FRAMEWORK DEVELOPMENT FOR IMPROVING BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF TRADE CONTRACTORS IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Trade contractors are major players in the construction industry since they contributed well over 90% of the construction activities in the construction industry thereby reducing the risk borne by the main contractor. The study seeks to explore how to improve the business performance of trade contractors in order to bridge the gap between high business level performance and the current non-business performance of most trade contractors. Additionally, the study outlines the factors that led to business failure and how the factors can be managed and avoided, the key strategies to enable trade contractors improve performance as well as measures that can be used to track progress in essential areas of company’s performance. A theoretically formulated framework was developed to improve the performance of underperforming trade contractors in a competitive business environment. The framework built on the well-established principles of the input-process output and outcome model. A mixed qualitative and quantitative design method was adopted for this research. The mixed method design, surveys and semi-structured interview were utilized to collect the primary data using snowball sample technique. Twelve (12) trade contractors’ two (2) from each of the selected six (6) trades were interviewed to determine the measure for assessing business performance. The data collected from the interviewee was a reflective of 3 senatorial zone of Delta State. Also, questionnaire was administered on randomly selected sample of 30 professionals in the construction industry from the 3 senatorial zone of Delta State to examine the factors influencing business performance of trade contractors. Twelve (12) employers of trade contractors were interviewed to ascertain the strategies for improving the business performance of trade contractors. The data collected were analyzed using content analysis, percentile and means and standard deviation procedure. The study revealed that client satisfaction (100%), self-fulfillment (100%), financial capital (100%), reputational capital (100), deliverables (100%) and technological capital (100%) were the measures that could be used to improve trade contractor’s business performance. On the factors influencing the business performance of trade contractors: intellectual capital (skills and experiences) has the highest score mean of 4.90 and 0.31 standard deviation followed by technological factors with mean score of 4.80, SD 0.41, social relation factor 4.80 and SD of 0.48, project factor means 4.77, SD 0.43 marketing factors mean 4.70 SD 0.65, reputational factors mean 4.57, SD 0.57, organizational factor 4.57 SD 0.50, human relation factors mean 4.50 SD 0.68. Financial factors mean 4.20 SD 0.48, environmental factors 4.07 SD 0.58. As in table 4.8 the strategies deployed to improve the business performance of trade contractors as revealed are; trade contractors’ personalities (100%), getting a brand (100%); acquiring more skills (100%), acquiring education (100%), sourcing for finance (100%), attending training/seminars/workshops (100%), joining social/political groups (100%), building reputation (100%), training new workers (100%). The integration of the measures, the influencing factors and the deployed strategies we will yield needed framework for improving the business performance of trade contractor. It is recommended that measures useful for assessing trade contractor’s business performance should be critically studied before any business performance evaluation operations. More also, the influencing factors of trade contractor’s business performance should be carefully understood and the identified strategies deploy to litigate possibilities of poor business performance. Finally, the framework developed should be adopted by trade contracting firms in Delta State. For an enhanced business performance.