Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on indigenous contractors in a developing economy

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on indigenous contractors in a developing economy with a view to enhancing their performance. Design/methodology/approach The study used a purposive sampling technique to select 37 indigenous contractors with ongoing construction contracts in Osun State, Nigeria who provided data for the study. A structured interview protocol was used to elicit the required information from the interviewees and frequency, percentage and content analysis were used for data analysis. Findings The results showed that the critical impact of COVID-19 on indigenous contractors in a developing economy is: time overrun, loss of profit and creation of dispute. Further results showed that other impacts are a disruption in supply of labour, locally sourced materials are with additional cost, the additional cost of implementing COVID-19 protocols, difficulty in sourcing imported materials and absence of new jobs with the corresponding retrenchment of workers. Practical implications The study recommended special palliatives for the indigenous contractors from the government so as to cushion the impact of the pandemic on them, thereby enhance their survival and performance. A special arbitration panel is set up in each state of the federation to look at disputes arising from the aftermath of the pandemic, this is with a view to adequately compensate indigenous contractors with genuine and properly compiled claims. inferring from the findings of the study, it suffices to say that the severity of the impact of the pandemic is very high on indigenous contractors in developing economies, as such a better preparedness strategy could lessen the impact of such pandemic in the future. Originality/value The study is an attempt to unearth the impact of COVID-19 on indigenous contractors with ongoing construction contracts in a developing economy. The study will be of value to construction stakeholders in providing the information needed to devise strategies to minimise the impact of a pandemic on indigenous contractors in future projects thereby enhance their performance.

Examination of survival strategies of quantity surveying firms amid COVID-19 pandemic disruption in Lagos State, Nigeria

“…The last step was interpretation and reporting results: In this step, the data were transformed into meaningful sets of findings and all categories emerged into a complete analysis of the issues. Olatunde et al (2022) and Olatunde and Fawale (2020) followed the same approach of content analysis. The main themes resulting from the content analysis of responses of the informants are discussed below.…”

“…In general, SMEs are highly affected by the disruptions caused by COVID-19 and in particular SMEs in the construction sector (Alara, 2021;Baker and Judge, 2020;Kukoyi et al, 2022;Mahmoud et al, 2021;Olatunde et al, 2022;Omobowale et al, 2020). Singh et al (2022) has labeled SMEs as the most affected by the persistent COVID-19 pandemic due to their limited financial resources and vulnerability to depend on banks for financing, as well as their lack of ability to deal with unexpected situations.…”

“…The impact of COVID-19 disruptions on individuals, businesses, national economy and, more especially, on the way social and business interaction takes place has been enormous (Olatunde et al. , 2022; Nair, 2022).…”

“…The impact of COVID-19 disruptions on individuals, businesses, national economy and, more especially, on the way social and business interaction takes place has been enormous (Olatunde et al, 2022;Nair, 2022). Research has shown that the impacts on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are greater compared to large multinational companies (De Massis and Rondi, 2020;Ofori-Boateng et al, 2022;Nair, 2022).…”

Guest editorial

“…Similar to reports from Africa, these challenges hindered the realisation of expected project performance. Olatunde et al (2021) flagged the plight of small contractors in the COVID era again. They noted that indigenous contractors encountered time overrun, profit loss, and disputes, exposing them to financial ruin.…”