EFFECT OF MULTICULTURAL PROJECT TEAM ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DELIVERY IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This research sets out to assess the effect of multicultural project team on construction projects delivered in universities in Ondo State which have been in existence for 10 years and below. These Universities are Federal University of Technology Akure and Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko. It assessed the characteristics of multicultural project teams, evaluated the challenges faced by the multicultural team members and determined the effects of multicultural teams on project delivery. The sampling procedure for this research was thirty (30) building projects executed in Federal University of Technology Akure and Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko out of which fourteen (14) were executed with multicultural team members while the remaining sixteen (16) were non multicultural team members. Census technique was employed in reaching the 152 questionnaires to whom the questionnaires were distributed, and 96 questionnaires were returned and appropriate for analysis. The analysis of the collected data was carried out with the aid of statistical packages for social science (SPSS 17.0). Chi-square was used to test the hypothesis and chronbach’s reliability test was used to test the reliability of the questionnaires. Mean item score was employed in assessing all the objectives in the study. From the summary of the responses to the characteristics of multicultural project team, trust was ranked as the most important characteristics of multicultural project as team with mean score of 4.33 and this is closely followed by team spirit with mean score of 4.25. From the summary of the responses to the challenges faced by multicultural project team, work stress was ranked first as the major challenges faced by multicultural projects team with a mean score of 3.69, this was closely followed by miscommunication (3.63) and mistrust (3.54). From the summary of the responses to the effects of multicultural team on project delivery, the highest ranked effect is delivery on budget with a mean score of 4.07, this was closely follow by project delivery to time with a mean score of 4.06 while adaptability to change was ranked least with a mean score of 3.53. Multicultural projects at Federal University of Technology Akure do not experience cost overrun due to a fixed fee contract in the institution except in specific situations which is uncommon but they experience time overrun. Also, Multicultural Projects at Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba has low time overrun but experience negative cost overrun and is as a result of re-measurement of sub-structural work, provisional and prime cost sum on the projects. The study therefore showed that multicultural teams had significant effect on project delivery in terms of cost and time.