Ethical and unethical behaviour of built environment professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry

Kuoribo, Ewald; Owusu‐Manu, De‐Graft; Yomoah, Roland; Debrah, Caleb; Acheampong, Alex; Edwards, David John

doi:10.1108/jedt-02-2021-0108

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Future built environment practitioners (FBEP) are not excluded. They are the future construction professionals whose performance matters in the built environment (Kuoribo et al , 2021). The key FBEP for this study are engineers, quantity surveyors, architects, estate valuers, construction/project managers, builders, surveyors and planners.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generic skills of future built environment practitioners in South Africa: unexplored mechanism via students’ perception

Ebekozien

Aigbavboa

Aliu

et al. 2022

JEDT

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Purpose Researchers and policymakers have given attention to generic skills development in higher institutions. One of the intentions is to broaden graduate employability with generic skills. In South Africa, there is a paucity of research concerning future built environment practitioners’ (FBEP) generic skills development from the students’ perspective. Thus, this paper aims to investigate South Africa’s FBEP generic skills and suggest feasible solutions to improve FBEP generic skills from the students’ perception. Design/methodology/approach The researchers collated the views of FBEP via a phenomenology type of qualitative research design. It covered selected South African public universities and investigated the discourses that underpin “perceived hindrance” in developing generic skills for FBEP. Selected 30 FBEP were engaged in the virtual interviews across three public universities. Data saturation was achieved. Three themes emerged and were analysed through a thematic analysis. Findings Findings show that FBEP generic skills development will enhance integrated productivity and higher value for money in construction project delivery. But developing these skills demands a holistic approach. Findings have raised concern with the perceived hindrances facing FBEP in developing generic skills. Findings suggest the need to revisit and revamp the curricula to develop these skills and strengthen policies that will “nip” possible hindrances. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to South Africa’s FBEP generic skills from students’ perception. In line with the limited resources, three public universities were covered from the selected provinces in South Africa. Future research with a more diverse sample is needed to ensure a better representative and generalisation of findings. Practical implications Findings show that apart from academic knowledge system thinking skills, civic responsibility skills and critical thinking skills are germane for intending construction industry professionals. Others are integrated teamwork skills, good attitude and communication skills, entrepreneurship skills and resources management skills. Findings from this paper may stir up the education sector’s stakeholders to revamp the curricula in enhancing these skills among students from the basic to higher institutions. The outcome will improve productivity in the construction industry. Originality/value Although few scholars have discussed generic skills in the built environment, there are limited studies from the students’ context in developing countries, a South Africa case study, a gap this research aims to fill. Also, it proffers ways to mitigate perceived hindrances facing FBEP in developing generic skills.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generic skills of future built environment practitioners in South Africa: unexplored mechanism via students’ perception

Ebekozien

Aigbavboa

Aliu

et al. 2022

JEDT

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show abstract

“…It is an enhancer of economic growth, especially in developing nations. The performance of the built environment is governed by construction professionals (Kuoribo et al , 2021). The level of skills acquired matters in this respect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An appraisal of generic skills for Nigerian built environment professionals in workplace: the unexplored approach

Ebekozien

Aigbavboa

Thwala

et al. 2021

JEDT

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Purpose Research shows that employers are demanding generic skills from employees to complement disciplinary expertise. Evidence shows that majority of the higher institutions are struggling to meet this demand, especially in developing nations. Hence, these skills may be acquired while in the workplace through training and retraining. Studies concerning the Nigerian built environment professionals (BEP) generic skills in the workplace are scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate Nigeria’s BEP generic skills in the workplace via an unexplored mechanism and proffer feasible policy solutions that can improve BEP generic skills development. Design/methodology/approach The views of BEP were collated via a phenomenology type of qualitative research design across two major Nigerian cities where construction activities are soaring. Virtual interviews were conducted for 20 selected BEP. Data saturation was accomplished and the emerged three themes were analysed through a thematic analysis. Findings Findings show that generic skills enhance value for money in construction project delivery. But many of these professionals do not possess these skills in their daily operations. This has raised concerns about the present curriculum for preparing the built environment graduates in today’s profession. Findings categorised the hindrances into employers related-hindrances and employees related-hindrances in Nigeria’s BEP context. Research limitations/implications This study is confined to the relevance and hindrances of the generic skills for Nigerian BEP, and proffer feasible policies to promote generic skills in the workplace via a qualitative approach. Future study is needed to investigate the role of the various professional Institutes within Nigeria’s built environment in promoting generic skills. Practical implications The paper advanced key stakeholders including BEP Institutes and regulatory bodies to redirect their continuing professional development towards developing professional values and identities as a trajectory to promote the growth of BEP generic skills in the workplace. Originality/value The proposed framework can be used to promote the implementation of generic skills for BEP across all levels. This would assist and stir up policymakers and other stakeholders in connection with the implementation of generic skills within the BEP.

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“…Specifically, respondents were asked to rate each variable on a Likert scale, on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1: strongly disagree to 5: strongly agree). A reliability test was carried out to check the internal consistency of variables using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient – an approach consistent with existing literature (Kumar, 2011;Tavakol and Dennick, 2011; Taber, 2018; Kuoribo et al , 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing the effect of multicultural workforce/teams on construction productivity

Kuoribo,

Amoah,

Kissi

et al. 2022

JEDT

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Purpose Prodigious teamwork is the basis for augmenting the level of productivity on construction projects. Globalisation of the construction market has meant that many practitioners work outside of their geographical spectrum; however, the multicultural dissimilarities of construction workforces within the project management team (and how these may impact upon project productivity performance) have been given scant academic attention. To bridge this knowledge gap, this paper aims to analyse the effects of a multicultural workforce on construction productivity. Design/methodology/approach The epistemological positioning of the research adopted mixed philosophies (consisting of both interpretivism and postpositivism) to undertake a deductive and cross-sectional survey to collate primary quantitative data collected via a closed-ended structured questionnaire. Census sampling and convenience sampling techniques were adopted to target Ghana’s construction workforce and their opinions of the phenomenon under investigation. Out of 96 questionnaires administered, 61 were retrieved. The data obtained were analysed by using mean score ranking, relative important index, one sample t-test and multiple regression. The reliability of the scale was checked by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Findings From the t-test analysis, 11 variables sourced from extant literature, and the null hypothesis for the study was not rejected and all factors (except high cost of training and improper gender diversity management) were affirmed as negative effects of the multicultural workforce on construction productivity. Using multiple regression analysis, six of the independent variables were shown to impact upon productivity. The goodness of fit was verified by collinearity and residual analysis. The model’s validation revealed a relatively high predictive accuracy (R2 = 0. 589), implying that the results could be generalized. In culmination, these findings suggest that the predictors can be used to accurately predict the effects of multicultural workforce on construction productivity performance. Practical implications The findings indicate that multicultural workforce/teams have a substantial effect on overall construction productivity in the construction sector; consequently, stakeholders must address this issue to enhance productivity across the sector. Originality/value The current study significantly contributes to our understanding of how multicultural workers/teams affect construction productivity in the construction business perspective and how to respond to the negative menace.

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Ethical and unethical behaviour of built environment professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry

Cited by 12 publications

References 79 publications

Generic skills of future built environment practitioners in South Africa: unexplored mechanism via students’ perception

Generic skills of future built environment practitioners in South Africa: unexplored mechanism via students’ perception

An appraisal of generic skills for Nigerian built environment professionals in workplace: the unexplored approach

Analysing the effect of multicultural workforce/teams on construction productivity

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