Management Control and Construction Efficiency

Analysis of data from three construction sites has indicated a positive relationship at low levels of management control between the time spent by management supervising an activity and the resulting productivity. Work rates were calculated from site bonus sheets for the activities of concreting, formwork and bricklaying. The time spent in supervising an activity was assumed to be proportioned to the productive hours spent in its execution. The quality of available data was extremely low. A management control index was defined as the ratio of the hours spent supervising an activity to the number of hours worked by the laborers in the appropriate trade. A linear relationship between control index and work rate was assumed. The results of linear regression analyses on 26 sets of data are presented. In 24 cases, the gradients are positive. It is necessary to generate better quality data before the relationship can be conclusively proved. Further research is required before predictions of the optimum level of management control on construction sites can reliably be made.