School of Construction, Economics and Management

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Willingness of End Users in Embracing Sustainable Housing in South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, 2023-10) Weaich, Malcolm; Simbanegavi, Prisca; Ndlovu, Pride; Rikhotso, Thulisiwe; Ntshangase, Noxolo
Purpose: This study examines South African end-users' willingness to adopt sustainable housing, identifying preferred materials and investment levels. It aims to inform sustainable material adoption to reduce construction-sector carbon emissions. Approach: A quantitative survey collected data on attitudes, knowledge, and willingness to pay for sustainable housing. SPSS was used for data analysis, focusing on socio-economic status, willingness to adopt sustainable homes, and cost comparisons with traditional materials. Findings: Middle and high-income earners are more willing to adopt sustainable housing, despite higher costs. South Africans prefer materials that reduce energy grid dependence and are willing to pay for its full conversion. Regression analysis identified preferred sustainable options across income levels. Based on its findings, the study challenges the notion that affordability is the sole driver for low adoption levels of sustainable living in South Africa, emphasising individual values and the need for inclusivity in sustainable housing. Limitations: The study's small sample size of 88 participants limits its scope. Future research should include longitudinal studies and deeper exploration of sustainable housing stakeholders and explore interventions, through end-user perceptions at a more in-depth level to form a theory of adoption pertaining to sustainable housing practices phenomena. Practical implications: The study establishes a market demand for sustainable housing in South Africa, advocating for government and industry collaboration to boost awareness and adoption. Value of paper: The paper informs policy, guides industry sustainable housing practices, and aids in the development of targeted strategies to promote sustainable housing and reduce its carbon footprint. Keywords: Construction industry, End-user willingness, Green building certification, Sustainable development, Sustainable housing.
Liberal peacebuilding and local ownership: a case study of post-civil war Mozambique
(2022) Hlatshwayo, Shamiso Nomsa
The concept of local ownership and participation emerged as contextually sensitised responses to the criticisms of the liberal peace approach to issues of local legitimacy and the need for context specific peace building solutions. Given that local ownership is often viewed as an afterthought by foreign actors, it continues to be an elusive concept that is widely considered to be a necessary ingredient for durable peace; yet the very same concept has gained wide ranging criticism due to the manner in which it still relies on fundamental liberal concepts. Through a qualitative enquiry, this study explored the dilemma of the two concepts by placing it within the post-Civil War Mozambique context. There appears to be little consensus on the subject due to the role the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (UNOMOZ) played in ending hostilities and ensuring the first multi-party elections. Thus, the mission is regarded as having been successful in those areas by garnering an acceptable level of local buy-in due to the peaceful nature of the first elections and the relative peace that the country has maintained since the UNOMOZ exit. Thus in terms of the research question, it is clear that Mozambique highlights the complexity of the liberal peacebuilding and local ownership debate, thus requiring a nuanced approach where both concepts are approached with a high level of objectivity. The study found that UNOMOZ can be said to have been successful in its ability to secure peace and cultivate equitable governance structures, even though they were isolated to a specific elite. However when taking the local ownership dimension of the debate, UNOMOZ’s limited mandate and time constraints rendered it to be a process that entered the country with a cultural blind spot which by design excluded locals and eventually rendered them as essentially disempowered pawns in the reproduction of power structures that continue to limit wide spread, equitable civic participation.
An evaluation of the applicability of the extended situational leadership model to lower level management in the South African construction industry
(University of the Witwatersrand, 1990-08-10) Cocotos, George
The vast majority of theories and models that have been developed around the concept of leadership have been conceptualized, and tested in the USA and other countries outside South Africa as discussed in the literature survey, Chapter 2 of this dissertation). Furthermore, the models developed have largely been theoretical models aimed to help leaders only to identify the most appropriate leadership style to use. None have however attempted to develop a model that leaders can use to implement the most appropriate leadership style once it has been chosen. Consequently, A D Jaff, using the most integrated and recently developed Situational Leadership Theory and Mode 1 of Hersey and Blanchard as a data base, developed the first leadership implementation model - The Extended Situational Leadership Model. Since AD Jaff's implementation model is a combination of various other leadership mode ls and theories, in order to fully understand the development of the Extended SL Model, all the relevant models are researched in this dissertation (see Chapter 2). This dissertation attempts to test the applicability of the Extended SL Model in a practical construction environment in South Africa. It further attempts to make adaptations to the model where relevant, after testing its performance value through the administration of 3 questionnaires to a sample of potential/practising black leaders (on-site construction managers). (This lS surveyed in Chapters 3 to 6 of this dissertation). The objective of this dissertation is therefore to attempt to test, and where necessary, to adapt AD Jaff's Extended SL Model so that : 1) this theoretical model may be implemented practically in a South African construction working environment (i.e. to prove that the mode 1 does work in practice) ( see Chapter 4). and to test whether 2) the adapted mode 1 is applicable for the training of future black Low-Level leaders in the South African construction environment. The adapted form of the model will, I believe, prove to be a useful tool for the training of black leaders within the South African construction organisations, where the volatile industry and changing economic and political environment of South Africa with ensure the emergence of black South African Low Level leaders in the construction industry in the near future.
Investigating gender sensitivity regarding health and safety provisions within the South African construction industry
(University of Witwatersrand, 2016-10) Jameson, Destiny; Wray, Kathryn; Moolla, Riyaadh
The purpose of this research report was to investigate the extent to which current health and safety provisions are inadequate in gender sensitivity, and whether this increases the vulnerability of women leading to incidents and long term health implications on South African construction sites. Factors affecting women’s health and safety were analysed and possible recommendations on how to remedy and improve these factors were made. This research provided a platform for both female operative and managers on site to express their perspectives and factual experience regarding issues on site, with particular attention paid to the availability and adequacy of PPE and sanitary facilities and the provisions, both locally and internationally, that govern these. The physical and, perhaps to a lesser extent, psychological consequences of these health and safety concerns are explored in our research. The research design adopted was that of a positivist research philosophy, which utilised a mixed methodology approach and incorporated the usage of two instruments namely; a semistructured questionnaire, utilising both open and closed-ended questions, aimed at female site operatives and, secondly, interviews aimed at managerial personnel of the corresponding construction sites. In particular, 32 female site operatives participated in the study and a further 6 managerial personnel. Field data collection was limited to construction sites within the Johannesburg region and encompassed both commercial building sites and civil.
Investigating quality in construction in the residential sector around the Gauteng region
(University of Witwatersrand, 2016-10) Mulla, Mohamed; Crossman, Richard; Nyalunga, Sikhulile
According to the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), quality in the residential sector in South Africa is the least satisfactory among all sectors. It is therefore important to research further into this sector to establish the current state of quality and factors that affect it from homeowner’s perspective. The key purpose of this study is therefore to investigate the level and factors that affect the quality of construction in recently developed (in the 12 last years) private estates in Johannesburg, South Africa. Literature was used to determine factors that affect quality in residential properties. These factors were then used to design a questionnaire that helped to determine the level of quality in estates in the Johannesburg region. Quality has been found to be of a satisfactory level however some notable points were raised from respondents regarding some underperforming aspects. These factors are floor finishes, running costs, outside area of the home, general aesthetics of the home, ambient temperature, natural lighting, parking area, air conditioning and delays in construction These factors are analyzed and recommendations for future studies have been made.
The effectiveness of construction management in improving labour productivity
(University of Witwatersrand, 2016-10) Mayet, Uzair; Phakathi, Sidumo; Lelosa, Jeremia
Management is one of the major key performance indicators that influence labour productivity of construction projects. Mismanagement of construction activities leads to poor construction labour productivity which has a negative impact on a project’s time, cost and quality. The aim of this study is to investigate management factors that have an influence on construction labour productivity and also provide measures that can help improve labour productivity in the South African construction industry. The research instrument adopted in this research is a survey utilising a questionnaire that consists of sub categories of factors that influence construction management. The sampling plan that was adopted during this research study is a purposive sampling technique. The questionnaire survey involves distributing an online questionnaire to construction managers that are “professionally” accredited to the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP). A likert scale was used to rank the results of the fifty-eight valid responses. The top three main factors that were found to be most effective in improving construction labour productivity were communication, planning and scheduling and motivation. The researchers then recommended a productivity management framework in order to measure and improve labour productivity. Further research can be done to improve the framework by considering the perceptions other site orientated construction professionals and relevant stakeholders.
Investigating how ICT affects the performance of geographically dispersed construction project teams within South Africa
(University of Witwatersrand, 2016-10) Cele, Sibhekiwe; Mashao, Morongwa; Mokoka, Wilheminah
This study examines how information and communication technology (ICT) affects the performance of geographically dispersed construction project teams within South Africa. It focuses on how project team dispersion due to the geographic separation of the project location from the construction teams’ primary facility affects performance and how the project teams make use of information communication technology (ICT) to address the challenge of executing the project. This will be done by looking at the means in which the ICT is used, the seven ICT perspectives and how they are applicable to the project teams, the processes and mechanisms in place to deal with the communication requirements to performance and, as such, attempt to measure the perceived performance of the construction project teams. The mixed method research methodology is adopted in the study in order to fulfill its objectives that span the collection of primary and secondary data. The limitation of the study is that data collection is limited to addressing and questioning potential respondents only within the in the Gauteng province - predominately in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a result, findings from this study cannot be freely generalized beyond the Metropolitan or provincial sample group. Nonetheless, the findings will form a basis for a future research. Undertaking this study will shed light to project parties about the importance of incorporating information communication technology processes to manage and alleviate the challenges faced with handling the performance of geographically dispersed construction project teams.
Investigating collaborative procurement processes in green buildings
(University of Witwatersrand, 2016-10) Mohale, Lerato; Mamathuba, Mulalo; Mochalibane, Bontle
It has been acknowledged and appreciated on a global scale how climate change has direct negative effects on the environment, economy and society as a whole. The construction industry’s response to this is the introduction of green buildings. However, green innovations are far from becoming customary due to insufficient knowledge in the implementation of procurement processes. The use of a dominating default method known as traditional procurement practice is being implemented which hinders successful project delivery as it neglects the collaborative intensive nature of green buildings. The aim of the study is to determine the changes that occur in the procurement processes of green building at Wits University, to establish the most suitable process that is aligned with achieving high performance through project delivery. The study adopted a qualitative research approach suited for exploratory research where the nature of a problem is being investigated. A total of three project participants including the project manager, contractor and quantity surveyor involved in the erection of New John Moffat Building, Maths Building and Wits Science Stadium participated in the study. Open-ended interviews were used to explore the nature of collaborative procurement processes adopted during the lifecycle of each building. The use of framework agreements fostered collaborative practices as they were deemed suitable for green buildings. As much as we are unable to conclude that traditional procurement is inadequate for green buildings, we were able to establish that when incorporating green elements into a structure, traditional procurement does not sufficiently conform to sustainability parameters.
Sustainability in project management in the South African context
(University of Witwatersrand, 2016-10) Chothia, Tasmiyah; Booi, Zanoxolo; Madonsela, Nikiwe
The research study is commissioned to analyse the application of sustainability in project management, with particular reference to the difficulties experienced when applying sustainability into project management that affect the goal of achieving project management and sustainability in South African construction projects. Global warming is considered to be a worldwide concern and the construction industry has been concerning itself with the concept of sustainability in order to minimise their impact on the environment, the resources and their contribution towards global warming. Implementing sustainability into the construction project process assists in reducing these impacts, however there are a range of challenges due to the change from the traditional way of constructing and managing the project. As a result, project managers are faced with difficulties when implementing sustainability into their project management practices which has an impact on their objectives. The study has adopted a mix method research methodology by using both primary and secondary sources in order to achieve its aim and objectives with a limitation to the primary data being information collected only from professional project managers within South Africa. This research uses an inductive approach to collect qualitative data. The study comprised of the collection of data from formulated questions that were in line with the findings of the literature brought to the South African context as well as questions against what the literature was not able to provide for. These questions were presented in the form of an online questionnaire as a survey to a drawn sample of construction project managers registered with the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions. The research reports on the data collected from eighty-nine participants with and without sustainable building experience in order to obtain the experienced and the perceived to be experienced challenges. After this process, the data was analyzed through the use of categorization of data and graphs to compare data collected. The findings from this study reveal the significant challenges experienced by project managers when implementing sustainability into their practice. Similarities between what the literature says and what the South African respondents stated were found.
Project management practice
(University of Witwatersrand, 2016-10) Cele, Nqobile; Mathye, Risana; Mlimi, Perseverance
Effective delivery of project that meet clients’ satisfaction is a fundamental to develop and sustain a health, profession and a competitive construction market. The aim of the research study is to investigate how construction project management tools and techniques can be effectively project managers to improve project performance in order to achieve client satisfaction. The paper addresses the challenges which the construction industry faces which results in project overrun, financial loss and overall performance of the project. These challenges are addressed through the effectiveness application of project management tools and techniques. This is mainly because project managers are the client's representative and they are key roles in delivering successful projects. The study adopted the pragmatic research design philosophy; it uses mixed methods which is both qualitative and quantitative. Data collection will be conducted through a survey (questionnaire) and structured interviews as the strategy of the research. Cross-sectional time horizon is the most suitable horizon we can possibly use on this research because the research is being done on a particular time. The study comprises of three limitations, Project management practices vary across countries. The limitation is that PMBOK has a universal application that needs to be contextualized. Client satisfaction is subjective, so difficult to measure. Therefore, in this research study it will be limited to the performance of the final product. The nature of the construction industry is fragmented and dynamic. This poses an unending challenge for the project managers. Overall, the study discusses the variables in relation to the objectives of the study.

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