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THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON PROJECT DELIVERY: A PERSPECTIVE FROM THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Corresponding Author(s) : Ahmad Ghandour
Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews,
Vol. 8 No. 5 (2020): September
Abstract
Purpose of study: The study aimed at establishing the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on project delivery in the UAE with a significant focus on the construction industry. The study also sought to determine some of the negative implications of COVID-19 for the construction industry.
Methodology: The within-subjects research design was employed in the study. Purposive and simple random sampling was used in the selection of the respondents. A total of 116 project managers in the construction industry were sampled for the study. Data was collecting using self-administered online questionnaires. The SPSS software was applied to analyze the collected data using the paired samples t-test analysis method to compare the means of the projected number of days taken to complete a project before and during the COVID-19 period.
Main Findings: The study findings revealed that there is a statistically significant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of days taken to complete projects in the construction industry in the UAE. The findings of the study revealed that the pandemic resulted in a lack of access to raw materials and labor, thereby leading to a delay in the completion of projects.
Application of the study: The revelation of the implications would inform the policy and decision-makers in the country to devise effective ways of addressing the challenges for the stability of the sector. The researcher recommends the same study to be replicated in other areas to identify the effects the pandemic has had on other industries. Another study should also be conducted on the effective strategies that should be adopted to address the effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry in the UAE.
Novelty/originality of the study: This is contemporary studies that deal with a current issue. The study concluded that the construction industry became a victim of COVID-19 to the extent that it has brought its projects to a halt and significantly eroded the market of its beneficiaries. Unlike other industries, construction projects cannot accommodate distance working but facing challenges making on-time delivery impossible and therefore construction industry is at risk.
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- Ahani, A., & Nilashi, M. (2020). Coronavirus outbreak and its impacts on the global economy: the role of social network sites. Journal of Soft Computing and Decision Support Systems, 7(2), 19-22.
- Altios. (2020). Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 in the UAE and GCC Region. Dubai. Accessed from https://altios.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/COVID-19-IMPACT-IN-THE-UAE-AND-GCC-REGION.pdf on 11 Sept. 2020.
- Ammendolia, C., Cancelliere, C., & Cassidy, J. D. (2016). Healthy and productive workers: Using intervention mapping to design a workplace health promotion and wellness program to improve presenteeism. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1190-1118. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3843-x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3843-x
- Bailey, J., Bouchardie, N., & Madalena, I. (2020). COVID-19: The Current Impact on Construction and Engineering Projects. Retrieved from whitecase.com: https://www.whitecase.com/publications/alert/covid-19-current-impact-construction-engineering-projects on 11 Sept. 2020.
- Baldwin, R., & Mauro, B. (Eds.). (2020). Economics in the Time of COVID-19. CEPR Press: a VoxEU.org eBook.
- Bodenstein, M., Corsetti, G., & Guerrieri, L. (2020). Social distancing and supply disruptions in a pandemic. Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2020-031. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2020.031 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2020.031
- Brightmore, D. (2020). COVID-19 set to reshape UAE construction. Construction https://www.constructionglobal.com/built-environment/covid-19-set-to-reshape-uae-construction retrieved on 9 Sep 2020.
- Carruthers, P. (2020). How Coronavirus can kill small businesses: COVID-19. Personal Finance, 20(4), p.8-10.
- Chopra, R. (2020). Battling the Coronavirus Crisis: A Case of India’s Real Estate Sector. UGC CARE Journal, 31(4), 1133-1147.
- Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority. (2020). The UAE Government’s Initiatives to Combat the COVID-19 Crisis. Accessed from https://fcsa.gov.ae/en-us/Documents/The%20UAE%20Govern ment%20Initiatives%20to%20combat%20Covid%2019.pdf on 11 Sept. 2020.
- Gao, X., Chen, L., & Liu, J. (2019). The new path to improve construction safety performance in china: An evolutionary game theoretic approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(13), 2443. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132443 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132443
- Ge, Y., & Xu, B. (2016). Dynamic staffing and rescheduling in software project management: A hybrid approach. . PloS One, 11(6), e0157104. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157104
- Ghandour, A. (2020). Managing Innovation Process in the Real Estate Sector: Case study from UAE. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 13(12), 744 - 753.
- GlobalData. (2020). Construction in the U.A.E., Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021. From Global Data Construction Industry Taxonomy: https://store.globaldata.com/report/gd-cn0326mr--construction-in-the-uae-key-trends-and-opportunities-to-2021/
- Greenwald, A. G. (1976). Within-subjects designs: To use or not to use? Psychological Bulletin, 83(2), 314. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.83.2.314 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.83.2.314
- Hinton, M. A., & Hamilton, R. T. (2015). Competitive tendering and individual behavior in the construction industry: Convenient immorality at work. Construction Management and Economics, 33(11-12), 880-889. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2016.1170865 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2016.1170865
- Ibidunni, A. S., Abiodun, J. A., & Olokundun, M. A. (2019). Using explicit knowledge of groups to enhance firm productivity: A data envelopment analysis application. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 22(1), e1-e9. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v22i1.2159 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v22i1.2159
- Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling: John Wiley & Sons.
- Lee, G. R., Malatesta, D., & Fernandez, S. (2019). Outsourcing and organizational performance: The employee perspective. . The American Review of Public Administration, 49(8), 973-986. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074019855469 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074019855469
- London, M., & Diamante, T. (2018). Fundamentals of consulting psychology book series. Learning interventions for consultants: Building the talent that drives business. . American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000094-000 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0000094-000
- Mahy, B., Rycx, F., & Vermeylen, G. (2015). Educational mismatch and firm productivity: Do skills, technology and uncertainty matter? . De Economist, 163(2), 233-262. . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10645-015-9251-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10645-015-9251-2
- Nagraj, A. (2020, June 11). COVID-19 impact on the GCC’s real estate sector: Are there any housing concerns? Gulf Business Accessed from https://gulfbusiness.com/covid-19-impact-on-the-gccs-real-estate-sector-are-there-any-housing-concerns/ on 11 Sept 2020.
- Noe, M. H., & Gelfand, J. M. (2018). Research techniques made simple: Pharmacoepidemiology research methods in Dermatology. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 138 (2), e13-e18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jid.2017.10.026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jid.2017.10.026
- PWC. (2020). COVID-19: What it means for engineering and construction. Price Waterhouse Coopers. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/coronavirus-impacts-engineering-construction.html
- Rodela, T. T., Tasnim, S., Mazumder, H., Faizah, F., Sultana, A., & Hossain, M. M. (2020). Economic Impacts of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Developing Countries: Working Paper Series. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/wygpk DOI: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/wygpk
- Ruiz-Torres, A. J., Alomoto, N., & Paletta, G. (2015). Scheduling to maximize worker satisfaction and on-time orders. . International Journal of Production Research, 53(9), 2836-2852. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2015.1005764 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2015.1005764
- Sinclair, D., Jullien, S., & Garner, P. (2016). Response: Development of economics-time to improve research methods. International Journal of Epidemiology, 45(6), 2172-2173. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw358 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw358
- Srivastava, M. (2020). Finding a way forward for UAE. MEED. Middle East Business Intelligence accessed from https://www.meed.com/finding-a-way-forward-for-uae-construction on 11 Sept. 2020.
- Street, T. D., Lacey, S. J., & Somoray, K. (2019). Employee stress reduced productivity, and interest in a workplace health program: A case study from the Australian mining industry. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(1), 94. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16010094 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16010094
- Welsh, J., Strazdins, L., Charlesworth, S., Kulik, C. T., & Butterworth, P. (2016). Health or harm? A cohort study of the importance of job quality in extended workforce participation by older adults. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 885-814. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3478-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3478-y
- Wilhite, D. A., Sivakumar, M. V., & Pulwarty, R. (2014). Managing drought risk in a changing climate: The role of national drought policy. Weather and Climate Extremes, 3, 4-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2014.01.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2014.01.002
- Wilson, V. (2016). Research methods: Mixed methods research. Evidence-Based Library and Information Practice, 11(1), 56-59. https://doi.org/10.18438/B8QS53 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18438/B8QS53
References
Ahani, A., & Nilashi, M. (2020). Coronavirus outbreak and its impacts on the global economy: the role of social network sites. Journal of Soft Computing and Decision Support Systems, 7(2), 19-22.
Altios. (2020). Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 in the UAE and GCC Region. Dubai. Accessed from https://altios.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/COVID-19-IMPACT-IN-THE-UAE-AND-GCC-REGION.pdf on 11 Sept. 2020.
Ammendolia, C., Cancelliere, C., & Cassidy, J. D. (2016). Healthy and productive workers: Using intervention mapping to design a workplace health promotion and wellness program to improve presenteeism. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1190-1118. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3843-x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3843-x
Bailey, J., Bouchardie, N., & Madalena, I. (2020). COVID-19: The Current Impact on Construction and Engineering Projects. Retrieved from whitecase.com: https://www.whitecase.com/publications/alert/covid-19-current-impact-construction-engineering-projects on 11 Sept. 2020.
Baldwin, R., & Mauro, B. (Eds.). (2020). Economics in the Time of COVID-19. CEPR Press: a VoxEU.org eBook.
Bodenstein, M., Corsetti, G., & Guerrieri, L. (2020). Social distancing and supply disruptions in a pandemic. Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2020-031. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2020.031 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2020.031
Brightmore, D. (2020). COVID-19 set to reshape UAE construction. Construction https://www.constructionglobal.com/built-environment/covid-19-set-to-reshape-uae-construction retrieved on 9 Sep 2020.
Carruthers, P. (2020). How Coronavirus can kill small businesses: COVID-19. Personal Finance, 20(4), p.8-10.
Chopra, R. (2020). Battling the Coronavirus Crisis: A Case of India’s Real Estate Sector. UGC CARE Journal, 31(4), 1133-1147.
Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority. (2020). The UAE Government’s Initiatives to Combat the COVID-19 Crisis. Accessed from https://fcsa.gov.ae/en-us/Documents/The%20UAE%20Govern ment%20Initiatives%20to%20combat%20Covid%2019.pdf on 11 Sept. 2020.
Gao, X., Chen, L., & Liu, J. (2019). The new path to improve construction safety performance in china: An evolutionary game theoretic approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(13), 2443. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132443 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132443
Ge, Y., & Xu, B. (2016). Dynamic staffing and rescheduling in software project management: A hybrid approach. . PloS One, 11(6), e0157104. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157104
Ghandour, A. (2020). Managing Innovation Process in the Real Estate Sector: Case study from UAE. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 13(12), 744 - 753.
GlobalData. (2020). Construction in the U.A.E., Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021. From Global Data Construction Industry Taxonomy: https://store.globaldata.com/report/gd-cn0326mr--construction-in-the-uae-key-trends-and-opportunities-to-2021/
Greenwald, A. G. (1976). Within-subjects designs: To use or not to use? Psychological Bulletin, 83(2), 314. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.83.2.314 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.83.2.314
Hinton, M. A., & Hamilton, R. T. (2015). Competitive tendering and individual behavior in the construction industry: Convenient immorality at work. Construction Management and Economics, 33(11-12), 880-889. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2016.1170865 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2016.1170865
Ibidunni, A. S., Abiodun, J. A., & Olokundun, M. A. (2019). Using explicit knowledge of groups to enhance firm productivity: A data envelopment analysis application. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 22(1), e1-e9. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v22i1.2159 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v22i1.2159
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling: John Wiley & Sons.
Lee, G. R., Malatesta, D., & Fernandez, S. (2019). Outsourcing and organizational performance: The employee perspective. . The American Review of Public Administration, 49(8), 973-986. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074019855469 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074019855469
London, M., & Diamante, T. (2018). Fundamentals of consulting psychology book series. Learning interventions for consultants: Building the talent that drives business. . American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000094-000 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0000094-000
Mahy, B., Rycx, F., & Vermeylen, G. (2015). Educational mismatch and firm productivity: Do skills, technology and uncertainty matter? . De Economist, 163(2), 233-262. . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10645-015-9251-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10645-015-9251-2
Nagraj, A. (2020, June 11). COVID-19 impact on the GCC’s real estate sector: Are there any housing concerns? Gulf Business Accessed from https://gulfbusiness.com/covid-19-impact-on-the-gccs-real-estate-sector-are-there-any-housing-concerns/ on 11 Sept 2020.
Noe, M. H., & Gelfand, J. M. (2018). Research techniques made simple: Pharmacoepidemiology research methods in Dermatology. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 138 (2), e13-e18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jid.2017.10.026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jid.2017.10.026
PWC. (2020). COVID-19: What it means for engineering and construction. Price Waterhouse Coopers. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/coronavirus-impacts-engineering-construction.html
Rodela, T. T., Tasnim, S., Mazumder, H., Faizah, F., Sultana, A., & Hossain, M. M. (2020). Economic Impacts of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Developing Countries: Working Paper Series. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/wygpk DOI: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/wygpk
Ruiz-Torres, A. J., Alomoto, N., & Paletta, G. (2015). Scheduling to maximize worker satisfaction and on-time orders. . International Journal of Production Research, 53(9), 2836-2852. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2015.1005764 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2015.1005764
Sinclair, D., Jullien, S., & Garner, P. (2016). Response: Development of economics-time to improve research methods. International Journal of Epidemiology, 45(6), 2172-2173. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw358 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw358
Srivastava, M. (2020). Finding a way forward for UAE. MEED. Middle East Business Intelligence accessed from https://www.meed.com/finding-a-way-forward-for-uae-construction on 11 Sept. 2020.
Street, T. D., Lacey, S. J., & Somoray, K. (2019). Employee stress reduced productivity, and interest in a workplace health program: A case study from the Australian mining industry. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(1), 94. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16010094 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16010094
Welsh, J., Strazdins, L., Charlesworth, S., Kulik, C. T., & Butterworth, P. (2016). Health or harm? A cohort study of the importance of job quality in extended workforce participation by older adults. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 885-814. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3478-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3478-y
Wilhite, D. A., Sivakumar, M. V., & Pulwarty, R. (2014). Managing drought risk in a changing climate: The role of national drought policy. Weather and Climate Extremes, 3, 4-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2014.01.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2014.01.002
Wilson, V. (2016). Research methods: Mixed methods research. Evidence-Based Library and Information Practice, 11(1), 56-59. https://doi.org/10.18438/B8QS53 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18438/B8QS53