146
QUESTIONNAIRE TO PARTICIPANTS
1. General InformationPlease tick your answers in the appropriate box provided.
1.1 Please state the name of your organisation ………
1.2 Please state your organisation’s registration sector with the National Construction Industry Council of Malawi (NCIC).
Building Civil Electrical Miscellaneous Consultant Supplier
1.3 Please state your organisation’s registration category with the National Construction Industry Council of Malawi (NCIC).
50 million 100 million 200 million 500 million Unlimited other
1.4 Please state the length of your organisation’s experience in the construction Industry.
1-5 years 5-10 years 10-15 years 15-20 years > 20 years
1.5 Please state your average annual turnover of construction work (in millions of Malawi kwacha) in the last 5 years?
50-100m 100-200m 200-300m 300-500m > 500m
1.6 Please state your gender?
Male Female
1.7 Please indicate at which level of your organisation management structure you are
Board of
Directors Management Executive Management Senior top Management Middle Management Junior
1.8 Please state your job title………..
147
1-5 years 5-10 years 10-15 years 15-20 years > 20 years
1.10 Please state your highest academic qualification.
MSCE Tradesman Cert or Dip Degree Post Grad
MSCE= Malawi School Certificate of Education or equivalent high school qualification Tradesman= Trade test certificate from Technical college
Cert or Dip= City and Guilds Certificate or University Diploma
Please insert your details below to aid in contacting you in the event that a clarification and / or further communication are required. All information supplied in this questionnaire and
interview will be used strictly for academic purposes
Name: Phone:
Job Title: Fax:
Company: Mobile:
148
149
THE INTERVIEW PROTOCOL CONTRACTORS
A. Construction markets and procurement methods
1. Please describe the services you offer? 2. Who are your primary clients?
3. What volume of business have you done in the past year in terms of projects?
4. Please describe the relationship you have with each client, who determines what to construct, and how much would be spent. Are you able to make inputs during the procurement process?
5. What are the construction procurement methods that you have worked with in Malawi? 6. In your experience, what is the most dominant construction procurement method in use in
Malawi?
7. Why do you think the construction procurement method is widely used?
8. How would you describe the performance of the various construction procurement methods in use in Malawi?
9. What steps do you take to meet your client requirements?
10. How strong is the construction business market right now? What trends do you see in the immediate future?
11. Do you sometimes collaborate with other firms to deliver project requirements?
12. What has been dominating about small and medium scale construction firms in Malawi, based on your experience?
13. Do you have means of communicating information about your firm to others? 14. What form of assistance do you receive from your clients?
15. Is there anything else about selling your business that I should know?
B. Construction standards, specifications and certifications
1. What standards and specifications are required in your projects? Who sets these standards and requirements?
2. Do you have environmental and quality management systems in your firm? 3. Who is responsible for ensuring compliance with these systems?
4. Are systems for permits and certifications transparent and easy to follow?
5. What kind of health and safety (H&S) standards does your firm follow in protecting your employees and the public?
150
6. Have you ever encountered disputes with government officials? What was the nature of the dispute?
7. In general is your firm treated fairly by the government?
C. Management of firms and human resource capacity
1. In the area of organisation and management, what are your major weaknesses and strengths?
2. Who is responsible for general management in the form of purchasing, production, human resources, marketing, finance, legal, administration, and public relations?
3. What functions do you subcontract or outsource to other firms?
4. Do you use any IT applications to manage your business? What sort of software programmes do you use to manage your business?
5. Do you prepare annual financial statements?
6. What part of your business in terms of plant and equipment, and management systems would you want to change in the next two years?
7. Do the skills of the labour pool in Malawi match your firm‟s needs? In which ways? What complaints do you have about finding competent employees in Malawi?
8. What management skills would you like to strengthen in order to grow your business? How do you plan to obtain those skills?
9. How would you describe the level of human resource capacity in the Malawian construction industry in order to achieve expected project delivery?
D. Value creation in the construction industry
1. In what ways does your firm add value to your customers?
2. In which areas can you add value to a construction supply chain? How will you achieve that?
3. There are various non-value adding activities such as rework, repairs, defects, material waste, delays, waiting, and poor material handling in the construction industry. Based on your experience, to what extent do these non-value adding activities impact the Malawian construction industry? Please mention the frequency of your encounter with each non- value adding activities in Malawi.
4. Please mention the reasons why such non-value adding activities are so dominant in the Malawian construction industry.
5. What would you propose to be done in order to improve value creation in the construction industry?
151
6. Which member of the supply chain has the greatest capacity to create value in Malawian construction?
7. Which member or category of members of the supply chain has the capacity to engender non-value adding activities in Malawian construction?
8. Based on your experience, are supply chain members concerned about „value creation‟ when delivering projects in Malawi?
9. What are the most important infrastructure constraints affecting growth and profitability of your business (road / transport conditions, telephone services, electricity supply) 10. From where do you get your plant and equipment for project delivery? Is your current
plant and equipment an impediment to business growth? If so, please explain?
11. How would you describe the quality and performance of Architects and Engineers during project implementation in Malawi?
12. How would you describe the quality and competence of Project Managers in the Malawian construction industry?
13. Do the projects you work on allow you to provide technical inputs at design and supervision stages? If not, why?
14. How would you describe the level of communication between the various parties during project implementation in the Malawian construction industry?
E. Procurement of project inputs and services
1. What are your major needs in the areas of input cost, environment, H&S, quality, and time?
2. Do you have problems in obtaining some important inputs? If yes, please explain. 3. Do you get a fair price for inputs?
4. What kind of help or services do you provide to your suppliers? ( i.e. input credit, advise on market demand)
5. How do you communicate your product requirements to your suppliers? ( product quality, size and appearance, delivery dates)
6. What difficulties do suppliers have in meeting these requirements?
7. How often do you experience scarcity of resources required for projects? Which resources are often scarce to obtain? What are the primary causes of scarcity?
8. What criteria do you use to select your suppliers / subcontractors during project implementation?
152
10. When you select your suppliers or subcontractors, do you engage them based on long term relationships, or they are project based relationships?
11. What is the impact of short term relationships on project delivery in Malawian construction?
12. Some quarters in the construction industry advocate partnering and integration in the construction industry, what would be your opinion about that?
13. What would you say are the challenges preventing collaborative working in the Malawian construction industry?
F. Business financing in the construction industry
1. Who provides you with money for your business?
2. Do you get credit facilities from suppliers? What are the terms?
3. Do you need additional financing at the moment? If so, what would you use it for?
4. What are the experiences you get when dealing with financial institutions? (Obtaining a loan, bonds and insurances)
5. Do you feel that you and / or your firm are treated fairly when trying to access finance?
G. Policies and regulations in the construction industry
1. What government policies / regulations have benefited your business?
2. What government policies / regulations are obstacles to growing your business?
3. Is the government planning reforms that could result major improvement in the business environment?
4. Is the Malawian economy highly vulnerable to global external shocks (economic)?
5. The Office of Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) regulates public procurement in Malawi; in your opinion do you think that procurement of public works is properly regulated in Malawi?
6. What critical areas would you want to be improved in terms of public procurement in Malawi?
7. As a stakeholder in the industry, what suggestions can you offer for an improved public sector procurement policy?
8. What do you think are the main challenges faced in terms of public procurement in Malawi?
H. Security and social factors in the construction industry
1. How would you rate the security situation in terms of theft, looting, and vandalism of assets while implementing projects?
153
2. How would you describe your relationship with host communities during project implementation?
3. Has your firm ever been in dispute with the host communities when executing projects in Malawi? If so, what were the circumstances?
4. What is the major challenge you face when dealing with a host community? 5. How would you rate the level of corruption in the Malawian construction industry?
6. Do procuring entities openly solicit bribes in order to award contracts Malawi? If yes, please explain based on your experience.
7. Do you experience political interference during project implementation? If yes, what kind of interference was it?
I. General Questions
1. In the past year, do you feel that running your firm has become easier or more difficult? Why?
2. What are the major incentives for investing in / promoting change in the construction value chain in Malawi?
3. What risks or constraints do you face in making investments?
4. What do you think are the strengths of the industry locally and internationally?
5. What do you think is the greatest challenge facing the Malawian construction industry today?
6. What do you think should be done with the Malawian construction industry to improve the situation?
7. What is your opinion on the role being played by the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) of Malawi?
8. What critical areas would you like to see NCIC improving in order to have an effective construction industry in Malawi?
154
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL Consultants (Architects& Engineers) A. Construction markets and procurement methods
1. Please describe the services you offer?
2. From who have you received contracts in the past five years? (Private firms, government or international organisations?
3. What is the main difference between these types of clients?
4. Which types of clients do you prefer to work with and why (repeat work, faster payment, fewer risks, more trust, more assistance)?
5. Describe the relationship you have with each client (who determines what to construct, design specifications, prices and what to purchase?) How much influence or input do you have?
6. What are the construction procurement methods that you have worked with in Malawi? 7. In your experience, what is the dominant construction procurement method in use in
Malawi?
8. Why do you think the construction procurement method is widely used?
9. How would you describe the performance of the various construction procurement methods in use in Malawi?
10. How do you promote and market your business?
11. How strong is the construction business market right now? What trends do you see in the immediate future?
12. How do you learn about new design techniques and / or quality requirements? 13. Do you collaborate with other firms in the industry?
14. What has been dominating about small and medium scale construction firms in Malawi, based on your experience?
15. Do you have means of communicating information about your firm to others? 16. What form of assistance do you receive from your clients?
17. Is there anything else about selling your business that I should know?
B. Construction standards, specifications and certifications
1. What standards services do you need to conform to? Who sets these standards and requirements?
2. Do you have quality management systems in your firm?
155
4. Are systems for permits and certifications transparent and easy to follow?
5. What kind of Health and Safety (H&S) standards does your firm follow in protecting your employees and the public?
6. Have you ever encountered disputes with government officials? What was the nature of the dispute?
7. In general is your firm treated fairly by the government? Why?
C. Management of firms and human resource capacity
1. In the area of organisation and management, what are your major weaknesses and strengths?
2. Who is responsible for general management in the form of purchasing, production, human resources, marketing, finance, legal, administration and public relations?
3. What functions do you outsource to other firms?
4. Do you sometimes collaborate with other firms to deliver clients‟ requirements?
5. Do you use IT applications to manage your business? What sorts of software programmes do you use to manage your business?
6. Do you prepare annual financial statements?
7. What management skills would you like to strengthen in order to grow your business? How do you plan to obtain these skills?
8. How would you describe the level of human resource capacity in the Malawian construction industry in order to achieve expected project delivery?
D. Value creation in the construction industry
1. In what ways do your firm add value to your employers?
2. In which areas can you add value to a construction supply chain? How will you achieve this?
3. There are various non-value adding activities such as reworks, repairs, defects, material waste, delays, waiting, poor material handling and material waste in the construction industry,. Based on your experience, to what extent do these non-value adding activities impact the Malawian construction industry? Please mention the frequency of your encounter with each non-value adding activities in Malawi.
4. Please mention the reasons why such non-value adding activities are so dominant in the Malawian construction industry.
5. What would you propose to be done in order to improve value creation in the construction industry?
156
6. Which member of the supply chain has the greatest capacity to create value in Malawian construction?
7. Which member or category of members of the supply chain has the capacity to engender non-value adding activities in Malawian construction?
8. Based on your experience, are supply chain members concerned about „value creation‟ when delivering projects in Malawi?
9. What are your major needs in the design and construction of infrastructure projects? 10. How would you describe the quality and competence of Project Managers in the
Malawian construction industry?
11. Do you get technical inputs from contractors and other suppliers during design and construction phases?
12. How would you describe the level of communication between various parties during project implementation in the Malawian construction industry?
13. How would you describe the role played by the client during design and supervision stages?
14. What areas would you like to see improvements in terms of the way contractors, suppliers and clients carry out their project related responsibilities?
E. Business financing
1. Who provides you with money for your business?
2. Do you get credit facilities from external sources? What are the terms?
3. Do you need additional financing at the moment? If so, what would you use it for?
4. What are the experiences you get when dealing with financial institutions? (Obtaining a loan, bonds and insurances)
5. Do you feel that you and / or your firm are treated fairly when trying to access finance?
F. Policy & Regulations in the construction industry
1. What government policies/regulations benefit your business (registrations, inspections, incentives, etc.?)
2. What government policies/ regulations are obstacles to growing your business?
3. Is the government planning major reforms that could result in shifts in your business (e.g. Decentralisation, anti-corruption, customs? Etc.)?
4. Is the economy highly vulnerable to global external shocks?
5. Do government institutions have a history of effectively responding to political and economic crises?
157
6. The Office of Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) regulates public procurement in Malawi; in your opinion do you think that procurement of public works is properly regulated in Malawi?
7. What critical areas would you wish to be improved in terms of public procurement in Malawi?
8. As a stakeholder in the industry, what suggestions can you offer for an improved public sector procurement policy?
9. What do you think are the main challenges faced in terms of public procurement in Malawi?
G. Security and social factors in the construction industry
1. How would you rate the security of your assets during project implementation in terms of theft, looting and vandalism?
2. How would you describe your relationship with host communities during project implementation?
3. Has your firm ever been in dispute with host communities due to project related issues? If so, what were the circumstances?
4. What is the major challenge you face when dealing with a host community?
5. In cases where you have witnessed local instability, describe the response of local government or other officials. Were you or your staff personally or professionally affected?
6. How would you rate the level of corruption in the Malawian construction industry? 7. Do procuring entities openly solicit bribes in order to award contracts in Malawi?
8. Have you ever experienced political interference during project implementation? If yes, what kind of interference was it?
H. General Questions
1. In the past year, do you feel that running your firm has gotten easier or more difficult? Why?
2. What are the major incentives for investing in / promoting change in the construction value chain in Malawi?
3. What risks or constraints do you face in making investments?
4. What do you think are the strengths of the industry locally and internationally?
5. What do you think is the greatest challenge facing the Malawian construction industry today?
158
6. What do you think should be done within the Malawian construction industry to improve the situation?
7. What is your opinion on the role being played by the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) of Malawi?
8. What critical areas would you like to see NCIC improving in order to have an effective construction industry in Malawi?
159
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL General Suppliers A. Construction markets
1. Please describe the services you offer? 2. Who are your primary clients?
3. What volume of business have you done in the past year?
4. How would you characterise your relationship with your principal clients? (Independent, close collaborative, difficult, lots of information passes between you, the client is in charge, they direct you).
5. What are the differences between your clients? To whom do you prefer to sell (frequency, price bargaining/ negotiating costs, volume, quality, consistency)?