Success factors for implementing Uganda’s public road construction projects

Abstract

The construction industry is known for its underperformance. Globally, construction projects are often delayed and completed above-estimated budgets because of inferior works and contract variations. These in turn negatively affect the goals set by public sector client. Many studies aim to establish factors for successful construction projects that include public road construction projects. However, challenges remain. Using institutional theory, this research focusses on success factors for implementing public road construction projects in Uganda. Loss of funds in such projects significantly affects and stalls the implementation process. This study is cross-sectional and structured self-administered questionnaires are used with Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) data analysis by Smart-PLS3 subsequently conducted. The findings reveal that professionalism, monitoring activities, familiarity with regulatory framework; perceived inefficiency of regulatory framework and compliance with these frameworks significantly enhances successful implementation of public road construction projects. However, sanctions on staff and contractors’ resistance to non-compliance are insignificant predictors. Governments should emphasize and embark on improving monitoring mechanisms and staff familiarity with public procurement regulatory frameworks to avoid manipulations by unethical project stakeholders especially on contract cost variation during implementation. These regulatory frameworks should be written in a less technical language that is easily interpreted by stakeholders. Recruitment of qualified staff is paramount.

Keywords:

• Compliance
• project success
• public road construction
• regulatory framework

Acknowledgements

This article is a part of N.M.’s PhD which is fully sponsored by the Commonwealth Government of Australia through the University of Newcastle Australia. In this regard, the lead author thanks Australian Commonwealth Government and the University of Newcastle for their support. Special thanks go to Professor Peter Davis and Dr Yongjian Ke for tireless supervision and guidance. The authors further thank the International Journal of Construction Management editorial team for their initial comments and suggestions that have led to improvements being made to this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This article is a part of Noah Mwelu’s PhD which is fully sponsored by the Commonwealth Government of Australia through the University of Newcastle Australia.