Literature on theory and practice on unethical practices in the construction of projects: A case of an emerging economy

Maseko, Chipo Mellania

doi:10.22495/rgc7i4c2art4

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…It is worth noting that in a typical construction contract, clients, contractors and consultants can be guilty of unethical practices (Ogbu and Asuquo, 2018). As a result of this, a company’s success and sustainability may be negatively affected when unethical strategies and policies put in place fail to curb unethical practices (Maseko, 2017). Though unethical practices are present in both developing and developed economies (Le et al , 2014), construction-related research findings from developing countries are seen to differ from those from the developed world, which may be connected with the poor institutional frameworks, lack of innovation and administrative lapses in such countries (Ofori, 2007).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical misconducts within the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts in Ghana

Agyekum

Adinyira

Amudjie

2021

JEDT

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the views of construction practitioners on the prevalence of ethical misconduct within the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Following a critical comparative review of literature resulting in the identification of 18 potential misconducts within the invitation to tender and 11 potential misconducts within the tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 65 construction professionals. Data obtained from the survey were analysed using both descriptive (i.e. frequencies, mean scores and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (paired t-test), followed by gap analysis. Findings The findings revealed that corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices, client divulging more information to the preferred bidder and inflating tender prices by tenderers in return for kickbacks are key unethical practices prevalent at the invitation to tender stage. Following these key unethical practices, the findings further suggested through gap analysis that submission of bids on non-working days and inadequate time for preparation and submission of tenders were the top two unethical practices that needed serious interventions at this stage. At the tender evaluation and award stage, the findings revealed that interference by influential people in political positions, fake tendering and bid shopping are prevalent. Again, from the gap analysis, interference by influential people in political positions and poor definition of selection criteria were identified to be the two key unethical practices that need urgent intervention at this stage of construction contracts. Practical implications This study holds a significant practical implication in the sense that key unethical practices at the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts have been identified, and this provides a suitable basis for stakeholders that spearhead such activities to offer suitable interventions to control such practices. Originality/value This study contributes to the body of knowledge as it uncovers ethical misconducts within two important phases of construction contracts in a developing country setting. As there is a continuous effort by the international community towards finding lasting solutions to such misconducts, the findings from this study can be used as a starting point for appropriate policies to be put in place in Ghana to control such misconducts.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical misconducts within the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts in Ghana

Agyekum

Adinyira

Amudjie

2021

JEDT

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“…However, in order to curb unethical practices, the root causes need to be ascertained first. According to Maseko (2017),…”

Section: Causes Of Unethical Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

An ethics crisis and corporate failure in food and beverage companies. evidence from Zimbabwe

Nhete

2022

Ind. Jour. Manag. & Prod.

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Lack of adherence to ethics and principles appears to have been one of the main causes of corporate financial distress around the world. A lot of unethical practices have contributed to revenue leakages and reluctance by investors to buy a stake in the industry. The prevalence of unethical practices, illegal behavior, illicit and deceptive practices in food and beverage companies is an unsolved issue. The aim of the research was to find out the effect of ethical problems on company’s financial performance in food and beverage industry. The high failure rate of brands in the food and beverage companies has given the researcher interest to investigate the impact of ethics on financial performance of a company. Due to the diverse nature of food and beverage industry, an action research inquiry of 20 interviews and 100 questionnaires was conducted. A mixed method convergent approach was used to analyse collected data using questionnaires and interviews. Findings from the study that there is strong positive relationship between ethical conduct of employees, managers, business conduct and the financial performance of food manufacturing company. The study results show that ethical branding significantly enhances the firm's reputation; and good reputation reinforces the brand in turn. Ethical branding can provide the company with a differential advantage as a growing number of consumers become more ethically conscious. It is therefore recommended that, ethical issues should be considered in all company departments and embedded into total quality management processes of an organization as it affect potential investors and customers.

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“…Despite the pivotal role it plays, Ho (2011) uncovered the sector's susceptibility to a myriad of unethical behaviours (UBs) such as bid shopping, unreliable contractors, lying, claim games, conflicts of interest, threats, fraud, collusion and professional negligence. Furthermore, the literature has established that the construction industry has one of the highest levels of unethical practices (UPs) due to corruption (International, 2015;Brown and Loosemore, 2015;Maseko, 2017;Chan and Owusu, 2017), among all industries. Adnan et al (2012) argued that an increase in UBs engenders a corresponding decline in the quality of project performance hence, projects are reliant on professionals upholding codes of conduct throughout the project life cycle (Hassim et al, 2010;Al-sweity, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical and unethical behaviour of built environment professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry

Kuoribo

Owusu‐Manu

Yomoah

et al. 2021

JEDT

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Purpose The construction industry is an enabler of economic growth in developing countries, but its performance is governed by the professional behaviour of construction professionals. Unethical behaviour (UB) breaches codes of practice and undermines economic performance hence, ubiquitous academic attention has been given to understanding this phenomenon. This paper aims to contribute to the ensuing discourse by reporting upon the most critical ethical behaviours (EBs and UBs) of professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI). Design/methodology/approach The study compounded identified factors into a closed-ended questionnaire in a quantitative research strategy. Data analysis was conducted using the relative importance index and one sample t-test. To measure the reliability of the scale, Cronbach’s alpha was used, which indicated that all measured items were reliable for further analysis. Findings The study confirmed that professionals within the GCI are aware of the existence of UBs and revealed that the most prevalent ethical conducts exhibited, namely, level of accuracy, accountability, honesty, reliability, fairness and respect for colleagues. Common unethical conducts exhibited included: favouritism, bribery and corruption, professional negligence, falsification, fraud and overbilling. Research limitations/implications The study reported on the dominant ethical conduct among built environment professionals. The claims put forward in the analysis are, thus, affected by Ghana’s social, economic and political environments, which could restrict the generalization of the findings. Practical implications Incipient findings presented from this research will guide stakeholders to develop and device strategies that will aid alleviate persistent ethical issues within the built environment. Social implications The study highlights individuals’ perspectives on ethical issues persistent in the built environment. The findings suggest individuals adhere to ethical practices in a project environment by the evidence presented. Originality/value This pioneering study is a novel assessment on EBs and UBs of built environment professionals in the GCI. The study supplementary adds value to the literature on ethical and unethical practices. By identifying these practices, construction firms have a competitive edge in combating UB and promoting EB among built environment professionals in the GCI.

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Literature on theory and practice on unethical practices in the construction of projects: A case of an emerging economy

Cited by 8 publications

References 31 publications

Ethical misconducts within the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts in Ghana

Ethical misconducts within the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts in Ghana

An ethics crisis and corporate failure in food and beverage companies. evidence from Zimbabwe

Ethical and unethical behaviour of built environment professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry

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