Impacts of COVID-19 on the construction sector in the least developed countries

IF 2.1 Q2 CONSTRUCTION & BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
Shakil Ahmed, Iffat Haq, S. Anam
{"title":"Impacts of COVID-19 on the construction sector in the least developed countries","authors":"Shakil Ahmed, Iffat Haq, S. Anam","doi":"10.1108/ijbpa-04-2022-0059","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"PurposeGlobal construction has been affected by COVID-19 unprecedently. The construction sectors in the least developed countries are considered as vulnerable, but the covid made the countries experience the worst situation ever. To minimize the losses by effective measures, there needs to assess the COVID-19 impacts on the construction sector. So, the aim of this study is to investigate the most critical impacts of COVID-19 on construction in the least developed countries by considering the case study of Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted multistep research methods, including (1) literature analysis and discussion with experts to establish a comprehensive list of COVID-19 impacts; (2) through a questionnaire survey, data were collected from 217 construction professionals by email, Google Form and Skype for quantifying the significance of covid impacts; (3) reliability of the survey checked by the Cronbach Alpha test; (4) Relative Importance Index (RII) to determine the ranks of the impacts based on their significance; (5) Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) to explore the corelations and the hierarchical structure; and (6) cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis to classify the COVID-19 impacts.FindingsThe study identified a total of 18 COVID-19 impacts on the construction sector. Among them, the job cuts, schedule delays, project suspension, cost overrun and effects on mental health are more influential and significant than others. Further, this study found that unpaid leave and job cuts are the two most fundamental impacts which influence other succeeding significant impacts. And ultimately all the impacts lead to hampering the national economy and development. Finally, MICMAC analysis suggested that unpaid leave and job cuts should be addressed first to resolve and effects on the national economy and development should be later.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not consider all the COVID-19 impacts due to the relevant context and simplicity of the ISM method. Also, the respondent's attitude might be slightly different during the post-mass vaccination period.Practical implicationsThis study will help the company's management, employees and government to develop effective strategies to understand the insight of their interrelations and ultimately overcome the identified covid effects. This will must contribute to the industry, its employees, the government and society by ensuring the national economy and development, construction operations, investment, employment and social security.Originality/valueThis study will contribute to the knowledge body (practitioners and researchers) by providing the list of significant covid impacts and insight into their interrelations for further deep analysis of the pandemic effects. This will also help the authorities and stakeholders in developing policies and strategies to minimize or avoid these effects and avoid future consequences due to any pandemic like covid.","PeriodicalId":44905,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijbpa-04-2022-0059","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CONSTRUCTION & BUILDING TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3

Abstract

PurposeGlobal construction has been affected by COVID-19 unprecedently. The construction sectors in the least developed countries are considered as vulnerable, but the covid made the countries experience the worst situation ever. To minimize the losses by effective measures, there needs to assess the COVID-19 impacts on the construction sector. So, the aim of this study is to investigate the most critical impacts of COVID-19 on construction in the least developed countries by considering the case study of Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted multistep research methods, including (1) literature analysis and discussion with experts to establish a comprehensive list of COVID-19 impacts; (2) through a questionnaire survey, data were collected from 217 construction professionals by email, Google Form and Skype for quantifying the significance of covid impacts; (3) reliability of the survey checked by the Cronbach Alpha test; (4) Relative Importance Index (RII) to determine the ranks of the impacts based on their significance; (5) Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) to explore the corelations and the hierarchical structure; and (6) cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis to classify the COVID-19 impacts.FindingsThe study identified a total of 18 COVID-19 impacts on the construction sector. Among them, the job cuts, schedule delays, project suspension, cost overrun and effects on mental health are more influential and significant than others. Further, this study found that unpaid leave and job cuts are the two most fundamental impacts which influence other succeeding significant impacts. And ultimately all the impacts lead to hampering the national economy and development. Finally, MICMAC analysis suggested that unpaid leave and job cuts should be addressed first to resolve and effects on the national economy and development should be later.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not consider all the COVID-19 impacts due to the relevant context and simplicity of the ISM method. Also, the respondent's attitude might be slightly different during the post-mass vaccination period.Practical implicationsThis study will help the company's management, employees and government to develop effective strategies to understand the insight of their interrelations and ultimately overcome the identified covid effects. This will must contribute to the industry, its employees, the government and society by ensuring the national economy and development, construction operations, investment, employment and social security.Originality/valueThis study will contribute to the knowledge body (practitioners and researchers) by providing the list of significant covid impacts and insight into their interrelations for further deep analysis of the pandemic effects. This will also help the authorities and stakeholders in developing policies and strategies to minimize or avoid these effects and avoid future consequences due to any pandemic like covid.
新冠肺炎对最不发达国家建筑业的影响
目的全球建设受到新冠肺炎疫情前所未有的影响。最不发达国家的建筑行业被认为是脆弱的,但新冠疫情使这些国家经历了有史以来最糟糕的局面。为采取有效措施尽量减少损失,需要评估新冠肺炎疫情对建筑行业的影响。因此,本研究的目的是通过考虑孟加拉国的案例研究,调查COVID-19对最不发达国家建筑的最关键影响。作者采用了多步骤的研究方法,包括:(1)文献分析和与专家讨论,建立了COVID-19影响的综合清单;(2)通过问卷调查,通过电子邮件、谷歌表单和Skype对217名建筑专业人员进行数据收集,量化新冠疫情影响的重要性;(3)调查信度经Cronbach Alpha检验;(4)相对重要性指数(Relative Importance Index, RII),根据影响的显著性确定影响的等级;(5)解释结构模型(ISM),探索相互关系和层次结构;(6)将交叉影响矩阵乘法应用于分类(MICMAC)分析,对COVID-19影响进行分类。该研究共确定了新冠肺炎对建筑行业的18个影响。其中,裁员、进度延误、项目暂停、成本超支和对心理健康的影响比其他影响更大。此外,本研究发现,无薪休假和裁员是影响其他后续重大影响的两个最基本的影响。这些影响最终会阻碍国民经济的发展。最后,micac的分析表明,应首先解决无薪休假和裁员问题,然后再解决对国民经济和发展的影响。研究局限性/意义由于相关背景和ISM方法的简单性,本研究没有考虑到COVID-19的所有影响。此外,在大规模疫苗接种后的时期,被调查者的态度可能略有不同。本研究将帮助公司管理层、员工和政府制定有效的战略,以了解他们之间的相互关系,并最终克服已确定的covid效应。这将通过保障国民经济和发展、建设作业、投资、就业和社会保障,为行业、从业人员、政府和社会做出贡献。独创性/价值本研究将为知识体系(从业人员和研究人员)提供covid - 19重大影响清单,并深入了解其相互关系,从而进一步深入分析大流行的影响。这还将有助于当局和利益攸关方制定政策和战略,以尽量减少或避免这些影响,并避免因covid等任何大流行而造成的未来后果。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
CiteScore
4.80
自引率
18.20%
发文量
76
期刊介绍: The International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation publishes findings on contemporary and original research towards sustaining, maintaining and managing existing buildings. The journal provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of buildings, their performance and adaptation in order to develop appropriate technical and management solutions. This requires an holistic understanding of the complex interactions between the materials, components, occupants, design and environment, demanding the application and development of methodologies for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment in this multidisciplinary area. With rapid technological developments, a changing climate and more extreme weather, coupled with developing societal demands, the challenges to the professions responsible are complex and varied; solutions need to be rigorously researched and tested to navigate the dynamic context in which today''s buildings are to be sustained. Within this context, the scope and coverage of the journal incorporates the following indicative topics: • Behavioural and human responses • Building defects and prognosis • Building adaptation and retrofit • Building conservation and restoration • Building Information Modelling (BIM) • Building and planning regulations and legislation • Building technology • Conflict avoidance, management and disputes resolution • Digital information and communication technologies • Education and training • Environmental performance • Energy management • Health, safety and welfare issues • Healthy enclosures • Innovations and innovative technologies • Law and practice of dilapidation • Maintenance and refurbishment • Materials testing • Policy formulation and development • Project management • Resilience • Structural considerations • Surveying methodologies and techniques • Sustainability and climate change • Valuation and financial investment
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信