THE PERFORMANCE OF LOCAL CONTRACTORS ON HIGH-VALUE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN ZAMBIA: THE CASE OF SELECTED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.

Abstract

The study aimed to analyse local contractors’ performance on high-value construction projects. A wide-ranging review of the extant literature was employed to obtain secondary data and understand the formulated problem. The questionnaire survey was adopted to obtain the primary data, including 123 respondents, namely, clients, consultants and contractors. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach, and the collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, computed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse qualitative data. The study revealed that some of the significant challenges local contractors encounter in the construction industry, such as corruption, lack of technical expertise, lack of access to finance, poor organisational culture and low competitiveness. Similarly, the study established that culture influences contractor performance. The study made an extensive contribution to the body of knowledge through some derived recommendations. Some of the recommendations encompassed the need to enhance the capacity building of local contractors through training and workshops. The need for contractors to focus on improving how they balance the triple constraints on projects needs a mindset change. In addition, local contractors should ensure a balanced organisational culture that allows them to be more reactive to their environment, especially to unexpected changes, to improve their performance.