Development of Poor Productivity Mitigation Model for a Viaduct Bridge Project

Abstract

Poor productivity is a common phenomenon in the construction industry. Poor or lack of project knowledge management continues to plague the construction process especially in relation to project delays. At the same time, the human resource function has undergone dramatic change, owing, it would seem, to greater use of rapidly evolving information technology. The goal of this paper is to investigate how the choice of the human resource management strategy would positively impact both the organizational and project performance. The research methodology adopted for this study comprised three steps. First, the productivity problems encountered during the construction operations of a viaduct bridge are reviewed and reported using interviews on the potential factors contributing directly and indirectly to more effective project operations. Second, the least squares method is utilized to prioritize and rank the importance, impact, and effect of these factors. Third, a scalable and transferable poor productivity mitigation model is developed. The adopted model incorporates concepts from knowledge management, project learning and supervisory controls. Results of this research indicate that knowledge management and generally the human resource management strategy is a key factor for project success.