Browsing by Author "Mahesh, Gangadhar"

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A Framework for Enhancing Sustainable Competency of Small and Medium Contractors in the Ethiopian Construction Industry
(National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, 2024) Bekele, Abraham Aboneh; Mahesh, Gangadhar
Small and medium contractors (SMCs) are vital in promoting socioeconomic development, particularly in developing economies, as they constitute a significant portion of the construction industry (CI). Their significance lies in their ability to create employment opportunities, generate revenue, develop infrastructure, and have strong links with other sectors of the economy, which have multiple effects on the country's growth. While acknowledging their significant importance and contribution, it is evident that there is a need to enhance and maintain their competency in light of various challenges affecting their growth. This research aims to devise a sustainable competency development framework for enhancing the competitiveness of SMCs in the Ethiopian CI and establish management mechanisms to facilitate their business sustenance. The specific objectives are to: identify factors affecting sustainable competency of SMCs; assess the effectiveness of the development programs in enhancing progress in the CI; evaluate the prevailing opportunities to create sustainable SMCs and develop appropriate improvement mechanisms to exploit these opportunities; and develop sustainable competency development framework for SMCs. The study employed qualitative and quantitative research methods. This approach allowed for gathering input from industry stakeholders, which was then used to develop the framework. The findings of this study provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors impacting the sustainable competency of SMCs in Ethiopia. The study identified the major underlying factors or challenges, such as the lack of project management skills; low-profit margin due to high competition; inability to access plants and equipment; and the inability to access financial resources emanating from endogenic core sources. Additionally, the study also identified factors or challenges stemming from exogenic core sources including unfavourable financial policy, lack of trust between parties in the industry, and uncertainty in supplies of materials and prices. Furthermore, the study's findings offer valuable insights into potential improvements that could enhance the prospects of sustainable SMCs development in Ethiopia. These improvements encompass encouraging local construction material producers and enhancing their capacity, advocating for an industry-based education system, introducing sector-specific financing programs, and implementing project planning, scheduling, and performance tracking practices. The study's findings highlight priority areas for enhancing competitiveness, providing valuable guidance for policymakers, regulators, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders in making informed decisions.
Improvement of Indian Residential Real Estate Asset Demand and Delivery for Enhancement of Construction Industry Output
(National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, 2024) D K, Apoorva; Mahesh, Gangadhar
In the context of an absence of studies examining the interrelationship between Indian construction industry and residential real estate sector, the study aims to develop and test a conceptual framework aimed at stimulation of construction industry output through optimization of housing market, followed by development of improvement frameworks for demand and supply side forces of housing market. Means of stimulation of construction industry by residential real estate sector were categorized based on the intent behind purchase of residential real estate assets or inflow of capital into housing development entities. Housing market was examined to identify factors constituting consumer-centric delivery and consumer-empowered demand. Supply side of housing market was probed to identify underlying factors stifling the delivery of housing assets. The identified factors were put together to form the conceptual framework. Questionnaires were developed and administered to both demand and delivery-side stakeholders of housing market, along with carrying out of interviews and document analyses. The study demonstrates significant correlations between real estate investment-led construction industry output stimulation and consumer-centric residential real estate asset delivery. The deterrents to consumer-centric housing delivery have been ascertained to be having an impact on time, cost and scope of housing projects. Significant correlations have been ascertained between these deterrents. On the demand-side, skills, awareness and engagement of consumers are strongly correlated with each other. Affordability of housing is rightfully correlated with all the three means of stimulation of construction industry output. Improvement frameworks for the delivery-side of housing market have been identified to be required to be developed to cover the interfaces of interaction between promoters/developers, judicial/quasijudicial bodies, urban local bodies and governments. Improvement frameworks for the demand-side of the housing market were ascertained to be required to be centered around the different phases of asset acquisition. Specific to the Indian context, the study presents and validates a novel conceptual framework aimed at stimulation of construction industry output through interventions in housing market, along with development of improvements frameworks catering to both demand and supply-side forces of housing market.
Improving Determinant Factors to Facilitate Construction Industry Development in Ethiopia
(National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, 2019) Mengistu, Desalegn Girma; Mahesh, Gangadhar
Facilitating construction industry development is important to maximize its contribution to national development. It is even much more important in developing countries considering that higher portion of their annual budget goes for infrastructure development and the industry faces more challenges. This study has focused on developing improvement frameworks for manpower development, enhancing competitiveness and harmonized industry practice which were identified as recurring factors affecting Ethiopian construction industry so as to facilitate development of the industry. The objectives set include understanding the factors (their nature and interrelationship with the business environment), challenges of the industry, improvement of the factors and key performance indicators for monitoring and tracking the improvement. The study first developed a conceptual framework and categorized the variables affecting the determinant factors based on their presumed sources. Mixed methods approach was adopted for data collection. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire survey while semi-structured interview and document analysis were used to obtain the qualitative data. The findings indicate that the factors and characteristics of the business environment are mutually interdependent. The major challenges identified from their respective sources were; construction industry development policy implementation and corruption from role of government, weak capacity of contractors and consultants from resource related variables, lack of collaboration and professionalism from nature of the industry and lack of benchmarking construction industry development practice from industry‟s vision for development. Based on the improvement assessment of the factors, improvement frameworks and key performance indicators were developed. It was found that improvement of the industry needs strengthening the existing institutions for effective coordination, aligning the applicable regulatory tools with industry specific development strategies and establishing some implementation systems. Though the study focus is context specific the findings could be extended to other similar developing countries.
Knowledge Management for Safety Culture - An Integrated Framework for Construction Industry
(National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, 2020) Deepak, M. D.; Mahesh, Gangadhar
There has been a growing concern among researchers and practitioners on improving occupational health and safety in construction industry. In order to understand and improve occupational health and safety, many researchers and practitioners are utilizing the construct of safety culture. Considering the working nature of construction industry is mainly through projects that are transitional, knowledge and experience are generally lost when a project nears completion. Unfortunately, the transitory nature of work within the industry frequently hinders an organization’s attempt to develop and maintain a good safety culture. Also, lack of knowledge management strategies in safety-related issues causes loss in the knowledge that is gained in the project. These missed opportunities for learning trigger reoccurrence of accidents and this accident repetition phenomenon can be mitigated by effective implementation of knowledge management strategies in construction projects. However, there is dearth of studies on knowledge management strategies to prevent reoccurrence of accidents and thereby improve safety culture in construction industry. Harnessing the power of knowledge management is important for minimizing accidents occurring at construction projects. Up until now, there has been no study that focuses on the influence of knowledge management as a key dimension to improve safety culture in construction industry. Moreover, from review of literature, knowledge dimension was found to be a neglected dimension in developing overall safety culture in construction industry. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify and assess key factors that affect knowledge-based safety culture in construction industry. The study first developed a conceptual framework with underlying factors that affect knowledge-based safety culture in construction industry. A questionnaire survey was formulated after identifying 69 influencing factors from a thorough literature review. In total, 210 valid responses were obtained from key stakeholders operating in Indian construction industry. Data collected from the survey responses were analyzed to assess the measurement scale by determining the reliability and validity of the survey instrument. The developed survey instrument provides a pragmatic approach for construction project managers to evaluate the effectiveness of their safety management practices and identify the effort needed for improvement of safety.Results suggest that the survey instrument appears to be a reliable, valid and sensitive instrument that will contribute in examining the effect of key factors that influence the importance of knowledge dimension towards developing safety culture in the construction industry. Further, the causal relationship between knowledge-based safety culture dimensions is determined by conducting Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that all safety culture constructs including the neglected knowledge dimension are effective in explaining the overall safety culture of construction industry. Understanding the relationship among the key factors that impact knowledge-based safety culture is important for assessing cultural aspects of the work system. For continuous monitoring and reviewing safety culture in any organization, an assessment framework is a prerequisite. To achieve this, results of the questionnaire survey are used to develop an assessment framework using critical knowledge-based safety culture factors. Different case scenarios were considered to validate the assessment framework. Through this analytical framework, safety culture scores can be computed and the assessed scores can facilitate benchmarking. This will help in determining the strengths and weaknesses of safety management practices and thereby encourage organizations to improve in these areas. The outcome of this research could be utilized to configure targeted safety practices and enhance overall safety performance of construction industry. Also, this research can contribute to the promotion of safety theory in Indian construction industry and provide practical implications for construction enterprises when they engage in improving safety conditions in their organizations.
Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Geopolymeric Fly Ash Based Mortar Cured in Ambient Conditions
(National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, 2024) K M, Prasanna; Das, Bibhuti Bhusan; Mahesh, Gangadhar
This experimental study aims to improve the IST and FST, flowability, and compressive strength of FA-based geopolymer mix samples for pastes, mortars, and mortars with steel fibre additions by substituting GGBS with various alkaline to binder ratios. GGBS substitution in geopolymeric mixtures is essential for achieving quicker setting in the resultant geopolymeric samples and also to accomplish the practical viability without any heat curing. SEM-EDS and FTIR were used to perform microstructural characterization and chemical identification of structural growth in the resulting geopolymers. According to the obtained findings, GGBS addition increased geopolymeric samples compressive strength while decreasing their setting time. The IST attained for geopolymeric paste samples is 20 minutes for F50:G50 samples with an alkaline to binder ratio of 0.5. However, the FST attained is 485 minutes for F100:G0 samples with an alkaline to binder ratio of 0.8. The highest 28 days compressive strength attained for geopolymeric paste samples is 85 MPa for F50:G50 samples with an alkaline to binder ratio of 0.5. Furthermore, for geopolymeric mortars, the IST attained is 22 minutes for F50:G50 samples with an alkaline to binder ratio of 0.5, whereas the FST attained is 668 minutes for F100:G0 samples with an alkaline to binder ratio of 0.8. A highest compressive strength of 56 MPa at 28 days is attained for F50:G50 geopolymeric mortar samples with an alkaline to binder ratio of 0.6. Additionally, for geopolymeric samples with steel fibres, after a curing period of 28 days, the compressive strength obtained is 69.5 MPa. This was observed in specimens containing 1% steel fibre content, an alkaline to binder ratio of 0.6, and binder proportions of 50%:50%. SEM microphotographs of geopolymeric pastes and mortar samples revealed the presence of a dense matrix with the GGBS substitution. Furthermore, the presence of rough steel fibre surfaces and hydration reaction products on the steel surface implies a rather good link between the geopolymer matrix and steel fibre, which boosts compressive strength values, as observed in SEM images of steel fibre-containing mortar samples. The FTIR analysis of geopolymeric paste samples reveals a notable downward shift in wavenumbers of distinctive bands, corresponding to varying levels of GGBS substitution. This shift signifies a heightened degree of geopolymerization within the paste samples.
Personnel Performance Appraisal System for Construction Contracting Organizations
(National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, 2022) Kowshik, Chaithra N; Mahesh, Gangadhar
The nature of the construction industry is dynamic, and employees play multiple roles. This makes performance evaluation of construction employees complex and Organizations face challenges in streamlining the Personnel Performance Appraisal (PPA) system towards achieving distinct objectives. Previous studies have identified behavioural traits, attributes, personality traits, traits for particular designation in the organization, which contribute in improving the performance. Research has not been conducted on Personnel Performance Appraisal Systems in construction organizations in Indian context. This study focuses on proposing a framework for the PPA system and emphasized on identifying performance dimensions for construction contracting employees. Performance dimensions are classified as qualitative and quantitative dimensions and identified for different levels of management and integrated into the framework. This study also explored the nature of current PPA systems in construction organizations, and identified shortfalls during the appraisal process. The study adopts a mixed-method approach to achieve the objectives. Mixed method consists of a qualitative and quantitative approach. As part of a quantitative approach, a questionnaire survey is used as a primary approach. Frequency method, descriptive statistics and factor analysis are used to analyse the data. Semi-Structured interviews are used as part of the qualitative method. Appraisal forms and related documents from various organizations supplemented the data from interviews and survey. A comparative case study is conducted between an IT (service based) organization and a Construction Contracting Organization. This study focuses on management practices. Further case studies are conducted in construction contracting organizations to understand current PPA systems in use and their various aspects. The results indicated Self-appraisal is a part of the PPA process; dimensions are established by industry practice, job descriptions are set by managers and immediate superiors. Most of the organizations have taken steps to improve employee performance. Interpersonal relationship and bias have affected the employees during the PPA process. From exploratory factor analysis, 39 performance dimensions are identified and grouped as ii six key dimensions based on factor loadings. Case studies supported the results of the questionnaire survey; additional dimensions such as cost, time-related dimensions are identified. The performance dimensions are mapped into 3 levels of management and an assessment framework is proposed. Further, the appropriateness of the framework is validated with the help of experts. This proposed framework is expected to help HRM Department and appraisers in CI to strengthen the PPA systems in the Indian context.