Strategic realignment of the post-contract cost control process in the Nigerian construction industry using kaizen

Small and medium scale construction companies in Nigeria have many challenges such as management of construction works, employee management, competition in the construction industry and financial management of construction projects. New techniques emanating from lean thinking have helped to reduce cost during manufacturing. Continuous cost reduction or kaizen costing during the construction phase stems from kaizen, which is a sub-set of lean production. Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement, which has the proven benefits to reduce construction cost, provide quality products, increase profitability, enhance employee-employer relationship and competitiveness. The research methodology for this study involved literature review and surveys (quantitative and qualitative). The surveys involved questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data was obtained from one hundred and thirty-five (135) respondents in Small and medium scale construction companies in Nigeria. Eleven (11) executives of small and medium scale construction firms were interviewed. The qualitative data were be analysed using NVIVO 10, while descriptive statistics, pie charts, graphs, Kendall’s W test, Spearman rho’s correlation, and factor analysis were used to analyse the quantitative data. The critical success factors for kaizen costing implementation identified management function; operational efficiency; construction business and ethics; and construction cost management as the major implementation factors. The critical success factors, effective post-contract cost controlling techniques and crucial activities for cost reduction during construction were used to produce the kaizen framework. The kaizen framework focused on activities before the construction phase required for effective post-contract control. The kaizen framework was developed using IDEF0, business process model and notation and capability maturity model. Overall, the validated strategic realignment of the post-contract cost control process in the Nigerian construction industry can be attained within five (5) to (6) years of implementing the framework.