DISSERTATION

Dr. Saeed

+44 141 4161015

Table of ContentsAcknowledgement6Abstract7Chapter 1: Introduction1.1 Introduction81.2 Background of the Research81.3 Research Problem and Rationale91.4 Research Aim111.5 Research Questions11Chapter 2: Literature Review2.1 Introduction122.2 Overview of UK and Libyan Construction Industries132.2.1 Construction Industry in Global Context132.2.2 Construction Industry of Libya132.2.3 Construction Industry of the United Kingdom152.3 Construction Project Management152.3.1 The Construction Project Lifecycle162.3.2 The General Construction Process172.4 Causes of Time/Cost Overruns in Construction Industry182.4.1 Libyan Perspective182.4.2 UK Perspective192.5 Project Management Practices in Construction Projects192.5.1 Procurement202.5.2 Partnering202.5.3 Risk Management212.5.4 Value Management242.5.5 Sustainable Construction252.5.6 Benchmarking262.5.7 Supply Chain Management272.5.8 Lean Construction282.6 Benefits of Project Management Practices292.7 Factors Hinder the Adoption of Project Management Practices312.8 Summary33Chapter 3: Research Methodology3.1 Introduction343.2 Methodology of the Research343.3 Philosophy of the Research353.4 Research Design363.5 Research Approach363.5.1 Qualitative vs. Quantitative363.5.2 Deductive vs. Inductive373.6 Research Methods373.6.1 Methods used for Data Collection383.6.1.1 Primary Data Collection Method383.6.1.2 Secondary Data Collection Method393.6.3 Limitations of the Research Methods393.6.3 Reliability and Validity of Data403.7 Data Analysis403.8 Sample and Population of the Study423.8.1 Sample Size Determination433.9 Resources Used443.10 Research Ethics443.11 Research Limitations453.12 Summary of the Chapter45Chapter 4: Results and Analysis4.1 Introduction474.2 Description of Acquired Data474.3 Data Reliability Test474.4 Respondents Designation484.5 Type of Construction Projects494.6 Number of Projects Time/Cost Overrun494.7 Causes of Time/Cost Overrun Projects504.8 Importance of Project Management Practices524.9 Use of Project Management Practices524.10 Benefits of Project Management Practices534.11 Adequacy of Project Management Practices554.12 Factors Affecting the Adoption of Modern Project Management Practices564.13 Summary of the Results58Chapter 5: Discussion5.1 Introduction595.2 Causes of Time and Cost Overruns595.2 Similarities and Differences between Libyan and UK PM Practices605.3 Factors that Hinder the Adoption of PM Practices62Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations6.1 Introduction656.2 Conclusion656.3 Set of Recommendations676.4 Research Limitations706.5 Future Directions70References71Appendix A: Questionnaire81Appendix B: Frequency Tables85Appendix C: Spearmans Rank Correlation Calculation90

List of Figures

Figure 2.1: Theoretical framework of the study...................................................................12

Figure 2.2: The Project Life Cycle..........................................................................................16

Figure 2.3: The Construction Process...................................................................................17

Figure 2.4: Descriptive Model of Mohieldin.........................................................................18

Figure 2.5: Features of Partnering........................................................................................21

Figure 2.6: Risk Management Process..................................................................................22

Figure 2.7: Risk Matrix..........................................................................................................23

Figure 2.8: The Value Management Process.........................................................................24

Figure 2.9: Benchmarking process........................................................................................26

Figure 2.10: Supply Chain Cube............................................................................................28

Figure 3.1: Research Onion of the Dissertation....................................................................34

Figure 3.2: Triangulation research approach........................................................................42

Figure 3.3: Research process................................................................................................46

Figure 4.1 Survey respondents...........................................................................................47

Figure 4.2 UK Professionals................................................................................................48

Figure 4.3 Libyan Professionals..........................................................................................48

Figure 4.4: Types of construction projects (UK Respondents)..............................................49

Figure 4.5: Types of construction projects (Libyan Respondents)........................................49

Figure 4.6: Projects cost/time overrun.................................................................................50

Figure 4.7: Importance of PM practices (UK Respondents)..................................................52

Figure 4.8: Importance of PM practices (Libyan Respondents)............................................52

Figure 4.9: Project management practices in UK and Libya..................................................53

Figure 4.10: Adequacy of PM practices (UK respondents)...................................................56

Figure 4.11: Adequacy of PM practices (Libyan respondents)..............................................56

List of Tables

Table 3.1: Positivist vs. Interpretivist....................................................................................35

Table 3.2: Ranking criteria....................................................................................................41

Table 4.1 Respondents demographics..............................................................................47

Table 4.2 Reliability analysis..............................................................................................48

Table 4.3 Causes of time/cost overrun (UK Perspective)...................................................50

Table 4.4 Causes of time/cost overrun (Libyan Perspective).............................................51

Table 4.5 Ranking comparison among causes...................................................................51

Table 4.6 Benefits of PM Practices (UK Responses)...........................................................54

Table 4.7 Benefits of PM Practices (Libya Responses).......................................................54

Table 4.8 Ranking comparison benefits.............................................................................55

Table 4.9 Ranking of problematic issues (UK perspective)................................................56

Table 4.10 Ranking of problematic issues (Libya perspective)...........................................57

Table 4.11 Ranking comparison issues...............................................................................58

AcknowledgmentAcknowledgement

First of all, I would like to thanks Almighty GOD for giving me courage to finish this dissertation on time utilising my best knowledge and skills. A special thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Walter Mswaka who encouraged me and guided me so well throughout the dissertation period. I am extremely thankful to my parents and other persons who motivated me during this research and also throughout my studies. Last but not least, I am thankful to Huddersfield University for providing me tremendous opportunity for the partial fulfilment of my MSc Business Project Management.

AbstractAbstract

Over the past two decades, the Libyan construction sector is experiencing many problems particularly housing shortages, cost and time overruns, and construction defects due to lack of adequate project management practices. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of project management practices in Libya compared to the UK to avoid time and cost overruns of construction projects. A blend of primary and secondary data collection methods are used to achieve this aim where primary data is collected through survey method. The findings of the paper suggest that Libyan construction industry is different from the UK in terms of not adequately practicing most of the project management practices. A majority of construction participants agreed that such practices are inherent to avoid the cost/time overruns but some problematic factors are hindering the implementation of those practices in Libya. Some of the critical factors include changes in the scope of the project, lack of knowledge, skills and experience, fear of change, lack of top management commitment, and excessive bureaucracy. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations to Libyan construction sector explaining how they can adopt modern PM practices undertaken in developed countries particularly in the UK to avoid the cost/time overruns.

Chapter 1: Introduction1.1 Introduction

This chapter provides a reasoned discussion on research problem and research background to set the scene for developing aim and research questions of the study. Furthermore, the chapter also includes research questions, research rationale, and theoretical framework of the study.

1.2 Background of the Research

Project management includes many activities such as planning, organising, monitoring, controlling, and securing resources to achieve quality project delivery according to the scheduled time and within the estimated budget (Munns and Bjeirmi, 1996). Each construction project is different in nature and on the basis of infrastructure activities. In addition, different types of projects have different start and end dates with fixed or flexible deliverables. The criteria of work are also different in construction industry compared to other manufacturing industries. The Project Management (PM) practices in construction context are given high importance in terms of achieving best quality product and also to avoid construction cost/time overruns (Potts, 2008). These key PM practices include procurement, partnering, risk management, value management, sustainable construction, benchmarking, supply chain management, and lean construction (Potts, 2010; Cheng et al., 2012). It must be understood that all PM practices are critical to adopt at the same time due to extreme pressure to finish projects on time (Potts, 2010).

The United Kingdom has many centuries of experience in the construction industry. Many of the best PM practices in construction have been developed in Britain and spread around the world to be used by other nations. In a way, UK construction industry sets the standards for efficient, high quality and timely construction practices. The nation has a number of leading and authorised project management associations that offer training and guidance for project managers (APM, 2012; PMI, 2012). A range of studies appreciates the role of PM practices for achieving construction project success in the UK (Munns and Bjeirmi, 1996; Baker et al. 2008). However, they also highlight some issues that hinder the adoption of modern PM practices in the UK construction industry.

On the other hand, in Libya many leading construction firms from the UK, USA and other European nations have taken up construction projects in Libya. Hence, the flow of PM practices and methods in construction industry of Libya has been initiated already. The Libyan Project Management Association (LPMA) is a body formed by the project managers in Libya which is responsible for training and providing help to project managers for better results (Libyan Project Management Association, 2012). But still the level of PM practices in Libya is inadequate compared to the UK (Shebob et al. 2012).

With this background, the thesis attempts to find out to what extent PM practices used in Libyan construction industry are different or similar from those utilised by UK construction professionals? Also, to identify the factors that hinder the adoption of significant PM practices to avoid construction cost/time overruns?

1.3 Research Problem and Rationale

Construction industry in any economy is subject to different threats and issues that cause extra cost and time with considerable affect on quality if they are not correctly evaluated. However, construction industry requires greater management when compared with other industries (Baker et al. 1999). Unfortunately, the construction sector in Libya has suffered from sanction during the last period, which made it working under inefficient conditions and operating with outdated technology in many cases (Ngab, 2007). Libyan authorities set out their vision for the future development of the construction sector to reverse this situation after the sanction have been lifted by attracting more foreign investments in different domains and taking forward the countrys construction industry.

Over the past two decades, Libyan construction sector is facing many problems particularly housing shortages, cost/time overrun, and construction defects due to the two significant reasons: (1) slow progress and limited capacity of its construction sector (Abubaker et al, 2008); and (2) lack of adequate Project Management (PM) practices such as procurement, partnering, risk management, value management, sustainable construction, benchmarking, supply chain management, and lean construction (Grifa, 2006; Ministry of Planning, 2011). Furthermore, it is also identified that infrastructural activities at vast level are required to build or upgrade roads, ports, airports, railways, and new homes (Ngab, 2007). Hotels, resorts, and other tourist places also require significant infrastructural changes. The need for quick developments to meet political, economic, social, and technological standards is the new challenge for the construction industry in Libya. The above issues and challenges are witnessed due to lack of technical abilities, lack of PM practices, inadequate managerial competencies, improper planning/scheduling techniques, and problematic circumstances in the industry (ibid). As a result, construction industry in Libya is facing many issues such as time overrun, cost overrun, and quality problems.

People working in construction domain are also subject to expose wide varieties of internal issues such as environmental, contractual, financial, stakeholders, communication risk etc.; and external risks such as political and regulatory risks. Consequently, the projects success could be influenced in many aspects such as cost, time, and quality if these issues are not handled properly (Charoenngam and Yeh, 1999). The issues and challenges stated above are important at this time when construction industry in Libya is facing problems such as cost/time overruns, housing shortages, and construction defects (Abubaker et al. 2008). In order to avoid the impact of these issues and threats, the project management becomes an essential topic in the desire of delivering successful projects (ibid).

From the above discussion it can be acknowledged that the construction industry in Libya requires adopting innovative PM practices. But unfortunately very limited research is available in the literature that how Libya can adopt latest PM practices undertaken in the developed countries to avoid construction cost/time overruns (Tumi et al. 2009; Shebob et al. 2012). Also, researchers community has paid little attention in exploring causation factors that hinder Libyan construction industry to adopt modern PM practices (Hammad et al. 2011). This literature gap exists because of lack of comparative studies that compare and evaluate PM practices used in Libya with those of undertaken in developed countries. Therefore, there is a strong need to conduct a study that fills this gap by highlighting major issues in the Libyan construction industry and devise a solution how identified issues and threats can be mitigated to achieve project success.

The primary focus of this research is first to explore current PM practices undertaken in the Libyan construction industry and then compare them with the practices used in the UK for evaluation purposes; or in other words, this study aims to explore how Libyan construction industry is different from the UK particularly in terms of PM practices. Also, this research is subject to investigate problematic events and factors that hinder Libyan construction industry to adopt latest PM practices. It is believed that providing a set of appropriate recommendations for adopting and improving PM practices in Libyan construction sector to avoid cost/time overruns will significantly contribute to the construction project management domain.

1.4 Research Aim

The core aim of this research is to investigate the role of Project Management (PM) practices in the UK and Libya to avoid construction time/cost overruns. To achieve this aim, a comparative study is conducted to find out the differences and similarities between UK and Libyan construction industries on the basis of utilising PM practices to avoid chronic issues like cost and time overruns.

1.5 Research Questions

The research questions to achieve underlying aim of the research are drafted below:

To what extent, PM practices used in the Libyan construction industry are different or similar from those utilised in UK construction industry

Which factors hinder the adoption of significant PM practices in the Libyan construction industry?

How Libya can adopt modern PM practices to avoid construction cost/time overruns?

Chapter 2: Literature Review2.1 Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the UK and Libyan construction industries. The discussion also includes a comprehensive literature review on PM practices in Libyan and UK construction sectors. In addition, factors that hinder the adoption and implementation of PM practices are also the part of the debate.

A diagram of theoretical framework is depicted in figure 2.1 which illustrates that this study is based on investigating the role eight PM practices in the UK and Libyan construction industries. The comprehensive investigation through survey and literature evidences allows the researcher to devise a set of suggestions and recommendations to Libyan construction industry to adopt modern PM practices undertaken in the UK construction industry to avoid time and cost overruns.

Figure 2.1: Theoretical framework of the study

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2.2 Overview of UK and Libyan Construction Industries

The construction industry in any country is interrelated with many other industries due to its complex procedures and an assembly of several building components such as land, materials and equipment (Kwakye, 1998). In the words of Gorgenlnder (2011), construction industry is a sector of national economy engaged in the preparation of land and construction, alteration, and repair of buildings, structures, and other real property (p. 14). Each construction project is different on the basis of its nature, type, and size and therefore requires professional skills and knowledge to complete it on time within estimated budget. The unique characteristics of construction projects help construction parties (e.g. client, project manager, contractor, consultant) to combine various activities and technologies with each other in an organised manner. The activities in construction industry largely depend on design, planning, government policies, tools and techniques, and the structure of the buildings. This is the reason that construction industry is highly vulnerable to slumps and booms in the economy.

2.2.1 Construction Industry in Global Context

The worldwide construction industry trends have shown considerable growth in different economies. Several researchers believe that construction industry plays a vital role in the development of an economy. Giang and Pheng (2010) assert that the construction industry is a vital contributor to an economys growth that interlinks many industries with each other. Bosch and Philips (2003) suggest that the contribution of the construction industry to a countrys development can be measured through its GDP contribution. They estimated that construction industry contributes nearly 10 percent to the world GDP. Another study conducted by Crosthwaite (2000) reveals that the construction industry in developed countries contributes around 6 to 9 percent to GDP; but the figure is different in case of developing countries which accounts for 3 to 5 percent. Lowe (2003) argued that the contribution in developed countries is between 7 to 10 percent; and the range in developing countries is 3 to 6 percent. Thus the contribution of the construction sector to the worlds economy cannot be ignored in any case.

2.2.2 Construction Industry of Libya

The economy of Libya is largely based on oil revenues which accounts for nearly 80%. The other sectors including construction industry are comprised of 20%. The country produces nearly 41.4 billion GDP each year, and the per capita income of Libya is highest in the region which was approximately 7,190 in 2011 (Ngab, 2007). Libya lacks adequate water resources; in fact, it is considered as one of the poorest countries in terms of limited water resources.

The construction industry in Libya contributes around 5.2% to gross GDP and it provides work to nearly 3.2% of the total workforce (Ngab, 2007). The Libyan construction sector has experienced several reforms over the past five decades. Since the early 1950s, the construction sector in Libya has played a vital role in the development of its economy when the country became independent from the Italian occupation. At the beginning, construction activities were performed for social purposes but with the passage of time it emerged into peoples cultures and values, and consequently the skills and knowledge were transferred generation to generation. Therefore, the vast experience and enriched skills of the construction participants allow Libya to improve the infrastructure of the country by increasing the volume and scale of construction activities (ibid).

The country faced a construction boom during 1970s when it was ranked as one of the frequent consumers of cement. In the past two decades Libya has planned and constructed The Great Man Made River project which is considered as one of the worlds biggest water projects. The public sector in Libya played a central role in developing countrys infrastructure in the context of economic and social development plans. Between 1990 and 2010, the public sector organisations successfully completed 86% construction projects (Ministry of Planning, 2011). But the industry faced some serious problems in the past due to heavy reliance on foreign experts (Ngan, 2007).

Time and cost overruns are the most frequent problems in Libyan construction projects. Several studies mentioned that most of the public construction projects faced concurrent construction delays during design and construction phases (Hatush et al. 2005) and most of the local and international bodies failed to achieve quality outcomes due to some critical causes of delays where contractor and client organisations are mostly responsible for a majority of delays due to lack of adopting adequate project management practices (Hamzah et al. 2011). According to Abounahia (1998), more than 70% public construction projects were delayed in Libya due to several crucial factors. Abubaker et al. (2008) reported 69% construction project suffered from delays and only 31% finished on time and within the estimated budget since 2000 to 2008. Another recent study reveals that more than 50% construction projects in Libya are cost/time overrun (Hamzah et al. 2011). However, the ratio is decreasing due to the adoption of some innovative project planning techniques.

2.2.3 Construction Industry of the United Kingdom

The construction industry in the UK is extremely diverse and a key deliverer of major public construction projects (Murdoch and Hughes, 2002). The construction industry in the UK contributes around 8% to the gross GDP and provides employment to nearly 2.1 million people in the country (CIA World Factbook, 2012). The UK construction industry is popular in terms of using innovative planning techniques and procurement methods (Cashman and Preene, 2012). The industry has contributed in developing several landmark projects globally, either on the basis of construction or in design and management. The project managers, consultants, and contractors from the UK are invited internationally due to their new knowledge and modern working methods. Many UK consultants established their offices in the South East of England and London as they can be approached and consulted easily for huge infrastructural projects within and outside the country. The importance of British Standards and Codes, and the skills and knowledge of UK professionals is evident from their engagement to work in rebuilding World Trade Centre after the disastrous event of 9/11 (Winch, 2010).

Over the past two decades, the construction output is declined due to the impact of the adverse economic downturn and recession effects (BBC News, 2012a), as the output in 1990s was ranked at third with 12% of total European output (Meikle, 1999). Additionally, the construction industry is adversely affected hit by the 2008 recession. Limited availability of mortgage and weak household incomes also prevent construction activities in the UK. The builders are more focused on selling existing sites rather than investing money on constructing new buildings. As the country is recovering well from the recession, so it is forecasted that the construction sector will grow nearly double in value over the next five years (BBC News, 2012b).

2.3 Construction Project Management

The construction project management concept emerged in the literature of construction in the mid 1970s and today it is considered as one of the key practices to prevent construction projects from time and cost overruns. The construction project management allows construction parties to plan, coordinate, and control entire project activities in a systematic and organised manner in order to accomplish the projects on time and within the estimated budget (Walker, 2007). This can lead to fulfilling the requirements of the client in producing financial and quality-wise feasible project.

2.3.1 The Construction Project Lifecycle

A construction project is considered to be unproductive if it is failed to produce a quality physical product that does not meet the requirements of the client. The completion process of any construction project requires four essential steps such as project initiation, project planning, project execution, and project closure (Westland, 2007) as shown in the diagram of Project Lifecycle (PLC) in figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: The Project Life Cycle

Source: Westland (2007, p. 4)

Project initiation phase refers to some significant activities including defining project scope, problem identification, finding alternate solutions, and feasibility study. In the project planning phase, several plans such as resource plan, financial plan, quality plan, risk plan, communication plan, procurement plan, and timeframes are set to achieve projects core aim. Project execution phase mainly refers to the implementation of plans devised at the planning stage; and finally, project closure involves terminating all project activities and handing over project deliverables to the client (Westland, 2007).

2.3.2 The General Construction Process

In the opinion of Walker (1996, 2007), the construction process is an open system which is composed of different resources and activities necessary to complete the project. The resources are the inputs to the construction process and typically include land, labour, capital, materials, and equipment. The construction process is carried out by a dedicated team of professionals who transforms the inputs to desired outputs. This transformation process is greatly influenced by the environment of the construction project. An open system of construction process described by Walker (1996, 2007) is depicted in figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: The Construction Process

Source: Walker (1996, p. 84)

The model of Walker (1996) is closely related to the descriptive model of Mohieldin (1989). According to Mohieldin (ibid) descriptive model, condition and resources are the two inherent inputs in a construction process. The input resources are same as described by the Walker (1996) such as land, labour, capital, materials, equipment, and the external environment or the criteria as laid down for the construction. The output of the model indicates required physical product in the form of the building as shown in figure 2.4.

Figure 2.4: Descriptive Model of Mohieldin

Source: Mohieldin (1989)

2.4 Causes of Time/Cost Overruns in Construction Industry

The causes of time/cost overruns vary from country-to-country due to several technological, environmental, and topographical factors. Shebob et al. (2012) conducted a comparative study to investigate the core factors causing cost/time overruns in the UK and Libya. According to them, contractor-related factors followed by client-related factors are the most influencing factors causing delays in both construction industries. In explaining contractor-related factors from Libya point of view, they ranked inadequate PM practices and lack of appropriate equipment as two foremost factors causing time/cost overruns. From the UK perspective, their study uncovers the fact that many cost/time overruns are occurring because contractor firms employ inadequate planning tools.

2.4.1 Libyan Perspective

The study of Abubaker et al. (2008) addresses the causes of delay in the Libyan construction industry. The survey study discloses that design-related, client-related, contractor-related, and project management related factors are the prominent issues causing time/cost overruns. Similarly, Tumi et al. (2009) in their study identified and ranked 43 factors influencing construction projects in the Zentan city in Libya. They claim that most of the issues occurred due to lack of PM practices. They ranked project management related issues at the top of the list followed by improper planning, lack of effective communication, design errors, and supply chain management problems. They strongly emphasised the need of employing appropriate PM practices particularly risk management to avoid cost/time overruns in the industry.

Another study in Libyan perspective was conducted by Memon et al. (2011) to explore the causative factors leading to construction costs and time overruns. They identified total 78 factors from the literature and asked survey respondents to rank each factor according to their knowledge and experiences. The survey results reveal that most of the problems occurred due to either lack of PM practices or lack of project planning activities at design stage. The research study also concludes that the project manager and other top management personnel are reluctant to play their roles in adopting appropriate PM practices and planning tools.

2.4.2 UK Perspective

In 1985, Sullivan and Harris conducted their study to investigate major factors leading to unanticipated cost and time overruns in large construction projects. They surveyed only civil contractors, consultants, and clients. It was found that contractor-related factors followed by client-related factors were the prominent causes of concurrent construction delays. Later on the survey study of Jackson (2002) explores project cost overrun in the UK construction industry. Their survey findings reveal consultant related factors and then project planning and project management related issues are major factors causing cost overrun in the UK construction industry.

Cannon (2008) highlights the cost/time overrun issues that UK construction industry faced in the past two decades and also addresses challenges ahead. His survey study reveals that contractor and consultant related issues are critical in the UK construction industry and due to these reasons client organisations faced many health and safety issues, insolvency, and legitimacy problems.

Falqi (2004) conducted his comparative study to address delays in construction project completion. They categorise more than 70 cost/time overrun factors into five significant categories such as contract related factors, consultant related factors, client related factors, project management related factors, other factors. Their study reveals that contractor related factors followed by consultant related factors are the core reasons for delays in the UK construction industry.

2.5 Project Management Practices in Construction Projects

A number of experts and writers (e.g. Gould, 1999; Potts, 2010; Cheng et al., 2012) describe best project management practices in the context of construction projects. The organisations worldwide implementing these practices reported high profits, quality results, high client and employee satisfaction, improved safety, and minimised environmental effects. These practices are explained in the following subsections.

2.5.1 Procurement

Procurement is a procedure of ascertaining a suitable method for monitoring and controlling a construction project and choosing the best people to devise, deliver, and operate required activities (Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer, 2001). Today, lump sum contracts and lowest price tendering are the common methods for the selection of contractors and sub-contractors. But latest procurement methods stress the need for choosing best organisations that can work well in a collaborative environment, and also they understand and exercise the principles of Partnering (ibid). Several procurement methods include: traditional/ conventional, design and build, construction management, and integrated.

The procurement is the key problem in the construction industry of Libya as the construction parties use conventional procurement methods based on lowest bidding policy. El-Hasia (2005) found that procurement policy in Libyan construction industry is inadequate and lacks in clarity in defining goals. He further explains that the procurement policy restricts public construction parties to adopt new or innovative procurement methods that are more beneficial in terms of achieving clients objectives. As a result, the construction projects are cost and time overrun.

In contrast to Libya, UK construction industry is popular in using new methods of procurement. UK construction parties choose a procurement method for their projects on the basis of contractual agreements in accordance with the clients resources, policies, and organisational structure. But the latest survey of Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) consisting of nearly 300 construction firms reveals that bureaucratic and delayed procurement processes are damaging the UK construction industry (Reynolds, 2012).

2.5.2 Partnering

Partnering refers to establishing a system that encourages collaborative working approach during different construction phases (Chan et al, 2006). This means that partnering is a different but traditional approach in the construction context where all the parties work together to assist client in order to achieve projects underlying objectives. Figure 2.5 shows three essential features of partnering described by Bennett and Jayes (1995).

Figure 2.5: Features of Partnering

Source: Bennett and Jayes (1995, p. 84)

Libyan construction industry encourages collaborative working approach with local and foreign companies (Ngan, 2007). Several foreign experts and companies are working on major construction projects in Libya but in fact, the regulatory environment is restricted for all foreign partners (Porter and Yergin, 2006). For instance, foreign partners cannot participate in bidding, procurement, and tendering processes. Also, foreign firms cannot work as main contractors for both commercial and residential construction projects. However, local firms often act as key contractors and work with foreign sub-contractors on major construction projects due to their new knowledge, expertise, and latest specialised equipment (ibid).

In contrast to Libya, the judicial consideration of partnering in the UK is limited (Begg, 2003) as most of the private and public firms prefer to work own their own, or like to work with local partners as they find themselves compatible in team working environment. Also, the working methods/techniques of local partners are almost similar. A comprehensive report of Egan (1998) emphasised the need of partnering and establishing long-term relationships with foreign partners in order to learn new and effective ways to enhance the performance of the UK construction sector.

2.5.3 Risk Management

Risk management in the construction context refers to a process of managing a construction project in a way to identify and assess probable risks associated with the project and then finding a solution to mitigate the adverse impacts of those risks (Garlick, 2007). A general risk management process for managing construction risks is depicted in figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6: Risk Management Process

Source: Madill (1999, p. 8)

In managing risks, risk identification is a significant and major part which usually commences with discovering and categorising various risks related to the project. Hillson (2009) highlights the importance of identifying risks prior to initiating a construction project. Tools that can be used for risk identification include: checklist, interviews, surveys, flowcharts, SWOT analysis, assumption analysis, Delphi analysis, and diagramming method. The risk assessment stage refers to analyse significant risks either qualitatively or quantitatively. A typical risk register is composed of risk categories, risk description, risk likelihood, and risk consequence (Hillson, 2009). In addition, the risk register may also help analyst to formulate a formal risk response strategy to treat risks at the next stage. But it is important to constantly update the risk register throughout the pre-construction and construction phases (Garlick, 2007).

After successfully identifying, assessing, and evaluating probable risks, an analyst needs to develop and implement suitable risk response strategy to treat risks. The risks can be treated in four ways: risk avoidance, risk retention, risk share/transfer, or risk reduction (Panthi et al, 2007). Figure 2.7 presents a risk matrix which shows common construction risks and treatment strategies.

Figure 2.7: Risk Matrix

Source: Panthi et al. (2007)

The survey study of Tumi et al (2009) reveals that risk management practices in Libya in managing construction risks particularly delays are not standardised. They also found that Libyan construction parties employ no or inadequate tools and techniques to identify and analyse construction risks and as a result they face concurrent delays. In a comparative study of delay factors in UK and Libyan construction sectors, Shebob et al (2012) concluded that most of the main contractors in Libyan construction industry do not adopt any formal risk management process and techniques but in contrast, UK and other foreign sub-contractors working in Libya follow proper risk management tools and techniques.

UK professionals follow a formal risk management procedures and adequate risk identification and risk assessment tools for managing construction risks (Ceric, 2003). Another study conducted by Ghazali and Kabir (2009) found that critical risks are managed effectively in the UK construction industry that ensures a successful delivery of the process. Similarly, the probability of problems such as cost overrun and time overrun are very low in the UK construction industry due to the adaptability of appropriate risk management tools and techniques (Jackson et al, 1997).

2.5.4 Value Management

Value management is an overall team-based and structured approach used to manage a construction project. It encourages a logical and systematic process during the lifecycle of a construction project to improve its quality and value. In fact, value management refers to a complete-value procedure which includes two other key concepts such as value planning and value engineering (Potts, 2010). Value planning is applied during the inception of the construction project whereas value engineering is the procedure applied to other stages of the construction project to ensure that all functional benefits required by the client are gained.

From Libyan perspective, Omran et al (2008) mentioned that value planning and value engineering techniques are new and rarely used in the Libyan construction industry. Recently, Youssef et al (2012) in their paper also indicate lack of value planning and engineering techniques in Libya. Therefore, they suggest Libyan professionals to employ value planning and engineering tools to save the construction costs and time.

In the UK, value management is mainly used to identify clients requirements by taking into consideration the quality, cost, time, and risk constraints (Institute of Civil Engineers, 1996). Figure 2.8 shows a value management process illustrating the collaboration of construction parties in managing cost and time at different stages of construction. In addition, the diagram shows a process that carried out by the UK professionals throughout the Lifecycle of the construction project in parallel with the risk management process.

Figure 2.8: The Value Management Process

Source: Institute of Civil Engineers (1996)

2.5.5 Sustainable Construction

The term Sustainable Construction (SC) indicates the economic, social, and environmental performance of the construction industry (Ding, 2008; Halliday, 2012; Kilbert, 2012). The economic aspect refers more profitability and high returns to the investors who invest money on people, processes, and products to improve the competitiveness of the construction projects. This leads to greater satisfaction to the stakeholders and adds value to customers as well. In social viewpoint, sustainable construction demonstrates the importance of fairly and ethically treating employees and also providing them safe and sound environment (Kilbert, 2012).

The environmental aspect of construction is also very important in terms of protecting the natural environment. The environmental aspect of construction is also very important in terms of protecting the natural environment. In the UK, the environment is protected in several ways such as reducing the energy consumption during construction, minimising waste, avoiding water and air pollution during construction, and protecting natural resources including wildlife, trees, habitat, waterways etc. (Halliday, 2012). The sustainable construction policies in UK prevent local residents from inconvenience of noise and dirt. The Environment Agency in the UK is responsible for conducting biodiversity surveys and also to ensure that: construction wastes are properly managed, energy and water resources are properly utilised, and monitoring actions to reduce carbon emissions (UK Environment Agency, 2012).

The sustainable construction is also given high importance in Libya during infrastructural activities. It is evident in the literature that Libya emphasises on sustainable construction with a particular focus on energy and water use in the project lifecycle (Bindra et al, 2003). In addition, the environment and social concerns are also important during local and commercial infrastructural activities. In Libya, sustainable construction is the responsibility of a particular government department associated with the construction industry. This department ensures that constructions in the country are meeting the requirements in all three aspects i.e. economic, social, and environment (Li, 2012).

2.5.6 Benchmarking

The benchmarking concept in the context of construction means developing a logical and systematic method of improving quality by measuring and assessing performance against other construction organisations (Drew, 1997). Benchmarking lead the construction firm to ensure what is achieved and which areas needs improvement to perform well in future projects. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) under benchmarking concept provide guarantee for the achievement of Best Value for both private and public sector organisations in the construction industry (Halliday, 2012). In addition, the KPIs allow construction companies to satisfy construction clients and other stakeholders in terms of cost, time, safety, quality, profitability, and productivity. Figure 2.9 illustrates a general benchmarking process that can be applied to the construction projects to achieve Best Value.

Figure 2.9: Benchmarking process

Source: Drew (1997, p. 430)

Hammad et al (2011) analysed entire construction process of Libyan constructions and found that the major barrier to improving performance is lack of proper benchmarking by the construction parties. They admit that benchmarking practices exist in Libyan construction sector but they are disorganised. They emphasised on the adoption of a realistic benchmark framework for improvement in the industry. In contrast, Alarcn et al (1996) emphasised the need of collaborative benchmarking in the UK construction sector. Benchmarking with the development of individual KPIs emerged in the UK construction industry in 1999 after the encouraging paper from Egan (1998) Rethinking Construction. The investigation of Costa et al (2006) reveals that benchmarking is adopted by many construction companies in their normal practice but still they are lacking in some particular areas or KPIs in improving performance.

2.5.7 Supply Chain Management

The supply chain management concept has recently emerged in the literature of construction industry (Potts, 2010). It refers the integration of entire operations, resources, and people involved in the delivery of the finalised product i.e. building to the client. The major actors in the supply chain management in the context of construction industry include material and equipment suppliers, distributors, manufacturers, installers, and intermediaries such as designers, contractors, sub-contractors, consultants, project managers, and the client organisation (Akintoye et al, 2000).

The supply chain management of cement industry is adversely affecting Libyan construction industry in terms of inventory costs (El Dubee and Hokoma, 2012). This is because of the miscommunication of between cement manufacturers and construction parties. The research of Alghadafi and Latif (2010) also shows an increasing demand for developing supply chain management systems with different methodologies to assist Libyan construction parties for minimising costs.

On the other hand, supply chain management concept in the construction context emphasised by Egan (1998) in his paper Rethinking Construction. However, Akintoye et al (2000) confirmed that supply chain management in the UK is at the basic level and still needs to grow at extended level. Only contractors are found with extended knowledge and skills in planning supply chain activities in construction. The researchers identified four significant barriers to success in managing the supply chain: basic level of knowledge of supply chain management philosophy, inadequate support systems, organisational culture, and lack of senior management commitment. The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000) of UK developed a comprehensive framework so-called supply chain cube that allows construction firms to integrate individual KPIs with cost, time, quality, construction parties, and techniques to improve supply chain management. The framework is available in figure 2.10.

Figure 2.10: Supply Chain Cube

Source: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000, p. 12)

2.5.8 Lean Construction

Lean construction refers to the organisation and management of construction activities by focusing on understanding the meaning of value for the client. In reality, the lean concept primarily refers to removing or minimising waste/disruption of the overall construction process in order to maximise the overall value. Sacks et al (2010) describe five elementary principles of the lean construction that result in improved project performance and facilitate easy and transparent delivery process. The five principles are: understanding the clients perspective of value, recognise and assimilate value-driven processes, eliminating or reducing waste/disruption from the processes, focus on desired product with desired value, and continuous improvement in operations.

The literature suggests that a public authorised body Lean Construction Institute (LCI) has been established in Libya since 2005 to help and peruse construction stakeholders to adopt lean construction but it is still not officially adopted and practiced by the construction industry (Abubaker et al, 2008). Similarly, Alsadey et al (2010) claim that lack of lean construction concept in Libyan construction industry triggered several common defects such as structural defects, intrusion damps, detachment, defect related to water, and cracks in Libyan buildings.

On the other hand, Egans (1998) report Rethinking Construction inspired UK authorities to develop Construction Lean Improvement Programme (CLIP) in 2003 to facilitate construction stakeholders in order to improve their knowledge, skills, values, and financial performance (BRE Trust, 2012). A new concept of Lean Supply Chain given by CLIP is also emerging in the UK construction industry to manage manpower, equipment, materials, and quality delivery of the construction projects. Mossman (2009) confirmed that lean construction is evident in the UK but it is piecemeal and disorganised. The construction parties are slowly adopting and implementing lean concept.

2.6 Benefits of Project Management Practices

Practicing several PM practices is beneficial to the construction stakeholders in various aspects. In this section, the benefits of different PM practices are discussed briefly.

Anumba and Evbuomwam (1997) identified that procurement is the key problem in the construction industries worldwide but applying proper procurement methods can be advantageous in several ways such as: improved communication, shortening of lead times, greater price certainty, and contractors involvement in the design process. Some experts and theorists like Ashworth (1996) highlight the positive impacts of procurement methods on cost, budgeting, and tendering estimates in pre-contract studies.

In describing the benefits of partnering in the construction context, Egan (1998) reported that it tends to enhance the performance of the projects and gives rise to quality output. Similarly, Rojas (2009) asserts that partnering approach helps construction stakeholders to positively enhance the working relationships and bring effective communication while working in a team environment. Furthermore, it eliminates non value-added tasks from the entire construction process and promotes conflict resolution.

Burtonshaw-Gunn (2009) states that employing different risk management tools and techniques during construction process account for several benefits such as reducing the impact of unforeseen events, improving safety, providing effective monitoring and control, enhancing communication between construction stakeholders, and encouraging positive attitude towards the management of risks (p. 10). Similarly, Edwards and Bowen (1998) reported three foremost advantages of risk management practices such as avoid time/cost overruns, monitoring and control, and reduced environmental impact.

Value management including value engineer methodology is closely related to other concepts like TQM, sustainable construction, six sigma, life cycle costing, and lean construction. In the opinion of Al-Yousefi (2004), the value engineering process during design and construction phases is subject to reduce cost, improve performance, continuous improvement and provide quality project delivery. In fact, value management is primarily beneficial for construction clients to gain all functional as well as cost benefits. Also, it is a kind of project management practice that usually results in high client satisfaction by saving costs and preventing concurrent delays (Kelly et al. 2008).

Sustainable construction highlights economic, social, and environmental benefits by reducing the costs of energy and raw materials (Ding, 2008). Economic benefits mainly refer high profitability of the construction firm by preventing cost/time overrun whereas social benefits surround the rights of employees and other construction stakeholders. Furthermore, the environmental benefits show the provision of safe and sound environment for people and community around the construction site (Kilbert, 2012). In developed countries, sustainable construction gives extreme importance to: reduce energy consumption, reduce waste, avoid air and water pollution, reduce carbon emissions, and protecting natural resources such as wildlife, trees, habitat, and waterways.

Today, benchmarking is considered as an important element of project management practices in construction projects. Benchmarking in construction industry measures true productivity and results in better performance in meeting clients requirements (Rojas, 2008). This means that benchmarking allows construction firms to satisfy clients in terms of cost, time, safety, quality output, and high profitability. In addition, it helps both private and public construction organisations to measure business excellence and achieving best value in the construction industry (Kelly et al. 2009).

According to Walker and Alber (1999), each construction project is required to reduce project timeframe, reduce costs, and improve quality delivery. Supply chain management due to its holistic nature has the prospect to resolve such issues and challenges. Supply chain management is subject to several functional benefits due to integration of entire operations, resources, people, and processes. In addition, it helps the management to provide better service, reduce costs and paperwork, and effectively organise inventories (Ahmed et al. 2002). Stanford et al (1999) found that professionally managed supply chain relationships provide effective monitoring and control which usually result in low transaction costs.

Lean construction like sustainable construction and benchmarking helps construction participants to enhance performance and timely delivery of the project by eliminating waste from the entire construction process (Green, 2011). In construction context, the waste represents the disruption or intervention of factors that cause time/cost overruns. Egan (1998) in his paper Rethinking Construction highlights the importance of lean construction to: enhance performance, achieve higher returns, and continuous improvement.

2.7 Factors Hinder the Adoption of Project Management Practices

The literature study reveals several factors that hinder the adoption of Project Management (PM) practices in the construction projects. For example, Ogunlana et al (1996) from Thailand assert that the lack of top management devotion and varying owner requirements are the foremost factors that affect the decision making power of managers for adopting PM practices particularly lean construction and value management. According to Dissanayaka and Kumaraswamy (1999), environmental, economic, and social issues are common obstructing factors in achieving project success by applying PM practices. Chan and Kumaraswamy (2002) highlight five factors that narrow down the scope of project management activities in the construction industry in Hong Kong. They are: ineffective communication, modifications in project scope, social and cultural factors, conflict between construction parties, and inconsistency in client needs. Pheng and Chuan (2006) conducted their research on Asian construction industry perspective and consequently given importance to internal and external environmental factors to finish projects within the time limit and estimate budget. Ling and Bui (2010) from Vietnam reported five significant factors such as fear of change, intense conditions of accomplishing a project on time, too much bureaucracy, poor communication, and inadequate governance.

A lot of studies in the UK perspective appreciate the role of PM practices in achieving project success (Munns and Bjeirmi, 1996; Baker et al. 2008) but they also found some problematic factors having a slight impact on the adoption of modern PM practices in the construction industry. For instance, Munns and Bjeirmi (1996) identified top three factors hindering the success of project management activities. They are: change in projects scope, economic factors, and time factors. Baker et al (2008) also agreed with Munns and Bjeirmi (ibid) but they further added that construction participants sometimes avoid adopting recently evolved PM practices due to extreme pressure of project delivery time, and therefore they stick to use traditional practices. Similarly, Franke (2010) claims that environmental and economic issues are the prominent factors that hamper the implementation of PM practices in the UK construction industry to some extent.

Egan (1998) and Begg (2003) highlighted the fact that the judicial system of the UK sometimes restricts few inherent PM practices such as partnering. Egan (1998) emphasised the need of partnering and establishing long-term relationships in order to avoid time/cost overrun of the construction projects. Similarly, Costa et al (2006) claim that benchmarking in the context of PM practices is adopted by several UK construction firms but still the industry is lacking in some particular domains due to changes in scope of the project as well as changing client requirements.

On the other hand, several studies highlight the factors influencing the role of project management practices in Libya. For example, Tumi et al (2008) and Shebob et al (2012) emphasised the need of employing skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable workforce to practice different project management activities to avoid construction delays. Furthermore, they regarded bureaucracy as a key issue needs to be resolved to achieve underlying benefits of PM practices. It is found from the literature review that value management, benchmarking, and risk management are not properly practiced in Libya due to lack of knowledge about modern PM practices (Omran et al. 2008; Shebob et al. 2012). Moreover, fear of change, wrong person as project manager, and lack of top management commitment are also the influencing factors that hinder the proper implementation of PM practices in the Libyan construction industry (Tumi et al. 2009; Hammad et al. 2011).

Some project management practices such as supply chain management in Libyan construction industry are also not implemented properly and subject to several problems due to miscommunication between stakeholders (El Dubee and Hokoma, 2012) and as a result many construction projects are cost overrun. Similarly, Alsadey et al (2010) claim that the lack of top management commitment and lack of the latest knowledge and skills are hindering Libyan construction industry to adopt lean construction concept and value management which results in many structural problems in the buildings.

2.8 Summary

The chapter concludes that Libyan construction parties are not adopting latest project management practices such as procurement, risk management, value management, benchmarking, supply chain management, and lean construction for improving their performances on the basis of cost, time, and quality. As a result, they are experiencing delays and other construction risks. On the contrary, most of the UK construction parties take into account proper procurement, risk management, value management, sustainable construction, and supply chain management as best project management practices. However, benchmarking, lean construction, and partnering are practiced at the basic level and therefore disorganised.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology3.1 Introduction

In this chapter, research methodology of the research is discussed in detail which mainly includes research philosophy, research design, research methods, and overall research approach. Moreover, the method adopted for data collection and data analysis are also the major part of the discussion. The chapter concludes with the discussion on research ethics, data resources used, and limitations of the research.

3.2 Methodology of the Research

Generally, the research methodology of the research represents various tasks, methods, approaches, analyses, and philosophy employed by the researcher to complete a particular research. Inherently, it provides a systematic procedure of resolving research problems using different types of data collection and analytical techniques. The research methodology is a broad concept which addresses entire activities of the research but this concept is always mystified with research methods that only provide tools and technique to achieve research key objective (Taylor et al. 2006). Several models and frameworks have been developed in the past to represent activities of the research in social science disciplines but Saunders et al (2007) introduced a comprehensive framework namely research onion. In this framework, they divided research tasks into six essential steps as shown in figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1: Research Onion of the Dissertation

Source: Saunders et al. (2007 p.132)

3.3 Philosophy of the Research

Research philosophy helps the researcher to address key research questions by developing knowledge about the topic and understand the nature of that knowledge (Saunders et al. 2009). In this research, the researcher has chosen realist philosophical paradigm which is the combination of positivist and interpretivist paradigms. Table 3.1 illustrates a comparison between positivist and interpretivist philosophical approaches.

Table 3.1: Positivist vs. Interpretivist

Characteristics

Interpretivist

Positivist

Research approach

Inductive

Deductive

Research goals

Perceptive, strong arguments

Descriptive, valid arguments

Knowledge

Relative (social, value-bound)

Absolute (science, value-free)

Perception of reality

Socially constructed, manifold

Based on objectives, single or few

Researcher-subject relationship

Flexible, participative cooperative

Inflexible, rigid, uncooperative

Techniques/methods/ analysis

Case studies, document reviews, interviews

Laboratory & field experiments, statistical & content analysis, surveys

Ontology

Reality and researcher are separable

Reality and researcher are inseparable

Data type

Qualitative

Quantitative

Sources: Decrop (2006, p. 47) and Weber (2004, p. 4)

Realist paradigm is adopted because it contains the characteristics of both paradigms. Following a positivist paradigm, the researcher employed a survey technique to investigate key differences between the PM practices adopted by the UK and Libyan construction sectors. In this regard, the responses, comments, and contributions of the construction participants from both countries are collected, measured quantitatively, and analysed using various analytical tools. On the other hand, interpretivist approach is employed to identify which PM practices are currently employed by the construction companies to avoid problematic issues such as cost and time overruns. The adoption of realist paradigm helped the researcher to develop a set of recommendations for Libyan construction industry on how they can adopt PM practices currently undertaken in the developed countries particularly in the UK.

3.4 Research Design

Research design can be exploratory or descriptive. In this research, the researcher has adopted exploratory research design because the research problem is not properly answered in the past. Also, to avoid chronic issues of time and cost overruns in the Libyan construction industry, it is essential to address questions like how Libyan construction industry is different from the UK particularly in terms of project management practices. Another reason for adopting exploratory research design is to address underlying research questions in a precisely manner by exploring information about PM practices currently undertaken by Libyan and UK construction industries. For this purpose, extensive literature is reviewed and detailed survey is conducted. The idea of adopting descriptive research design is dropped because this research is not based on any known information or hypothesis; and also no laboratory or field experiment is required to prove any hypothesis (Richey and Klien, 2007).

3.5 Research Approach

The approach of this research can be described in two ways: qualitative vs. quantitative and deductive vs. inductive.

3.5.1 Qualitative vs. Quantitative

Fellows and Liu (2009) prefer a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches so-called triangulation to conduct research in the Construction Project Management (CPM) context. They believe that a study in CPM context requires subjective (or theoretical) as well as statistical interpretation and analysis. On the basis of the requirements of the research and also due to the nature of research questions, the researcher has chosen triangulation research approach. Another foremost reason for selecting a mixed approach is to gain the benefits of both approaches, and also to reduce the impact of controversy between them (Bryman, 2008).

The qualitative approach is chosen to develop knowledge surrounding key PM practices adopted by the UK and Libyan construction industries. In this regard, the differences between key PM practices of two countries are identified and expressed in words, facts, and evidences from the literature. On the other hand, the survey data are analysed quantitatively using various statistical techniques. The quantitative analysis helps the researcher to find out statistically significant differences between PM practices of the two nations. Furthermore, the results of quantitative analysis are also critical to provide recommendation how Libyan construction parties can adopt PM practices currently undertaken in the UK construction industry.

3.5.2 Deductive vs. Inductive

Deductive and inductive are the two research approaches in terms of reasoning. The researcher follows a deductive approach throughout this research because identifying key PM practices requires a top-down strategy to address research questions. This means that the research needs to be originated with more general concepts and summarised with precise ideas and conclusions (Bryman 2008). In this research, sufficient data is available on PM practices but no or little research has been conducted to explore the ways how developing countries can adopt these techniques adopted by the developed countries. This was another reason of preferring deducting approach as it is more descriptive and confident in drawing strong conclusions when a large amount of data is available (ibid).

During the survey, the researcher asked specific questions to the respondents about PM practices they use. This also refers to deductive learning where respondents are not required to discuss general themes of interest (Saunders et al 2009). Furthermore, in contrast to inductive approach, deductive approach allows comparisons or analysis in terms of a theoretical framework (ibid) which is the inherent part of this research to find differences between the practices adopted by the UK and Libyan construction industries.

3.6 Research Methods

The selection of appropriate research methods allows the researcher to effectively achieve core aim of the research. In this research, the researcher is not only aiming to develop knowledge, but his goal is also to highlight key problematic factors that hinder Libyan construction industry to adopt modern PM practices. Today, scientific and historical methods are the two commonly used research methods. Historical research method is employed in this study to gather data through online survey method and applying quantitative techniques to analyse and accomplish results (Fellows and Liu, 2009). Furthermore, the data is also collected from several authentic secondary sources such as books, journals, and internet where extensive care is taken to include reliable information from the internet. In contrast, scientific method is inappropriate for this study as this research is not based on testing hypothesis and drawing conclusions on the basis of laboratory or field tests (ibid).

The following process is followed by applying the historical research method in this study:

1. Identification of the research problem and establishing the need for certain knowledge

2. Collecting adequate and relevant information about the research problem to set a scene to form research questions

3. Careful consideration and verification of knowledge acquired from various sources

4. Analysing relevant information and results, and drawing of conclusions; and

5. Recording of results and conclusions in a significant manner

3.6.1 Methods used for Data Collection

Today, a combination of primary and secondary data collection methods is commonly used in most studies (Saunders et al. 2009). In this research, the researcher also used a mixture of both approaches to investigate which PM practices are adopted by Libya and UK construction industries. Also, to address to what extent PM practices used by Libyan construction industry are different as compared to practices utilised by UK construction industry. The discussion as follows justifies the researchers decision of choosing a combination of both methods of data collection.

3.6.1.1 Primary Data Collection Method

The primary data collection method refers to collecting first-hand data from people using various methods (Saunders et al. 2009). Due to lack of exact information about PM practices in the Libya and UK construction sectors, it was necessary to use primary data collection method using questionnaires. Therefore, the researcher used descriptive survey method using close-ended questionnaire to record the opinions of construction participants from both countries. A descriptive survey method helped the researcher to ascertain the experiences and perceptions of survey respondents, in a structured manner, about project management practices used in both countries. Similarly, the close-ended questionnaire is used because it is simple and quick to answer and also can be easily analysed using statistical techniques (Bryman 2008). The questionnaire was designed in two languages: in English for the UK participants; and in Arabic for Libyan respondents. An extensive care was taken to provide clear guidelines on how to fill the questionnaire. In addition, the participants were informed about the core aim and underlying questions of the research (Bryman and Bell 2007).

The questionnaire was structured in a significant manner by dividing it into three significant parts: (1) personal information including gender and experience; (2) general information about construction projects undertaken by the respondents; and (3) specific information about PM practices used by the respondents in carrying out construction projects. Due to quickly approaching submission deadline for this thesis, the questionnaire was distributed to 120 construction participants in Libya and UK through email. After sending the questionnaires, the researcher followed-up with many participants over the phone in order to receive maximum responses on time.

3.6.1.2 Secondary Data Collection Method

Secondary data collection method refers to collecting second-hand or processed information from various informative sources (Saunders et al. 2009). In this research, the secondary data is collected from a range of sources which include: project management books, construction management journals, construction-related news and case studies, and authentic internet sources. As unauthentic data and unreliable information may lead insufficient and wrong results (Bryman and Bell, 2007), so an extensive care was taken to collect data from secondary sources especially from the internet magazines, news, and articles.

3.6.3 Limitations of the Research Methods

As stated in section 3.6.1 that descriptive survey method using close-ended questionnaires is used to acquire primary data in this research. However, several limitations are associated with the questionnaire method when using in construction field. According to Singh (2001), questionnaires are inappropriate in construction especially when respondents are unknown and researcher is not aware of their actual experience, position, and skills of the respondents. Similarly, it is difficult to conduct and manage in-depth surveys using a questionnaire. Denscombe (2010) asserts that questionnaires can bias the findings towards the researchers rather than the respondents way of seeing things (p. 170).

In this study, questionnaires are sent through email to investigate PM practices used by construction participants in the UK and Libya. Few limitations applied to online questionnaires are as follows:

Based on just email addresses, it could be difficult to draw appropriate samples

Most of the experienced construction participants in Libya are not much familiar with computers, and occasionally they get technical problems while filling online questionnaire due to lack of information technology (IT) knowledge and skills

Lack of assistance for filling an online questionnaire can also lead less reliable data

Some limitations are also associated with secondary data in this research. For instance, lack of information on some PM practices (e.g. value management, benchmarking, and lean construction) employed by the Libyan construction industry.

3.6.3 Reliability and Validity of Data

In order to overcome above mentioned limitations, the questionnaire was designed in both English and Arabic languages and clear instructions were provided on how to fill the questionnaire. The researcher has working relationships with many professionals in the Libyan construction industry, so he emailed questionnaires to them for authentic and timely response. After sending the questionnaires, the researcher also contacted them over the phone to assist them if in case they are experiencing any problem in filling the questionnaire. Due to the above considerations, the probability and impact of research method limitations are mitigated to a great extent and lack of researchers support and subject accountability while filling online questionnaire cannot be questioned. Furthermore, Cronbachs Coefficient Alpha (C) test is performed on the data collected through survey in order to check the reliability of the data. The results of this test in section 4.3 demonstrate the reliability and validity of the primary data. On the other hand, to avoid issues of unreliability and incredibility of secondary data, the researcher collected secondary information from authentic sources such as project management and construction related books, journals, and newspapers.

3.7 Data Analysis

Data analysis step refers to systematically and critically investigating, presenting, organising, and interpreting key findings of the research to draw meaningful conclusions (Bryman and Bell, 2007). In this study, Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel are used to analyse primary data. SPSS program is used because it enables easy and simple procedure to conduct various statistical analyses. In this study, rank correlation analysis is performed using SPSS.

Rank correlation analysis is used to find correlation between the rankings of different factors according to the survey participants from both countries (Black, 2009). The rank correlation is calculated using Spearmans formula (ibid) stated below:

On the other hand, Microsoft Excel is used to exhibit data/information graphically using stylish tables, charts, and graphs. Furthermore, three important questions are included in the questionnaire where respondents are asked to rate each option using a Likert scale. The answers of the respondents are ranked using Relative Index (RI) formula stated below:

Where, nx = number of respondents marked option x. Table 3.2 illustrates the ranking criteria for RI formula

Table 3.2: Ranking criteria

X

N

Ranking

5. Very important

30

1.0

4. Important

47

0.8

3. Somewhat important

20

0.6

2. Not important

15

0.4

1. Neutral

8

0.2

120

RI Calculation,

R.I. = [1(8) + 2(15) + 3(20) + 4(47) + 5(30)] / 120(5)

= 436 / 600 = 0.73 (important)

Sources: Sambasivan and Soon (2006) and Doloi et al. (2011)

The research methods, research approach, and data collection methods adopted in this study are presented graphically in figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2: Triangulation research approach

3.8 Sample and Population of the Study

The population of the study is mainly based on construction participants (e.g. owners, contractors, consultants, project managers, engineers) from Libyan and UK construction sectors having at least 7 years of practical experience. The construction participants particularly contractors were selected who are usually involved in public building constructions. The participants from construction industries are chosen because they are incessantly involved in the process of all construction phases. Therefore, they are well aware of the PM practices utilised in construction sectors of both countries.

The email addresses of Libyan construction participants were acquired from two sources: (1) using personal relations (2) from the website http://www.libyabusiness.com. The researcher has more than 5 years experience of working with construction professionals in Libya, so he used his personal relations to acquire email addresses of most of the construction participants and asked them to fill the questionnaire with their best knowledge and experience. Some email addresses of engineers and project managers were acquired from libyabusiness.com website. On the other hand, most of the email addresses of UK construction participants were obtained from foreign partners working in Libya. In addition, Yell.com and Europages.co.uk websites helped the researcher to contact UK professionals through their email addresses.

The selection of Libya and UK construction industries is also based on some reasons. Libya as an example of a developing country is selected because the country is facing many problems in finishing construction projects on time and within the estimated budget. Most of the problems are evident due to lack of modern PM practices. On the other hand, UK as a developed country is selected because UK construction companies are popular worldwide in employing latest PM practices. This will consequently help the researcher to formulate a set of recommendations for Libyan construction industry on how latest PM practices can be adopted in an effective manner.

3.8.1 Sample Size Determination

According to Dattalo (2008), sample size can be determined by selecting the number of observations to include in a statistical sample. He described the following formula for choosing sample size.

N =

Z2 P(1 P)

C2

Where

N = Sample size required

Z = Confidence level

P = Estimated prevalence of malnutrition

C = Confidence interval

Sample size calculation:

Z = 1.96 (1.96 is the standard value of 95% confidence interval)

P = 0.05 (1-0.95)

C = 0.09(9% margin of error)

N = = 118.57 119

3.9 Resources Used

In this research, three significant resources are used respectively: information technology resources, human resources, and monetary resources (Larson 2007). The information technology resources refer to the use of computer for accessing journals and e-books. Also, data analysis and interpretation, thesis writing, and other online activities are performed using computers. The human resources include all construction participants who participated in the survey by providing their useful opinions. Also, the researcher gained benefits from useful tips and guidelines of supervisor, university staff, professors, and seniors. Finally, monetary resources include little stationary and printing charges. Throughout this research, the university assisted the researcher in providing many important resources for conducting this research. For example, books in the library, access to journal databases, internet facility, and timely guidance and support.

3.10 Research Ethics

Research ethics are very important to conduct any research particularly in the academic domain (Fellows and Liu 2009). Throughout this research, the researcher has adopted all necessary precautions in terms of research ethics. Following are some ethical considerations undertaken by the researcher.

A sincere attempt is made to obtain correct and meaningful qualitative and quantitative data from authentic sources especially from construction journals and construction participants from the UK and Libya

The respondents were informed about the purpose of the research by outlining the aim of the research

The questionnaire was designed in Arabic for Libyan participants, and in English for UK respondents

The researcher followed-up participants to get maximum responses but nobody was forced to contribute to the study

Finally following the data protection regulations, no personal or general information is revealed while presenting and interpreting the results

3.11 Research Limitations

The current research has two limitations:

1. Time was a limiting factor because the construction industry is one of the huge industries where construction participants are very busy in meeting the schedule. So, normally they do not have time to fill questionnaires. As a result, the researcher found it extremely hard to follow-up participants for getting maximum questionnaires back on time. But due to personal relations in the Libyan construction industry, the researcher was successful in obtaining appropriate responses on time.

2. The findings and conclusion of this research are derived from the answers, opinions, experiences, and observations of construction participants from both countries. However, it is believed that human observations and perceptions about a reality are not always same in social science disciplines (Dahms and Hazelrigg, 2010)

3. Some evitable limitations associated with statistical analytical techniques can also affect the results to some extent

3.12 Summary of the Chapter

In this research, the researcher has chosen realist philosophical paradigm to investigate key differences between PM practices adopted by the UK and Libyan construction sectors. The exploratory research design is adopted to effectively address chronic issues of time and cost overruns in the Libyan construction industry by finding the answers of each research question in this study. The researcher adopted triangulation research approach for two purposes: to develop knowledge surrounding key PM practices used by the UK and Libyan construction industries; and also to analyse data quantitatively using statistical techniques.

Survey method using online questionnaires is used to gather primary data about PM practices employed by construction industries in the UK and Libya. Relative Index, descriptive analysis, correlation, and reliability analysis are conducted to analyse primary data. The flowchart in figure 3.3 shows an entire research process.

Figure 3.3: Research process

Chapter 4: Results and Analysis4.1 Introduction

This chapter contains the results and analysis of the survey data to achieve research aim. The data is analysed quantitatively using various statistical and mathematical techniques such as Relative Index (RI), rank correlation, and data reliability analysis. The collected data is organised in frequency tables given in appendix B.

4.2 Description of Acquired Data

The primary data was obtained through descriptive survey using close-ended questionnaires. The main purpose of investigating public opinions was to find key differences and similarities between PM practices used in Libya and UK. In this regard, 60 questionnaires were emailed to the construction professional of each country. Figure 4.1 shows that the researcher received total 69 questionnaires back: 26 from the UK and 43 from Libya. Table 4.1 exhibits demographics of the respondents where all 69 respondents were males from both countries. The table also shows that most of the survey participants have more than 10 years experience.

Figure 4.1: Survey respondents

Table 4.1 Respondents demographics

Gender

Experience

Male

Female

< 10Y

> 10Y

UK

26

0

5

21

Libya

43

0

8

35

4.3 Data Reliability Test

The data reliability test was performed by calculating Cronbachs Coefficient Alpha (C) through SPSS. The following test criteria designed by Doloi (2009) was used to determine whether the data is reliable.

C>0.9

Excellent

0.9>C>0.8

Good

0.8>C>0.7

Acceptable

0.7>C>0.6

Questionable

0.6>C>0.5

Poor

C