Applicability of tqm for construction contracting organisations in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The construction industry in any country is a dominant, huge, complex and highly risky industry. In the Sri Lankan context, the construction industry has become a major component of rapid economic development over the past years. However, the industry itself suffers from many problems, such as defects in workmanship, defects in quality and overflow of time and cost. Thus, these industry problems have challenged the successful project performance and total quality of the output. Nevertheless, these problems will persist until every organization in the industry begins to take responsibility for developing new changes within its own organization. Such changes can be initiated via effectively implementing the philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM). However, globally, the usage of TQM in the construction industry is not so popular than in the manufacturing industry. Therefore, the research aims to identify the applicability of TQM in Sri Lankan construction contracting organizations. A qualitative research approach was followed in order to achieve the aim of the study. Thus, semi-structured interviews were conducted among a total of ten top management professionals are associated with contracting organisations and had in-depth knowledge in TQM and its practice. A content analysis using NVivo 11 software was adopted to summarise and analyse the collected data. The findings revealed that TQM can be followed by the construction contracting organizations in Sri Lanka. However, it is not that much easy, because the TQM implementation process encompasses a series of barriers. Thus, the research found financial barrier, insufficient collaborative work, lack of skill, resistant to change, time barrier and less involvement of top management are such barriers in adopting TQM in Sri Lanka. Further the study suggest that barriers must be mitigated cautiously for a better consequence.