Is the Culture or Unstable Procurement System Causing Nonperforming Projects?

Is the Culture or Unstable Procurement System Causing Nonperforming Projects?

By Dean Kashiwagi, Jacob Kashiwagi, Pasis Mselle, Aderemi Adeyemi

May 2011

Abstract A research group at the University of Botswana has been investigating how culture and construction delivery system stability affect the Botswana construction industry performance. The government of Botswana is attempting to increase the Construction performance and sustainability of the Botswana construction Industry in an environment of local contractors who do not seem to have the expertise and experience. Currently, the Botswana industry is heavily dependent on foreign contractors. The researchers are trying to identify if the problem is the underdeveloped industry and Botswana culture, or potentially the combination of culture and unstable delivery system, and can a stable delivery system raise the performance of Botswana contractors. The two potential areas of interest are the country culture, and the project delivery/management model. The authors are using deductive logic, logical and simplistic models, and dominant or extreme information to minimizing the need to get into a long drawn out study of details which may be difficult to obtain and not necessarily solve the issue. The objective of the paper is to identify the best method to increase the performance of the construction industry, addressing both the cultural and delivery system problems. The preliminary measurement of the success of the solution is the acceptance of the concepts by major users in Botswana. This paper will propose the potential solution, which will be tested starting January 2011. If this solution is valid, it has a tremendous potential in underdeveloped countries.