Assessment of suppliers’ collaboration on construction project in Ebonyi state

Abstract

In Nigeria, the concept of suppliers’ collaboration is still a new area to construction stakeholders. The construction companies in Ebonyi State are faced with enormous challenges which involve the integration of all construction processes and activities of different agents and specialists hired by clients for successful project delivery. To address the problem of construction project in Ebonyi State, construction stakeholders require collaboration which suppliers’ collaboration is the most pertinent. The aim is to assess the factors affecting contractors–suppliers relationship on successful construction project delivery in Ebonyi State. The general objective is to identify and determine the factors affecting contractors–suppliers relationship in construction industry and impact of supplier’s collaboration on the cost of construction project in Ebonyi State. The research sought to ensure at least 95% level of confidence with a total population of 400 and sample size set to 250. Primary and secondary sources were used to generate data with the aid of structured questionnaire and oral interviews directed to both private firms and public firms in construction industry. In total, 250 forms containing a set of question were submitted randomly to selected medium and large-sized construction firms in Ebonyi State. Data collected were presented in tables containing frequencies of the responses and their corresponding percentages. Frequency distribution, relative importance index (R11), Chi-square (X2), Python spyder IDE, statistical package for social science students(SPSS) and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient were the analytical tools used in the study. The result of the analyses revealed that, correlation matrix used to measure the relationship between contractors and supplier variables. The matrix depicts there is a linear correlation between all possible pairs about contractors and suppliers. There exist a relationship between contractors and suppliers as shown with other pairs in the correlation matrix that connects to objective number 3 and addresses the research question number 3. This implies that as the contractor-supplier approach short term or/and long term increases, the supplier collaboration on the cost of construction project in the Ebonyi State is expected to increase. The study concludes that the main drivers of the success of supplier collaboration appear to be the elements of trust and teamwork. It is these which ensure the continued relationship and ensure that both parties derive the benefits necessary for the partnership to continue and therefore; made the following recommendation. A detailed schedule of materials supply should be provided by the contractor. The schedule should contain the time required for material to arrive on site. Thus, results in reducing unproductive time on site and cost saving.