Establishing the Effect of Management Capabilities on Project Performance in Ogun State, Nigeria

International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 49 Establishing the Effect of Contractors Management Capabilities on Construction Project Performance in Ogun State, Nigeria Adesina Musbau Adebola , Kevin Chuks Okolie and Oluwatayomi Daniel Fadumo Affiliations Department of Building, Faculty of Environmental Sciences , Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka -Anambra State. Corresponding Author  [email protected].ng ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT ©2025 RS Publication Paper ID: IJRM6921E181B68B8 Received: 2025-10-12 Published: 2025-11-23 DOI: https://dx.doi.org /10.5281/zenodo.17 691793 Page No: 49-57 Management capability is one of the major criteria for evaluating construction contractors during prequalification and tender evaluation . The lack of adequate management capability has greatly affected project performance in Ogun State, this has resulted into lot of problems such as financial challenges, poor leadership, poor planning, poor scheduling of activities, lack of teamwork, poor workmanship, use of sub-standard building materials and abandoned project. It's been proved that being aware of this correlation will boost a need to consider management capabilities a pre_requisite for engaging professionals and also in selecting who to engage by clients .The aim of this study was to establish the effect of contractors’ management capabilities on project performance in Ogun State, Nigeria with a view to recommend measures for improved project delivery in the study area.To achieve the stated aim, the study adopted two research objectives: to understand the concept of management capabilities and evaluate the effects of Management Capabilities on Project Performance. Cross-sectional survey and descriptive research design were adopted in this study . The total number of questionnaires distributed was 122 (100%) but only 120 (98.36%) was retrieved. Results of the regression analysis shows that there is a very strong relationship between contractors’ management capabilities and project performance in Ogun State (R-square = 0.811396). The study recommends that Indigenous contractors should focus on strategies that will improve their management capabilities (in areas of funding, personnel, knowledge, and material resources, relationships with subcontractors and employees, and so on) by using the foreign firms’ profiles as case studies. This will enhance their chances in the competitive construction environment in the study area; Keywords Management Capabilities, project performance, construction industry, construction contractors INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm ISSN 2249-5908 Cite This Paper: Adesina Musbau Adebola , Kevin Chuks Okolie and Oluwatayomi Daniel Fadumo.(2025). " Establishing the Effect of Contractors Management Capabilities on Construction Project Performance in Ogun State, Nigeria". INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT (IJRM), vol. 15, no. 6, 2025, pp. 49-57. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17691793 International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 50 1.0 Introduction Management capability is one of the major criteria for evaluating construction contractors during prequalification and tender evaluation (Kiran & Reddy, 2019). . The research on the effect of management capability on project performance in Ogun state, Nigeria is missing and existing ones are not comprehensive enough. This study aims to fill this gap in the field of building project management research.The Nigerian construction industry has a lot of problems with contractors’ management capabilities. these include financial challenges, poor leadership, poor planning, poor scheduling of activities, lack of teamwork, lack of project management experience, incompetence, poor workmanship, use of sub-standard building materials and poor communication (Abiodun, Segbenu & Oluseye, 2017). These problem have sometimes resulted in litigations or arbitrations especially in cost, time and quality performance due to lack of adequate management capability and this has formed1 the focus for this study.The aim of this study is to establish the effect of contractors’ management capabilities on project performance in Ogun State, Nigeria with a view to recommend measures for improved project delivery in the study area.The research main research questions is,"how do one understand the concept of management capabilities required for projects performance in Ogun state, Nigeria and what are the effects of Management Capabilities on Project Performance.The study is significant because it assist clients and consultants in the construction industry to carry out objective assessment of contractors' potential performance in relation to project goals prior to contract award.This study only considered existing construction firms (both indigenous and foreign firms) in Ogun State, Nigeria . 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 Understanding the concept of management capacity Contractors’ management capability is a significant criterion in the appraisal of potential construction contractors’ performance in the course of prequalification as well as tender assessment (Xuan, Thu & Anh, 2020b). Previous performance and quality thereof, experience of the contractor, management knowledge as well as programme for quality control were also identified as the major yardsticks for assessing contractors’ management ability. It was also discovered that contractors’ management capacity significantly impacted cost performance and time, with a p-value of 0.039 and 0.042, respectively; thereby supporting earlier findings that management capacity is among the significant criteria for contractors’ prequalification in the Nigeria context (Aje, Odusami & Ogunsemi, 2009). The findings further reveals that the cost and time of a construction project and performance had a strong correlation with contractors’ management ability. Hence, models for prediction of the project completion cost as well as actual time-frame for building projects was validated. International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 51 2.2 Effects of Management Capabilities on Project Performance The effective management of projects have a lot of correlation with the eventual output of a project, this expected performance will only occur when project stakeholders know and focus on management areas such as 1.Human Resource Management: Human resource management is the part of management process that specializes in management of people in work organization. The average Nigerian contractor does not believe that he needs a special caliber of workers to enable him undertake and execute contracts successfully. executed by the management of the construction company.Some Nigerian contractors fail to manage their materials effectively and this has negative effects in meeting up with client requirements in terms of project delivery. Generally, effective management of materials: saves the costs of building projects; improves profit margins of contractors; reduces costs for the clients; gives long life spans to projects executed; upgrades the qualities and standards of the buildings; adds economic advantages to the nation. 2.Materials Management: Materials management is an element in project planning and control which represent a major process in construction. Minimizing procurement or purchase costs represents important opportunities for reducing costs while on the other hand; poor materials management can result in large and unavoidable costs during construction (Xuan, Thu & Anh, 2020) 3.Management of Plant and Equipment:Factors that must be considered in the choice of plant item for any construction operation include purpose and characteristics, versatility, economic size or capacity, type of power unit (diesel, etc), wheeled or tracked (if mobile), quality of wearing parts, availability of spare parts and ease of servicing, services offered by manufacturers, initial cost relief in comparison with similar machines of other brands, relative residue value in disposal, possibilities International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 52 of use as a service of revenue for hire. Contractors have to consider these factors in any project in the choice of plant and equipment suitable for execution of projects. 4.Financial Management:Financial management is the greatest weakness of the indigenous contractors in executing contracts successfully. It is the proper planning of costs in other that the project is completed within budgets. The typical problem is that some indigenous contractors cannot keep track on the expenditure relative to income on any project at any given time (Xuan, Thu & Anh, 2020) Payments coming in are spent without being related to volume of work already executed and that which is still to be done. 5.Risk Management:This involves identifying, analyzing and responding to uncertainty, which include maximizing the result of positive events and minimizing the consequences of adverse events. The purpose of risk management is to provide information to empower the project manager to make a better decision at any time during the project life cycle with respect to the project itself. It is important for the contractor to be aware of the project risks. 6.Technical Management:The average Nigerian contractor is found to be weak in technical management of projects given lack of adequate and appropriate supervision of various stages of projects. The contractor uses the services of quantity surveyors at various stages of the works, especially in preparing his tender and if he is lucky to win the contract, he may not be well acquainted with the operation of the bills of quantity of the various items (Quantity Surveying Coach, 2025). 7.Communication Management:Communication is probably one coordinating aspect in the management of projects. Without effective interaction or communication, the ability of a project to meet its objectives is left to chances. The purpose of communication is to transfer ideas and knowledge from one person to another to stimulate actions. Communication is essential within an International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 53 organization to establish and disseminate goals of the organization, develop plans for their achievement, organize human and other resources in most effective and efficient way, select, develop and apprise members of the organization. In summary,there were no studies on the effects of contractors’ management capabilities on cost, time and quality performance of projects in Ogun State, Nigeria. These therefore became a literature gap to be filled in order to contribute to existing body of knowledge. 3.0 Methodology Cross-sectional survey and descriptive research design were adopted in this study. The study area was Ogun State ,a state in south western Nigeria created in 1976 with borders like Lagos State to the south, Oyo and Osun states to the north, Ondo to the east and the Republic of Benin to the west. Abeoukuta is the capital and largest city in the state.The population for this study included building construction professionals (Builders, Quantity Surveyors, Architects and Engineers). Five (5) construction firms were selected using a strategic sampling technique. The total number of registered professionals found on the approved construction sites was 122 and constituted the population of study. This population of study was also adopted as the sample size because of its small and manageable size (Glen, nd).The instrument for data collection used in this research work was a structured questionnaire.The analysis of data in this study was through descriptive and inferential statistics. Mean score was used to calculate average sets of the occurrences. It helped to determine the maximum number that the set target would possible affect. 34 questionnaires were distributed to respondents in Julius Berger but only 33 were retrieved; 28 questionnaires were distributed to RCCC and they were all retrieved; 21 questionnaires were distributed to Brickwall Global Investment but 20 were retrieved; 19 questionnaires were distributed to Abbey Consultants and all were retrieved; 20 questionnaires were distributed to Ky-Fy Global Nig. And all were International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 54 retrieved. The total number of questionnaires distributed was 122 (100%) but only 120 (98.36%) was retrieved. 4.0 Findings 4.1 Effect of Management Capability on Project Performance in Ogun State, Nigeria Hypothesis: H0: There is no significant relationship between contractors’ management capabilities and project performance in Ogun State, Nigeria Table 4.1The relationship between contractors’ management capabilities and project performance in Ogun State, Nigeria. International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 55 International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 56 Results of the regression analysis shows that there is a very strong relationship between contractors’ management capabilities and project performance in Ogun State (R-square = 0.811396). All the variables of management capabilities by the indigenous and foreign firms were of very high importance with a minimum mean score of 4.0368 (much higher than the criterion mean score of 2.50). These variables were project management organization, experience of technical personnel, past performance and quality, management knowledge, safety, relationship with subcontractors, values of work at hand, contractor experience, amount of own welfare, and scheme of work of employees. These findings are similar to those of Rashvanda et al., (2015) on the usage of the prequalification process. Rashvanda et al., (2015) assert that criteria that include the technical, management and financial aspects of a contractor should be accounted for during prequalification selection. Such criteria consist of the candidates' current and existing venue of business, capacity of plant and tools to carry out the project, sufficient funds to fulfill the project's needs, and aptness of technical skills and experience. The multiple regression analysis revealed that contractors management capabilities also had a very significant effect on cost, time and quality performance of projects. 5.0 Conclusion There is a very strong relationship between contractors’ management capabilities and project performance in Ogun State 6.0 Recommendations Indigenous contractors should focus on strategies that will improve their management capabilities (in areas of funding, personnel, knowledge, and material resources, relationships with subcontractors and employees, International Journal of Research in Management ISSN 2249-5908 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijrm/ijrm_index.htm Volume 1 Original Article ©2025 RS Publication, rspublicationh[email protected] 57 and so on) by using the foreign firms’ profiles as case studies. This will enhance their chances in the competitive construction environment in the study area. 7.0 References Abiodun, O. E., Segbenu, N. S., & Oluseye, O. (2017). Measurement for projects and project management. Project Management Journal, 16(3), 29–33. Aje, O. I., Odusami, K. T., & Ogunsemi, D. R. (2009). The impact of contractors' management capability on cost and time performance of construction projects in Nigeria. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, 14(2), 171–187. Glen, S. (n.d.). Sample size in statistics (how to find it): Excel, Cochran’s formula, general tips. StatisticsHowTo. https://www.statisticshowto.com/probability-and-statistics/find-sample-size/ Kiran, T., & Reddy, A. (2019). Critical success factors of ERP implementation in SMEs. Journal of Project Management, 4(4), 267–280. Quantity Surveying Coach. (2025). The role of quantity surveyors in the tendering process. https://quantitysurveyingcoach.com/tendering/the-role-of-quantity-surveyors-in-the-tendering-process/ Rashvand, P., Majid, M. Z. A., Baniahmadi, A., & Ghavamirad, F. (2015). Contractor selection at prequalification stage: Current evaluation and shortcomings. Jurnal Teknologi, 77, Article 6403. https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v77.6403 Xuan, V., Thu, N., & Anh, N. (2020). Factors affecting the business performance of enterprises: Evidence at Vietnam small and medium-sized enterprises. Management Science Letters.