EFFECT OF QUALITY CULTURE ON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN NIGERIA

EFFECT OF QUALITY CULTURE ON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF KWARA STATE)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction impacts the quality of life for building facilities and plays a major role in a nation's economy and development. Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act (2005) Section 17(4)  basically  sets out that construction work is an activity on structure that includes building work, civil engineering   or   engineering   construction   work.   Furthermore,   the   end-products   of construction works had been in the centre of economic development of a nation. According to Farooqui. Mashood and Aziz (2008) construction sector is globally considered to be a basic industry on which the development of the country depends. To a great extent, the growth of a country and its development status is generally determined by the quality of its infrastructures and construction projects.

Construction project development involves numerous parties, various processes, different phases and stages of work and a great deal of input from both the public and private sectors, with the major aim being to bring the project to a successful conclusion (Takim and Akintoye, 2002). Hence, the success of any construction project can be expressed in terms of performance. Blismas, Slier and Thorpe (1999) reckon that project performance is the act of fulfilling the project goals at the inception by the client and the project team in terms of the budget, duration, and quality and client satisfaction. According to Egemen and  Mohamed (2006), performance evaluation in construction generally focuses on a limited number of performance elements related to the product, which are completing the project on time, within budget and with the required quality.

According to Jackson (2004), quality is contained in the tripod of construction management; it does not only impact appearance and durability but also the performance of a project. In today's construction climate, public sector owners are finding themselves under increasing pressure to improve project performance, complete projects faster, and reduce the cost of administering their

construction programs.

However, Abdul-Rahman, Wang and Yap (2010) mentioned that clients and customers, both from the public and private sectors, nowadays place more emphasis on the quality of products rather than the cost and time which was the major concern in the past. In terms of quality in construction, Arditi and Gunaydin (1997) opined that 'high quality building project depends a great deal on factors such as   the   design   being   easily   understandable   and   applicable,   conformity   of  design   with specifications, economics of construction, ease of operation ,ease of maintenance and energy efficiency.

1.2       RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to assess the quality culture on building construction works in Kwara State, Nigeria. To accomplish this aim, a number of research objectives have been established:

 

These include:

1.         To assess the perception of quality in construction industry in Nigeria

2.         To evaluate the factors affecting the implementation of quality culture in construction works in Nigeria

3.         To examine the factors affecting the maintenance of quality culture in construction works in Nigeria

4.         To evaluate the constraints encountered in the implementation of quality culture in construction works in Nigeria.

1.3       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.         What is the perception of quality on building construction industry in Nigeria?

2.         What are the factors affecting the implementation of quality culture on building construction works in Nigeria?

3.         What are the factors affecting the maintenance of quality culture on building construction works in Nigeria?

4.         What are  the  constraints  encountered  in  the  implementation of quality culture  on building construction works in Nigeria?

1.4       RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

This study intends to test the hypothesis that:

1.         There is no significant difference between the level of quality culture in public and private organizations in Nigeria.

2.         There is no significant difference between the perception of quality in public and private organizations in Nigeria.

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

There has been little research into quality culture. The intention of this study is to provide information on quality culture in construction industries in Kwara state, Nigeria. The findings of this study amongst other things will highlight the level of quality culture in construction industries in Kwara state. It is the conviction of the researcher that this study will complement existing works and add to the growing literature on the subject matter of quality culture. It is also hoped that the study would provide a springboard on which further studies could be conducted.

1.6       DELIMITATION AND SCOPE OF STUDY

In pursuing this research the focus of attention is on the level of quality culture in construction and the construction project itself. The construction project is thus the unit of analysis. Works and  the research covers small, medium and large scale contracting, client and consulting organizations involved in civil engineering and building projects, as well as the different types of facilities (e.g. commercial or educational). The targeted respondents in these organizations include the project manager, construction manager, architect, engineers, quantity surveyors and other people who have a stake in or can influence the construction project.

1.7       DEFINITION OF TERMS

Quality:          In the construction industry, quality can be defined as meeting the requirements of the designer, constructor and regulatory agencies as well as the owner (Arditi and Gunaydin, 1997).

Quality culture: (International practical seminar Quality Culture Development, 2010)  defines  quality culture as an organizational value system that results in an environment that is conducive to the establishment and continual improvement of quality.

Project performance: Project performance is a measure of the outcome of a project that is the level to which desired project objectives are achieved (Idoro, 2008).

Total Quality Management: Is a management philosophy, a paradigm, a continuous improvement approach to doing business through a new management model (PHCC, 1996).

 

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE:     Effect Of Quality Culture On Building Construction Project In Nigeria

EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES ON POVERTY ALLEVIATION AMONG RURAL FARM HOUSEHOLDS

 

EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES ON POVERTY ALLEVIATION AMONG RURAL FARM HOUSEHOLDS IN YEWA DIVISION OF OGUN STATE

 

 

 

Nigeria as a land filled with milk and honey suffers from the menace of poverty. Different questions have been asked to how poverty which is affecting the economy can be reduced to minimum. Several Government bodies have been setup to find a lasting solution to the problem striking the masses. However,it will be expedient to know what poverty is all about and to know the meaning of cooperative according to different scholars and join the two together to have a clearer understanding of the purpose of the study.

According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Poverty is a state of being poor. It is the inability of a household to generate adequate income for the maintenance of the household.

Poverty has become a pervasive National and Global issue resulting from a state of short or long term deprivation and insecurity in basic human needs (Chambers, 1996; Mullen, 1996;Obadan, 2002). Poverty has also become a feature of the living conditions and life situation of the vast majority of Nigerians. The incidence of poverty in Nigeria was put at 28.8% in 1980, 46.3% in 1985, 42.7% in 1992 and 65.6% in 1996. In 2008, estimates from the National Bureau of Statistics put incidence of poverty at 54.4% (Fakoya, Banmeke, Ashimolowo, Fapojuwo2010). Several evidences have suggested that majority of the world’s poor live and work in the rural area and that they would continue to do so in 2025 (IFAD, 2001).

(Oseni, 2007) defined poverty as a state of involuntarily deprivation to which a person, household, community or nation can be subjected topoverty is a condition in which one cannot generate sufficient incomerequired to secure a minimum standard of living in a sustainable pattern. Poverty in Nigeria is caused by lack of employment, high rate of illiteracy among the citizenry, poor infrastructure, inadequate access to micro credit facilities, mismanagement of public funds, bad governance, instability of the governments and its policies. Poverty gives rise to many other serious social problems, some of which, not only impose enormous economic and social costs upon the non- poor and society in general, but also threaten the survival and stability of the society. In these regards, the Federal Government of Nigeria had designed several programmes aimed at alleviating poverty and improving the living conditions of its people which include Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), Green Revolution, Structural Adjustment Programme, Better Life Programme and Family Support Programme, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), National PovertyEradication Programme (NAPEP) and National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). These programmes bythe various governments of Nigeria were designed by policy makers and targeted at poverty alleviation in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the quality of life of majority of Nigerians had remained unenviable and embarrassingly low, despite the huge budgetary allocations by these governments to these poverty alleviation programmes (Orji, 2005). There is a need to identify other means of addressing the serious damage caused by poverty to the Nigerian society, attention should therefore be shifted to the use of self-help using Cooperative organizations formed and administered by the people.

Cooperativeshave been dedicated to conducting business in a way now being recommended as the most effective route to transformational development: putting people in charge of their own destinies and helping them bring services to their communities; increasing decision making, trust and accountability through democratic participation; providing a profitable connection to the private sector; building and protecting assets at the community level; limiting the role of government; and working together to resolve problems.

A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, as well as cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise (COPAC, 1999). A Co-operative is a group-based and members-owned business that can be formed for economic and social development in any sector (Ohio Co-operative Development Centres (OCDC) 2007). According to DFID (2005), co- operatives have four main characteristics: first, they are formed by groups of people, who have a specified need or problem. Secondly, the organization is formed freely by members after contributing to its assets. Thirdly, the organization formed, is governed democratically in order to achieve desired objectives on equitable norms, and fourthly, it is an independent enterprise promoted, owned and controlled by people to meet their needs. Cooperatives provide self-employment through millions of worker-owners of production and service cooperatives; financial cooperatives mobilize capital for productive investment and provide people with secure institutions for the deposit of savings; consumer cooperatives provide households with affordable goods and services reducing the proportion of income usedfor basic living costs, and similarly user-owned cooperatives such as housing, utility, health and social care cooperatives provide affordable access to basic services.

Cooperative as socio-economic institutions through their activities could be a potent tool for poverty alleviation particularly in fighting poverty and unemployment. This could be in the area of agriculture, provision of infrastructural facilities and education.

Therefore, in Yewa Division where the research wascarried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the impact of cooperative societies in alleviating poverty among rural households.

1.2.      Problem Statement

Poverty is seriously severe in rural areas where social services and infrastructures are limited or not in existence. The greater number of those who live in rural areas depends solely on agriculture for food and income, and a high proportion of rural people suffer from malnutrition and other diseases related to poor nutrition.

Rural poverty tends to be evenly distributed in the country rather than concentrated in specific geographical area. Rural infrastructure across has been long neglected why investment in health, Education and Water supply have largely been focused obn the cities. As a result, the rural household has extremely limited access to services such as schools, health centers and about half of the rural household population lacks access to save drinking water, limited education opportunities and poor health perpetuate the poverty circle. The poor tends to live in isolated villages that can become virtually inaccessible during rainy season.

Therefore, the situation is aggravated by the fact that many rural household are stark illiterates, and also lack inadequate capital to start a business of their own.

On the other hand,cooperatives in Nigeria are still known to be bedevilled with problems including,lack of capital, lack of access to credit facilities, poor management,misappropriation of funds, etc. While efforts are being made by stakeholders ofcooperative in Nigeria to remove and/or reduce these problems, there is anapparent consensus that the need for adequate and sufficient knowledge of the roleof cooperatives in poverty alleviation still exists. For example there is a need toidentify and analyse in sufficient details those cooperative activities and functionsthat bear directly on the economic empowerment of members, as well asidentifying factors that could promote and enhance cooperative efforts in povertyreduction. Unless these issues are known and appreciated, the emphasis oncooperative as a poverty alleviating platform may continue to be unrealistic.

The questions of interest in this study are;

i.        What are the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents in the study area?

ii.      What is the incidence, depth and severity of poverty among the respondents?

iii.    What are the determinants of poverty among the rural households?

iv.    What are the influences of cooperative membership on poverty status of rural households?

v.      What are the constraint affecting cooperative societies in alleviating poverty?

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The broad objective of the study is to access the importance of cooperative societies in alleviating poverty among rural household.

The specific objectives are to;

i.                    examinethe socio-economic characteristics of the respondents in the study area.

ii.                  assessthe incidence, depth and severity of poverty among the respondents.

iii.                examine the determinants of poverty among the rural households

iv.                examinethe influence of cooperative membership on poverty status of rural households.

v.                  constraint affecting cooperative society in alleviating poverty.

1.4       Justification of the Study

From time past, Nigerian government and the international agencies have introduced measures in alleviating poverty, such programmes ranges from Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in early 1980s; Directorate for Food Road and Rural Infrastructure (DEFRRI). Therefore the study is aimed at the following

1)      To reveal how cooperative will further increase its role in poverty reduction and also to convince policy makers that it is time to develop a national poverty reduction policy through cooperative society.

2)      To the poor, to know how cooperative society works, which will go a long way in assisting them to reduce poverty, by establishing Cooperative Societies.

3)      To the Federal Government, they can use this work as a standard in measuring the effectiveness of cooperative societies. Hence, Government can through this work know the appropriate steps to take in funding cooperative societies.

1.5       Plan of the Study

This research was divided into five chapters, Chapter one consist of introduction, research problem; objective and justification. While chapter two consist of  literature review and conceptual framework, chapter three consist of research methodology, sampling techniques, method of data collection and method of data analysis. On the other hand, chapter four consists of result and discussion and chapter five is the summary, conclusion and recommendation.

EDITOR SOURCE:     Effect Of Cooperative Societies On Poverty Alleviation Among Rural Farm Households

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ELECTRONIC INVOICING SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

The internet, without doubt, has played an important role in digitalizing business processes across companies and organizations of all sizes. It has introduced multiple new channels through which businesses can interact with their customers [1]. A report by Gartner, an Information Technology (IT) research institution, reveals that 70% of all customer interactions will move towards digital, more interactive settings and would be experienced on demand through mediums such as web, mobile and social media platforms by 2017. The generation of today understands technology more than ever and require services delivered as quickly as possible, whenever and wherever they desire [2].

To achieve all these, companies do not have to make huge capital investments by purchasing and maintaining software licenses for applications like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Inventory Management System (IMS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and installing them on individual hardware on the business premises [3]. They can instead contain costs, deploy solutions quicker and minimize risk by using this Electronic Invoicing System hosted by a third party and delivered over the internet , Its purpose is to bring an inexpensive and easy solution to the business operation needs of customers especially the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The system allows businesses to create and send computerized invoices to their customers [4].

• STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

During the analysis and data collection of this project, it was discovered that there existed a manual form of collecting and storing customers’ invoices in other for them to be attended to, and for future purpose [5].
That is to say that the process of daily task and activities are done manually which is quite unfortunate; manual procedural execution produced delays in writing down all the customer bought, at some instances the business owner can’t keep a proper record of the goods and services sold out in a particular day, week or Month, which reduces result in businesses.
Manual invoicing record keeping has resulted in many setbacks to the expected standard.  The setback encountered includes: 

• Time wastage in writing down everything bought by some customers.
• Partial or total loss of invoice by both business and customers.
• Under recording of invoice analysis.
• Inefficiency of some members of staff due to laziness in searching of the invoice.

As a result of these problems, the manual system of invoice record information storage, input and retrieval is very clumsy: inefficient and unbelievable.

• PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

To develop a computerized Electronic Invoicing software to carryout tedious work and activities performed by human beings, in which they end up misplacing and discarding some important files and costumers records.  But if this (computerized Invoicing software) is implemented and installed it will render remedy to this case.

• AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The main aims and objectives of the system are:

• To design a web based invoicing system to replace some extent of human role in cases of unavailability of job.
• To provide quick retrieval of customer’s invoice records on site or case of loss of original invoice.

Also, the purpose of this software is to model a computerized invoice system to enable proper invoice generating for customers and control this records.

 

• SCOPE

The researcher is concerned with an electronic invoice system. It cover all the operations of companies and businesses in issuing receipts to customers which is the case study. It deals with the digitalizing business processes of issuing of receipts to customers for the services rendered or bought.

 

• ORGANIZATION OF STUDY

Chapter Two reviews the related literature under the following sub-headings: Invoicing System, the review of the site, electronic invoicing system, Implementation of the new mode of receipts, etc.
Chapter Three handles the System Methodology Analysis and Design as follows: Introduction, the User Interface, Hardware and Software requirements,  user documentation, system backup, system maintenance, etc.
Chapter four is concerned with the system implementation and programming.
Chapter Five comprises of summary, conclusion and recommendation.

• LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

There are some limitations or constraints confronting this study, they are as follows

• TIME: I have a very little time to carry out this research this was the fact that I combine the research work with my academic studies. You can agree with me that time constraints is one of the limitations I experience while carry out this research work.
• FINANCE: however, finance is another constraint I experience while carry out this research. The lack of funds to carry out this research slow down the research work. Despite the limitations every effort was geared towards accomplishing this project.

• DEFINITION OF TERMS

Transaction:
Agreement, contract, exchange, understanding or transfer of cash or property that occurs between two or more parties.
Database:
A collection of different files in a specialized way for easy retrieval and update.

Invoice:
A nonnegotiable commercial instrument issued by a seller to a buyer. It identifies both the trading parties and list describes and quantifies the items sold, show the date of the shipment and mode of transport, prices and discounts (if any) and delivery and payment terms.

 

Inventory:
An itemized catalog or list of tangible goods or property, or the intangible attributes or qualities.

Computerized:
Convert (information) to a form which is stored or processed by computer.

Customer:
A person who buys goods or services from a shop or business.

Electronic:
Controlled by or connected to a computer and as an activity or service which is "available on or performed using the Internet or other computer network”.

Record:
Document that memorializes and provide objectives of activities performed, resulted achieved, or statement made.

 

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE:     Design And Implementation Of An Electronic Invoicing System

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A WEBSITE FOR A SMALL SCALE COMPUTER SCHOOL

 

 

 

 

People are surfing the web and relying on web sites more than ever to research companies, compare offerings and form opinions about brands and companies. Living in the digital world, a website is now a necessity for a business, big or small. If you have a business and don’t have a website, you are probably losing a number of great opportunities for your business. A website itself can be used to accomplish many different marketing strategies to help your business grow. The web has a far wider reach than any other form of advertising. Increasing visibility is one major factor that makes having a website important. Even if people have heard about your company, they may want to carry out research online first, before entertaining the idea of leaving the comfort of their own home. Websites usually provide a map and directions to company`s shops or offices, for visitors to less likely have trouble finding your location. Another important reason why having a website to represent your business is to give you credibility. A website will not only give you credibility but it will also help to give the impression that your company is bigger and more successful than it may actually be.

Websites are also available and accessible 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Because of this, your customers and potential customers can visit your site for support or information about new and upcoming products and services whenever it is convenient for them. Your website will act as an invaluable and always-available resource for information which would otherwise only be accessible during your company`s business hours. 

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Most computer school currently operates a manual way of issuing out information about their services. This system is usually cumbersome for a prestigious company with a large customer base. Customers sometimes queue in lines to make enquiries and make findings about the services rendered, thereby wasting precious and productive time for both the computer school and the customer.

 

1.3   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objective of this study is to develop a Website for a computer school to increase -

1.      Visibility- Increasing visibility is one major factor that makes having a website important. Even if people have heard about your company, they may want to carry out research online first, before leaving the house. Provide a map and directions to your company's shops or offices on your website so that visitors are less likely to have trouble finding the place.

2.      Accessibility- A website is online and accessible 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Because of this, your customers and potential customers can visit your site for support or information about new and upcoming products and services whenever it is convenient for them. Your website will act as an invaluable and always-available resource for information which would otherwise only be accessible during your company's business hours.

3.      Sales- Your website can sell products at any time. Potential customers are not restricted to business hours. Instead, they can go online and purchase products whenever they want. A website with an online shop can provide a dramatic boost in sales.

 

 

1.4    SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Designing and implementing a website is a broad study, however, all the areas cannot be covered at once, and this work is therefore limited in the automation of the process of computer enthusiasts checking the services and availability of services about a computer school.

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
A website for any business is a significant tool, it will enable people from any point, to search and read about your computer school and get their data easily without any prior experience queuing at the counter.
Below is some of the significance of this research work:

1.      Customers can check availability of all the services offered by this company, call to make enquiries online.

2.      To ease off stress of queuing at the counter.

3.      Easily locate the business with the aid of Google map integrated on the website.

1.6    LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Many factors have limited this study, some of these factors are:
TIME – The time allocated to research work for this study was greatly constrained due to intense academic activities involving the researcher.
FINANCE – The major constraints for this study occurred in the form of inadequate funds.  The present high cost of material, access to a personal computer unit for running and debugging of the website, transportation expenses to and fro the site of a computer school etc. militated against the smooth and easy advancement of the work.

1.7   DEFINITION OF TERMS

During the course of writing this research work, some words that need explanation are as follows:

• Computer School - refers to resources, companies and services dedicated to helping educate users on computer-related topics.
• Websites - A website is a collection of related web pages, including multimedia content, typically identified with a common domain name, and published on at least one web server.
• HTML - Hypertext Markup Language is the standard markup language for creating web pages and web applications. 
• CSS- Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language.
• CUSTOMER - a person who buys goods or services from a shop or business.
• ONLINE - controlled by or connected to a computer. (Of an activity or service) available on or performed using the Internet or other computer network.

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE:     Design And Implementation Of A Website For A Small Scale Computer School