Investigating The Cause of Labour Productivity on Context of Construction Projects in India

This research proposal aims to investigate the cause of labour productivity in construction projects in India. It includes a preliminary literature review, research questions and objectives, research approach and methods, and project management plan.

PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
Research in project management: Investigating The Cause of Labour Productivity on Context of
Construction Projects in India.
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
CQUniversity | PPMP20015Research Proposal Template 1
INSTRUCTIONS
This proposalis effectively your business case and project management plan for the
execution and closing phases of your research project. As such, it must be written in a
clear language so anyone can use this document to complete the project.
You must submit both Draft Proposal and Final Proposal in Word format. Please strictly
adhere to word limits in each section.
You are highly encouraged to consult Studiosity, ALC and/or Turnitin before submitting
your draft or final version.
Due date for the Draft Proposal is Monday, 20 May 2018, 5:00 pm. Due date for the Final
Proposal is Sunday, 3 June 2018, 11:55 pm
Dot points are not to be used except where noted as acceptable.
Youare encouraged to include relevant diagrams in any part of this submission to more
clearly illustrate ideas,including the research design.
Youmust refer to Moodle Site to learn about the criteria by which your research proposals
will be assessed.
Please include the following sections in the proposal (all blue text is for guidance only
and is to be replaced by appropriately formatted text). For draft proposal, include all
sections except the research project management which will only be needed in the
final submission

PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
RESEARCH PROPOSAL CHECKLIST
(If you answer any question in this checklist with NO, Highlight that question in RED
and include this checklist in your submission)
The research topic
 Does it summarize the main idea of my proposed research in an exciting way in
no less than10- 12words?
 Can it stand alone? Is it fullyexplanatory?
Rationale andSignificance
 DoIprovideabriefdescriptionofmyproposedresearch?
 Do I explain how the results of my research will advance the general
understanding ofthis topic?
 Do I explain how the results of my research fill a knowledgegap?
Research questions and objectives
 Do I have a formal and clear statement of my proposed research questions
and objectives?
 Are my research questions developed aligned with the rationale and relevant
reviewedliterature?
 Do my research questions and objectives connect? Are they logical,
researchable,achievable, andethical?
Preliminary Literaturereview
 Does my literature review justify my research questions?
 Does my literature review identify gaps, shortcomings, and limitations in existing
researchgiving context to mystudy?
 Do I demonstrate a thorough and current understanding of the peer-reviewed
literaturerelating to mytopic?
Research approach, methods, ethics and
limitations.
 Do I explain the approach I intend to use to solve the challenge in my study?
Is it explicitand well thoughtout?
 Are both my research approach and methods tied to my research questions and
objectives?
 Does both my approach and methods show an understanding of
relevantreviewedliterature?
 Are my procedures well organized and clearlydescribed?
 Do I discuss how confidentiality of participants and their responses will
be maintained?(if applicable)
 Have I explained the scope boundaries and exclusions of my research?
Project management
 Does my project schedule name all key activities and milestones for specific
CQUniversity | PPMP20015Research Proposal Template 2

PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
achievements? And does it pertain to the objectives Ihave set out toachieve?
 Is my schedule manageable and realistic? Do I allow adequate time for
completion of eachactivity?
 Is the sequence for completionlogical?
 Are all resource requirements assigned to project activities?
 Are the key risks well identified and analyzed?
 Are the key stakeholders well identified and analyzed?
 Are my procedures for data management clearly described?
 Have I provided a shared link to my Endone library and project data folder?
References and Presentation
 Have I provided cover page and abstract as per requirements?
 Have I had my work checked by Studiosity and ALC before submission?
 Is my language clear enough and free from typos and grammatical errors?
 Do I provide a list of cited references that are current andrelevant?
 Am I using Harvard style in the reference list and in-text referencing?
 Have I followed all other instructions for submissions?
CQUniversity | PPMP20015Research Proposal Template 3

PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
Research Project Topic
Abstract
Most of the construction activities are labour intensive and labour productivity is one of the key
area in the construction industry of any nation. Construction activities in India contribute 10% to its
GDP (dmg events, 2015). Hence, enhancing labour productivity will contribute to the overall project
success. This research mainly aims to investigate the cause labour productivity in India. For this 30
Factors are considered which negatively effect the labour productivity in India. Out of these 30
factors 8 most significant factors are considered and Total interpretive structural modelling system
(TISM) is used as an methodology to identify the relationship between these problems. In this
research both quantitative and qualitative analysis is done. Interviews are conducted with the
stakeholders of 3 construction companies located in different parts of India to find 30 factors.
During this interview each person is asked to rate the impact of these factors on the productivity
and based on these rating 8 most significant factors are considered and TISM is applied to these 8
factors. This research shall be conducted in 3 months of duration (July 2018 – October 2018) and it
is accordance with the CQU policies and protocol.
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PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
1. The rationale of the study
Labour productivity has always been a matter of concern in the construction industry. Due to low
labour wages, Indian construction economy is more dependent on manpower rather than the new
technological advanced equipment’s. Productivity is the measurement between the input and
output. Therefore, it is a matter of concern to every profit-oriented construction organisation. Hence
improving labour productivity contributes a lot to the economic growth of the construction industry
in India. Construction activities contributes 10% to the country’s GDP (dmg events, 2015).
According to the news article published by ‘The Economic Times’ in 11 February 2016 India needs
a rise of 7.3% in labour productivity to get a growth of 9% in the GDP (The Economic Times,
2016).
This research mainly focuses on finding the significant factors influencing the labour productivity in
construction industry of India and finding the relationship between these significant factors using
Total interpretive Structural modelling (TISM). In this research interviews and sampling methods
will be used to find the factors influencing the labour productivity. The list of factors will then be
arranged in to order of their significance and then Total interpretive structural modelling is applied
to the top 8 significant factors. The data will be collected form the 3 major construction company’s
located in the major construction oriented cities of India.
This research is mainly based on the limitation of the previous research which was done in
Cambodia (Durdyev and Mbachu 2017). This research aims to do the similar research to verify the
results lies same with the construction industry of India. Furthermore, this research aims to apply
Total Interpretive Structural modelling to find the relationship between the factors influencing the
labour productivity.
2. Significance of the study
The research will analyse the factors influencing the labour productivity in India. India is a labour-
intensive market and improving the labour productivity will help in reducing the cost and time of the
project and contributes to the overall success of the project. Almost every construction activity
requires labour and finding the key factors reducing the labour productivity will help in minimizing
or eliminating its bad effect. Most of the companies specially the small-scale companies neglect
this issue as they don’t want to spend huge money in proper scheduling tools and techniques.
According to the news article published by ‘The Economic Times’ in 11 February 2016 India needs
a rise of 7.3% in labour productivity to get a growth of 9% in the GDP (The Economic Times,
2016). Hence this research can find the significant factors influencing the labour productivity and
with the application of TISM can help to analyse the situation and improve the performance by
taking the necessary corrective actions. The results of this research can be used by many
companies specially the small-scale companies to take the corrective measures in improving the
labour productivity.
3. Preliminary literature review
According to Sandbhor and Botre (2014), the Indian construction industry is mostly even
always been dependent on the manpower over advanced technologies. Thus, the productivity
from the project is in most of the cases party or fully dependent on productivity from the
labours. The key success of the construction projects depends on the contribution of the
labours to the projects. In order to identify and summarize the relationship between the factors
that are affecting the labours and the productivity are measures with the help of a methodology
called total structural modelling factors (TSMF).
A construction project can either be lead towards success or towards failure with the
activities of the labours associated to the project. According to SayaliShrikrishnaSandbhor et
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PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
al (2014) material storage, equipment storage, drawing, alteration specifications are the tools
that may drive a construction project towards success.
Walker (2015) states that, lack of experience of the labours and lack of labour surveillance
may impact any project either positively or negatively. In order to facilitate improvement of the
overall productivity on the construction site are done by the labours associated to the
construction project. As the construction industry is completely labour oriented thus, it puts
huge influence on the successful implementation of any project. Before allocating any resource
to a particular activity of the construction project it is necessary for the project manager to
understand their skills and knowledge regarding the activity (Grover and Froese 2016). Besides
the labours the project manager is also responsible to improve the performance of the labours
with the help of on job trainings. It has been found that, the construction labour productivity is
influenced with work level variation in management efficiency and work level conditions. It is
the role of the project manager and the project team members to understand the individual
parameter’s nature and its impact on the construction productivity.
Productivity is referred to as a ratio between the given input and the generated output.
Different external factors can be avoided with cost variance, operational activities and labour
productivity as well as reliable measurements. Productivity loss may impact the ultimate
outcome of the construction project. According to Kerzner and Kerzner (2017) in these current
days the labour productivity is decreasing everyday and thus the labour productivity and the
expected outcome from the construction are getting impacted negatively. The key constraints
of the construction projects are necessary to be identified by the construction project
managers.
There are four major principles those are affecting the construction project outcomes in terms
of good quality leadership, better management abilities, adequate cash flow and minimizing
work defects. From the application context, the construction productivity is being interrupted
each time due to improper labour measures and improper capital productivity. Banihashem et
al. (2017) stated that, one of the most commonly used productivity measure is labour
productivity as this is the easiest input to the construction industry. It has been found that there
are many constraints that help to investigate the labour productivity. The main roles of the
construction project managers are to identify the factors that are constraining the labours
productivity mainly in the residential building projects within the Cambodian construction
industry.
Apart from this, it is the role of the construction project managers to establish the principle
factors from the identified sets of variable constraints. There are different constraints such as
poor leadership, late payment, defective workmanship, financial defect of the owners, under
resource utilization are the constraints that affect the labour productivity. Site management
constraints and workforce constraints are the other components that affect the regular
expectation of the construction managers from the construction projects. Through wider survey
it has been found that, operation context is the most important thing that minimizes the risk
profiles and the other operational contexts accordingly. From the literature or secondary
information analysis it has been found that, the principle labour productivity inhibits all the
factors those are majorly extracted from the constraints variables in terms of site management,
work force and resource management.
Poor leadership and lack of influence from the construction industry can lead a construction
project towards failure. If the construction manager fails to incorporate the necessary change
activities then project decision making will be also eventually interrupted. New emerging critical
factors are required to be considered by the construction project heads (Varajão et al. 2014).
The construction productivity always acts as a main factor that influences the timely completion
of the construction project. In order to achieve the aimed requirement level the project manager
is required to evaluate the labour productivity apparently. In order to measure the highly
variable labour productivity proper sampling method is needed to be evaluated accordingly.
The instantaneous observation allows the construction project managers to determine the
activity amounts (Sandbhor and Botre 2014). The labour construction is dependent on the
fundamental probability law.
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PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
Another issue is waiting for the instruction or for the inspection (Durdyev and Mbachu
2017). Without the instruction from the construction supervisor the labours cannot work for to
meet the construction objectives. Including the manager the labours must have co ordination
among each other. With proper motivation and usage of construction tools and techniques the
issues associated to labour performance can be avoided. Different values can be added to the
labour productivity, if the research gaps are minimized accordingly.
4. Research question(s) and objectives
Research questions
What are the different 30 factors that negatively impact the outcome of the construction company?
What are the 3 well known construction based companies in India?
What are the different construction activities that interrupt the expected outcome of the
construction companies?
Objectives
To identify all the 30 factors that negatively impacts the outcome of the construction industry
To identify 3 major India based construction companies
To identify the construction activity that interrupts the expected outcome from the construction
company
5. Research Methodology
5.1 Research Approach
In order to conduct the research work it is the responsibility of the researcher to consider all
necessary research aspects in terms of research design, philosophy, and data collection method
and data techniques. For this particular research the positivism research philosophy, deductive
research approach and descriptive research design are selected. There are two different types of
data collection methods such as primary and secondary. In order to collect data through primary
data collection questionnaire and survey are required on the other hand, secondary data resources
are journals, books, blogs etc. From these resources the secondary data can be eventually
collected by the researcher. For this particular research topic secondary data collection and mixed
data such as quantitative and qualitative data are collected from the resources. It has been found
that, in order to conduct the construction research total interruptive structural modelling is needed
to be considered.
5.2 Data collection methods and analysis
There are two different data collection methods are there such as primary and secondary. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to collect data through the secondary data approach. In order to
conduct this research work the, secondary data collection approach has been selected. No such
survey questionnaire is prepared for collecting data from the participants. In order to collect data
from this particular topic secondary data collection approach is selected. Whenever the
information are gathered by someone else to meet the purpose that is other than researcher’s
current project and has already gone through the statistical analysis is known as secondary data
analysis. Secondary data are easily available from different resources and there is no such specific
method for collecting data. The researchers are capable of gathering data from the resources both
internal to the business organization. The internet sources those are used for collecting data for
this particular research work are as follows:
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PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
 Financial statement
 Indian construction based reports
 Construction company information
 Management information system
There are many other external sources also those are used for successfully conducting the
research work. The external sources of the secondary data are as follows:
 Constriction level organizational journals
 Social books on Indian construction and labour engagement programs
 Data from other governments
 Indian government censuses
The secondary data can be either quantitative or qualitative. The qualitative data for this particular
research topic are gathered from transcripts, journals, books, articles etc. whereas; the qualitative
data can be gathered from different financial statements and statistical information set also. The
main advantage of the secondary data is that it can be collected very easily. Thus, secondary data
collection is neither time consuming nor costly. However, this is much expensive than the primary
data. The only issue that may negatively impact the researcher and the research topic is that
secondary data are not specific. In order to collect specific data the primary data are much
effective. The authenticity of the research results may be sceptical. The profits makes secondary
data sources much interesting mainly for the statistical productions. For detail longitudinal studies
also this timely delivery and secondary sources are very much effective. For this topic, the primary
data collection method is avoided.
5.3 Ethics Statement
While developing any project it is the role of the project manager and the project team members to
make sure that no such unethical approaches are taking place.
Data application: The data those have been collected from the secondary data analysis should be
used considering all ethical aspects. None of the data application process should be violated by
the project managers and the rest of the project team members.
Involvement of the respondents: The people who are associated to the project should not violate
any ethical standards. None of the project team members should be pressurized or influenced.
6. Research project management
Risk register including analysis and response strategy
No. Risk Probability
(1 very low, 5
very high)
Impact
(1very low, 5
very high)
Assessment
(impact x
probability)
Response
strategy
1 Physical risks 5 3 Medium In order to avoid
the physical risks
proper safety
equipments are
needed to be
adopted.
2 Economical 5 4 High The researcher
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PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
risks should design
budget of the
research based on
its requirements. It
is the role of the
researcher to
make a feasibility
study so that to
make sure
whether the
estimated budget
is feasible or not.
3 Legal risk 5 5
Very high
All legal standards
and legal aspects
are required to be
adopted by the
researcher.
4 Loss of
confidentiality
5 5 Very high Proper security
approaches
should be
considered to
avoid data
assaults and data
hijack.
Stakeholder analysis:
Stakeholder Influence (ability to
effect changes)
Impacted by project Information needed Outcome desired
Project sponsors High High The project
objectives
To deliver a
successfully
constructed site to
the consumers and
to meet the project
outcome within the
investment.
Project manager High Medium The project
objectives and
assumptions
To deliver the
project within the
estimated time and
estimated budget.
Finance manager High Medium The project
objectives and
assumptions
To estimate
accurate project
budget so that no
commercial loss is
faced.
Operation manager High Low The project
objectives and
assumptions
To implement all
the operational
activities to the
project activities
Contractors High High The project
objectives and
assumptions
To deliver a
decorated and
comfortable
constructed plot to
the consumers
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PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
Data management
In order to develop the construction project different data are collected from the secondary
resources. It is necessary for the project managers to secure all the data from the external and
unauthenticated users. A computerized information management system is used by the project
managers to store all the necessary information. In order to keep the secured from the external
attackers the stored information should keep encoded those cannot be even decoded by the
unwanted people. Computerized record keeping system increases the overall management of the
construction projects. The information can be retrieved by the contractors and the project
managers easily with the automated data management system. In addition to this, data encoding
another important security mechanism that should be incorporated is encryption. Without the key
nine of the external users will be able to access information from the server. Application firewall
should also be used by the construction manager so that the while transmitting information from
the sender to the receiver none of the external can access the information.
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PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
7. References List
Banihashemi, S., Hosseini, M.R., Golizadeh, H. and Sankaran, S., 2017. Critical success
factors (CSFs) for integration of sustainability into construction project management practices
in developing countries. International Journal of Project Management, 35(6), pp.1103-1119.
Durdyev, S. and Mbachu, J., 2017. Key constraints to labour productivity in residential building
projects: Evidence from Cambodia. International Journal of Construction Management, pp.1-9.
Eroshkin, S.Y., Koryagin, N.D., Kovkov, D.V., Panov, D.V. and Sukhorukov, A.I., 2017. The
paradigm of the integration of different types of management information systems in investment
and construction company implementing the project approach. Procedia Computer
Science, 103, pp.605-608.
Fleming, Q.W. and Koppelman, J.M., 2016, December. Earned value project management.
Project Management Institute.
Grover, R. and Froese, T.M., 2016. Knowledge management in construction using a SocioBIM
platform: A case study of AYO smart home project. Procedia Engineering, 145, pp.1283-1290.
Hogan, M., 2015. A Case Study for Improving Construction Project Management.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Mok, K.Y., Shen, G.Q. and Yang, J., 2015. Stakeholder management studies in mega
construction projects: A review and future directions. International Journal of Project
Management, 33(2), pp.446-457.
Mubarak, S.A., 2015. Construction project scheduling and control. John Wiley & Sons.
Oakland, J. and Marosszeky, M., 2017. Total Construction Management: Lean Quality in
Construction Project Delivery. Routledge.
Ogunde, A., Olaolu, O., Afolabi, A.O., Owolabi, J. and Ojelabi, R., 2017. Challenges
confronting construction project management system for sustainable construction in developing
countries: Professionals perspectives (a case study of Nigeria). Journal of Building
Performance, 8(1), pp.1-11.
Rozali, N.H.A., 2015. To Review the Effectiveness of Project Management in Construction
Process (Doctoral dissertation, UMP).
Sandbhor, S.S. and Botre, R.P., 2014. Applying total interpretive structural modeling to study
factors affecting construction labour productivity. Construction Economics and Building, 14(1),
pp.20-31.
SayaliShrikrishnaSandbhor and Rohan P. Botre, 2014. Applying total interpretive structural
modeling to study factors affecting construction labour productivity. Construction Economics
and Building, 14(1), pp.20–31.
Sears, S.K., Sears, G.A., Clough, R.H., Rounds, J.L. and Segner, R.O., 2015. Construction
project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Sebastian, L. and Raghavan, V.S., 2015. Constraints on labour productivity-A case study.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
The Economic Time, 2016. “India needs 7.3% labour productivity rise for 9% GDP growth,
viewed 20- May-2018, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/india-
needs-7-3-labour-productivity-rise-for-9-gdp-growth/articleshow/50948924.cms
Varajão, J., Dominguez, C., Ribeiro, P. and Paiva, A., 2014. CRITICAL SUCCESS ASPECTS
IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY. Tehnicki Vjesnik/Technical
Gazette, 21(3).
Walker, A., 2015. Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons.
Zheng, X., Le, Y., Chan, A.P., Hu, Y. and Li, Y., 2016. Review of the application of social
network analysis (SNA) in construction project management research. International journal of
project management, 34(7), pp.1214-122.
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PPMP20015: Assignment 2 - Research Proposal
Unit Coordinator: Dr Samer Skaik
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