Assessment of Pakistani Construction Industry – Current Performance and the Way Forward

Abstract

The Pakistani Construction Industry has always been of economic and social significance to the country. In contrast to the prospective share of Pakistani construction in the local and global economic market, conversely, the development of the sector has not been at par with the market demands. With the recent rapid economic growth of the country, Pakistan now offers a growing market for the construction industry. The Government of Pakistan has responded to this opportunity by planning extensive infrastructure expansion programs. All of these programs have the potential to lead the local Industry to establish respect, status and international recognition when the appropriate efforts are extended to achieve the same. Even with the opportunity for growth the challenges will be extensive. This research presents the current state of performance of Pakistani Construction Industry and provides directions for strategic improvement of the construction industry on a sustainable basis. Major findings of the research include: a cultural and behavioral shift in the mind-set of all participants in the construction process especially top management is necessary if the construction industry is to improve its performance and competitiveness; the “boom cycle” and corresponding shortage of labor trades has increased the need for industry participants to adopt and apply construction project management philosophy, tools and techniques to help them manage the industry performance and productivity in a sustainable long-term mode. The major obstacles to improving the performance of Pakistani construction industry were found to be lack of expertise/resources in construction project management and its applied areas. A rigid attitude and behavior of executive management toward quality, safety and risk management, plus more management and emphasis on employees’ commitment toward project performance, better education and training to drive the improvement process, and tendency to cure the cause of the problem rather than the symptom. If coordination, teamwork, productivity and industry performance in the long run is going to improve, then extensive awareness and training programs to improve the clients’ understanding and approach toward construction project management must be initiated without exception.