The Ethical Concerns of a Construction Industry in an Ever Changing World

This dissertation addresses the ethical concerns faced by the construction industry and the factors leading to negligence. It provides recommendations to implement ethical standards and practices to ensure safety and avoid unethical behavior.

Running head: DISSERTATION
The ethical concerns of a construction industry in an ever
changing world
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Acknowledgements
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this
study. I am indebted to my supervisor ……………………. whose guidance, advice and
patience have been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the……………
[Mention your university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous
support have made this thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local
Education Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation,
this research would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them,
whose research work helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or
completed! Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

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Abstract
The following work is based on the ethics in construction industry and the effect
that can happen on their negligence. The work has addressed the different concerns
faced by the workers of the industry and has also addressed the different factors that
leads the companies to such negligence. The researcher has selected the secondary
research methods to complete his study as the earlier sources of work that were done
by the other researchers were considered to evaluate the particular case. Another main
reason for the selection of the secondary research method was the lack of adequate
time to conduct the primary research procedures like survey, online questionnaire
surveys, semi structured and structured interviews. The researcher has provided
different themes based on the construction industry which has provided the political,
social and other different considerations for the same. The concluding part of the
research has is quite different from the other researches as because the researcher has
provided a number of recommendations as well as a reflective part which mentions
about the experience of the researcher on the following issue.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction......................................................................................................8
Introduction........................................................................................................................8
Background of the Research...........................................................................................10
Rationale of the Research...............................................................................................11
Definition of Ethics...........................................................................................................13
Research Aim..................................................................................................................14
Research Objectives........................................................................................................14
Research Questions........................................................................................................14
Significance of the Research...........................................................................................15
Structure of the Dissertation............................................................................................16
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................16
Chapter 2: Literature Review...........................................................................................17
Chapter 3: Research Methodology..................................................................................17
Chapter 4: Data Analysis.................................................................................................17
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation.................................................................17
Summary..........................................................................................................................18
Chapter 2: Literature review............................................................................................19
Introduction......................................................................................................................19

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Business ethics................................................................................................................20
Code of conducts and ethical principles..........................................................................20
Unethical behavior in construction industry.....................................................................22
Overview of ethics in construction industry.....................................................................23
Professional ethics...........................................................................................................25
Ethics in construction industry.........................................................................................26
The increasing need of construction ethics.....................................................................28
Personal ethics................................................................................................................29
Ethics of the contractors in terms of safety and change orders......................................29
Summary..........................................................................................................................30
Chapter 3: Research Methodology..................................................................................31
Introduction......................................................................................................................31
Research Outline.............................................................................................................32
Research Philosophy.......................................................................................................33
Positivism.........................................................................................................................33
Interpretivism...................................................................................................................34
Realism............................................................................................................................34
Pragmatism......................................................................................................................35
Justification for using interpretivism philosophy..............................................................35
Research approach.........................................................................................................36

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Inductive...........................................................................................................................36
Deductive.........................................................................................................................36
Justification for using deductive approach......................................................................37
Research Design.............................................................................................................38
Explanatory......................................................................................................................38
Exploratory.......................................................................................................................38
Descriptive.......................................................................................................................39
Justification for using descriptive research design..........................................................39
Research Strategy...........................................................................................................39
Justification for using case study strategy.......................................................................40
Data collection technique................................................................................................40
Justification for using secondary data collection technique............................................41
Data analysis process......................................................................................................41
Justification for using qualitative analysis........................................................................42
Ethical Considerations.....................................................................................................42
Research Limitations.......................................................................................................43
Summary..........................................................................................................................43
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Findings...........................................................................44
Introduction......................................................................................................................44
Theme 1-Social, Economic and Political Impact of Ethics in Construction Industry……45

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Theme 2: Social Responsibilities of Construction Companies……………………………47
Theme 3: Example of Ethics in different Nations of the world…………………………….49
Theme 4: Challenges faced by Construction Companies………………………………...50
Theme 5: Professional Ethics in the Construction Industry……………………………….55
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations.............................................................56
Conclusions.....................................................................................................................56
Recommendations...........................................................................................................58
Reflections.......................................................................................................................59
References and Bibliography..........................................................................................60

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Chapter 1: Introduction
Introduction
In view of the size and the globalization of the world, construction industry has
often been cited as plagued with different graft and malpractices. The most common
issues that comes to the forefront are the tendering practice, sub standard quality of
material, lack of proper knowledge on safety, avoidance of safety measures, payment
problems, corruption from lower level to upper level and other such similar problems
has been a case of intense pain for the construction industry worldwide. Construction
industry is one of the most important industries that is said to be the infrastructure of the
business practices of the world (Mok, Shen and Yang 2015). In the recent past there
are many reported cases involving building collapse, bridge collapse, damage and
improper planning has led to the loss of lives and acted as a barrier to the economic
progress. This has happened mainly due to the shortcuts of the contractors, negligence
of the contractors, lack of proper supervision, absence of involvement by the superiors
of the company and many more as such. Therefore the lack of ethics harms the
construction industry. Ethics can be defined as the system of different moral principles
by which human actions and proposals may be judged good or bad, or right or wrong,
the rules of conduct recognized in the following respect of a particular class of human
actions and the moral principles that are followed by an individual. A company operating
in the modern market is always judged by the reputation it earns in the market and a
bad reputation can cause severe damage to the operations of the business.

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Ethics can be used to determine what is right for the particular situation and then
determining the particular set of actions that are absolutely right for the business. Ethics
has three different types of directives that include loyalty, responsibility and honesty.
The presence of all the three directives ensures the proper implementation of ethics in
the industry. The construction companies of the world must acquire and keep loyal
customers just like the other industrial sectors. Their ability to acquire and retain the
customers is directly related to how the customers see the ethical standards of the
management as well as the employees (Mok, Shen and Yang 2015). The construction
industry is considered to be one of the most vulnerable than all the other sectors of the
industry in the market. The industry is for example the most corrupted among all the
other sectors of the industry. Another important consideration involved with the ethical
area of the following company is the environmental threat that it possesses. It is known
that damage to the environment is not acceptable in the modern days and construction
industry is no separate from such rules. Therefore it is important for the construction
industry to manage the ethical principles accordingly.

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Background of the Research
Ethics has become one of the most important parts of the research. The ethical
and the moral issues of the construction industry has become one of the most key and
important moral issues in the construction industry. There are lots of modern
organizations in the present that deals with the ethical issues and believes them to be a
part of their organization culture. The main operators of the following problems are the
young operators of the companies. The companies have decided on a number of
different steps to increase the scope and benefits of the employees. However there are
many different ethical problems that need to be solved by the industry (Mok, Shen and
Yang 2015). These issues are mainly the ethical issues that go unaddressed most of
the times. The supervisors in charge of the projects always have the aim to provide an
ethical environment for the employees. As mentioned earlier the particular sector is
considered to be one of the most vulnerable than the other sectors of the modern
industry. Corruption is among the biggest cause for such vulnerability. Other causes of
vulnerability includes different accidents which leads to fatalities and injuries, gender
biasness, environmental threats, social and racial threats and many other different such
factors. It is quite clear that the ethics in the construction industry is one of the growing
fields that is perceived by the organization that the industry terms as key to the
sustainability of the business. There are many people within the industry who likes to
pay attention to the ethical and moral problems within the industry. The addressing of
the ethical issues and the different factors that leads to the ethical issues regarding the
construction industries of the world.

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Rationale of the Research
The construction industry as mentioned earlier has a poor reputation amongst all
the other industries in the market. This happens due to a variety of reasons like
corruption, use of poor quality materials and absence of standard safety requirements.
The following is not just limited to developing countries but also occurs in countries that
are already developed like the UK, the USA and many more such countries (Mok, Shen
and Yang 2015). The relationship between business and ethics is entwined intrinsically.
It is proved that the business organizations that exhibit strong corporate code of ethics
and responsibilities according to the different rules and regulations are more prone to
long run. Whereas the companies that hardly follow any such ethics or rule fails to attain
sustainability. The particular industry provides a number of different ways to get rid of
the unethical issues of the industry and follow the exact rules by adhering to a code of
conduct set by a number of different professional organizations to benefit their own
interest. It is important to implement the change within the whole industry. However the
key to its success lies in the need for change at the most basic level to bring a much
needed relief or change to the current situation. In this way the construction industry can
be ethical and will not do much to change the following situation. The implementation of
such different kinds of change will be ethical similar to the people who are a part of the
following industry. The rationale for the following research is that it not only deals with
just ethics but also the different personal ethics of the employees who are involved in
the industry.

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The ethics are described as personal as because it is totally different from that of
the business and professional ethics. The personal ethics in the construction industry
are referred to as the particular ways of moral principles through which the human
attempts and behaviors are termed as good or bad and right or wrong. On the other
hand professional ethics are said to be the behavior that is expected from the individual
of the industry or a particular group lying within the sector bound by a particular set of
attitudes, principles or the ways by which the profession is operated. The most
important part of the research is the use of different examples from different parts of the
world has helped to increase the scope of the particular project. The main topic of the
research will shed light on the impact of unethical behavior on the construction industry
and will also highlight the importance of implementing ethics to remove any obstacles
and bring in fresh air for the organization.

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Definition of Ethics
The proper and effective review of the human activities that presumes to
recommend or to prescribe behavior on how to performs a particular operation in a
much better way or to achieve creativity and to innovate new ideas for accomplishing a
particular work is termed as ethics. As mentioned earlier ethics can help to determine
what is right and what is wrong (Mok, Shen and Yang 2015). The existence of ethics
within the industry can be identified by the existence of responsibility within the
organization. Employees of the company face ethical dilemmas in different ways and
thus it is important for the management of the organization to implement different types
of ethical features within the Company to avoid different complex situations. The
presence of ethics also helps in a number of different factors that includes;

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Respect for the employees- The employees often work in terrible conditions within the
construction industry and in most of the cases are involved in high risk jobs. Therefore it
is important for the management of the organizations to have respect for them as
respecting them will make them happy and they can perform up to the expectations of
the organizations.
Providing benefits to the employees- The management of the organizations must
provide proper benefits to the employees to help them lead a better life and also help
them to earn incentives. Providing the people with benefits can make them dedicated to
their work.
Providing healthcare benefits- The management of the construction industries can
provide different healthcare facilities for the employees to protect them from any
unwanted incidents.
Research Aim
The aim of the research is to identify and address the issues that are faced by
the construction industry in implementing a set of ethical standards. The negligence of
the construction companies to follow the ethics and the reasons behind such negligence
have been discussed in this particular research.

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Research Objectives
The main objectives of the following research is to highlight the ethical cases
within the construction industry and also investigate and identify the necessary factors
that are needed to work in coordination to achieve the best results for ethical actions.
The following research also aims to identify the main ways that are needed to promote
the ethical issues within the different construction industries and the main ways of
promoting the safety and integrity features within the organization.
Research Questions
Research questions are one of the most integral part of every research. The
research questions help the readers to get an idea about the main topics of the
research or what does the research aims to address. It also helps the readers to get a
preliminary idea about what will be provided in the following research. The research
questions that arise in the following research are;
1. What is ethics? What are the ethics in the construction industry?
2. Do the construction companies follow the ethics?
3. Do the ethics followed in the developed countries similar to that followed in the
developing countries or are they different?
4. If the ethics followed by the construction companies in developed countries are
different then what are the reasons for such a difference?

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Significance of the Research
The following research is based on the construction industries of the world and
the issues faced by them in the constantly changing world. The research is significant
as it throws light on the dark side of the construction industries. The following work is
based on the avoidance of ethics by the construction industries in the developed as well
as the developing countries of the world. However special significance has been put on
the developing countries as because the construction companies generally have the
tendency to avoid

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Structure of the Dissertation
The following research consists of five different chapters. This includes the
introductory part, literature review, research methodology, analysis of the data,
conclusion and recommendations.
Chapter 1: Introduction
The introduction chapter is the beginning of the following dissertation. The
following chapter introduces the readers with the topic of the research which is the
ethics in the construction industry. It also provides a brief butt solid background of the
research topic along with the rationale of the research and the purpose of carrying out
such a unique research. The researcher has also provided the aims and objectives of
the research which helps the readers to identify the direction where the research heads.
The researcher also provides the different research questions based on the particular
research topic.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
The following chapter includes the different theories and concepts with respect to
the topic provided in the research. This particular chapter that discusses the different
concepts and theories helps to identify the dependent and independent variables of the
research. The particular chapter is constructed with the help of different resources such
as books, journals, earlier researches and earlier resources.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
In the following chapter, the researcher has stated the different methodological
approaches, philosophies and tools that were used to develop a deeper understanding
of the research. In addition to it the researcher also justifies the selection and the use of
the particular methodological tools for the completion of the research in a proper and
effective manner.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis
The following chapter includes the data analysis of the earlier researches that
were considered for the research. The following research used appropriate methods to
collect data from different earlier researches and other resources.

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Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation
In this particular chapter the researcher deduces the conclusion of the overall
research work and provides a number of different recommendations that are based on
the identified problems for improving the current state of matters.
Summary
Thus in this chapter it can be concluded that the ethics in construction industry
has a long term effect. The avoidance or negligence in ethical matters can lead to
destruction which in turn will lead to the fall of the industry. The construction industry is
one of the most basic industries among the long list of modern industries operating in
the present times and thus each and every company associated with it must follow the
set of guidelines to avoid any unnecessary complexions that may arise from such
negligence. But unfortunately most of the companies do not follow the basic rules and
thus they fail to address different ethical issues like the safety of the workers, providing
proper benefits to the workers, avoiding corruption, finishing the work on time and many
others as such. The most important part of the following topic is that this is a unique
topic as the subject though of great importance had been hardly chosen by any of the
researchers. The following research has tried to address the limitations of the readers
on the particular topic. The researcher has used the secondary research articles to
carry on his research. The secondary researches were of great help for the following
study.

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The first chapter thus provides the readers with a brief but strong knowledge
about ethics in the construction industry and the approach of the companies towards the
same. It must be noticed that the researcher has strongly described about the immense
role of ethics in the construction industry and has also mentioned the casual approach
of the different construction companies towards applying ethics in the industry. The
emphasis on ethics thus highlights the importance of the following in maintaining a
smooth operation within the industry. The introductory chapter thus helps the readers to
gain a proper knowledge about the topic and the aims of the following research.
Chapter 2: Literature review
Introduction
The individuals who are working in construction industry, for them the value of
human life needs the highest moral considerations as without that many people can risk
their lives. The project managers, engineers, architects and contractors should have the
basic right of professional conscience (Liu, Zhao and Li 2016). The most important
factor of ethics in construction industry is the personal ethics, which is often looked at by
the professionals in the field of construction industry as treating other individuals with
same extent of honesty that they would prefer to be treated by others. As observed by
Karlsen Persson and Gudfinnsson (2016), in this regard, it can be said that the
professionals in this construction industry generally tend to believe that the obligations
they have towards their customers in many ways outweigh their responsibility to the
others. This is a controversial issue as this mentality of the professionals of construction
industry can expose numerous people to various threats (Liu, Zhao and Li 2016).

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Business ethics
It can be said that business ethics is a set of legal behavior which includes a set
of moral principles or values that are shared not only in the business community but
also in the society. The ethics of doing business involves ethical dilemmas, which are
related to work, and the ethical judgments that are generally divided into two parts; one
is descriptive and the other one is normative ethics (Zhang et al. 2016). Business ethics
is generally concerned with the social acceptability, legally and morally of the decision
making for the business and subsequent action on the community. It can be said that
business ethics can be looked at as the measurements of the business behavior
dependent on the standards of right or wrong rather than relying on the accounting
principles and management (Chan and Owusu 2017). A few years before it was
believed that ethics and business does not go along and ‘business ethics’ was looked at
as an oxymoron term. On the other hand, according to Liu, Zhao and Li (2016), in
contemporary times the basic concept of ethics are applicable on the business
environment on the ground that the existence of business is not only to suit the
individuals but it also serves the society and satisfies individual and collective needs
along with the environmental needs as well.
Code of conducts and ethical principles
Numerous times efforts were given for increasing the integrity and the ethical
standards among the employees of the construction industry worldwide. To maintain
fairness, transparency and accountability in the industry certain rules and regulations
are necessary and specifically in an environment that is competitive in nature. These
attributes might be attained by numerous mechanisms of compliancy. The business

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organizations operating in the construction industry should scramble in order to identify
suitable ways to attract and sustain the best talents and must try harder to improve their
level of performance and the mindset to ensure ethical practices in the workplace
(Zhang et al. 2016). It is seen that independence in executing the projects, self reliance,
responsibility towards the community and hard work along with honesty can lead a
construction company to rwork with their full potential and that will help the organization
to build a good reputation in the market of operation which can ensure the productivity
along with the profitability of the company . The above mentioned virtues are vital for the
success of the businesses operating under the construction industry and the ethical
codes put forward by numerous agencies locked into a world view that was formed in
the Age of Enlightenment.
As observed by Karlsen Persson and Gudfinnsson (2016), the codes are
generally designed to delegate the responsibilities for the customers, owners of the
organizations and as well as for the competing tenders, to attain a balance between
what is right and what is common sense for every construction project (Chan and
Owusu 2017). It is a matter of fct that the codes of practices are necessary for the
construction industry to ensure that ethical issues are treated and as it is seen that
Australian construction industry is troubled with issues like bribery, bid cutting,
withdrawal and collusion, codes of practices are necessary to eradicate those issues.
The ethical conduct can be looked at as a compliance with the ethical principles which
are mentioned below;
 Act of honesty and avoiding conduct will result indirectly in the deception of
others.

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 The fairness should be maintained throughout the operation in order to obtain
benefits that can arise indirectly or directly from treating people in an unfair
manner
 The managements of the construction companies should avoid activities that can
result in another party getting deprived of a fair reward for their work done
 The managements of the construction companies should keep the skills of the
employees up to date I order to provide service to the customers as per the
capability of the workforce
 The managerial bodies of the construction organizations should have regard for
the best interests of the general people and specifically for those individuals who
obtain an interest in the future projects
 The project managers should identify the potential conflicts of interest and reveal
that to any individual who might be adversely affected by that
 Accountability affords warning of matters and information within the knowledge
base that are of potential detriment to the other individuals who can be negatively
affected by them (Zhang et al. 2016). The managers should give warning in
adequate time to allow taking effective action in order to avoid loss.
Unethical behavior in construction industry
As stated by Karlsen Persson and Gudfinnsson (2016), it can be said that
corruption and other unethical practices within the construction industry is becoming
endemic. The ethical issues in construction industry must be looked at as something of
interest and that will certainly help the management to dispel the impression that such
problems are not important and are separate from the construction industry. Ethical

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considerations are necessary for the construction industry as any unethical practices
within the construction industry can expose numerous individuals to various types of
hazards and majority of those accidents can be life risking (Kazemi and Hasani 2018). It
is a matter of fact that corruption can take place in any stages of the operations of the
construction company and those can potentially affect the productivity of the company
and an ruin the reputation of the organization (Zhang et al. 2016).
Overview of ethics in construction industry
In recent times, the construction industry is categorized as one of the most
fraudulent industry in the world and it has perfect condition for various ethical dilemma
with the low price mentality, immense competition in the market and small margins.
Currently this industry is susceptible to various practices that are unethical as it includes
various substantial capital investments, provides immense opportunities for investments
and rent extractions, which cannot be redeployed after implying (Zhang et al. 2016).
The unethical practices those are present in construction industry may take place at
every stage of the operations of the business during the process of planning and
design, calling for tender, execution of the project and in many stages. As observed by
Karlsen Persson and Gudfinnsson (2016), these unethical practices in the construction
industry have a long lasting impact on the project and for an example, some of the
impacts are uncertainty in tendering, criminal prosecutions, blackmail, economic
damage, fines and various reputational risks. The issues of professional ethics has
shown some pragmatic discussion and enthusiastic concern among the public and there
is an increasing demand foe ethical practices and professional behavior in the
construction industry. Due to the universality and size of the construction industry, it is

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often refered to as plagued with malpractices and graft (Liu, Zhao and Li 2016). The
general issues that are highlighted in the construction business are substandard work
while constructing the buildings, tendering practice, not providing proper and adequate
building materials, lack of work safety measures, corruption and the most important one
is the public accountability for the sum of money spent for the public infrastructure and
buildings (Chan and Owusu 2017). The issues regarding unethical practices not only
revolve around the corruption or cases of bribery, but it also highlights the conflict of
interest and collusive tendering. It is seen that corruption may add up to almost 30% of
generating waste o public resources, cost of public contracting, instable environment for
doing business and missing great opportunities regarding development (Zhang et al.
2016). This information somehow shows that the scale of corruption is greater in
construction industry than any other industries in the world (Kazemi and Hasani 2018).
As observed by Schaufelberger and Mirsky (2014), the ethical issues that are
present in the construction industry parties affects the quality of the projects and
increased unethical practices may notice a gradual decline in the quality of the
performance while constructing buildings as seen in various secondary sources of
information. As opined by Oladinrin and Ho (2015), In tis regard it should be mentioned
that the situation has improved over the last decade and the overall workplace accident
got reduced by 30% within that time though the fatality of the accidents got increased by
almost 20%. According to Barnes (2017), it can be said that lesser awareness of the
business owners, lack of safety education programs and working ways, which are
unsafe in nature, are the root cause of this situation along with various other unethical
practices that are prevalent in the construction industry (Kazemi and Hasani 2018).

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Professional ethics
According to Chan and Owusu (2017), the professionals in the construction
industry are associated with the concept of ‘service’ and thus the construction industry
can be looked at as a group of individuals organized to serve a body of specialized
knowledge for the best interests of the society (Kazemi and Hasani 2018). The
professional ethics of the individuals associated with the construction industry can be
explained as incorporating satisfaction of a beneficial and indispensable social need
aiming to provide service to the people of the society. As observed by Karlsen Persson
and Gudfinnsson (2016), the professionals of construction industry operate in a
workplace where they work with a group of individuals and the individuals whom they
provide their service. As observed by Schaufelberger and Mirsky (2014), this relation
can be termed as fiduciary and consensual (Shah and Alotaibi 2018). The business
professional are not at all exempted from regular ethical behaviors like duties,
obligations and responsibilities; which are binding public and are often bound by a
range of principles, sorts of character dispositions and attitudes that controls the way of
the operation of the business (Kazemi and Hasani 2018). This is what can be termed as
professional ethics and it concerns probable issues that confronts the members of a
particular group of professionals and their impact onto the society along with an
implication that fairness should be attributed to the society, public and the clients of the
construction companies. As opined by Oladinrin and Ho (2015), one vital factor in this
regard is that the conflict of interest that can be described as an interest that when
pursued can keep the construction professionals from satisfying their obligations. ‘Right
of Conscientious Refusal’ is another professional right relevant in this field, and it

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describes that it is the right of the workers to refuse to take part in any kind of unethical
conduct when they get forced by the management of the organization they work for.
According to Ameyaw et al. (2017) this can take place within the workplace or outside
the workplace and not always involve breaching of laws. A conscientious refusal can be
done by not taking part in unethical or immoral activities or by protesting against that
publicly which can potentially attract the attention o public to the situation which is
believed to be unethical and wrong (Chan and Owusu 2017).
Ethics in construction industry
As observed by Schaufelberger and Mirsky (2014), in accordance with the
individual professions, it can be assumed that the architects do not only design the
structure of the buildings but they have the highest ethical caliber. As an example, it can
be said that American Institute of Architect’s Code of Ethics was established in the year
of 1947 and the contemporary ethical codes somewhat revolves around the idea of ‘the
common good is right’ for the matters which are not dependent on the laws (Shah and
Alotaibi 2018). Likewise, Royal Australian Institute of Architect’s Code of Professional
Conduct incorporates the rules, notes and the principles. The common unethical
behaviors in the construction industry are mentioned below;
 Charging the customers for the work that has nit been done and the costs not
overstated or incurred
 Exaggerating academic achievements and the experience in curriculum vitae or
in other applications for better earning (Zhang et al. 2016).

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 Stealing other individual’s drawing of the building structure and concealing of the
errors of the construction
 Giving false promises and hopes to the customers
 Misleading and misguiding the customers in project management
 Getting involved in conflict of interests
The contractors of construction industry should behave ethically and from various
secondary sources like magazines, newspapers and government websites it has been
seen that the contractors play a vital role in sustaining the ethical aspect in the
operation of the constructions (Shah and Alotaibi 2018). It is a matter of fact that the
individuals working in construction industry, are almost twice as likely to get an injury
and five times more likely to lose their lives in the workplace. In accordance with
Arancibia and Montecino (2017), the contractors thus should invest a lot in maintaining
the work safety issues and not doing so can be termed as an unethical activity. As
observed by Schaufelberger and Mirsky (2014), the contractors should not change the
percentage of the building materials while constructing a building as that can expose
numerous people to various kinds of threat and doing so will definitely be counted as an
act that is unethical According to Ameyaw et al. (2017). Thus, the contractors in the
construction industry should maintain professional integrity while making claims or
estimates (Oladinrin and Ho 2015). On the other hand, according to Liu, Zhao and Li
(2016), in contemporary times, unlike the architects, the construction contractors are
seen to have a bad reputation in terms of committing unethical acts and the reason
behind it is the presence of significant dispute among the builders and the proprietors.
According to Chan and Owusu (2017), the general display of bad behavior by the

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contractors has become a daily practice in some cases and that needs to be stopped
immediately. This display of poor behavior seems to have originated from influx of new
construction organizations with relatively inexperienced and new workforce where the
workforce somehow lacks necessary work ethics which is strictly required in the
construction industry (Arancibia and Montecino 2017). The project managers of the
construction industry should know that one of the most vital aspects of their profession
is to consider the social and ethical responsibilities and thus there should not be any
clash between a good management in the workplace and morality (Zhang et al. 2016).
The increasing need of construction ethics
The reputation of construction industry in terms of abiding the ethics is not good
worldwide and various secondary researches prove that there has been presence of
unethical practices in the construction industry in many parts of the globe. The relation
between business and ethics is somewhat intrinsically entangled. According to Ameyaw
et al. (2017), it is seen that the construction companies that promote and show strong
code of ethics are more successful and achieves success as they earn a good
reputation in the market of their operation. The business organizations, which are
operating in the construction industry, are seen to provide a range of ways to deal with
the unethical factors like setting a code of conduct by the professional bodies, and legal
assistance (Shah and Alotaibi 2018). It is a matter of fact that only then the construction
industry will be free from the unethical practices when all the stakeholders of the
industry will learn and realize the impact of unethical activities onto the society. This
need to be changed immediately and the change should be initiate from the individual
levels to ensure the overall positive change of the industry in terms of ethical aspects.

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Personal ethics
As observed by Schaufelberger and Mirsky (2014), personal ethics is which
helps to determine an individual’ decision as a person. Proper ethics of a person should
positively influence the experience of the other individuals when it is used to govern the
company’s or any individual’s business ethics (Arancibia and Montecino 2017).
Personal ethics can be described as constituting a system of moral principles by which
the human proposals and actions might be judged on the basis of right or wrong, good
or bad. It can be said that professional ethics refers to the set of behavior that is
expected from an individual who is a part of the construction industry and which is
bound by some ethical principles (Barnes 2017)..
Ethics of the contractors in terms of safety and change orders
From several years, the contractors of the construction industry have been
accused of unethical practices in the construction industry and when it comes to issues
of safety and change orders (Ameyaw et al. 2017). This generally originate from a form
of cheating on the necessity of the change order and at times it leads to a lesser safe
condition than it was primarily intended. It is worthwhile to mention that the contractors
of the construction industry are being accused of activities like kickbacks, bribery,
moonlighting, no show jobs and many more. In this regard, it can be said that bribery is
a crime that involves a sum of money offered to other individuals in order to manipulate
the attitude of that individuals that are not consistent with the duties of that individual. As
observed by Karlsen Persson and Gudfinnsson (2016), the bribes can be goods,
money, preferment, property and various items that can potentially influence the actions
of that person who will be bribed (Shah and Alotaibi 2018). In most cases, the

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contractors and the unions of the labors of the construction industry get accused of
these allegations.
Summary
Thus it can be said that unethical practices in construction industry has become a
familiar incident in today’s world and day by day the situation is becoming concerning as
due to these malpractices each year numerous people lose their lives and major loss of
property takes place. As observed by Schaufelberger and Mirsky (2014), in most cases,
the losses are irreversible and this is something that is not at all appropriate. It is seen
that ethics is a vital issue in the construction industry and to resolve the ethical issues,
the managements of the business organization should create an ethical code within the
organization to ensure that no malpractice is there in the operation of the business.
There should be a set of standards to maintain ethics among the professionals ad that
should be achieved by the entire workforce of the company (Liu, Zhao and Li 2016). In
this regard it is worthwhile to mention that media can play a major role to promote
maintaining ethical standards within the construction companies by increasing the
general awareness among the public and all the stakeholders of the construction
industry. It can be said that that the managements of the construction companies may
deploy a team for the best interest of the companies as any kinds of unethical practices
within the organization may ruin the reputation of the business organization. In recent
times the competition in the construction industry has become greater than ever and if a
particular company’s reputation gets ruined it would be somewhat impossible for them
to get back to the track and profitability will become a big issue for them. Not only that
the major impact of the unethical practices within the construction companies can

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potentially affect the general public and the small scale employees of the companies.
For an example, it can be said that if the contractor commits unethical acts and disputes
the building materials it would definitely weaken the structure of the building. In that
particular case either the general workers may get exposed to life risking threats or if
they get away with that, the customers of the company may get exposed to similar
threats. Not only that there could be presence of unethical behavior in all the stages of
the construction industry which may invoke various problems for all the stakeholders of
the industry and that may be financial or societal or can be life risking. Thus to sum up it
can be said that committing any unethical activities should be prohibited and that should
be done for the best interest of the society.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Introduction
This chapter includes various kinds of research methodologies, which can be
used for conducting a research work. It is important for the researcher to evaluate
different methodological tools and select the most applicable research methodology
based on the aims and objectives of the research. It would enable in the successful
completion of the research work. Moreover, this particular chapter consists of perfect
justifications for selecting the particular methodological tools along with the research
ethics and limitations faced by the researcher (Fellows and Liu 2015).
Research is considered a journey for gathering new knowledge in a systematic
and organized manner. It is a systematic and theoretical indication of the methods that

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will be used for seeking knowledge in a successful way. There are different structures,
models, strategies and theoretical frameworks, which are integrated with the study in
order to fulfill the objectives of the research. Research methodology cannot be regarded
as the solution for the research work but it gives a detailed outline for the same (Shin et
al. 2015). The well- crafted outline helps the researcher to choose the best applicable
method to carry out the research work in an efficient way. This particular chapter of the
research explains the strategies and clarifies the methodologies by combining with
different models and concepts. On a wider aspect, the research methodology includes
the process of data collection, sampling and data analyzing strategies (Oesterreich and
Teuteberg 2016). To fulfill the research objectives on the study of ‘ethical concerns of a
construction industry’ the research methodology can be elaborated in the following
manner.
Research Outline
A research outline can be considered as a blueprint for the overall research work.
It helps the researcher to arrange his own thoughts and arguments in a proper way. A
research can be conducted efficiently by following a good outline. To carry out this
research in an effective way, the researcher has used interpretivism philosophy,
deductive approach and descriptive research strategy. This is because the process of
interpretivism philosophy has permitted the researcher to take into consideration the
opinions, views of other researchers, and authors to support the arguments and
judgments. Deductive approach has let the researcher refer to the previous work and
literature to explain the presence and justification of every phenomenon of the research
work (Razzaq et al. 2018). The technique of secondary data collection and thematic

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analysis have been utilized by the researcher to evaluate the social, economic and
political impact of ethical concerns of a construction industry in an ever- changing world.
Research Philosophy
The researcher plans and uses strategies in order to attain knowledge that forms
the basic philosophy of the particular research study. There are four dominant views in
the literature of research philosophy such as positivism, interpretivism, pragmatism and
realism. The philosophies of positivism and interpretivism are combined to shape
pragmatism research philosophy. The objective of research philosophy is to make use
of scientific approaches for validating and verifying the collected data and information
(Schaufelberger and Mirsky 2014). However, interpretivism philosophy allows the
researcher to take into consideration the views and opinions of other individuals to
support his own arguments.
Positivism
Positivism is the first among other views of research philosophy. The positivist
researchers think in a similar way as that of the scientists. In both the cases, laws of
nature are considered and not any social factors. This particular research philosophy
gives rise to a generalized outcome that has been already based on the proven laws.
The tool of stress can carefully ease the process of regeneration and speculation that
are effective for statistical analysis (Oladinrin and Ho 2015). There are some additional
assumptions of the researchers about the topic of the research. However, the most
important one is to maintain honesty and integrity on the part of the researcher while
collecting information in a value- free style.

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Interpretivism
There might be certain situations where the researcher does not agree with the
proven laws. They might justify that the social aspects will lose on their original value
and quality by completely following positivism in the research work. In order to analyze
the total situation completely it is required to apply the generalized ideas in an effective
manner. Therefore, there is a necessary requirement for such expressiveness, which
makes use of interpretivism concept easy. This particular research philosophy is
suggested on a regular basis for social constructionism (Khosravi et al. 2014). This
process takes care of the theoretical meaning so that the outcome can be understood.
However, such interpretations vary on a wide range as they consider diverse situations.
It can be stated that an interpretivism researcher takes into account only the subjective
factors that intrinsically exist within the research study.
Realism
The philosophy of realism is based on a variety of principle and concepts. This
particular philosophy is completely independent of human beliefs, thoughts and
prejudices. There are few strong social factors, which are responsible for directly
influencing people without making them aware of the impact on their attitudes and
understanding. These social factors are not associated with the personal choices, which
might affect the people to analyze the real world despite their consciousness. Realism
can be partially associated with certain concepts of positivism. It is responsible for
directly identifying the topic of research but not the individual beings (Sousa, Almeida
and Dias 2014). Positivism philosophy is contradictory to realism philosophy. The latter

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one is important in understanding the original social factors such as social behaviors,
social constraints, popular views and opinions, degree of impact and others.
Pragmatism
The philosophy of pragmatism integrates the methods from a variety of patterns
as recognized by their suitability for answering the research questions. This particular
philosophy can use both observations as well as subjective comprehension by
considering both qualitative and quantitative data. Moreover, it permits the researcher to
think about several realities and interpreting methods. This research philosophy is used
in case of mixed methodology in research. It is mainly focused on the activities, which
works as the truth about the research questions that are going to be investigated (Fehr,
Yam and Dang 2015). The unpractical ideas of research are not considered in this
particular philosophy.
Justification for using interpretivism philosophy
For the particular research on ‘ethical concerns of a construction industry in an
ever- changing world’ interpretivism research philosophy can be selected as the most
appropriate one. This is due to the reason that interpretivism research philosophy allows
the researcher to take into consideration the views and opinions of other researchers in
terms of social, economic and political aspect of the ethical concerns of a construction
industry. As this particular research is based on the secondary data analysis, therefore
the findings of the researcher will be supported by the views ad arguments of other
authors and researcher (Yang and Shen 2014). Their works on similar topics will be
associated with the content of the current research topic to tally the relevant data and

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information. It is relevant to the topic as it uses secondary sources of qualitative data
analysis and interpretivism involves qualitative data to maintain the complex
characteristic of social reality.
Research approach
A research approach can be described as the process of planning, developing,
evaluating and spreading appropriate knowledge and data for helping the specific users
so that they become aware of the suitable steps to achieve the specific goals and
objectives. The two main elements of research approach are inductive and deductive
approaches (Wu et al. 2016).
Inductive
The objective of inductive approach is to generate new theories and principles
based on the concepts and observation of the researcher during the research process.
This particular approach uses experimental observation to create theories such that the
specific situations are generated on basic patterns (Chileshe and John 2014).
Deductive
Deductive approach on the other hand, support the observation and findings of
the current research work by tallying the theories and concepts of the previous works
done. It makes use of experiential observation to examine specific situations according
to the generalized laws. It becomes easy for the researcher to decide on the best
research approach if the theory of the topic is clearly identified in the beginning. In this
particular approach, a search for knowledge continues of the critical characteristics by

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creating general and rational statements on the observed facts (Ghoddousi et al 2015).
It can be said that this approach is based on the former interpretative concepts and
principles.
Justification for using deductive approach
Deductive approach can be found appropriate for this particular research on the
‘ethical concerns of a construction industry’. This is due to the reason that deductive
approach allows the researcher to support his own findings with respect to the social,
political and legal impact of the particular research topic. The suitable approach best
serves the purpose of deductive by permitting qualitative information on the ethical
considerations of a construction industry in an ever- changing world. This approach is
also suitable for the establishment of a cause- effect relationship (Khosravi et al. 2014).
The most important feature that signifies deductive approach is that it completely utilizes
its efficiency off qualitative data analysis. Its advantage is significant by the
implementation of general laws in the beginning. It allows the authentication of the
relationship between the ethical issues and the factors of construction industry in the
specific context of the ever- changing world. The deductive approach also implies that
there are some current researches on the area of specific interest. From the previous
chapter it can be found out that there is limited existing literature, which suggests a
relationship between the specific factors of the rapidly changing world leading to ethical
issues in the construction industry (Ogunbiyi, Goulding and Oladapo 2014).

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Research Design
The research design refers to the entire strategy selected by the researcher for
combining different components of the topic in a logical manner. This is done to ensure
that the research problem is addressed in an effective way. The research design
includes the initial planning of the way data will be collected, measured and evaluated.
The three important components of research design includes descriptive, explanatory
and exploratory. The exploratory and explanatory research design combines to create
the descriptive research design (Votano and Sunindijo 2014).
Explanatory
The aim of using explanatory research design is to evaluate the occurrence of a
specific research phenomenon. It considers the relationship between two variables
while carrying out the research work. An increase in the extent of ethical considerations
in the construction industry affects the several components of the ever- changing world.
This particular research design helps in understanding the research phenomenon by
exploring and calculating the causal relations (Sherratt 2014).
Exploratory
The exploratory research design analyzes the research hypothesis to fulfill the
research aims and objectives. In this particular research design, the relationship and
pattern of several components is determined and it is used when there are not many
existing studies on the research problem (Udawatta et al. 2015).

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Descriptive
This research design is responsible for representing the participants in a proper
way. The three methods of observation, survey and case study are used to collect
information in this particular research design. This design is responsible for describing
the whole phenomenon. They are not suitable for making predictions or recognizing the
cause and effect.
Justification for using descriptive research design
This particular research has used the descriptive research design as it allows the
researcher to fulfill the aims and objectives of the research by describing the entire
phenomenon of ethical considerations of a construction industry in the ever- changing
world. This particular design was also effective in acquiring more information for
describing the features of the specific research problem. It is also helpful in identifying
the variables of the research that can be examined (Zutshi and Creed 2015). In- depth
information can be collected from the research study by using this particular research
design. Descriptive research design results in the collection of large amount of data,
which will be useful for answering the research questions.
Research Strategy
Research strategy refers to the use of a general plan for finding answers to the
research questions. It is an aggregate of the comprehensive objectives. Sources of data
collection, research questions and limitations of research form the basis of of the aims
and objectives. The major elements of research strategy are survey, action research,
case study and interview.

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Action research strategies are intended to identify the issues in the current
research. However, interview and the survey strategies are useful in collecting data and
information from live respondents relevant to the research topic. Case study strategy,
on the other hand, allows the researcher to evaluate different reports and interpret the
specific findings (Zou and Sunindijo 2015).
Justification for using case study strategy
This particular research has used case study strategy because it allowed the
researcher to evaluate the social, economic and political impact of ethical issues on the
construction industry. Case studies are appropriate for collecting qualitative data and
therefore appropriate for this research topic. Reports of Construction Company and
academic journals were considered while conducting this research work. It was effective
in the particular context to gain relevant information. A study on the real- life
environment was useful in detailed understanding of several components of the
research. It also provided the opportunity for using previous theories and concepts to
help in collecting data as no new theories were generated in this specific research (Mok,
Shen and Yang 2015).
Data collection technique
Data collection forms an important part of research work and it is collected from
two different sources. Primary data is collected from the original source such as surveys
and interviews. Secondary data is collected from an existing source such as journal
articles, books and reports.

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For collecting primary data, it is important to create a tabulation plan and the
questionnaire will be designed based on that plan. The respondents are surveyed by
using questionnaires or they are interviewed to collect information. The process of focus
group interviews, observation and portfolios are also used as a part of primary data
collection technique.
Secondary data refers to the information that was gathered previously by some
other researchers. Company reports, census, government documents are the sources
from where secondary data can be collected (Windapo 2014).
Justification for using secondary data collection technique
This particular research was based on secondary data collection technique as it
helped the researcher to gather relevant data and information about the social, political
and economic impact of ethical considerations of the construction industry in an ever-
changing world. The collection of secondary data helped in determining the issues of
construction industry as a whole for analyzing the results in the most suitable way. It
was also convenient and time efficient process of gathering information. The facts and
findings of the current research were compared with the existing information available
on the topic to find answers to the research question (Ghoddousi et al 2015).
Data analysis process
There are two types of data analysis process- qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative analysis focuses on the meanings, experiences and views of the participants
of the research. This particular analysis describes the whole situation to gain knowledge

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on a particular practice. There are no preconceived categories of response and the
detailed data is collected from a small sample. Theoretical approach is used in the
process by using illustrative explanation and individual feedback. On the other hand,
quantitative analysis measures the magnitude of the practice on which the research is
conducted. The preconceived responses are categorized on standard measures with a
wide range of data collected from a large sample. Statistical and numerical analysis
helps in supporting the conclusion of the relevant data (Votano and Sunindijo 2014).
Justification for using qualitative analysis
The use of secondary analysis of qualitative data is appropriate for this particular
research on the ethical considerations of a construction industry. There were different
steps developed while conducting this analysis such as- determining the research
question, locating data, evaluating the relevance of data, measuring the credibility of
data and analysis. This analysis helped the researcher know the exact information,
which he was seeking. Secondary analysis of qualitative data involved the utilization of
previous data that was collected for prior studies for achieving the objective of similar
research work. This analysis used qualitative data for considering the ethical issues of
construction industry and finding opportunities for future research (Chileshe and John
2014).
Ethical Considerations
The researcher ensured that research ethics were followed while conducting this
research work in a successful manner. One of the important considerations in this
research was the privacy and security of data. It is against ethical consideration of the

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research to reveal the collected data without the consent of the specific individual.
Confidentiality is maintained in research work as it reduces the scope of data leakage.
Again, the researcher has also maintained authenticity and validity while collecting
information from the existing literature. The researcher was particular about not
manipulating data in any way and only academic sources were used for collecting
information (Wu et al. 2016).
Research Limitations
There were certain limitations of the research regarding the quality of information.
Since the research was only based on the qualitative analysis of secondary sources,
therefore quantitative analysis could not be done. It was considered as a gap in the
research work (Windapo 2014).
Summary
From this particular chapter it can be concluded that the effective use of the
particular research methodologies was the major reason behind completing this
research work successfully. The use of the specific methodologies provided an
opportunity to the researcher to analyze the ethical considerations of a construction
industry in an ever- changing world.

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Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Findings
Introduction
In the following chapter the researcher has analyzed the different themes that
have been developed based on the topic of the research. The themes described in the
particular chapter provides an opportunity for the researcher to consider the research
aims and objectives and evaluate the long term effects of the ethical issues that are
related with the construction industry.

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Theme 1: Social, Economic and Political Impact of Ethics in Construction
Industry: Political risk identification, measurement and management are key to the
success of international construction contracting. The multinational contractors face
major risks while implementing different construction projects in the foreign countries
due to political and social impacts. The traditional political risk analysis used by the
construction firms for capital investment decisions do not adequately address the
contracting risks. The risks are generally categorized into different forms that include
social, cultural and political impacts. The social impacts include the social responsibility
that includes the minimization of the negative and maximization of the positive effects of
the economic activities has on the people and the society. The economic activities of
the construction industry affect the construction industry affects the society in three
different ways. This begins with the impact on those who are involved in the
construction work, second there is an impact on the local people of the community and
the thirdly the social implications for the wider global community. The construction
industry helps the poorer section of the society by offering them different jobs. In most
of the different developing countries the construction industry or working in the
construction industry is the preliminary point of entry to the labor market for the people
who migrate to the cities and towns from the villages to earn a decent standard of living.
The main objective of the companies in the construction industry thus must be to
safeguard the interest of the workers by following the code of ethics. However there are
many negative aspects in the construction industry as because the construction industry
involves different types of risky activities. The information received from different
countries of the world shows that occupational facilities occur in the construction

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industry between 20 to 40% in most of the developed countries. Most of the employees
suffer injuries or die from different occupational hazards or expose to dangerous
physical or chemical substances. Therefore risks associated with the particular sector
are much higher than that of the other sectors.
As mentioned earlier political risk of the companies is another main consideration. The
companies that enter the market of the foreign countries have to consider all the
different political aspects to continue their business in the country. This limits the
organizations from undertaking the basic ethics that must be taken too ensure the
safety of the employees. This includes different measures like workplace safety, health
benefits and extra incentives for works that involves high risks and many others as
such. The management of the construction companies often fails to undertake such
decisions which increase the risk for complex situations in the workplace.

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Theme 2: Social Responsibilities of construction companies
Corporate social responsibility of the business organizations refers to the duties
of the business towards the society. The CSR implies that apart from achieving profit
the business has much more to offer to the society. It is important for the industries to
practice environmentally sound policies during the implementation of the projects. CSR
in the construction industries can extend in different directions. Construction companies
generally promote philanthropy with the help of a number of different causes. The
construction organizations have a great impact upon the communities for which they
undertake the projects. The buildings, apartments, well designed houses help the
people to improve their style of living and also promot6es good health. The construction
is not only limited to such sectors as because construction also involves the
construction of bridges, large infrastructural projects like sports complexes, stadiums
and many other such large scale projects. Such projects help the concerned persons to
get the best services. Community design and construction thus affects the social life of
the residents and can even lower the crime rates.
The construction companies have also huge responsibilities towards their
employees. The employees must be treated in a proper manner so that they can deliver
the best for the companies. The more the companies respect the employees and
provide them the benefits of the organization the more are the possibilities for them to
earn profits.

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Theme 3: Example of Ethics in different nations of the world
Malaysia- Malaysia faces huge problems in the construction industries. The
government of Malaysia has failed to create any set of conducts for the construction
industries. Thus most of the industries takes undue advantage of the situation and carry
on their activities. There have been immense cases of fatalities and injuries and also
cases where poor quality of materials has damaged constructions or constructions have
taken immense time to complete. The case of Malaysia is thus alarming and it needs
immediate improvement to provide relief to both the workers as well as the customers.
Australia- The case of Australia has been somewhat different as because the
government has a set of ethical standards that must be followed by the
construction companies operating in the island continent. The construction
companies though advuise the regulations and sets their own set of
standards the absence of proper implementation and legislation makes life
difficult for the employees working in the following industry. The Australian
government has failed to impose strict penalties over such companies and
thus such practices are random.

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Theme 4: Challenges faced by the construction industries
The increase in the global population has led to the rise in a number of different
challenges for the construction industry which in turn has forced some different changes
within the industry. The different challenges faced by the industry are as follows;
Poor productivity and profitability- There are least or no barriers for entry into the
construction market and thus such a condition has created an almost saturated market
with very heavy competition. Such competition reduces the amount of revenues in the
market and thus investment in new technologies and implementation of new
technologies becomes very tough for the organizations. The stagnant quality of the
production of labor is another huge challenge for the industry. The other sectors of
industries have benefitted hugely in labor productivity, but the case of construction
industries is just the opposite. The main issues that causes such less productivity is the
huge delay for receiving the materials and the equipment of the construction. This
includes delay in the production of the raw materials, delay in transportation, delay due
to early breaks, travelling to the particular area where the project comes up, The typical
margins of the construction companies is reflected in the bottom lines and it stays
around 2 to 8 percent. The construction companies find themselves trapped in between
the shrinking margins of profit and the stagnant productivity. Thus the management of
the construction companies is unable to generate the profit that is needed for further
research and innovative developments.
Project Performance- The growth of the market and globalization has increased the
complexity of the construction projects as the companies are involved in the rat race to

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create more cutting edge technologies to prepare for the future demands of the
customers (Zou and Sunindijo 2015). As said earlier the companies have failed to
generate adequate profit from their projects and thus a single technological evaluation
can wipe out the profit margins of the company. The management of the companies are
extra careful to take such actions and thus they fear to undertake complex innovations.
However they are forced to take up such mega projects just because of the market
demands and to stay sustainable in the long run. There are also other problems like the
absence of on time budgets, misplacement of funds, improper allocation of funds and
many others as such. According to different studies related to the same subject only 30
percent of the large projects in the construction industry are delivered in the budget and
only 15 percent of the projects amongst them are completed on time. Most of the
construction companies in the world have large number of underperforming projects in a
single year.

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The shortage of skilled labors- The shortage of skilled labors is one of the main
problems that happens throughout all the different sectors of the industries around the
world and the construction industry is no exception. The construction industries have
been bracing for a dramatic reduction in the workforce. The construction companies
have experienced a sharp decrease in skilled labors in the market. The management of
the companies are thus unable to hire managers, supervisors, engineers to work for the
companies. This has led to a sharp fall in the number of projects they undertake and
thus such a factor acts as a huge barrier to the industries of the organization. The
recent rescission of 2008 has created four different generations in the workforce namely
the traditionalists, the baby boomers, the generation X and the millennial group. The
present diversification of the labor force is a huge challenge to the industry as because
people come from different races, religions, work ethics and cultures. The workplace
management of the organizations will be a huge challenge as such a diverse workforce
will make the employees vulnerable to different problems within the industry.

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Sustainability concerns- The construction industry is one of the few industries that is
the global consumer of a large part of raw materials. Construction industry is the creator
of a large portion of global carbon emissions. The percentage of carbon emissions
released by the construction companies’ results to around 25 to 40% of the global
emissions. Therefore it can be seen that the organizations fail to address the
environmental concerns. The construction companies will thus face huge challenges to
address the environmental concerns and also ensure profitability. The management of
environmental concerns must be addressed by the companies in the rapidly developing
countries of Asia. Smart planning and sustainable design can reduce the consumption
of energy and thus will lead tto the reduction of the pollution.
Cultural Challenges- The construction companies that operate in different countries of
the world face cultural challenges as because the history, culture, religion and ethics of
the countries are totally different from that of the companies. Therefore the companies
must undertake a market research to get knowledge of the culture and the ethics
followed by the countries.

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Theme 5: Professional Ethics in the Construction Industry: The professional ethics
consists of different types of moral elements that are related to the particular profession
and those that are imposed upon the members of the organization along with the ethical
dilemmas which is established when there is a conflict of interest and the requirements
are not clear enough. The ethics of the construction industry can also be described as
the system of behavioral norms which ensures that a particular construction
professional does not take advantage over the client due to the lack of knowledge or the
difference in knowledge. It also ensures the presence of a proper safety norm and other
benefits for the employees of the organization. It is seen that the different construction
experts like the engineers, project managers, architects, surveyors have the right of
professional conscience (Ogunbiyi, Goulding and Oladapo 2014). Another important
consideration for the industry is the personal ethics which means to treat all the
employees of the industry in a honest way to ensure work satisfaction. Unethical
business practices leads to loss of reputation, revolt among the shareholders,
unemployment and leads to suspension of the industry. The unethical business
practices also render the company ineffective to perform well as the organizational
performance is compromised in such cases. The different ethical codes of practice are
alone insufficient for ensuring ethical conduct in the construction industry. The ethical
misconducts are quite common in the construction industry. Collusive tendering results
in competitive bids, price fixing, or market distribution strategies that prohibits the spirit
of free competition and defraud clients, bid shipping, price fixing and the market
strategies that prohibits the spirit of free competition among the companies operating in
construction sector. The other types of unethical practices relates to fraud, negligence,

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breach of conducts, trickery, malpractices, supplying low quality materials and many
others as such. One of the most common breaches of practice includes the whistle
blowing which can be described as the act of an employee of informing the public or
higher management of an unethical behaviour of an employee or a higher level
manager. On the other hand negligence is the failure of the management to exercise
the particular degree of care which is needed to protect the interests of the other
persons who may be injuriously affected by the need of such care. Some common
example of negligence includes design negligence, design defect, production defect or
a combination of all these factors.
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
The construction industries of the developing countries will be facing major
challenges in the future. The challenges which are often pointed out or highlighted are
considered to be the resource shortages of the construction industry itself. The following
paper has focused on the issues that are considered to be relevant for the developing
countries itself. It is also of great significance to them. Thus it is necessary for the
industries to consider the different issues relating to globalization, the environment, the
cultures and the different aspects of culture that relates to the construction industry in
both the developed and the developing countries of the world. The overreaching issues
of construction industry development must embrace all these different issues. Therefore
the construction companies of the developing countries must develop themselves with
new innovations and technologies to avoid such different complexions and stay

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sustainable in nature. The companies therefore must create a code of ethical conducts
that will help them to address the concerns of the employees as well as the customers
of the different projects. The companies must also address the environmental concerns
and seek to limit the negative effects of such impacts by creating different codes and
regulations that helps to reduce the pollution. The maintenance of ethical standards is
quite essential for continuation of the healthy development and growth of the industry.
The following study has identified the importance of professional approach by the
management of the construction companies towards ethics, the role of the organization
and the industry towards the implementation of the codes of ethics and the rules and
legislation to establish ethical practices in the workplace. It is important for the
management of the organization to understand and make the employees understand
the importance of ethics in the organization. An industry wide code of ethics is
considered to be necessary in order to boost the overall ethical development. The
government of the developing countries have a crucial role to limit the complex
situations of the construction industries and must formulate a set code for the industry to
follow. The leadership of the organizations must spearhead the ethical practices within
the company to achieve success in the ethical front. The findings from the particular
research also emphasize those professional judgements on ethical practices stems
from the responsibility towards the clients of the organization. This is endorsed through
the Public and Customer Satisfaction index. The particular index is used for the
measurement of accountability and satisfaction among the employees as well as the
customers. The following benchmark helps to achieve the different results of the

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organization as the ultimate aim of the Construction companies is to satisfy the
customers of the company.
Recommendations
The following article has provided a great view of the ethical factors in the
construction industry. The construction companies fail to implement the ethical policies
in the workplaces and thus they suffer from major setbacks. The main parts of the
research include the main drawbacks of the following companies. Some
recommendations have been provided by the researcher, they are;
 The governments of the different countries both in the developed as well as the
developing countries must play a major role to implement the ethical policies in
the construction industry
 The government must provide some benefits and ethical policies to help the
employees of the construction industries
 The government must take strict actions against the industries that does not
adhere to the rules and regulations
 The management of the companies must take active role tto implement the
policies
 The management of the companies must and should involve all the employees,
stakeholders and people concerned to formulate an implement a set of ethical
standards for the construction industries
 The management of the companies can also take the help of the government to
implement such policies

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 The company must promote safety as their major criterion for working
 The company can also help the employees by insuring them against any
accidents or other unwanted incidents
 The governments of the country can help the construction industries by removing
the red tape to implement different projects on time
Reflections
The above project is a quality work of the researcher and it has helped me to
gain the much needed knowledge on the use of ethics in the construction industry.
Being a management student the following study has helped me to understand the
importance of ethics both personally as well as professionally. The study has certainly
helped me to improve my skills and my level of knowledge.

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