Body of Knowledge in Developing and Implementing Construction Industry Improvement Programs

Construction project performance is influenced by industry-wide issues, such as the business environment, sector-specific drivers and challenges, and country-specific issues. Imperatives for addressing such industry-level issues have led to industry improvement programs formulated and implemented by high-powered government-industry teams across the developed and developing countries. Despite these initiatives, the industry has yet to significantly improve its performance and image. The over-arching goal of this chapter is to identify common core components and potentially critical elements of a Body of Knowledge (BoK) in developing and implementing Construction Industry Improvement Programs (CIIPs), with a particular focus on applying it to developing countries. In developing the BoK, CIIPs in Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, and a few other countries are reviewed to identify important BoK themes. Lessons learnt and challenges unveiled from implementation and status reviews in the above jurisdictions are also discussed. The findings are compared with specific improvement programs and requirements of developing countries, with examples from India, Ethiopia, and Sri Lanka, so as to initiate development of the targeted BoK, that could hereafter help improve the planning and implementation of construction industry reform programs in developing countries in particular. The identified knowledge areas of CIIPs are: (i) Manpower Development, (ii) Enhancing Capacity, (iii) Institution Building, (iv) Improving Practices, and (v) Planning for Smoother Demand. The status of these knowledge areas and/or their components determines project performance. For example, the availability and competence of manpower in the industry affects productivity and hence the schedule performance of projects. Similarly, the capacity of construction firms affects most of the project performance parameters, such as the schedule, cost, and quality. While the specifics of these issues are addressed in other book chapters, it is clear that enabling optimal project performance and boosting project management maturity at the industry/national level calls for holistic industry improvements and overall, rather than piecemeal, developments.