TITLE:
Strategies towards Business Continuity for Construction Industry in Kenya during and after COVID-19 Pandemic
AUTHORS:
David Kipchirchir Lagat, Mugwima Njuguna, Maureen Mutanu, Angeline Mwende, Allan Magak, Stephen Nyakondo
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Survival, Recovery, Resilience, Construction Industry, Contractors
JOURNAL NAME:
Current Urban Studies,
Vol.11 No.3,
August
10,
2023
ABSTRACT: The onset of the novel COVID-19 pandemic declared by the World Health
Organization (WHO) in 2019 has brought wide-ranging detrimental impacts on the
construction industry. The industry has experienced delays in the delivery of
materials, high cost of materials, suspension of activities, termination of
contracts, and workforce implications among others. This array of impacts
cannot be ignored by the construction industry stakeholders as they require
prompt countermeasures. These repercussions necessitated the aim of this study
which is to assess strategies for business continuity for the construction
industry during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was guided by three
research questions: 1) What is the level of resilience of contractors’ businesses during the
pandemic? 2) What survival measures did contractors in Kenya consider to avert the
impacts of the pandemic? 3) What recovery strategies can be adopted to enhance contractors’
business in post COVID-19 environment and similar occurrences? A mixed-method
cross-sectional research design was employed to collect both quantitative and
qualitative information. An interview schedule that contained both open-ended
and close-ended questions was used to collect data from 245 contractors in
Kenya sampled using simple random sampling. Simple random sampling was used
because the contractors were considered knowledgeable about the topic under
study and therefore had an equal chance of selection to participate in the
study. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and frequencies
were used to interpret the findings from quantitative analysis, while
qualitative data analysis was conducted using word frequency query and text
search query. Further, the output was displayed using tables and charts. From
the findings, it was ascertained that the level of resilience of contractors’
businesses was very low during the pandemic. The highly rated survival measures
were: redistribution of workloads, cross-training of employees, working in
shifts, multiple sources of revenue, and automation of tasks. The study also established
that post-COVID-19 recovery measures should include: risk assessment,
preparation of action plans, accessibility to health insurance, and securing of
inventory of materials. In addition, the study asserted that interest should
also be directed towards innovation and creativity, resilience in
decision-making, networking, flexibility and diversification, management, and
improved access to resources and productivity. The paper’s findings form an
important background by uncovering vital evidence on COVID-19 survival and
recovery measures.