The Status of Value Management Practice on Construction Projects in Uganda and Strategies for Improvement

Apollo Tutesigensi,Saul B Matege,Nathan Kibwami

doi:10.21315/jcdc2021.26.2.12

Abstract

In many developing countries, value management (VM) is not applied widely and systematically in construction projects. This limits the achievement of value for money. The objectives of this study were to describe the state of VM practice in Uganda and suggest strategies for improvement. Based on the extant literature, a conceptual framework depicting VM practice in the lifecycle of construction projects was developed. A questionnaire containing both nominal and ordinal measures was distributed to a sample of Ugandan construction industry professionals. During data analysis, the distributions of nominal variables were expressed in terms of percentages. A univariate analysis of the ordinal variables was undertaken using measures of central tendency (mean) and dispersion (standard deviation). A bivariate analysis of the ordinal variables was undertaken using Friedman, Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney U tests. The application of VM in Uganda was rudimentary, inconsistent and misguided, based on the reports of the respondents. This finding constitutes the first major contribution of this work to knowledge. It also led to the idea that the practice of VM in Uganda can be improved by raising awareness and the standard for VM application. Ten strategies for these two purposes have been put forward in this article. These strategies constitute the second major contribution to knowledge.

Highlights

In the context of construction projects, value management (VM) optimises value throughout the project lifecycle by making the various stakeholders' differing priorities explicit and aligning them, thereby enabling the selection of optimum solutions with available resources (Institute of Value Management, 2018; Kelly, Male and Graham, 2015)
Outside Europe, the United States of America (USA) and Australia, various studies undertaken to investigate the state of the application of VM in construction projects in specific countries generally show that the application of VM in construction projects is increasing, it has been applied on a small proportion of construction projects and is often limited to the design and construction stages (Khodeir and El Ghandour, 2019; Aghimien, Oke and Aigbavboa, 2018; Kim et al, 2016; Bowen et al, 2010; Liu and Shen, 2005; Fong and Shen, 2000)
Many construction projects in the USA, United Kingdom and Australia have benefited from the application of VM and have achieved far better value for money

Summary

Introduction

In the context of construction projects, value management (VM) optimises value throughout the project lifecycle by making the various stakeholders' differing priorities explicit and aligning them, thereby enabling the selection of optimum solutions with available resources (Institute of Value Management, 2018; Kelly, Male and Graham, 2015). In the last 40 years, VM has spread to Europe and Australia and become an established framework in the construction industry with common tools, techniques and styles (Kelly, Male and Graham, 2015; Spaulding, Bridge and Skitmore, 2005). Outside Europe, the USA and Australia, various studies undertaken to investigate the state of the application of VM in construction projects in specific countries (including China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, South Africa and Vietnam) generally show that the application of VM in construction projects is increasing, it has been applied on a small proportion of construction projects and is often limited to the design and construction stages (Khodeir and El Ghandour, 2019; Aghimien, Oke and Aigbavboa, 2018; Kim et al, 2016; Bowen et al, 2010; Liu and Shen, 2005; Fong and Shen, 2000)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion