ROLE OF TONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY SUPPORT INSTITUTIONS ^N iECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT OF SRI LANKAN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS : A STUDy By I MAHANAMA KUMARA BANDARA RALAPANAWA B.Sc (Eng.), C.Eng., M.I.E.(SL) U N I V E R S I T Y OF MORATUWA THESES & DISSERTATIONS L £ | W ( ^ ( / 1 1 3 ROLE OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY SUPPORT I N S T I T U T I O N S I N TECHNOLOGICAL C A P A B I L I T Y DEVELOPMENT OF S R I LANKAN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS : A STUDY By MAHANAMA KUMARA BANDARA RALAPANANA B . S c ( E n g . ) , C . E n g . , M . I . E . ( S L ) A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of M a s t e r o f E n g i n e e r i n g ( C o n s t r u c t i o n M a n a g e m e n t ) in THE FACULTY OF E N G I N E E R I N G DEPARTMENT OF C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard 624 ^ 2 6 24 '• G rj ^ Call, U N I V E R S I T Y OF MORATUHA December 1992 60023 " A B S T R A C T This research was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of the institutional infrastructure facilities in the technological capability development of the domestic construction contractors. The elements of technological capability are identified under four main categories, namely, project initiative, operative, technology acquisitive and innovative capabilities. The interventions required from the support service institutions to enhance technological capability are defined. A survey of the support service institutions were conducted to ascertain the interventions provided by them. A random sample of construction contractors were surveyed to verify these interventions. These two surveys were used to analyse the role of support service institutions in the technological capability development of the construction contractors in Sri Lanka. The main conclusions are that while the support institutions provide most of the interventions necessary to enhance the technological capabilities , they are not used by the contractors to the fullest extent, nor are they well presented or adequately coordinated for the constructors to obtain their maximum benefit. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S page ABSTRACT i TABLE OF CONTENTS ii LIST OF TABLES v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Objectives of the Study 2 1.2 Scope of the Study 2 1.3 Methodology 3 1 .4 Hypothesis 5 1.5 Limitations of the Study 6 1.6 Usefulness of the Study 7 1.7 Chapter Outline 8 ILL 2 . LITERATURE REVIEW 11 5.1 General 70 2.1 Background 11 2.2 Technology 13 2.3 Technological Capability 18 3 . CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND SUPPORT INSTITUTIONS 30 3.1 Importance of the Construction Industry 30 3.1 Need of Construction Industry Support Service Institutions 33 3.2 Existing Industry Support Service Institutions 38 4 . FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS OF INTERVENTIONS 53 4.1 General 53 4.2 Structure of Analytical Framework 53 4.3 Elements of Technological Capability 55 4 . 4 Interventions Required for Technological Capability Development 63 4.5 Questionnaire and Sample 68 5. ANALYSIS: THE INTERVENTION OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY SUPPORT SERVICE INSTITUTIONS 70 5.2 Project Initiative Capability 74 5.3 Operative Capability 81 5.4 Technology Acquisitive Capability 87 5.5 Innovative Capability 91 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 95 6.1 Conclusions 95 6.2 Recommendations 97 REFERANCES 99 APPENDIX A : QUESTIONNAIRE A 1 LIST OF TABLES T a b l e Page 2.1 Representative technologies in a firm's value chain 14 5.1 Construction industry support service institutions interviewed and their abbreviations 71 5.2 Gradings of the sample contractors 73 5.3 Interventions provided for enhancement of project initiative capability 75 5.4 Interventions obtained to enhance project initiative capability 77 5.5 Interventions provided for enhancement of operative capability 82 5.6 Interventions obtained to enhance operative capability 84 5.7 Interventions provided for enhancement of acquisitive capability 88 5.8 Interventions obtained to enhance acquisitive capability 89 5.9 Interventions provided for enhancement of innovative capability 92 5.10 Interventions obtained to enhance innovative capability 93 A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Malik Ranasinghe, my supervisor, for the support and the guidance extended to me. I am grateful to the undernoted persons who offered me their fullest cooperation and assistance throughout this study. Commodore L.P.R. Mendis Lt. Cdr. W.S. Jayasinghe Lt. D.B.C.V. Paulis Lt. S.M. Amirudeen Lt. D.A. Wanigasekera Piyal Hennayake Miss Deepika Amarasekera Miss Shiromani Hemapala Miss D.W. Pradeepa Malani and Miss Rekha Hewaliyanage.