Managing Construction Delays using Total Management Framework

The research was carried out in a construction industry with prime focus on an oil project located in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study is to explore the causes of delays in an oil plant construction project using TQM framework. It highlights possible improvement areas for managing delays and improving the existing system of the construction project. At the initial sequel of this study qualitative techniques (participant observation, formal questionnaire, document study) along with methodologies linked with quality assurance (KJ Shiba, Ishikawa and QFD) have been applied. Resource utilization and communication between stakeholders are found to be the major sources of delays. The findings were analyzed using the cornerstone model (Bergman and Klefsjö, 2003). Finally, a guideline is proposed for managing delay in the construction project. Extensive literature has been examined by considering the research of scholars working in the Middle East and Asian countries such as UAE, Hong Kong, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. From a practitioner standpoint, all findings and suggested guideline have been found to be useful for construction companies involved in oil plant projects. This guideline can also help other similar projects in the Middle East to identify improvement opportunities. From an academic point of view, this work has shown the use of TQM framework in managing construction delays, an area which has rarely been thoroughly researched in the literature.