CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND M&E WORK

A STUDY OF FACTORS INFLUENCING QUALITY PERFORMANCE OF
MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL (M&E) CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN
VIETNAM
by
Do Ke Chi

A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Business Administration

Examination Committee:

Dr. Do Ba Khang (Chairman)
Prof. Himangshu Paul
Dr. Fredric William Swierczek

Nationality:
Previous Degree:

Vietnamese
Bachelor of Engineering
Kiev Polytechnic Institute
Kiev, Ukraine

Scholarship Donor:

The Government of Switzerland

Asian Institute of Technology
School of Management
Bangkok, Thailand
April, 1999

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my research advisor, Dr. Do Ba Khang for his
intensive support, valuable suggestions, guidance and encouragement during the course of my
study.
My sincere thanks are also due to Prof. Himangshu Paul and Dr. Fredric William Swierczek for
their valuable time as the members of the examination committee. Their constructive
suggestions were of great help for completing this study.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of my teachers at SOM-AIT and SAV
program for their teaching and guidance during my course.
I would like to express my deep appreciation to The Government of Switzerland for providing
financial support for my study at AIT
I would like to specially express my thanks to all of my friends at SOM for their support and
encouragement.

ii


ABSTRACT

Quality of Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) construction works are one of the major concerns
of Vietnamese contractors as the construction industry grows. This research aims to identify and
validate the factors affecting project’s quality performance and their relative contribution.
Attempts were made to suggest practical recommendations from M&E contractor viewpoint.
This study involved participation of key M&E professionals, who provided objective
information and their perception about various aspects of project quality and its influencing

factors. Multivariate statistical techniques-factor analysis and canonical correlation analysis- are
employed to account simultaneously for the multi-attribute nature of the project’s quality
performance and for the multitude of managerial factors.
Among the identified factors, those found to be mostly affecting the quality performance, by
order of importance, are: 1) Authority requirement and standard used in the projects; 2) Internal
quality assurance system; 3) Project team’s technical competence and communication among
team members and 4) Parent organization reputation and past experience.
Improvement in the aspects of activities specified in these factors make it possible to improve
construction quality in Vietnam.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter

Title

Page

TITLE PAGE
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENT.....................................................................................................iv
LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................vi
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................1
1.1 Objectives of the Research...............................................................................................................................1

1.1.1 General objectives....................................................................................................................................1
1.1.2 Specific objectives ................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Scope and Limitations of the Research.............................................................................................................2
1.3 Organisation of the Research...........................................................................................................................2

Chapter 2
OVERVIEW ON CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN VIETNAM................................................4
2.1 Construction Industry and Foreign Direct Investment.....................................................................................4
2.2 Vietnamese Contractors and Construction Quality .........................................................................................6

Chapter 3
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND M&E WORK.................................................8
3.1 Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) Construction Work....................................................................................8
3.2 Relevance of this research..............................................................................................................................10
3.2.1 Different systems of standards for M&E work......................................................................................10
3.2.2 Development of local M&E contractors and their concerns for quality................................................11
3.2.3 M&E project performance and management issues.
................................................................11

Chapter 4
LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................................................................13
4.1 Project quality performance...........................................................................................................................13
4.2 Critical success/failure factors in projects.....................................................................................................15
4.3 Determining factors of construction project success......................................................................................18

Chapter 5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................22
5.1 Research framework.......................................................................................................................................22
5.2 Term definitions and measures.......................................................................................................................22
5.2.1 Quality performance .............................................................................................................................22

5.2.2 Choice of success variables and measures.............................................................................................24

iv


5.3 Sample and procedure....................................................................................................................................28
5.4 Questionnaire design and pilot study.............................................................................................................28
5.4.1 Questionnaire design..............................................................................................................................28
5.4.2 Pilot study..............................................................................................................................................28
5.5 Data analysis procedure................................................................................................................................29
5.5.1 Basic concepts of Factor Analysis (FA) and Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA)..........................29

Chapter 6
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................32
6.1 General statistics............................................................................................................................................32
6.2 Sample descriptive statistics and preliminary analysis...................................................................................33
6.3 Data Reduction by FA....................................................................................................................................35
6.3.1 Data examining and assumptions in factor analysis..............................................................................35
6.3.2 Factor extraction....................................................................................................................................36
6.4 Data analysis with CCA.................................................................................................................................40
6.4.1 Canonical model, assumption and data examining................................................................................40
6.4.2 Deriving the canonical functions and assess overall fit.........................................................................42
6.4.3 Interpreting the results...........................................................................................................................43

Chapter 7
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................................49
7.1 Conclusions....................................................................................................................................................49
7.2 Recommendations..........................................................................................................................................50

REFERENCE....................................................................................................................52

APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................55

v


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1. Foreign investment the construction industry in period 1989 -1998 ($US
million)..............................................................................................................................................4
Figure 5.2 Project quality and influencing factors.......................................................23
Figure 6.3 Projects classification by value (a) and completion schedule (b)....................35

vi


LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Foreign investment the construction industry by countries and territories ........5
Table 4.2 List of critical success factors developed in the literature................................16
Table 6.3 Means and standard deviations of the variables .............................................33

vii


Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

The construction industry of Vietnam has contributed a great part to the national economic
development during the last decade. Vietnam is in a state of transition from a centrally plannedcommand economy to a market-oriented economy. But, the country is in need of extensive
rehabilitation and upgrading of its transportation, communications and utility systems. In
addition, Vietnam certainly needs an appropriate system of social infrastructure, including
housing, healthcare, and education facilities.

Most of the construction projects with foreign investment capital have been designed and built
by foreign firms but the actual subcontracting work have been performed by Vietnamese
contractors. Local competitors are numerous, but are facing long-term difficulties concerning
insufficient capital, technology and equipment, marketing and management expertise. Rivals
from other countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia and France have solid positions in the
Vietnamese market owing to their early arrival in the market, their technical and managerial
excellence, and more importantly their home country contribution to the inflows of ODA and
Foreign Direct Investment into the country.
In the modern construction market, quality management is a major management function in a
construction organization. Mechanical and electrical (M&E) works are an integral part of a
construction project and their quality performance has been greatly affecting the overall project
quality. The local M&E contractors face problems with different systems of standards being
used and the shortcomings of project management skills. The quality of M&E projects therefore
is one of major concerns for managers working in this field.
Like many developing countries, Vietnam has been relying completely on the methods and
techniques concerning quality that were initiated and developed from outside. These quality
systems may not be well adapted to suit the economic, political, social and technological
environment of Vietnam. Thus, determining the M&E construction industry’s viewpoint on the
factors that would improve construction quality performance is an essential step toward
establishing methods for real improvement of construction quality in Vietnam. Understanding
the main factors affecting quality of M&E projects will help M&E companies improve quality
of their work and increase overall competitiveness.

1.1

Objectives of the Research

1.1.1

General objectives

The main objective of this research study is to identify and validate the major factors, which
mostly affect the quality performance of M&E works and the relative importance of these
factors in construction projects. The factors being identified would help to improve quality and
the effectiveness of project management in M&E projects.

1


1.1.2

Specific objectives

The following research objectives are to be completed:
•

Review of the construction development and FDI construction in Vietnam to have an overall
picture about the industry

•

Overview of a construction project and its activities; define the role of M&E work in
construction projects and relevance of this research.

•

Determining project quality performance, critical success factors definition and measures in
projects and particularly for construction projects through extensive literature review

•

Define the project quality and its measures, factors affecting project quality and their
measures.

•

Determining major factors and their relative importance by analyzing data from survey
questionnaires.

•

Derive practical implications of obtained results.

1.2

Scope and Limitations of the Research

This research focuses on the operational quality of M&E project management team and from the
prospective of M&E contractors during the construction and maintenance phases of construction
projects. The survey is conducted among project managers or project engineers of major M&E
companies in Ho Chi Minh City but the projects mentioned in the responses may be from other
provinces as well.
Due to time and resources constraints, the limitations of this research are:
•

Surveyed projects are limited to FDI or with projects with element of foreign funding.

•

Relatively small list of variables might not account for all effects upon performance.

•

M&E projects have specific features therefore the research results might not be applicable
for other types of project.

•

Local socio-economical conditions and technological level limit the expandability of the
model to other countries.

•

Performance success has to be considered together with cost and time in an overall context
for project success assessment since they are inter-related.

1.3

Organisation of the Research

This research is organized into seven chapters as outlined below:

2


Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter explains the rationale, objectives, scope and limitation of the study
Chapter 2: Overview of the Construction Industry in Vietnam
Based on secondary data, this chapter presents an overview of construction industry in Vietnam
and FDI construction, the need to bring international construction standards to Vietnam

Chapter 3: Project Activities and M&E Work.
This chapter gives description of typical activities and role, characteristics of M&E work in a
construction project. The relevance of this research is also explained in details.
Chapter 4: Literature Review
This chapter presents a literature review of project quality definitions and measures, ways to
assess critical success factors of a project in general and a construction project, in particular.
Chapter 5: Research Methodology
Based on literature review, a method will be developed to assess the factors that influence the
quality performance of M&E construction projects. Basic concepts of statistical tools to be used
are also explained in this chapter.
Chapter 6: Findings of the Study
This chapter presents the findings based on the results of a survey conducted in Ho Chi Minh
City. Statistical analysis is applied to show the relative importance of various factors on project
quality performance.
Chapter 7: Conclusions and Recommendations
Based on the findings, this chapter will present some conclusions and recommendations thought
to be of importance to M&E project management tasks.

3


Chapter 2
OVERVIEW ON CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN VIETNAM

2.1

Construction Industry and Foreign Direct Investment

Since the “open door” policy began in Vietnam in 1987, the flux of foreign investment has
helped development of various sectors of Vietnam economy. According to the statistics from the

Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), there have been 54 countries and territories
investing in Vietnam with a total investment capital of US$ 35.4 billion, of which, 1,775
projects still remain active valued at US$ 32.2 billion. Figure 2.1 presents the capital
investments by foreign investors in the construction sector alone.

4000

3775

3500

Value in million $US

3000
2500
2000
1500
930.212

1000
518.629

500
0

2.165
1989

16.334
1991

73.859

42.323
1993

1995

1996

1997

7/1/1998

Year

Figure 2.1. Foreign investment the construction industry in period 1989 -1998 ($US million)
[Source: Ministry of Planning and Investment (1998)]

4


Table 2.1 shows the ten nations making the largest investment (in term of total investment
capital) in the construction industry as the following:
Table 2.1 Foreign investment the construction industry by countries and territories
Rank by
total
capital

Country/Territory

Number of
projects

Percentage
(%)

Total capital (in
million USD)

Percentage
(%)

1

Singapore

22

14.57

2,462.66

38.96

2

British Virgin Islands

8

5.30

1,039.64

16.45

3

Taiwan

15

9.93

938.01

14.84

4

Japan

14

9.27

438.24

6.93

5

Switzerland

2

1.32

352.50

5.58

6

South Korea

11

7.28

279.94

4.43

7

Thailand

10

6.62

265.13

4.19

8

Hong Kong

14

9.27

176.00

2.78

9

France

5

3.31

124.51

1.97

10

Malaysia

7

4.64

72.79

1.15

11

Other countries

43

28.48

171.86

2.72

151

100

6,321.28

100

Total

[Source: Ministry of Planning and Investment (1998)]
According to Ministry of Construction summary report, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the
field of construction represents only a small part of total FDI capital as per MPI classification.
However, FDI capital has cast a great impact on local construction industry development.
Experiences by project administrators show that a large segment of FDI capital goes to
construction activities (about 40-50%), including expenses for communications and public
works constructions. The FDI in the construction industry has boosted the capabilities of
Vietnamese constructors and consulting services, suppliers and contractors.
The construction industry in Vietnam was booming during the period from 1990 to 1996,
resulting in projects being completed for the next two years (1997-1998). However, the recent
Asian financial crisis has brought the entire commercial construction industry to a virtual halt
although through Official Development Assistance (ODA), infrastructure projects are

5


continuing. The total market size of the construction industry for 1997 was US$ 1.1 billion 1,
which is expected to grow at a rate of 12.5% in the next three years. The market can be
segmented into five market segments, which include residential buildings, commercial
buildings, building conservation and maintenance, civil engineering, and industrial engineering.
Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are the two locations that have attracted the most foreign
investment in due to their strategic locality, relatively favorable investment climate, developed
infrastructure and availability of skilled workers. Out of 151 FDI construction projects being
approved until July 1, 1998, Hanoi accounted for 27 projects with total capital of 2,456.27
million $US and Ho Chi Minh City – 45 projects totaled 1,696.56 million $US.

2.2

Vietnamese Contractors and Construction Quality

In the recent past, the construction industry in Vietnam was dominated by state-owned
construction companies belonging to ministries such as Ministries of Construction, of Transport
& Communications, of Industry, of Agricultural & Development, of Trade, and of Defense, etc.
The main advantages of state-owned contractors are their scale, experience, access to bank
finance, knowledge and contacts with public clients, an extremely important source of
construction orders. Their disadvantages lay in the poor management, marketing activities,
bureaucratic practices and procedures, under-utilized labor force, outdated equipment, limited
know-how of construction technology, and lack of experience in contract tendering.
Most large private construction companies have been established over the past five or six years,
having annual turnover ranging from US$0.5 to 5 million. Construction work developed by
these companies is widely distributed over many provinces, if not the whole country. In addition
to difficulty in financing, insufficient equipment and technology is becoming a problem for this
sector. Additionally, there is a general lack of management expertise. There is a need to improve
management skills for the private and public local firms, both at the company and the site levels.
Some construction companies have made great improvements but they are mainly big
corporations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City such as Song Da Construction Company, Hanoi
Construction Company, Construction Company No 1(COFICO), Vietnam Construction Import
and Export Corporation (VINACONEX) etc. But as reported by Thien Huong (1998), only 1520% of the 419 consulting companies doing construction survey, design and planning have a
system for quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). None of the local construction
companies can meet the requirements of ISO 9000 certificate of quality control. “Vietnamese
construction technology is still far behind the world”, acknowledged Nguyen Hong Quan,
Deputy Minister of Construction [Source: Hai Nam, 1998].
The quality of construction projects can only be assured if the local standards are upgraded to
international level.

1

Industry Sector Analysis: Vietnam-Architectural/Construction/Eng. US. Foreign Commercial Service and
US Department of State Report, 1998.

6


Yates J.K. and Aniftos S. (1997) showed the benefits that increasing cooperation with the
international standard setting community would lead to as the following:
•

Increase the efficiency of developing, adopting and maintaining international standards.

•

Influence the standards that recognize the need for the local construction industry.

•

Provide strategies for local construction companies to remain competitive or increase their
competitiveness in the regional and global engineering and construction arena.

•

Provide a service to assist in the more efficient delivery of international construction
projects.

•

Reduce barriers that cause conflicts, or misunderstanding on international projects

Recognizing the need to match Vietnam’s rapid development of construction industry with
appropriate technical standards, the Ministry of Construction has consistently worked with the
infrastructure committee of the American Chamber of Commerce on issue of construction
management. The focus of this cooperation has been the areas of quality assurance and quality
control (QA/QC) and several conferences have been hold in this direction. The purpose of these
conferences were to discuss the idea of why construction industry should operate with a uniform
standard system and introduce technical manuals from American Society of Testing and
Material (ASTM).
In another effort, French experts have been working with Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) for
introduction and translation of recommendations from International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) which is the international standards and conformity assessment body for all
fields of electrotechnology.
With Vietnam’s intention to join APEC and WTO, a uniform system of standards for
construction industry is vital since they also represent the core of the World Trade
Organization’s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), whose 100-plus central
government members explicitly recognize that international standards play a critical role in
improving industrial efficiency and developing world trade.

7


Chapter 3
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND M&E WORK

A typical construction project consists of various activities that are performed by different
contractors. Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) work are an integral part of a construction project
and normally carried out by separate contractors - M&E contractors- besides civil work.
The major types of work of a construction project are:

•

Earthwork. The major areas are site work, building excavation, backfilling and other related
earthwork activities.

•

Concrete construction. The main concrete-related items involve formwork, reinforcing steel,
concrete (cast-in-place and precast), finishing, curing and protection.

•

Masonry. Masonry includes a variety of relatively small building units assembled to form a
larger building part such as walls. Elements of masonry consist of brick, block, mortar and
accessories.

•

Metals. These items include structural steel framing, plates and rods, connections, joints and
miscellaneous items.

•

Carpentry. Carpentry involves floor, ceiling, roof and wall framing, interior and exterior
finish carpentry items.

•

Specialties and furnishing. Included in this category are specialty items such as bathroom
accessories, displays, lockers; architectural equipment such as appliances, kitchen

equipment; furnishing like cabinets, seating, tables and special construction such as
swimming pool, gardening, etc.

•

Mechanical and plumbing. Mechanical work commonly known as heating, ventilating and
air-conditioning (HVAC) services for a building project. Plumbing is the installation of all
piping required to supply fresh water and remove wastewater from the building. Special
piping systems for gas, steam may also required. Sometimes plumbing is covered under
mechanical work.

•

Electrical. Electrical work includes such items as conduits, wires, circuit breakers, lighting
fixtures, transformers, telephones, telecommunications, computer networking and other
special electrical systems.

3.1

Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) Construction Work

Detailed scope of M&E work is the following:

8


Mechanical: to install and commissioning the following systems:
•

Basic mechanical materials and installation methods.

•

Mechanical insulation.

•

Pipe and fittings: brass, copper, steel pipes and accessories, valves, drains.

•

Plumbing fixtures: baths, fountains, lavatories, various types of pumps etc.

•

Fire protection system: auto-fire suppression system, fire pumps, fire extinguishers, and
sprinkler systems.

•

Heating: boiler, heat exchangers, solar energy, fans etc.

•

Air conditioning and ventilating: cooling towers, fancoil units, duct work, ventilators, and
water chillers.

•

HVAC control systems.

Electrical: to install and commissioning the following systems
•

Basic electrical materials and installation methods.

•

Raceways: cable tray, conduits, underfloor duct, and electrical trench.

•

Conductors and wiring devices: wire, cable, control cable, high voltage power cable, pull
boxes, outlet boxes, cabinets.

•

Protection and distribution systems: circuit breakers, control stations, panel boards,
switchboards etc.

•

Transformer and generator systems: transformer, generator set, uninterrupted power system
(UPS).

•

Lighting systems: interior lighting systems, exit lights, exterior fixtures.

•

Special systems: telephone system, public address system, closed-circuit TV (CCTV) and
detection system, sound system, computer and communication system.

There are overlapping areas like fire alarm systems where they can be either belong to
mechanical or electrical scope of work according to initial contract.
The M&E work’s major characteristics are:
•

M&E work’s contract value varies in a wide range depending on type of contract. According
to Asian Pacific Construction Costs Handbook (1994), M&E work accounted for 5-15%
total value of a construction project. However, with the more popular use of Building

9


Automation System (BAS), which controls all the building functions from a central
command computer, the M&E cost inclines to rise.
•

In term of safety for building’s tenants, M&E work, especially electrical, have to follow
many rigorous requirements laid down by authority to ensure the highest possible safety
standards.

•

The quality of a construction project after entering service is usually judged by the quality of
M&E work. A survey has been performed of 400 office building tenants to assess building
and management performance of a variety of functions ( Penz and Beard, 1988). The top
five most satisfied functions were: 1) electric power needs; 2) building management

responsiveness; 3) express mail pick-up/delivery; 4) office lighting level; and 5) courier
service. Also in that survey, the five worst management, operation or design problems were
identified as: 1) heating, ventilating and air-conditioning; 2) elevators; 3) building design; 4)
loading docks and 5) indoor air quality.
It is obvious that improvement in quality performance of M&E work will lead to more
customer satisfaction.

•

In the process of construction, M&E contractors normally have a constrained set of feasible
tasks, which are highly dependent on the performance of other contractors. Therefore they
have to be well coordinated with other contractors to ensure the smooth flow of construction
tasks and successful completion of the project.

3.2

Relevance of this research

3.2.1

Different systems of standards for M&E work

Since the local construction industry has not a uniform standards system, most of foreign
projects in Vietnam are designed and installed according to developers' own standards. M&E
standards also reflect this trend. Generally, the current M&E practice can be divided into four
groups as per owners’ original nationals.
1. Projects designed according to British Standards (BS): these are projects with investors from
Britain or other countries from Commonwealth like Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia. The
basic requirements for equipment and installation procedures are stipulated by BS and
regulations like Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) Regulations for Electrical

Installations, Code of Practice (CP) for Building Services etc. So far this is the most
commonly used standard in Vietnam since the investors from this bloc form the largest part
of FDI.
2. Projects that are from American investors usually are designed and installed according to
American National Standard Institute (ANSI), National Electrical Code (NEC) and Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recommendations.
3. Japanese-invested projects are design according to Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS).

10


4. Projects with investment capital from other countries like France, Switzerland etc. are
designed according to that specific country’ standards but all claim to be compatible with
European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and IEC
requirements.
Although most of the countries listed above are IEC members and have committed themselves
to IEC standards but their standards are far from similar to each other. The presence of these
different standards makes the local contractors extremely difficult to adapt with and ensure that
all of their requirements are met. Quality performance of a project also varies according to the
extent that the contractors are familiar with the applied standards.
3.2.2

Development of local M&E contractors and their concerns for quality

Foreign contractors currently operating in Vietnam are generally working on major projects with
at least some element of foreign funding. The emphasis to date has been on major building
projects, i.e. office buildings, hotels, tourism developments and residential building complex.
Foreign invested building projects, e.g. hotel and office developments, are mainly prepared by
foreign consultants, often from neighboring Asian countries like Australia, Singapore, Japan or
from Europe, e.g. France. Many of the industrial and commercial projects are still well beyond

the capabilities of local companies like design and implementation of ventilation, airconditioning, plumbing, drainage, lighting, and fire safety, automation systems etc. for high-rise
buildings.
The M&E local contractors used to be sub-contractors for foreign companies at the first stage
but as they gained experience and expertise, Vietnamese M&E companies become more
competitive in comparison with foreign counterparts.
One distinctive feature is some successful domestic construction companies also have their own
M&E divisions, which carry out the M&E work from the whole construction package. However,
as the industry develops and requires more specialist service, separate and qualified M&E
contractors gradually take place. Local companies like Refrigeration Engineering Corporation
(REE), Saigon Engineering Company (SGE), or Seaprodex Refrigeration Electrical Company
(SEAREE) already compete successfully against foreign or joint-venture M&E firms.
Besides the advantage of lower labor cost, the quality of projects done and technical competence
is the vital factors for winning a bid. Quality assurance and quality control become more critical
in the period of economic crisis.
3.2.3

M&E project performance and management issues.

Project performance is one of the basic measures of the project objectives-the other two are cost
and time. Many things can have their impacts on performance of an M&E projects such as
quality of equipment used, technical skills of project teams or contractor/client/consultant
communication etc. In a developing country like Vietnam, sometimes specifications written in
foreign language, e.g. in English can create serious problems for those who carry out the
fieldwork and can lead to substantial reduction of quality. Vietnamese project managers usually

11


lack of experience in quality control management functions i.e. managing the implementation of
the project with a certain level conforming to predetermined specifications.

Project management techniques are one of the focus points, as most of the project managers
have not received adequate training or education on project management issues. Self-learning
and management by trial-and-error are still common things among local constructors.
It is important for project managers to be aware of the factors affecting the quality of project and
handle them in an effective manner. Therefore, determining the major factors influencing the
project performance in specific conditions of Vietnam has managerial and research meaning.

12


Chapter 4
LITERATURE REVIEW

4.1

Project quality performance

One of the primary objectives of any building project will be to obtain a system of quality
standards, which matches the client's expectations. An understanding of what constitutes quality
appears the first logical criterion which needs to be satisfied before measures can be taken to
achieve it.
In the Manual of Professional Practice Quality in the Constructed Projects (1989), issued by the
American Society of Civil Engineers, quality is defined as the totality of features, attributes, and
characteristics of a facility, product, process, component, service, or workmanship that bear on
its ability to satisfy a given needs, fitness for purpose. It is usually referenced to and measured
by the degree of conformance to a predetermined standard of performance. Also according to
this Manual, quality can be characterized as
• Meeting the requirement of the owner as to functional adequacy; completion on time and
within budget; operation and maintenance.
• Meeting the requirements of the design professional as to provision of well-defined scope of

work
• Meeting the requirements of the constructors as to provision of contract plans, specifications.
• Meeting the requirements of the regulatory agencies as to public safety and health,
environment protection.
The Manual mentioned nothing about customers’ satisfaction but gave a very clear-cut
definition of what quality stands for.
To a further clarification of specification term, Yatseen A.M and El-Marashly A.F (1989)
identified three main parameters of project-quality management as system specification, quality
control specifications and system quality control and introduced the "quality control cube" as
elaboration of quality-control parameters.
•

Specifications can be broken down into three types of specifications: functional
specifications (FS) which indicates the objective or purpose of any system; structural
specifications (SS) which describes the components of the systems and their relationships
and technological specifications (TS) which details the methods and means of conducting
the work

•

System intended to be quality controlled is generally composed of three parts: input; process
and output.

13


•

Quality control is composed of three successive actions: measuring; comparing (with
referring specifications) and correcting.

Various aspects of project quality management can be based on interaction of these parameters.
Low Sui Pheng (1993) noted that there was no consensus on a single definition of quality of a
construction project. Five different schools of thought was listed to mean quality as:
1.Fitness for purpose: the facility is constructed for intended purpose as living space, research
institute etc.
2.Conformation to specifications: work is executed according to pre-determined requirements.
3.Fitness for purpose and conformation to specifications: the combination of both first and
second perception.
4.System approach-technical rationality: objective approach when quality can be administered
through distinct, formal and extensively documented procedures.
5.System approach- socio-technical rationality (Low,1987): quality is being seen in the context
of socio-political effects and technical safeguards as well
He proposed that two tendencies exist to represents the last two concepts. The first tendency
adopts more objective approach and there is an inclination towards specifications, drawings and
bills of quantities, etc. where checklists can be compiled and the quality is strictly within the
boundaries of written rules. In contrast, the second tendency recognizes that most quality issues
in construction are not as simple and definitive as the first tendency concerns. A complex sociopolitical cum technical perspective is postulated in the second tendency.
The author acknowledged that in the long term, it would be strategic for the industry to move
towards the first tendency where clear guidelines on construction quality may be obtained.
Nevertheless, practitioners should also recognize the effects of other irrational and
indeterministic factors of the second tendency when quality standards may be "negotiated" and
its interpretation is a matter for judgement.
Ledbetter W.B. (1994) addressed three key issues of the quality performance management
system (QPMS) as quality, cost of quality and quality performance. According to him, quality
has many meanings, however for project conformance to established requirements has relevance
and clarity. The requirements are defined as contractually established characteristics of a
product, process or service which otherwise can be termed as specifications. QPMS tracks cost
in the three main categories: normal work, quality management work (prevention and appraisal)
and rework (deviation correction).

James D.S (1996) defines quality as meeting the requirements of all customers. It involves being
proactive in helping customers articulate their requirements so their expectations are made.
Quality measurements include traditional "hard" project success measures such as cost, schedule
and safety and additional "soft" measures such as customer satisfaction, leadership, employee
involvement, team work, training, flexibility, responsiveness and so forth that may be
14


interpreted in unfamiliar ways. A "Blueprint"- a guideline was designed to facilitate and
accelerate implementation of the measurement process.
Most of the literature sources converge to the point that quality generally means meeting predetermined specifications. Perceived performance by customers is importance but in fact, from
the point of view of M&E contractors, objective quality performance is more preferable and
easier to manage. In a construction project, quality have to be tracked and controlled during
construction phase and after hand-over, i.e. maintenance period.

4.2

Critical success/failure factors in projects

The literature on critical success factors reveals several definitions of “project success” and most
of them encompass the importance quality performance. Thus, those factors affecting project
success certainly affect project quality performance as well. Since identifying such factors is one
of our objectives, we will make a brief review of critical success/failure factors in projects in
general and then in construction projects, in particular.
The success and failure factors were first introduced by Robin and Seeling in 1967. They
investigated the impact of a project manager's experience on the project's success or failure.
Technical performance was used as a measure of success. Avots (1969) identified reasons for
project failure and concluded that the wrong choice of project managers, the unplanned project
termination an unsuportive top management were the main reason for the project failure.
In 1983, Baker, Murphy and Fisher suggested that instead of using time, cost and performance

as measures for project success, perceived performance should be the measure. In this research,
a project is considered successful if it meets the technical specification and/or mission to be
performed, and if there is a high level of satisfaction concerning project outcome among key
people in the parent company and key user or clientele of the project effort. This finding may be
somewhat difficult for most project personnel to accept.
Hughes (1986) conducted a survey to identify the factors that affect project performance. His
conclusions were that projects fail because of improper basic managerial principles and the lack
of communications of goals.
Morris and Hough (1987) studied eight large complex projects, which had great potential
economic impact but were poorly managed and generally failed. The identified the success and
failure factors for each of them. Based on this experience, they suggested seven dimensions of
project success (see Table 4.2). Although the analysis of success factors was aimed at large
complex projects but they also relevant to project in general.
One of the first efforts to classify critical factors was carried out by Schultz, Slevin and Pinto
(1987). They classified factors as strategic or tactical. These two groups of factors affect

15


Table 4.2 List of critical success factors developed in the literature
Martin

Locke

Cleland, King

Pinto, Slevin

Morris, Hough

Belassi, Tuckel

(1976)

(1984)

(1983)

(1989)

(1987)

(1996)

Define goals

Make
project
commitment
known

Project summary

Project manager's
competence

Clear goals

Top management
support

Project objectives

Factors related to
the project

Select
project
organizational
philosophy

Project authority
from top

Operational concept

Scheduling

Goal commitment
of project team

Client
consultation

Technical
uncertainty
innovation

Factors related to
the

project
manager
and
team members

General
management
support

Appoint
competent project
manager

Top management
support

Control systems
and
responsibilities

On-site
manager

Personnel
recruitment

Politics

Factors related to
the organization

Select
team

project

Set
up
communication
and procedures

Financial support

Monitoring
feedback

Adequate funding
to completion

Technical tasks

Community
involvement

Factors related to
the
external
environment

Allocate sufficient

resources

Set up control
mechanism

Logistics
requirements

Continuing
involvement
the project

Adequate project
team capability

Client acceptance

Schedule duration
urgency

Control
information
mechanism

Progress meeting

Facility support

Accurate initial
cost estimates

Monitoring
feedback

Financial contract
legal problems

Market intelligence

Minimum startup difficulties

Communication

Project schedule

Planning
control
techniques

Trouble shooting

and

Require planning
and review

Sayles, Chandler
(1971)

and

in

Baker, Murphy,
Fisher (1983)

project

and

and

Implement
problems


Executive
development
training
Manpower
organization

Tasks ( vs. Social
orientation)

and

Characteristics of
the project team
leader

Absence
bureaucracy

and

Power
politics

of

Acquisition

Environment
events

Information
and
communication

Urgency

Project review

[Source: Adapted from Belassi and Tuckel (1996)]

17

and

project performance at different phases of implementation. The strategic group includes factors
such as project mission, top management support, and project scheduling whereas the tactical
group consists of factors such as client consultation, personnel selection and training. In their
follow-up work, Pinto and Slevin (1989) identified success factors and their relative importance
for each stage of a research and development project life cycle. Finally, in a similar study by
Pinto and Prescott (1990), the relative importance of each group (tactical vs. Strategic) over the
project life cycle was analyzed. It was found that the relative importance of success factors
varies at different stages of the project's life cycle, depending on the success measures used.
Belassi and Tuckel (1996) grouped the factors into four areas
•Factors related to the project
•Factors related to the project manager and team members
•Factors related to the organization and
•Factors related to the external environment
Table 4.1 represents the list of critical success factors developed in the literature
As mentioned in a study by Slevin and Pinto (1988), all of these lists are theoretically based,
rather than empirically proved. And while some are general in scope, they address specific
points of interest. Most of the research in the Table 4.1 include factors related to the project
manager and the organization the project belongs to and it seems to ignore other factors. The
framework proposed by Belassi and Tuckel gives additional considerations to characteristics of
project, team members and factors external to the project while most of the others lists include
factors related mainly to project manager and the organization the projects belong to. Therefore
the Belassi and Tuckel framework is selected for tentative factors used in this research study and
we will come into more details in the following parts.

4.3

Determining factors of construction project success

The factors listed in the previous section represent the critical success factors for projects in

general, however examples of issues that not yet adequately resolved are:
1) What critical factors are valid for building construction since construction projects formed a
minority of projects studied?
2) Are the same or different factors important for various types of buildings?
3) How do different parties consider if a project is success?
In the literature, several authors identified, explained and discussed the factors that are critical to
the success of a construction project. Success criteria or a person’s definition of success as it
relates to a construction project changes from project to project depending on participant

18