A comprehensive approach for assessing the causes of low productivity in the construction sector: a systematic categorization and ranking using Pareto and Fuzzy analysis

Implementing a comprehensive and globally adaptable assessment approach for causes of low construction productivity has proven to be a contemporary challenge. This prevails since the factors influencing the construction industry vary significantly by geographic region and operational characteristics. Hence, substantial research on this topic has restricted its scope to a particular location without a comprehensive global categorization. Furthermore, much of this research has neglected the influence of subjectivity in the stakeholder response evaluations. To address these shortcomings, this study provides a unique assessment of the construction context initiated by a systematic review of 130 studies published worldwide over the previous 32 years. The 915 unique factors from this systematic review were then categorized into regional and productivity dimensions through Pareto and Frequency analysis techniques. The regional categorization encompassed nine distinct regions spanning the world, while the productivity component encompassed a set of 14 distinctive benchmarks that characterize productivity in the construction industry. These sorted factors were then adapted in the Sri Lankan context as a pilot study through a cross-sectional survey including 117 stakeholders. The following Fuzzy analysis allowed the mitigation of the ambiguity of these survey responses while ranking the factors based on a calculated importance index while also considering the interdependence of the introduced benchmarks. Ultimately, the employed assessment approach for identifying and ranking factors contributing to low construction productivity in this study is proposed as globally adaptable with its successful incorporation of subjective evaluation.

针对建筑生产率低下的成因构建一套兼具全面性与全球普适性的评估方法，已成为当前学界面临的一项前沿挑战。究其原因，建筑行业的影响因素会因地理区域与运营特征的差异而呈现显著分化。因此，现有相关大量研究均将研究范围局限于特定地域，尚未形成一套全面的全球统一分类体系。此外，多数此类研究均未考虑利益相关方反馈评价中的主观性影响。为弥补上述不足，本研究通过对过去32年间全球发表的130项相关研究开展系统综述，构建了一套针对建筑场景的创新性评估框架。本研究通过帕累托分析与频数分析技术，将该系统综述中提取的915个独特影响因子划分为区域维度与生产率维度两大类别。其中区域维度涵盖了全球9个不同地理分区，而生产率维度则包含了14个用于表征建筑行业生产率特征的差异化基准指标。随后，本研究以斯里兰卡为试点场景，针对上述分类后的影响因子开展适配性验证：通过面向117名利益相关方开展的横断面调查收集相关数据。后续采用模糊分析方法消解了调查反馈中的模糊性，基于计算得到的重要性指数对各影响因子进行排序，同时兼顾了前述基准指标间的相互依存关系。综上，本研究提出的用于识别并排序建筑生产率低下相关影响因子的评估方法，因成功纳入主观性评价环节，具备全球普适的应用潜力。