The management of public sector construction projects in Kenya : a systems and contingency approach
Abstract
This report sets out to explore the possibility of extending systems and
contingency theory of organization into the management of construction
process for a public sector building project in Kenya with a view to
identifying a theoretical framework which can be used to explore the
patterns of relationships which exist between project participants.
A review of the evolution of conventional project organization
procedures and of the related literature on project management reveals
that project management in the UK has developed from the Master Mason of
the Middle Ages to the designer-lead project team of today. Problems of
uncertainties in the growing complexities of the construction industry
has lead to a review of these procedures culminating in a succession of
official industry's reports on topics of project organization.
In Kenya the conventional procedures are said to have origins In the
UK practice and to have remained substantially unchanged amidst growing
specialization and differentiation of skills in building process. These
procedures have received criticism, from the industry, for their
inappropriateness.
The usefulness of systems and contingency approach to problems of
building process is demonstrated. By examining application of some of
the systems/contingency concepts in construction process the importance
of the approach, which lies in its advocacy of view of the process as a
"whole system", is illustrated.
Citation
M.ASponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
University of Nairobi Department of Building Economics and Management