CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS’ SOFT SKILLS IN THE COMPETENCY DOMAIN

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Introduction

The construction industry is enormous, diverse and multifaceted; consequently, professional teams are selected to successfully wrestle a specific project from start to finish (Jackson, 2010; Riley, Horman and Messner, 2008; James, 2011; Love, Haynes, Sohal, Chan and Tam, 2002). Those days, in which one specialist had all the necessary skills to successfully complete a project, have become obsolete. Various specialists are needed; one such specialist being the construction manager (McKeon, 2011).

Knowledge areas for the construction manager

Bilbo, Fetters, Burt and Avant (2000) have stated that the construction industry has become more reliant on accredited tertiary programmes to supply individuals adequately equipped to enter into the increasingly complex and demanding work environment.

Self-managing

A savvy manager must be able to understand himself, before he can understand and manage his own subordinates. If a manager is self-aware it becomes entwined with the self-management abilities of the people that work with him in a team. Such a manager will be able to uplift team members’ abilities, enable them to solve basic issues at work, and in their personal lives (Flagello et al. 2009).

Reflecting

To take a few minutes every week and quietly embrace all the things that went wrong and the things that were a huge achievement. Things that do go wrong and the reasons why it derailed from the actual base plan will become clearer. The manager must be able to visualise these procedures, actions, emotions and thoughts on a profound level, in order to be able to comprehend the bigger picture (Flagello et al. 2009).

DECLARATION
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CHAPTER 1
1. RESEARCH PROPOSAL, SCOPE AND OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM
1.1. Title
1.2. Background
1.3. Problem statement
1.3.1. Main research question
1.4. Limitations, Delimitations and Assumptions
1.4.1. Limitations
1.4.2. Delimitations
1.4.3. Assumptions
1.5. Importance of the study
1.6. Methodology.
1.7. Literature overview
1.8. Data collection and empirical study
1.9. Framework and content of the chapters
1.9.1. Chapter 2: Background and Literature Study: Soft skills in the competency domain
1.9.2. Chapter 3: Background and Literature Study: Personality Profiles
1.9.3. Chapter 4: Research Design and Methodology
1.9.4. Chapter 5: Structured Interview: Data Collection, Analysis and Findings
1.9.5. Chapter 6: The Online South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) test Results: Industry construction managers and the third-year construction management studies
1.9.6. Chapter 7: Conclusion and Suggestions
CHAPTER 2 SOFT SKILLS IN THE COMPETENCY DOMAIN
2. THE LITERATURE STUDY
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Knowledge areas for the construction manager
2.3. The Effective Manager Leadership
2.3.1. Self-managing
2.3.2. Reflecting
2.3.3. Acting consciously
2.3.4. Collaborating
2.3.5. Evolving
3. CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS’ SOFT SKILLS IN THE COMPETENCY DOMAIN
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Leadership skills
3.3. Communication skills
3.4. Negotiating skills
3.5. Conflict resolution skills
3.6. Problem-solving/critical thinking skills
3.7. Decision-making skills
3.8. Motivation
3.9. Teamwork
3.10. Stress management
3.11. Work ethics/integrity
3.12. Flexibility and attitude
3.13. Conclusion
CHAPTER 3 PERSONALITY PROFILES
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Personality tests
3.3. Personality test overview
3.4. Conclusion
CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Research
4.3. Research strategy: Interacting soft skills in the competency domain model
4.4. Research strategy: Structured interview
4.5. Structured Interview – Defined
4.6. Structured Interview – Purpose
4.7. Structured Interview – Environment
4.8. Structured Interview – Size/Participants/Group Composition
4.9. Structured Interview – Facilitation
4.10. Structured Interview – Guide/Content
4.11. Structured Interview – Duration
4.12. Research Design: Structured Interview.
4.13. Structured Interview – Time (when)
4.14. Structured Interview – Environment (where)
4.15. Structured interview – Sampling (who)
4.16. Structured Interview – Data Collection (what)
4.17. Research Methodology: Structured Interview and South African Personality Inventory (SAPI)
4.18. Ethics Approval
4.18.1. Structured Interviews
4.18.2. South African Personality Inventory (SAPI)
4.19. Funding
4.20. Consent
4.20.1. Industry Construction managers
4.20.2. The 3rd Year Construction Management Students
4.21. Confidentiality of Information
4.22. Structured Interview
4.22.1. Recruiting the research participants
4.22.2. Obtaining a suitable venue
4.22.3. Facilitating structured interviews
4.23. Validity and reliability
4.23.1. Structured Interview
4.23.2. SAPI Inventory Test
4.24. Conclusion
CHAPTER 5 DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
5.1. Introduction
5.2. The Data Collection
5.3. The Data Analysis
5.4. Part A: General statistical questions
5.5. Part B: Specific Research Questions.
5.6. Part C: Interviewees personally directed questions
5.7. Conclusion
CHAPTER 6 THE SOUTH AFRICAN PERSONALITY INVENTORY (SAPI RESULTS)
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Online SAPI personality test results
6.3. Conclusion
6.3.1. Online SAPI personality test results compared between the industry construction managers and the 3rd year construction management students
6.3.2. Industry online SAPI personality test results compared with the manual assessment results
CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Study overview
7.3. The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI)
7.4. Contribution to knowledge
7.5. Recommendations
REFERENCES