TABLE OF
CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
1.2
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
1.3
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
1.4 STUDY HYPOTHESES
1.5
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.6
DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE
REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 BENEFITS
FROM USING ICT
2.3 CONSTRAINTS
TO USING ICT
2.4 EMERGENCE
OF ICT IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
2.5
IMPACT OF ICT
2.5.1 Computer
2.5.2 Software
2.5.3 Electronic mail (E-mail)
2.5.4 Network
2.6 ICT
AND CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANTS
2.7 THE
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN IT AND ENVIRONMENT
CHAPTER
THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
INTRODUCTION
3.2
THE
RESEARCH DESIGN
3.3
POPULATION,
SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
3.4 DATA COLLECTION
3.4.1 The Questionnaire
3.4.2 Administration of Questionnaire
3.5 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS FOR DATA
ANALYSIS
3.5.1 Descriptive Tools
3.5.2 Analytical / Inferential Tools
3.6
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE
QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 PRESENTATION
OF DESCRIPTIVE DATA
4.2.1 Response
rate
4.2.2 Designation
of respondent
4.2.3 Profession
of Respondent
4.2.4 HIGHEST ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION
OF RESPONDENT
4.2.5 Years of Experience of
Respondent in the
Construction Industry
4.2.6 Type of Organisation of
Respondent
4.2.7 Number of Year’s Respondent
Spent at Present Employment
4.2.8 Annual Turnover of Respondents’
Organisation
4.2.9 Nature of Ownership of Your Respondent Organisation
4.2.10 Period of Operation in Nigeria
4.2.11 Type of Organisations’
Clients
4.2.12 Organisations
Membership of Professional Bodies
4.3 DATA
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS IN RESPECT OF THE STATED
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
4.3.1 INTRODUCTION
4.3.2 OBJECTIVE
ONE
4.3.2.1 Hypothesis
One
4.3.2.2 Null
Hypothesis (Ho)
4.3.2.3 Alternative
Hypothesis (H1)
4.3.3.1 Hypothesis
Two
4.3.3.2 Null
Hypothesis (Ho)
4.3.3.3 Alternative
Hypothesis (H1)
4.3.4 OBJECTIVE
THREE
4.3.4.1 Hypothesis
three
4.3.4.2
Null Hypothesis (H0)
4.3.4.3
Alternative Hypothesis (H1)
4.3.5 OBJECTIVE
FOUR
4.3.5.1 Hypothesis
four
4.3.5.2 Null
Hypothesis (H0)
4.3.5.3 Alternative
Hypothesis (H1)
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
5.2
CONCLUSION
5.3
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.4 FUTURE
RESEARCH
REFERENCES
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
With
technological advances, the construction industry in Nigeria
has been accelerated; growing
globally and locally. Construction industry has been used for measuring
economic activity in any economy. According to
Ozumba and Shakantu (2008), contribution of construction to Gross
National Product (GNP), in different countries at various levels of development
reflects appreciable growth, Ozumba and Shakantu
(2008). This can be attributed to increasing world population and the need for
more infrastructural facilities to meet the increasing demand. A
recent survey of investment in information technology by large engineering
contractors demonstrates an increasing trend in the construction industry's use
of data management, web application and virtual reality (Songer et al. 2001).
In light of this growing interest in ICT up-take to prepare organisations for
the future, Information and communication technology has continued to develop
rapidly in many spheres of construction industry
In a recent research carried out by, Ozumba and Shakantu (2008) ICT
has been applied extensively in pre-construction stage, in product design,
production planning and scheduling. This further proves the indispensability of
ICT in the construction industry.
Nigeria started implementing her ICT policy in April 2001 after the Federal
Executive Council approved the policy by establishing the National Information
Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the implementing body. (Agyeman, 2007)
The policy empowers NITDA to enter into strategic alliances and joint ventures
and to collaborate with the private sector to realise the country’s vision of
making Nigeria an IT compatible
country in Africa. This vision also extends to
making Nigeria
a key player in the information society by the year 2005 through the use of IT
for sustainable development and global competitiveness. Other objectives of Nigeria’s
ICT policy are:
• To ensure that ICT resources are readily available to promote
efficient national development
• To guarantee that the country benefits maximally, and contributes
meaningfully, by
providing the global solutions to the challenges of the Information
Age
• To empower Nigerians to participate in software and ICT
development
• To encourage local production and manufacture of ICT components in
a competitive manner
• To establish and develop ICT infrastructure and maximise its use
nationwide
• To empower the youth with ICT skills and prepare them for global
competitiveness
• To integrate ICT into the mainstream of education and training.
Against
the backdrop of the nations ICT policy, all sectors of the economy should
effectively harness the ICT potentials to promote effective national
development and global competitiveness. In view of the highlighted importance of ICT to the
construction industry, it may be timely to conduct research as to evaluate the
use of ICT by construction industry consultants in Lagos state.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Construction sector has not been making full use of
the potentials of collaborative systems that information sharing and
coordination has been offering to parties in projects, the industry has not
taken full advantage of ICT solution for digital information exchange and
sharing of documents as well as e-tendering which are benefits accruing from
practice of ICT in the industry. In view of this non full utilisation of ICT
concepts in the industry, it may be worthwhile effort to evaluate the use of
ICT by construction industry consultants as to improve project communication
and performance.
The research questions for this study are stated below:
1.
What are the ICT tools used by
construction industry consultants in Nigeria?
2.
What is the level of usage of
the ICT tools by construction industry consultants?
3.
What impact does ICT tools have
on operational efficiencies of construction industry consultants?
4.
What are the constraints to the
usage of ICT tools by construction industry consultants?
1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of ICT by construction
industry consultants in Nigeria
and the study set out to achieve the following objectives.
1.
To identify and assess the
factors that determine the ICT tools used by construction industry consultants
in Nigeria
2.
To evaluate the level of impact
of ICT on consultants’ work
3.
To assess the benefit of ICT tools on operational
efficiencies of construction industry consultants
4.
To identify the constraints to
the usage of ICT tools by construction industry consultants
1.4 STUDY HYPOTHESES
The following hypotheses are postulated for
the study
1. Most professionals in the
construction industry are not familiar and have not used GSM/cell phones, fax
mille, voicemail, electronic datammanagemment, video conferencing,, intercom,
internet, project management soft wares, auto cad, word processing, spread
sheet, master bill and snap vector in construction projects.
2. The use of GSM/cell phones,
fax mille, voicemail, electronic data managemment, video conferencing,,
intercom, internet, project management soft wares, auto cad, word processing,
spread sheet, master bill and snape vector by most professionals do not impact
on ICT in the Nigerian construction industry.
3. Benefits of the use of ICT
in construction are not the issues of making professional jobs easier,
facilitating decision making, saving operational cost, improving public image
of users, giving competitive advantage, enhancing productivity, saving time,
and improving project presentation
4. Constraints to the usage of ICT in construction do not include
insufficient power supply, job size and fees not enough for ICT, High cost of
hardware and software, fear of virus attack, high rate of obsolesce of hardware
and software, inadequate ICT content in construction education, scarcity of
professional software, high cost of engaging computer staff, lack of management
desire and appreciation of ICT, low return on ICT investments and fear of ICT
making consultants redundant.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Although the first hype around the role of information and
communication technologies (ICT) in improving the competitiveness and
productivity of enterprises has given way to disillusionment, these
technologies are still central to growth and competitiveness Zwick, (2003). The
construction industry can benefit immensely from the use of ICT. ICT
use also provides opportunities to solve coordination problems associated with
construction fragmentation (Latham 1994). Construction projects demand the intensive
generation and communication of information Brewer,
Gajendran, McCann and Chen (2003).
The architects, for instance, can start by creating an
intelligent 3D CAD models that can be viewed and shared with the rest of the
design team members. Working from the same base model, the engineers can
rapidly develop their respective engineering and detail designs allowing the
quantity surveyors to quickly quantify preliminary cost estimates of the
project. This allows a higher productivity and enhanced performance among
construction consultants. When these CAD capabilities are well exploited,
owners will find that very significant savings in costs and time can be achieved
associated with Construction fragmentation (Latham 1994).
1.7
DEFINITION OF TERMS
ICT: Information and
communication technology
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: The construction
industry includes all stakeholders including clients involved in the
construction of buildings and civil/heavy engineering works.
THE DESIGN CONSULTANTS: Professionals
who are registered and authorised by professional bodies to render services to
clients in the area of construction such as designing the architectural,
mechanical and electrical plans sections and elevations of a building including
costing for same. These professionals include the quantity surveyor, the civil/structural
engineer, the mechanical and electrical engineer and the architect
INTRANET: is defined
as an internet network utilizing internet and web protocols located within an
organization’s information technology (IT) security domain and intended
primarily for use by organization’s members (Slyke and Belanger, 2003); in
particular for organization applications such as: electronic mail ( e-mail) ,
file transfer protocol ( FTP), telnet and the World Wide .
EXTRANET: an extranet
is a network that uses internet protocols and the public telecommunication
system for communicating both privately and selectively with the contractor’s
clients and business partners. Extranets can be used to exchange large volumes
of data, including the sharing of the product catalogues, providing design
specifications and details.
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: electronic
commerce is employing information technology to improve transactions between
companies. It involves the integration of e-mail, and similar technologies into
a comprehensive electronic- based system of business functions. It is based on
the electronic processing and transmission of data, including text, sound and
video.
INFOBASES: infobases are commercial databases that cater
for the information resource needs of specific interest groups. The main
benefit is the ready accessibility of information that is current.
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