The Role of QMS Implementation on Construction Project Performance: The case of Grade One General Contractors in Addis Ababa
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Date
2018-12-28
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
construction industry plays a significant role in the economy of developing countries although it is struggling from different challenges. The Ethiopian construction industry shares many of the problems and challenges the industry is facing in other developing countries. One of the many challenges of the industry is quality management as stated by different scholars. Quality is the most significant factor in the success of construction projects. Contractors are one of the key players in the industry and previous studies indicate that they have received benefits of quality and increased their productivity after implementing a Quality Management System (QMS). Therefore, there arose the need to know whether it is able to improve project performance so that the benefit and effectiveness of the QMS can be measured with project management theory. This research is conducted to assess the role of QMS implementation on the performance of construction projects by Grade One General Contractors in Addis Ababa. It is descriptive and qualitative in kind. Interview is used as an instrument of data collection. The research analysis shows how effective a QMS is on the project time, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction parameters of construction projects of Grade One General Contractors. Qualitative analysis is used to describe the benefits of implementing QMS, the fulfillment of the eight principles of QMS, and its effectiveness on time, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction parameters of the contractors’ projects. The finding of the research elaborates that QMS is more effective on external factors (customer satisfaction) than on internal factors (time, cost, quality) of the contractors’ construction projects. It is found that International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification can enhance the reputation of an organization and image of quality to attract customers, and that QMS implementation is an effective technique to achieve documentation and traceability for GCI construction companies. The finding also revealed that QMS is not implemented to its fullest potential by the contractors once after they have been certified. The contractors could achieve maximum benefits by fully implementing the eight major QMS principles and also ensure continuous improvement
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Construction projects, Customer satisfaction, Grade one general contractors, Project performance