Delays to mechanical services-type projects associated with national culture in Saudi Arabia

Abdullah Alkharnamy, Kassim Gidado, Noel Painting

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding with ISSN or ISBNConference contribution with ISSN or ISBNpeer-review

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the origin of delays in building projects that are associated with the national cultural factors of Saudi Arabia. In most major building projects in Saudi Arabia, the various mechanical services components, elements and installations are often designed and manufactured abroad by foreign organisations from various countries with sometimes divergent cultures and installed using workforce that come from yet more divergent cultural backgrounds. In such projects, the mechanical services package may be in excess of 40% of the overall cost of the project. The work reported in this paper is a literature-based research that forms part of the early stages of a PhD research that aims to investigate the effect of national culture on the occurrence of delays in building projects, particularly in the delivery of the mechanical services packages in Saudi Arabia. The paper has established that Saudi Arabia is a highly power distance economy (where most of the decisions are centralised) with a high uncertainty avoidance culture. The origins of delays in building projects have been identified from numerous publications and categorised into eight using the Hofstede's national cultural factors. This provides a basis for further research to evaluate the effect of national culture on the delivery of mechanical services-type projects in Saudi Arabia.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternational conference on engineering, project, and production management conference proceedings
Place of PublicationPort Elizabeth, South Africa
PublisherNelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Pages144-153
Number of pages10
ISBN (Print)9781920508319
Publication statusPublished - 26 Nov 2014
EventInternational conference on engineering, project, and production management conference proceedings - Pretea Marine Hotel, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Duration: 26 Nov 2014 → …

Conference

ConferenceInternational conference on engineering, project, and production management conference proceedings
Period26/11/14 → …

Bibliographical note

© 2014 Association of Engineering, Project, and Production Management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Delays to mechanical services-type projects associated with national culture in Saudi Arabia'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this