=3, ST=Some Times=2, No=None=1 No Factors I. Design and
Specification Related Factors 1 Design changes 2 Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings 3 Delay
Preparation and delivery of drawings 4 Ambiguous and incomplete Specification II. Supervision
Related Factors 5 Unclear instruction given by the supervisor 6 Delays in decisions making 7
Change of work order/variation 8 Change of supervisor 9 Incompetence of supervisors 10
Supervisors absenteeism 11 Inspection and Instruction delay III. Material Related Factors 12
Shortage of material 13 Poor quality of material 1.1. Rate of level of Effects HE ME LE =4 =3
=2 CE =5 NE = Frequency of occurrence VO O ST No =4 =3 =2 =1 MSc. in Construction
87 14 Material storage location IV. Equipment and Technology Related Factors 15 Lack of
equipment and tools 16 Frequent damage of equipments 17 Absence of technological
advancements for machineries V. Labor related Factors 18 High absenteeism of labors 19
Incompetence of labors 20 Overcrowded labor force 21 Misunderstanding/poor relationship
between labors 22 Increased labor Age 23 Indiscipline labor 24 Use of alcohol and drugs 25
Personal Problems VI. Health and safety Related Factors 26 Accidents during construction 27
Lack of Safety tools 28 Bad health of labors VII. Project Related Factors 29 Inappropriate site
lay out (Temporary facilities and Offices) 30 Incomplete facilities (water & power supply, and
sanitary) 31 Congestion of Site 32 Complexity of the project 33 Size of the project 34 Contract
type of the project Vlll. Organization(Contractor) and Management Related Factors 35 Poor
resources management 36 Absence of working plan MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 76
88 37 Lack of using working plans 38 Lack of follow up the work progress 39 Change of
workers 40 Lack of Training for workers 41 Bad working condition 42 Too much work load 43
Poor communication in the site 44 Lack of Motivation 45 Mistakes during construction(rework)
46 Cash flow and financial difficulties lx. Stake Holders Related Factors 47 Financial difficulties
of the owner/payment delay 48 Owner Interference 49 Lack of communication between parties
( Owner, Consultant and Contractor) 50 Lack of General support to the contractor X. External
Factors 51 Effect of Bad weather (rain, wind, high/low temperature, etc.) 52 Unforeseen
Conditions (Eg. Ground Condition) 53 Holidays Others(please specify) 2. Have you taken
corrective actions to improve labor productivity when it becomes lowered? Yes No If you say
Yes, what productivity improvement methods have you applied? MSc. in Construction
89 Please list at least five methods in descending order of effectiveness with most effective first.
I. II. III. IV. V. 3. What do you feel could be done to enhance/improve productivity on
construction site? Please list at least five suggestions in descending order of importance with
most important first. I. II. III. IV. V. Thank You! MSc. in Construction Technology and
Management 78
90 Questionnaire to Contractors at Head Office MSc. in Construction Technology and

Management 79
91 Questionnaire to Contractors at Head Office ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY ADDIS

ABABA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAM Research Topic
LABOR PRODUCTIVITY MEASURMENT ON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
This research survey is designed to fulfill an academic requirement for an M.Sc program in
Construction Technology and Management at the Addis Ababa University. I can assure you that
the research data will only be used solely for the academic purpose and will be treated with strict
confidentiality. Particular mentioning of names will not be required anywhere. Your open and
prompt response is highly appreciated. Definition Productivity is a multidimensional term, the
meaning of which can vary, depending on the context within which it is used. The basic concept
of measuring productivity in construction is the ratio of input to output. According to a research
conducted by the Federal Government of United States, there are two basic approaches to
measuring productivity, single factor or partial and multifactor or total productivity measures.
Choosing between them usually depends on the purpose of the productivity measurement and the
availability of data. MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 80
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A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY ON BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

1 ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES ADDIS ABABA

2 ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES ADDIS ABABA

6 Contents Abstract... IV Acknowledgments... V List of Figures... IX List of Tables... X List of

11 List of Abbreviations KPI...Key Performance Indicators TQM.Total Quality Management

20 2.2. Construction Performance Management Many construction companies have to manage

22 2.3. Construction Productivity Defining Productivity Productivity is a multidimensional term,

23 Productivity = the quality or state of bringing forth, of generating, of causing to exist, of

25 Productivity and Related Terms Productivity vs Profitability Profitability is often confused

29 Task Level Productivity Measures Tasks in construction refer to specific construction

38 Ambiguous Specification Correction/Rectification of works Rework Leadership, coordination

41 According to Michael P.Rollage (2012), improving labour productivity at construction site is

52 Importance Index = 5n1+3n2+4n3+2n4 +n (n1+n2+n3+n4+n5) Eq.3.1 where n1 represents

64 3 Shortage of material Contractor Frequent damage of equipments Contractor Change of

76 11. Aki Pekuri, HarriHaapasalo, MailaHerrala(2011), Productivity and Performance

77 22. Mohammed Salleh HAMMAD, Abdelnaser OMRAN, and Abdul Hamid

80 Appendices MSc. in Construction Technology and Management 69

81 Questionnaire to Construction Contractors at Project MSc. in Construction Technology and

82 Questionnaire to Construction Contractors at Project ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY ADDIS

84 Field of study; MSc. in Civil Engineering (Construction Technology and Management

86 Legend; CE=Critical Effect=5 HE=High Effect=4 ME=Medium Effect=3 LE=Low Effect=2

90 Questionnaire to Contractors at Head Office MSc. in Construction Technology and

91 Questionnaire to Contractors at Head Office ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY ADDIS

WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 9 WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT Working capital is the long

Part II Management Accounting Decision-Making Tools

Part II Management Accounting Decision-Making Tools Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

3 SYSTEMS DESIGN AND CAPACITY

Management Accounting and Decision-Making

Management Accounting 15 Management Accounting and Decision-Making

Lean Healthcare Metrics Guide

Ten Steps to Comprehensive Project Portfolio Management Part 3 Projects, Programs,

August 2007 Ten Steps to Comprehensive Project Portfolio Management Part 3

PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

8 PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT Project Quality Management includes the

Measurement Information Model

Project Management Simple Answers to Simple Questions

Chapter 4 SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT USING ANALYTIC

Chapter 4 SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT USING ANALYTIC

Project Management for Development Organizations

Development, Acquisition, Implementation, and Maintenance of Application Systems

Development, Acquisition, Implementation, and Maintenance of Application Systems

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

Total Quality Management for Improving Services of Information Technology Based

Total Quality Management for Improving Services of Information Technology Based

ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH Online Open Access publishing

Comprehensive Business Budgeting

Evaluating the Business Impacts of Poor Data Quality

Theme 5 Master Thesis

DEGREE PROGRAMME IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Explaining an architect s services. General information on the usual tasks undertaken by

Interim Terms of Reference for Consultancy Services

COST OF PROVIDING FINANCIAL ADVICE

ABI RESEARCH PAPER NO 22, 2010 COST OF PROVIDING FINANCIAL

Manual on o Training Management

5 Project on Improvement of Local Administration in Cambodia Manual on o Training

LONG INTERNATIONAL Long International, Inc. 10029 Whistling Elk Drive

Insurance Inspection Manual