The development of a framework for assessing the integration of construction supply chains

• Main Author: Gunasekera, Sanwara D. R. S.
• Published: University of Ulster 2013
• Subjects: 658.5
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.603567

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is increasingly becoming important in the construction industry, which is still largely a fragmented industry. Several government sponsored reports have been instrumental in promoting the concept in the UK construction industry. However, previous literature helped identify that construction organisations are in the need of a mechanism that would allow them to measure integration of supply chains. Hence this research aimed to develop a framework for construction organisations to assess and improve integration of their supply chains. In this endeavour a Delphi survey was conducted in the Northern Irish construction industry to 'build' a SCM framework, and thereafter a UK-wide questionnaire survey to test the framework. Firstly, the Delphi method was used to prioritise and validate the inclusion of 13 critical success factors (CSFs) compiled from previous literature. This generated scores for each CSF, which could potentially be included in the developed SCM framework. Secondly, the Delphi method was used to develop the SCM framework based on the 13 CSFs and 4 levels of integration. This is the most significant contribution to knowledge created via this research. Thereafter, an e-survey was undertaken to test the robustness of the SCM framework. This added rigour to this research and utilised a mixed methodologies approach. In addition to testing the propositions and receiving feedback on the SCM framework, the e-survey revealed the current and future levels of integration of construction supply chains in the UK. This is the first quantitative survey that has been conducted among individuals in the UK construction industry regarding integration of construction supply chains. In conclusion, the proposed SCM framework is applicable to all main sectors of the construction industry; namely clients, consultants, main contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. This empirically tested framework is easy to use and helpful in assessing and improving construction supply chains.