Measuring Labor Productivity of Small and Micro Enterprise Contarctors in Building Construction in Sidama Zone

Measuring Labor Productivity of Small and Micro Enterprise Contractors on Building
Construction in Sidama Zone: A case study
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Most of all I would like to thank the almighty God for everything He has done for me. Then,
the generous cooperation of many people have contributed for the success and completion of
this thesis. My special gratitude goes to my advisor Abebe Dinku (Prof. Dr. -Ing), for
structuring the research, for providing different research papers for reference, for his
encouragement, excellent guidance creative suggestions, critical comments and ideas as well
as his precious time in reviewing this work.
Moreover, I am grateful to the Sidama zone Micro and Small Enterprises Development
bureau coordinator Mr. Birhanu for availing the necessary information which were
indispensable for the study. I would like to acknowledge the support given by all enterprise
that made this research possible to record site activity. Last but not least, I would like to
thank my family and friends especially my husband Mr. Dejene Haile, for his continued
support.
Mrs. Betelehem Belete.
HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page III

DECLARATION
I declare that this thesis entitled” MEASURING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY OF SMALL

AND MICRO ENTERPRISE CONTRACTORS ON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION IN
SIDAMA ZONE: A CASE STUDY” is my original work. This thesis has not presented for
any other university and is not concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree and
that all sources of material used for the thesis have been duly acknowledge.
Candidate:
Name: Mrs. Betelehem Belete
Signature: .
This MSc thesis has been submitted for examination with my approval as thesis advisor.
Name: Prof.( Dr. -Ing), Abebe Dinku
Signature: __________________________________
Place and Date of Submission: _____________________________
HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page IV

Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .........................................................................................................III
DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................... IV
LIST OF CHART.................................................................................................................... VIII
LIST OF TABLE ...................................................................................................................... IX
GLOSSARY................................................................................................................................ X
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. XI
CHAPTER ONE ..........................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................1
1.1. Background of the study................................................................................................ 1
1.2. Statement of the problem .............................................................................................. 2
1.3. Objective of the research ............................................................................................... 2
1.3.1. General objective ...................................................................................................2
1.3.2. Specific objectives .................................................................................................2
1.4. Research question of the study ......................................................................................3
1.5. Significance of the study ............................................................................................... 3
1.6. Scope of the study .........................................................................................................4
1.7. Outline of thesis.............................................................................................................4
CHAPTER TWO .........................................................................................................................6
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................6
2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................6
2.2. Overview of construction sector in Ethiopia and other countries context ....................6
2.2.1. General ...................................................................................................................6
2.2.2. The role of the construction industry in economy .................................................8
2.2.3. Efficiency of construction sector in Ethiopia .........................................................9
2.3. Overview of building construction contractors in Ethiopia context............................ 10
2.4. Small and Micro Enterprises in different countries.....................................................11
2.4.1. Definition of Small and Micro Enterprise in different countries .........................11
2.4.3. Importance of SMEs on economic growth of Ethiopia/Developing countries ....15
2.4.4. Challenges faced by SMEs in developing countries ............................................16
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2.5. Productivity in construction industry ..........................................................................18

2.5.1. Definition .............................................................................................................18
2.5.2. Productivity and other related terms ....................................................................19
2.6. Key productivity indicators and benchmarking in construction industry ...................20
2.7. Use of productivity measurement with respect to employee (labor)........................... 23
2.8. Labor productivity in the construction industry ..........................................................24
2.8.1. Significance of labor productivity in construction industry.................................24
2.8.2. Factor affecting labor productivity in construction industry ............................... 25
2.8.3. Measurement of labor productivity in construction industry ............................... 26
2.9. Summary and gap analysis ..........................................................................................34
CHAPTER THREE....................................................................................................................36
DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..........................36
3.1. Description of study area ............................................................................................. 36
3.1.1. Location and geography .......................................................................................37
3.2. Research Methods and Procedures ..............................................................................37
3.2.1. Data Type and Source ..........................................................................................37
3.2.2. The research characteristics and type...................................................................38
3.2.3. Study Design ........................................................................................................38
3.2.4. Data collecting and analysis .................................................................................39
CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................41
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION..................................................................................41
4.1. Profiles of the case studies area ...................................................................................41
4.2. Description of case studies with respect to works .......................................................41
4.3. Case study No.1 ...........................................................................................................44
4.3.1. HCB work ............................................................................................................45
4.3.2. Mixing of cement mortar .....................................................................................49
4.4. Case study No.2 ...........................................................................................................51
4.4.1. Masonry work ......................................................................................................51
4.4.2. Mixing of cement mortar .....................................................................................54
4.5. Case study No.3 ...........................................................................................................56
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4.5.1. Masonry work ......................................................................................................56

4.5.2. Mixing cement mortar ..........................................................................................58
4.6. Case study No.4 ...........................................................................................................59
4.6.1. HCB work ............................................................................................................60
4.6.2. Concrete mixer crew ............................................................................................ 62
4.7. Case study No.5 ...........................................................................................................62
4.7.1. HCB work ............................................................................................................63
4.7.2. Concrete mixing ...................................................................................................65
4.8. Comparison of the case studies productivity rate ........................................................66
4.8.1. HCB work crew ...................................................................................................67
4.8.2. Masonry work crew ............................................................................................. 68
4.8.3. Cement mortar mixer crew ..................................................................................69
4.8.4. Concrete mixer crew ............................................................................................ 69
4.9. Improving methods of labor productivity ...................................................................70
CHAPTER FIVE........................................................................................................................72
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................72
3.1. Conclusions .................................................................................................................72
3.2. Recommendations .......................................................................................................73
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 75
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................... 78
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LIST OF CHART
Chart 4- 1 Percentage of daily Active and inactive time spent in construction site ....................46
Chart 4- 2 Productivity per employee for HCB work .................................................................47
Chart 4- 3 Productivity rate of HCB placing and positioning .....................................................48
Chart 4- 4 Effect of time on labor productivity of HCB work ....................................................48
Chart 4- 5 Increasing percentage of productivity of HCB work .................................................49
Chart 4- 6 Percentage of daily active and inactive time spent in construction site .....................49
Chart 4- 7 Productivity rate of cement mortar mixer crew ........................................................50
Chart 4- 8 Percent of active and inactive time spent in construction site ...................................52
Chart 4- 9 Productivity per employee for Masonry work ..........................................................53
Chart 4- 10 Productivity rate of placing of Stone Masonry with Cement Mortar ........................53
Chart 4- 11 Effect of time on labor productivity of masonry work ..............................................54
Chart 4- 13 Productivity rate for mortar mixer crew ....................................................................55
Chart 4- 15 Productivity per employee for Masonry work ...........................................................57
Chart 4- 16 Productivity rate of masonry work crew ....................................................................58
Chart 4- 17 Productivity rate of cement mortar mixer crew .........................................................59
Chart 4- 19 Productivity per employee of HCB work ..................................................................61
Chart 4- 20 Productivity rate for HCB work crew ........................................................................61
Chart 4- 21 Productivity rate of concrete mixer crew ...................................................................62
Chart 4- 23 Productivity of employee for HCB work ...................................................................64
Chart 4- 24 Productivity rate of HCB work crew .........................................................................65
Chart 4- 25 Productivity rate of concrete mixing crew .................................................................66
Chart 4- 26 Average working time per day ...................................................................................67
Chart 4- 27 Average labor productivity rate ..................................................................................70
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LIST OF TABLE
Table 2.1 Classification of Small and Micro Enterprises in Ethiopia ......................................13

Table 2.2 Common type of benchmarking used by organization ............................................21
Table 2.3 Key performance indicator for construction in particular contract [19] ..................22
Table 2.4 Top five factors affecting labor productivity in different countries.........................25
Table 2-5 Form and use of labor productivity standard ...........................................................30
Table 3.1 Sample manpower record sheet for proposed work .................................................40
Table 4.1 Classification of activity with task ...........................................................................43
Table 4.2 Standard labor productivity from former BaTCoDA ...............................................44
Table 4.3 Description of HCB crew working hour in a day ....................................................47
Table 4.4 Description of cement mortar crew working hour in a day .....................................50
Table 4.5 Description of masonry work crew working hour in a day......................................52
Table 4.6 Description of mortar mixer crew working hour in a day........................................55
Table 4.7 Description of masonry work crew working hour in a day......................................57
Table 4.8 Description of mixing cement mortar working hour in a day ..................................58
Table 4.9 Description of HCB work crew working hour in a day ...........................................61
Table 4.10 Description of concrete mixer crew working hour in a day .....................................62
Table 4.11 Description of HCB work crew working hour in a day ...........................................64
Table 4.12 Description of concrete mixer crew in a day ...........................................................65
Table 4.13 Result of work sampling in percentage of active and inactive time ........................66
Table 4.14 Result of active time productivity spent in construction site ...................................70
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 1-1 Organizational structure of research ............................................................................5
Figure 2-1 The triple „P‟ model ...................................................................................................20
Figure 3-1 Topographical map of Sidama zone and Ethiopia ....................................................36
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GLOSSARY
SMEs Small and Micro Enterprises

GDP Growth Domestic Product
UNIDO/IPU United Nations Industrial Development Organization Investment
Promotion Unit
MIT Ministry of Industry and Trade
PASDEP Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
GTP Growth Transformation Plan
HCB Hollow Concrete Block
VA Value Adding
NVA Non-Value Adding
NVAR Non-Value Adding but Required
SPR Standard Productivity Rate
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ABSTRACT
Small and Micro Enterprises contribute prominently to the economy through creating
more employment opportunities, generating higher production volume and introducing
innovation and entrepreneurship skill. In construction industry labor productivity is
critical to the success of the industry and important for the construction planning,
scheduling and unit rate estimation of construction project. Therefore, this research
presents the measurement of labor productivity of small and micro enterprises on building
contractors in Sidama zone. The main objective of this thesis is therefore to provide
essential information about Small-Micro Enterprises performance in construction sector
and evaluating their productivity rate in relation to labor to accomplish the project success
without any obstruction. The study was developed through literature survey, on site
activity measurement to estimate and quantify time of labor to execute a work in a working
day. Field measurements were conducted on five enterprises registered as growth stage
under Sidama zone selected out of 17 active enterprises. Interviews were also conducted
with the enterprises owners to identify whether they have an experience on productivity
measurement. The site measurement used recording video camera and data collection
sheet. The measurement were mainly focus on masonry, HCB, cement mortar and concrete
mixing work. It was understood after the study that small and micro enterprises do not
have experience to measure labor productivity mainly due to negligence, short timing of
project and lack of awareness. It is found that small and micro enterprises are high
productive on hour production rate with respect to current standard values. Man
production rate is low due to improper crew arrangement and ineffective use of working
time by in advanced site layout of construction. So, the enterprises are recommended that
to participate in training and workshop to upgrade their knowledge and level of awareness
to measure labor productivity.
Key words: Small and Micro enterprise, Construction industry, Labor productivity,
measurement techniques
HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page XI

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) are play significant roles in the creations of
employment opportunities and generations of income for quite a large proportion of the
population. Many developing economies are characterized by labor and land abundance
that creates favorable conditions to engage in labor intensive industrial activities. At the
same time Small and Micro Enterprise sector has not expanded more by absorbing the
cheaply available labor force and by adopting production organizations that are suitable for
low-wage economies [1].
According to Ethiopian economic association between 2010/11-2014/15, major

infrastructure constructions are expected to generate employment for as much as 1,264,598
persons of different skills and qualifications [2]. The construction industry employs about
161,854 for housing and 69,496 people for city infrastructure who are required to deliver
the constructed facilities to the clients‟ on time, within budget and meeting the specified
standards of quality [2]. In 2016/17 there was a housing development program to construct
450,000 housing units in 5years in the capital and creating employment opportunity for
Small and Medium scale enterprises [3]. In order to facilitate this construction Small and
Micro Enterprise had great role on job opportunities of economic growth.
Not only in SMEs but also in many work fields the role and performance rate is measured.
The measure of the rate at which work is performed is called “Productivity”. It is a ratio of
production output to what is required to produce it. The measure of productivity is defined
as a total output per one unit of a total input. In construction, the output is usually
expressed in weight, length, or volume, and the input resource is usually in cost of labor or
man-hours. The American Association of Cost Engineers defines productivity as a
“relative measure of labor efficiency, either good or bad, when compared to an established
base or norm” [4].
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Generally, the building sector of the construction industry is mainly concerned with the
assembly of building materials and components which are supplied by the manufacturing
sector and delivered to the site by the transportation sectors. To a large extent in Ethiopia,
many of the buildings construction works still relies heavily on manual labor in their
assembly. Labor productivity in the construction industry is the units of work
accomplished by the unit of labor [5]. An improvement in labor productivity will lead to
enhancing project productivity and making it attractive to project sponsors.
1.2. Statement of the problem
Studies show that Ethiopian construction industry has poor productivity and performance
which is a cause for cost overrun and delay in construction. Small-Micro enterprises are
one of construction sector which employ large number of labor and have a significant role
on economic growth of country. Beside to this, Small-Micro enterprises are labor intensive
than other contractors and have less productivity which have impact on project
performance management system. Labor productivity is one of the performance indicators
in construction industry and estimation of labor productivity is used as a basis for product
design, work sequencing and work place design otherwise the efficiency of work and
resource scheduling would be at risk. Therefore, this study tries to measure and evaluate
labor productivity on construction sites of Small-Micro enterprises and suggest the result
with respect to standard productivity rate of Ethiopia.
1.3. Objective of the research
1.3.1. General objective
The main objective of the study is to provide essential information about Small-Micro
Enterprises performance in construction sector and evaluating their productivity rate in
relation to labor to accomplish the project success without any obstruction. By exploring
the real situation of Sidama zone construction industry the following are the specific
objective of the study.
1.3.2. Specific objectives:

a. To assess productivity and performance of small-micro enterprises building contractors

in relation to labor work
b. To evaluate manpower data and material quantities for structural works of various
building project for the purpose of establishing a system of measuring the productivity
of HCB work, masonry work, mortar mix and concrete mix.
c. To compare the productivity result in small-micro enterprises contractors to that of
standard labor productivity rate and prove whether there is low labor productivity or
not.
1.4. Research question of the study
The following questions raised and responded through a detailed analysis that was
conducted in research process.
1. What are labor productivity management systems in practices of construction industry

of Ethiopia?
2. Is there low labor productivity in Small-Micro Enterprises?
3. If there is low labor productivity what is the reason?
4. What are the method of labor productivity measurement on construction site
5. What are the key strategies to setting standard labor productivity rate in the case of
Small- Micro Enterprises?
1.5. Significance of the study
The findings from the study it may help the people engaged in Small-Micro Enterprises
how they can improve productivity of labor in order to be profitable and creating
competitive sense with in labor on construction site. On the other hand, enterprises will be
introduced to productivity measurement practices associated with effective labor
productivity on construction site. Furthermore, this research intends to provide some
framework for academic institution and development polices in the measuring of
productivity of labor and would form a useful archival material for reference to other

researchers and institutional libraries which will be vital to the present and future scholars
with regard to labor productivity.
1.6. Scope of the study
There are different types of construction contractors in the construction business that are
classified based on their size and specialization. The scope of the study will focuses on
Small- Micro Enterprise contractors in categories of building contractor (BC). These
Small-Micro Enterprises employing manual labor extensively in the execution of
construction works as they have minimal equipment and capacity to get credit for heavy
machines. But, also they are the main role players of economic growth of the country
which was considered by the government as a significant source of direct employment than
value creation like larger contractors. They are many in number in all regions and works at
different remote geographical locations that might be unattractive to big firms or too costly
for the big firms. This category of contractors referred as desire way of delivery
infrastructure to communities than any other form in Ethiopia.
The study used to be relevant for evolving strategies for measuring and analyzing of labor
productivity in building projects within Sidama zone. Further, the study on labor
productivity outputs for construction workers will be limited to the work of HCB, wall
masonry construction, mixing concrete and cement mortar by manual methods are which
mainly found in labor intensive construction.
1.7. Outline of thesis
Chapter One of this thesis serves as an introduction to the research. This chapter discusses
the issues of raising construction productivity, the significance and the objectives of the
research,
Chapter Two reviews the micro small enterprise strategies and concepts in Ethiopia
context, the productivity concept and the factors that affect productivity and also
summarizes various labor productivity measurement techniques adopted by many
researchers worldwide followed by productivity issues encountered by the industry.

Chapter Three review onsite field measurement and case study which are conducted in
order to evaluate the labor productivity in small micro enterprise construction sectors. It
also discusses the data collection procedure.
Chapter Four present the detail studies of input data and the result analysis of data of
productivity with chart and empirical approach will be reviewed in chapter five. The
conclusions of this research and recommendations for further research on construction
productivity measurements are presented in Chapter six and seven respectively.
Introduction
Setting research
question and
objective
Literature review
Methodology used Material and Material used

Methodology of
Research
Quantitative and  Onsite activity
Qualitative research measurement
(case study)  Interview
Data analysis and
discussion
Conclusion and
Recommendation
Reference and
Appendices
Figure 1-1 Organizational structure of research

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
Small and micro enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of economy. Nowadays when
governments or international institutions put forward a plan or policy, they show great
concern about the role of SMEs in the economy as they knew that these businesses are
crucial to economic growth and development [6]. The value of the small business sector is
high due to the contribution towards economic growth, job creation and social progress as
essential element
SMEs represent over 90% of private businesses and contribute to more than 50% of
employment of GDP in most African countries [7]. 99.3% of South African businesses
were SMEs and these SMEs accounted for 53.9% of the employment and contributed
34.8% to GDP [8]. Over the years, some of the SMEs have grown extremely large and
profitable and on the other hand, many others have failed or have not been as successful as
they might have been. It is natural to say that every small business owner starts with high
hopes of success, but it is a usual phenomenon that each year firms go out of businesses.
Although failure is not the only reason for enterprises to leave the business, many
enterprises do fail each year [7]. There are identified determinants of firm growth, mainly
in order to isolate those factors which would allow us to distinguish the successful
businesses of tomorrow from those which will fail to grow.
2.2. Overview of construction sector in Ethiopia and other countries context
2.2.1. General
Nowadays, Ethiopian construction industry become intensive and more complex than
before though the government and the people are deeply involved and have started to
modernize the country.

It is argued that to achieve a successful outcome of the project good project management is
needed, if not properly practiced it may convey a different result [3]. Project Management
is described as the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project
activities in order to meet project requirements. Also Project Management is a specialized
management technique necessary for the planning, organizing and control of projects under
one strong point of responsibility [12]. On the other hand, construction projects are
somewhat difficult to manage and meet these requirements due to the nature of the
industry; such as complex and unique nature, mobile workforce, ingrained culture,
working conditions, and project-based setup, diverse sub-contractors and suppliers. The
function of construction project management is therefore to predict as many of the risk and
problems as possible and to plan, organize and control activities so that the project is
completed successfully [12].
The performance of any projects against what was planned can be measured and evaluated
using a large number of performance indicators that could be related to various dimensions
such as time, cost, quality, client satisfaction, business performance, health and safety [3].
Beside to these number of empirical studies agreed that time, cost and quality are the three
basic and most important performance indicators in construction projects. It is quite
difficult to meet the success of most construction projects by predetermined criteria of cost,
time, safety, resource allocation and quality.
Time is often the most important objective of all. Time is an irreplaceable resource [6]. A
job that has missed its target date is late and incurs additional cost through time. Costs tend
to follow time and grow with time. A project that is finished late usually also overruns its
budgets. So, controlling progress against the plan goes a long way towards controlling the
costs of a project”. All work should be carried out against budgets. For a small builder,
work will be executed with their estimated labor and material costs. For larger projects
built by some of the bigger contracting companies, budgets will exist not only for jobs, but
also for each of the head office departments involved and for other elements of the project
and its organization [9]. Whether, the project is big or small, every project must be fit for
its intended purpose by satisfying all specifications in respect of performance, appearance,

safety and reliability. The performance of the industry is assessed in terms of its gross
value of production, gross capital formation and value addition, employment generation
among other parameters [2].
Value added in the construction sectors were another performance indicator of the
construction industry in relative contribution to the overall national income economy. The
construction sector contribution in the advanced countries is relatively significant in the
national income while in the least developed countries the contribution is lower. Despite its
prominent role, the construction industry in Ethiopia, like in other developing countries,
faces many challenges in its practice. Some of these challenges are project cost overruns,
poor quality, inappropriate procurement systems, and a failure to cope with project
requirements and the inability to adopt best practices [3].
2.2.2. The role of the construction industry in economy
Ethiopian construction industry has shown a remarkable growth and given high
prominence. Over the past ten years average annual GDP growth has seen 10.9%.
Recently, the contribution of the industry sector (which is 21.2%) and particularly that of
the construction sector to the national economy is given high prominence [10]. Ethiopian
economics association concluded that the construction industry is making significant
contribution to the socioeconomic development process of a country [2]. Its importance
emanates largely from the direct and indirect impact it has on all economic activities.
It is noted that about one tenth of the global economy is dedicated to constructing and
operating homes and offices [2]. The main contribution of the construction industry is
revenue generation to government it can be defined as:-
a) Contribution to national income: - the construction industry has important contribution

to the Ethiopian economy as demonstrated by its share in the GDP. There has been
increased investment on the development and expansion of various infrastructure projects
like roads, air ports and residential and non-residential housing units.

b) Contribution to employment: - the role of the construction industry in terms of creating

employment opportunities especially in urban areas is becoming visible. Women are also
found to be beneficiaries.
c) Contribution to government revenue: - the construction industry also contributes to the
generation of revenue for the government. The rental income tax is one of the major
revenue sources within the construction industry to the government.
d) Multiplier effect: - empirical researches support the strong linkage between the
construction industry and other economic sector.
2.2.3. Efficiency of construction sector in Ethiopia
The current Ethiopian construction industry is well explained by its wastage of resources
like manpower, material and time. These have an implication directly on project cost. The
main cause for this was efficiency control in terms of manpower, machinery and material
usage not established at project sites, thus resulting wide amount of wastage [11].
Similarly, Effective management control of projects is an outcome of technological
capacity and research development. A research concludes that out of the 45 respondents
77.8% and 48% showed their agreement on the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of
Ethiopian construction industry respectively toward expected delivery [12].
It is important to use known and accepted industry sources whenever possible to establish
and build inefficiency tables. Reliable industry standards, practices, surveys, historical
data, and case studies can all prove to be excellent sources for developing a table of factors
for labor inefficiency for use in construction planning. Another consideration in
developing a table of factors with reliable and known sources is the established credibility
in helping to support or defend a construction claim and change orders as a result of
impacts caused from inefficiencies.
Studies have been published about the factors that affect construction productivity.
Although a comprehensive treatment is beyond the scope of this study, several key factors
are usually cited in the literature. These factors are skilled labor availability, technology
utilization, offsite fabrication and modularization; and use of industry best practices.

2.3. Overview of building construction contractors in Ethiopia context
There are two major categories of construction industry. These are general building
construction and engineered construction [12]. Engineering construction is characterized
by designs prepared by engineers, the provision of facilities usually related to the public
infrastructure and thus owned by public-sector entities and funded through bonds, rates or
taxes and a high degree of mechanization and the use of much heavy equipment and plant
in the construction process. A general building construction is usually engaged to install
the work, with subcontractors as needed to contribute specialty services. The exact
quantities of some materials can seldom be ascertained in advance; thus these construction
contracts are often arranged such that the contractor is paid a pre-agreed-upon unit price
for each unit of material actually required [12].
Ministry of Works and Urban Development define General Contractor as a contractor that
is allowed to engage in any types of construction contract works, but Building and road
Contractor is engage only in building and road construction respectively. A Specialized
Contractor is engage in special construction works like electro mechanical installation,
sanitary installation wok, airport field construction, wood and metal works. All types of
contractors are categorized into ten grade levels. The grade level in which contractors are
registered determines the type and the size of works they are allowed to engage and could
be taken as a proxy indicator of the size and capacity of the contractors [10].
The Ministry of Works and Urban Development has developed an integrated housing
development program. The plan envisaged the construction of 396,000 housings in 203
towns located in seven regional states by the year 2010 E.c [2]. The construction industry
consists of different types and size of firms. These operate in the different sub-markets
characterizing the construction industry. Construction firms must be registered and
licensed in order to undertake any construction work in Ethiopia.

2.4. Small and Micro Enterprises in different countries
2.4.1. Definition of Small and Micro Enterprise in different countries
There is no universally accepted definition of Small and Micro Enterprise due to economic
level of each development place [6]. Different countries have their own definition of
Small-Micro enterprise depending on a condition of the number of paid employees by
sector, the amount paid up capital, total assets and values added or net worth. The Small-
Micro Enterprises are categorized into different scales of operation based on the size and
nature of employment that was in use classifies enterprises into different size categories
based on the number of worker as a criteria. But worldwide SMEs definitions can be
broadly categorized into two, “economic” and “statistical” definitions [7].
Under the Economic definition [7], a firm is regarded as small if it meets the following
three criteria: first it has a relatively small share of their market place; second it is managed
by owners, or part owners, in a personalized way and not through the medium of a
formalized management structure; and third it is independent in that it is not part of a larger
enterprise. Also under the Statistical definition [7], the three main areas should meet: first
one in quantifying the size of the small firm sector and its contribution to GDP,
employment and exports; second in comparing the extent to which the small firm sector‟s
economic contribution has changed over time; and third is in a cross country comparison
of the small firms‟ economic contribution.
National credit regulator of South Africa studies literature on SMEs Access credit and
defines the concept of SMEs in Developing Countries, Developed Countries, and United
Nations Industrial Development Organization.
In developing countries, “most SMEs are one-person businesses; the largest employment
category is working proprietors. This group makes up more than half the SMEs workforce
in most developing countries. The working proprietors‟ families, who tend to be unpaid but
active in the enterprise, make up roughly another quarter. The remaining portion of the
workforce is split between hired workers and trainees or apprentices. SMEs in developing

countries are more labor intensive than larger firms and therefore have lower capital costs
associated with job creation” [7].
In developed countries, “the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

propound the characteristic of SMEs not only reflects the economic patterns of a country
but also the social and cultural dimensions. These unique patterns are noticeably reflected
within various definitions and criteria of SMEs adopted by different countries: whereas
some refer to the number of employees as their distinctive criteria for SMEs, others use
invested capital, and some use a combination of the number of employees, invested capital,
sales and industry type” [7].
United Nations Industrial Development Organization Investment Promotion Unit

(UNIDO/IPU) offices definition that has been set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade
(MIT), which defines SMEs as follows [7];
 Micro-sized enterprises are those employing between 1 and 9 employees and/or have a
registered capital of less than $42,300
 Small enterprises employ 10 up to 49 employees and have a registered capital of more
than $42,300.
 Medium enterprises employ 50 up to 249 employees and have a registered capital of
more than $42,300.
 Large enterprises, on the other hand, are those employing more than 250 employees
and have a registered capital of more than $42,300
According to Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia the legal definition of SMEs

interpreted as “Manufacturing establishments are divided into three major groups. These
are [13]:
a. Large and Medium Scale Manufacturing Establishments, engaging 10 or more persons
and using power -driven machinery.
b. Small Scale Manufacturing Establishments engaging less than 10 persons and use
power driven machinery.

c. Cottage/Handcraft Manufacturing Establishments performing their activities by hand

(i.e. non - power driven machinery).”
According to this, Federal Small-Micro Enterprises Development Agency Establishment

Council of Minsters Regulation No.201/2011, the definition of Micro, Small Enterprise
broadly classified as industrial sectors and service sector. The industrial sector include
manufacturing, construction and mining sector and the other service sector include retailer,
transport, hotel and tourism, ICT and maintenance service shown in Table 2.2 below [14].
Table 2.1 Classification of Small and Micro Enterprises in Ethiopia
Level of the Human Total

Sector
Enterprise power Assets(br)
Industry <5 < 100,000
Micro Enterprise
Service <5 < 50,000
Industry 6-30 < 1.5million
Small Enterprise
Service 6-30 < 500,000
For the purpose of directing its policy and program the Ministry of Trade and Industry
SMEs interpreted as:-
“Micro Enterprises are those small business enterprises with a paid-up capital of not
exceeding birr 20,000, and excluding high tech. consultancy firms and other high tech.
establishments.”
“Small Enterprises are those business enterprises with a paid-up capital of above 20,000
and not exceeding birr 500,000, and excluding high tech consultancy firms and other high
tech. establishments.”
2.4.2. Recent background of Small and Micro Enterprises
The Ethiopian government recognizes the significance of this sector and shows its
dedication to promote the SMEs development by the issuance of national SMEs strategy in
1997 and the establishment of the federal small-micro enterprises development agency
[15]. Ethiopia‟s industrial development strategy issued in 2003 also signed out the
promotion of SMEs development as one of the important instruments to create productive

and dynamic private sector [15]. GTP (Growth and Transformation Plan), which is the
successor of Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP)
and the current development strategy of Ethiopia (2010-2015), has also given a priority to
SMEs development. The GTP has put the SMEs development as one of the seven
identified growth pillars of the country. The SMEs to be a development pillar, they have to
be formal to get the necessary support. Some studies in these areas rightly point out that
SMEs have been on the forefront in employment creations, poverty reductions,
proliferations of entrepreneurships and thus economic development concurrently [16].
From this point of view, two SMEs strategy documents could come into attention attempts
the current government has been making. These are:
 SMEs Development Strategy of 1997 and

 SMEs Development Strategy of 2011
As indicated in the preceding parts, the SMEs Development Strategy formulated in 1997
clearly enlightens a systematic approach to alleviate the problems and promote growth of
enterprises. The primary objective of this national SMEs development strategy has been to
create enabling environment for SMEs to operate. Thus, it is expected that hundreds and
thousands of SMEs will be responsible for the operation, growth and progress of their
enterprises given such an enabling environment. The specific objectives of the 1997
strategy framework were to: Facilitate economic growth and bring equitable development,
create long term jobs; Strengthen cooperation between SMEs; Provide the basis for
medium and large scale enterprises; Promote export and Balance preferential between
SMEs and bigger enterprises.
The new SMEs Strategy (2011) included fresh band of target groups, the graduates, (in
addition to its classical emphasis on the poor and less skilled people) to form cooperatives
and create their own jobs. The main focus of the government is to create job opportunities
through SMEs development, in order to reduce unemployment and alleviate poverty and
promote industrial development by considering the SMEs as a base. In this strategy also
new set of areas are identified as requiring attention and priority from the government.
These are the manufacturing sector that encompasses the majority of the previously
identified areas, the service sector which is a relatively new one, though not completely
new, construction sector (partly exists in the previous one), the urban agriculture sector
(partly exists in the previous one), and the retail sector.
The other new and important concept raised in the new SMEs strategy is about the stage of
growth of the SMEs. According to this strategy the supports these enterprises receive is
dependent up on their level of growth and is relatively a tailored one. The growth stages of
the SMEs are three in number and they are: the start-up stage, the growth stage and the
maturity stage. The strategy further outlined the criteria which qualifies SMEs into any of
these classifications. Following this, trials will be made to analyze the kinds of problems
SMEs face in these three different growth stages and solutions will, independently, be
recommended. This appears a very innovative way of dealing with the problems of SMEs
unlike some of the policy instruments of the previous strategies [13].
2.4.3. Importance of SMEs on economic growth of Ethiopia/Developing countries
Small and Micro enterprise sector is highly diversified sector and plays a predominant role
in the economy of developing countries. They employ large proportion of the labor force
and in many developing countries they are the source of income for various peoples. SMEs
have also been influential in bringing about economic transition by providing goods and
service to a large number of people without requiring high level of training, large sums of
capital or sophisticated technology. Again these enterprises utilize local resources, use
skills harnessed to produce a variety of products for the market. Small and Micro
enterprises sector is described as the natural home of entrepreneurship [15].
It is observed that SMEs enhance competition and entrepreneurship therefore they suggest
direct government support can increase economic growth and development. SMEs Growth
increase employment more than larger firm because they are labor intensive and make
better use of scarce resource with very small amount of capital. In developing countries if
success is to be broad based and employment opportunities are to grow, greater support
should be given to those sections of the economy that are able to absorb much of the labor

force. Considering the degrees of unemployment as well as realizing the role of SMEs
toward sustainable employment generation, the government has to give due attention in
terms of promoting favorable SMEs environment [13, 17].
2.4.4. Challenges faced by SMEs in developing countries
SMEs Sector development in developing countries held back by numerous challenges

related to the regulatory environment, financial infrastructure and financial institution
lending capacity, enterprise management skills and creditworthiness, liquidity of the
financial intermediaries and the availability of risk sharing instrument [6].
In order to improve their performance SMEs generally face these most significant growth
constraints. This struggle and suffering is with unreliable infrastructure, lack of access to
adequate finance, lack of access to markets, to find trained and skilled workers and also the
enterprise owners tend to suffer from educational and management deficit. SMEs face
more challenges in doing business than large enterprises because of the difficulties in
financing start-up and expansion. Small firms tend to experience more difficulties than
medium-sized firms, which also experience more difficulties than large firms [16].
In developing nations, lending to small businesses and entrepreneurs remain limited

because financial intermediaries are apprehensive about supplying credit to businesses due
to their high risk, small selections, and high transaction cost [7]. The easy access to
suitable and sufficient means of finance has always been considered a major obstacle
facing many SMEs. After the revolution it has become even more difficult for any such
enterprise to obtain commercial lending as banks have been financing the growing
demands of the government debt [6].
According to case study of Ethiopia, the studies found out there is strong competition in
the markets, high level of interest rates on loans, poor infrastructure, speed of debt
payment by customers, unavailability of an appropriate property, state of the country‟s
economy, low market demand for firms‟ products/service, pricing of competitor products,
in availability of raw materials, attitude of banks and low availability of finance from

lenders were rated as high barriers for small and medium business growth. While, specially
strong competition in the markets, high level of interest rates on loans, and poor
infrastructure were as the highest barriers for small and medium business growth in
developing country [7].
It has been resulted that the sub-sector of cobble stone paving, four of the stated problems
were found to be serious. These problems are ranked in terms of their seriousness in
descending order as: problem of absence of private customers, problem of absence of
advertisement, difficulty in payment system and supplying products, and problem of lower
status of recognition. For the sub-sector of construction, eight of the stated problems were
found to be serious. The problems are ranked in terms of their extent of serious in
descending order as: problem of absence of advertisement, problem of absence of private
customers, problem of farness from a well-known market, absence of linkage with other
producers, problem of lower status of recognition, non-attractiveness of selling price,
problem of lack of attractiveness of the market, and problem of lack of market place [18].
Small firm expansion increases employment more than large firm growth, because small
firms are labor intensive, coinciding with the factor market structure of most developing
countries. Many analysts argue that within industries, for a given scale of production, small
firms are more labor intensive than large firms. However there are some evidences
suggests that enterprise scale is an unreliable guide to labor intensity because many small
firms are more capital intensive than large firms in the same industry. Labor intensity
exhibits more variation across industries than among firm size groups within industries.
Measures of enterprise efficiency vary greatly both within and across industries. Those that
varies are labor productivities or total factor productivities. Among the total factor
productivities; financial market, imperfections such as information asymmetries,
transaction costs and contract enforcement costs are particularly affecting the poor who
lack collateral and credit histories not to work efficiently [16].
On average, jobs in small enterprises are less productive, less remunerated, less secure and
less unionized than jobs in larger enterprises, even after controlling for observable workers
characteristics, such as education, sex and age. Moreover, as mentioned above, some
people find work in small enterprises simply because they have no alternative. For these
persons, it is a kind of survival strategy that is adopted despite low and possibly declining
returns until something better comes along. As such, it is a reflection of economic failure
rather than success. These enterprises can be very important in helping a large number of
very poor people become a little less poor but they can generally not provide employment
of high quality [16].
2.5. Productivity in construction industry
2.5.1. Definition
Construction industry has different domain in order to be effective and efficient with
quality and quantity. One of the sub domains is labor resource; labors (any worker who
have practical impact on the construction) are the main actors to have good performance.
So for any construction project to be effective in his work and this effectiveness can be
measured by a term called productivity. Productivity replies the measurement of how well
an individual entity uses its resource to produce output from inputs or productivity is the
measurement of the output of construction good and service per unit of labor [7]. Rather
than this productivity has many definition in different context some of them can be defined
as, “Productivity is the relationship between the quantity of output and the quantity of
input used to generate that output” [7] .It is basically a measure of the effectiveness and
efficiency of your organization in generating output with the resources available.
In construction, productivity is usually taken to mean labor productivity, that is, unit of
work placed or produced per man hour. “Productivity is the ratio of output to all or some
of the resources used to produce that output” [19]. Resource comprise: labor, capital,
energy, raw material etc. Increasing productivity in the construction industry can be
observed from the consumer and the contractor perspectives. From the contractor
perspective, it leads to more satisfaction of client and user, while also providing a
competitive advantage, and in return leading to faster turnover and increased profits. From
the consumer perspective, it leads to lower costs, shorten construction schedule and
achieves better return to investments.

2.5.2. Productivity and other related terms
The word productivity has a related term like performance and profitability that can be
used in particular construction project, but they are differentiated by their relationship and
application. Productivity can be conceptualized as a system, which transforms inputs into
outputs. In short, productivity is generally defined as a ratio between output factors and
input factors of a system. Productivity can be express as how efficiently and effectively
products and services are being produced. Efficiency in this context means “doing things
right” while effectiveness is often described simply as “doing the right things” [20].
There are related terms which has mixed concept with productivity. One of them is
profitability which is a crucial indicator for a company because it tells if the company is
making money with its business or not. The difference between these concepts is that
profitability has focus on money process, while productivity relates to physical phenomena
in a real process. Still, productivity is often expressed and measured in monetary units per
inputs as in many cases it seems to be only practical way [20].
Productivity is considered as more suitable measure to monitor manufacturing excellence

in the long run rather than profitability, since profits are influenced by many factors over
the short term. Profit changes can be split into effects caused by changes in productivity, in
sales activity and in price. Profitability does not have a direct impact when it comes to
improvement purposes, since it is a result of, rather than a contributor to, the actions and
processes in operations. A company can increase its profits and at the same time decrease
profitability because of monetary effects. Profitability is a useful addition to performance
and productivity since it helps to identify the effects of monetary effects and distinguish
them from “true” performance and productivity changes [9, 20].
Performance is the other concept that productivity is often confused with. Even though
productivity is a multidimensional term, it is still a fairly specific concept related to
physical phenomena in production. Performance, on the other hand is broader concept
covering overall economic and operational aspects. It includes almost any objective of
competition and manufacturing excellence whether it is related to cost, flexibility, speed,

dependability or quality. “The triple P model” in the Figure explains how the concepts of
productivity, profitability and performance are related to each other [9].
Figure 2-1 “The triple P model”[9] [20]

Regarding to this terms productivity relates to the real process that takes place among
purely physical phenomena. Productivity is measured as activity output in either physical
or value terms, depending on the nature of the activity. In-fact activity based measures of
productivity are significantly higher than economic estimates.
Often, the term productivity is confused with efficiency. Efficiency is generally seen as the
ratio of the time needed to perform a task to some predetermined standard time. However,
doing unnecessary work efficiently is not exactly being productive. It would be more
correct to interpret productivity as a measure of effectiveness (doing the right thing
efficiently), which is outcome-oriented rather than output-oriented [21].
2.6. Key productivity indicators and benchmarking in construction industry
Performance measurement is used as a working tool evaluating management performance,

including human resources, and formulating corporative strategy. The contemporary
business environment highlights the importance of performance measurement in the
expression: "If you can‟t measure it, you can‟t control it” [21]. Contractors should monitor
and analyze their productivity performance in terms of the productivity level measured by
the various productivity indicators. Productivity levels reflect how efficiently and
effectively construction resources are used. Comparisons of productivity levels must be
made between similar grade level, such as two contractors or enterprises within specific
works. Benchmarking is a systematic process of comparing processes and performance
against others, to improve business practices. Benchmarking may be performed internally
by comparing similar works or functions within site construction, or externally against
other construction. Table2.3 shows the common types of benchmarking used by
organizations [11].
Table 2.2 Common type of benchmarking used by organization
Type of Definition
benchmarking
Internal Compare similar activities within organization
Competitive Compare against direct competitors with in the same industry
Functional /process Compare against other organization identified to be leaders of
that particular function or process. such organizations need
not be form the same industry
Generic Compare against organizations recognized as having world
class products service or processes
“Without a standard there is no logical basis for making a decision or taking action” [22].
The aim of benchmarking is to encourage and facilitate organizational change and
performance improvement through learning from others [21]. Benchmarking can help
increasing the sector's performance because it allows the continued improvement of the
organizations and their processes, by comparing and evaluating their performance relative
to best practices in the sector.
It is also concluded that the performance measurement and benchmarking should be used
as a way to generate value for contractor and stakeholders through the optimization of their
construction processes and products, i.e. increasing the levels of effectiveness and
efficiency.

It is clear that international benchmarking visions, based on key performance indicators,

have gotten pretty good results and a growing acceptance and use in their countries. They
have achieved substantial gains in productivity and performance in companies, with
respect to its products and construction processes. These initiatives function based on
benchmarking portals that facilitate the process of comparing and evaluating performance
relative to industry best practices. Thus, information and communication technologies have
contributed significantly to the modernization and innovation of the international
construction industry [21].
The contractor need to look at benchmarking and performance (productivity)

measurement as a mean of making them viable and profitable, something that in the future
will bring, first, a sustainable competitive advantage compared with other contractors in its
market and, on the other hand, the possibility of attracting new client and create more
value for themselves and for their stakeholder. In particular project the contract agreement
includes showing the productivity performance indicator at the end of the execution of
work.
Table 2.3 Key performance indicator for construction in particular contract

[19]
Construction process Key performance indicators

phase
Inputs  Cycle time-material and equipment
 Employee satisfaction
 Amendments to draft index
 Supplier evaluation- services, material,
subcontractor and project
Constructive  Percentage of completed tasks
procedures/techniques  Direct labor efficiency
 Service productivity
 Growth of project current phase-
duration and cost
 Safety
Outputs  predictability – cost and time
 productivity
 profitability
 rework index

Best value for the  customer defects

customer  impact on the environment
 impact on bio diversity
The basic construction key indicators are time, cost, quality, client satisfaction, client
changes, safety &health and business performance depends on accuracy, workmanship,
productivity, schedule, manpower, material, tool and equipment [22].
Finally productivity indicators measure effectiveness and efficiency of a given input in the
generation of output. These are labor productivity and capital productivity. Labor
productivity defines as value added per worker is the most common measure of
productivity. It reflects the effectiveness and efficiency of labor in the production and sale
of the output. Capital productivity measures the effectiveness and efficiency of capital in
the generation of output. It is defined as value added per dollar of capital. Capital
productivity results from improvements in the machinery and equipment used, as well as
the skills of the labour using the capital, processes, etc. [19].
2.7. Use of productivity measurement with respect to employee (labor)
a. Productivity Measures as a Communication Tool
Productivity measures may be used by management as a communication tool to direct

employees‟ efforts towards the communication goal of improving productivity. The
measures provide information on current performance, goals, and what it takes for the
employees to reach them [22].
b. Productivity Measures to Motivate and Strengthen Performance
Productivity measures quantify and facilitate assessment of employees‟ performance. They

provide information on performance gaps and help to identify the training needs of
employees. Productivity measures may be used to recognize and reward performance. This
can be done by giving out awards to individuals or teams based on their contributions to
productivity efforts then it will strengthen their performance [22].

2.8. Labor productivity in the construction industry
2.8.1. Significance of labor productivity in construction industry
Construction industry is depending on manpower, machine and material also called 3-M
activity. Manpower is main and precious resource of construction industry. If we consider
as an input in productivity, then productivity will be called construction labor productivity.
Labor is refers to all categories of employee in project [11].
Measuring labor productivity is used to measure efficiency with which inputs are used in
an economy to produce goods and services, it can be measured in various ways in terms of
number of hours worked, number of workers engaged and cost of labor [19].Labor
productivity is equal to the ratio between a volume measure of output and a measure of
input use (the total number of hours worked or total employment) [23].
Information on labor productivity is indispensable in the determination of cost and

duration of man controlled activities, thus it is important for subjects such as estimating,
cost monitoring, scheduling and resource management. But the most important
contribution of productivity data of labor is for continuous performance management.
Performance management system is the establishment of labor productivity measurement
system and benchmarking to guide and improve daily crew performance. By regularly
using this information, management will become more competitive [11]. The important of
knowing the value of labor productivity is for the site manager for managerial decisions in
his environment, front line supervisor to improve the productivity of its crew; and the
administrator manager in controlling costs and schedules. In addition to this labor
productivity is also very important for the head company for many decision involving
alternatives between labor and machine and to estimate competitive bid.

2.8.2. Factor affecting labor productivity in construction industry
Performance of a project may increase or decrease because of different factors like weather
condition, motivation of work, holidays, shortage of materials, time delay of material
delivery and so on. When we compare the factors according to project place and countries
the most frequent factors affecting labor productivity are listed under Table 2.4 below.
Table 2.4 Top five factors affecting labor productivity in different countries [9]
Rank Indonesia New zerland Kuwait India Egypt Ethiopia

(Soekiman et (Tran and (Jarkas and (Mistry (El-Gohary (Mekdes
al. 2011) Tookey Bitar 2012) and Bhatt and Aziz amanuel
2011) 2011) 2014) (2016)
1 Lack of Reworks Clarity of Payment Labor Shortage of
Materials technical delay experience material
specifications and skill
2 Labors Level of change orders Skill of Incentive Delays in
strikes skill and during labor programs decisions
experience execution making of
of the the
workforce. Consultant
3 Delay in Adequacy Coordination Clarity of Availability of Incomplete
arrival of of method level among technical the materials and
materials of various design specificati and their ease Inaccurate
construction disciplines on of handling drawings
4 Financial Build- Lack of labor Material Leadership Lack of
difficulty of ability supervision shortage and follow up the
owner issues competency work
of progress
construction
management
5 Unclear Inadequate Proportion of Motivatio Competency Financial
instruction to supervision work n of labor difficulties of
laborer and subcontracted supervision the
coordination owner/Paym
ent delay
The table lists the top five critical factors affecting labor productivity in construction
projects of different countries studied in the past eight years (Indonesia, New Zealand,
Kuwait, India , Egypt and (Ethiopia) [9].

According to the studies in North America factors that affect construction and labor
productivity include resources (materials, tools, equipment, workforce skills, and support
services), the quality of on-site supervision, project management, work flow sequencing,
weather, and safety [24]. A study made in South Africa deals that the main problems of the
construction industry are: declining rate of productivity and lack of productivity standards
and the factors could be classified as: Industry related factors, Management related factors
and Labor related factors [23].
Industry related factors are such as design factor (repetition and complexity), building
codes, construction technology, laws and regulations, job factors (job duration, size of the
job and type of job), adverse, uncertain weather and seasonality and site location.
Management related factors are such as planning and scheduling, leadership, motivations
and communication. Labor related factors are such as labor skill, motives and labor
availability[23].
2.8.3. Measurement of labor productivity in construction industry
Number of researches exists concerning about construction productivity; but there is no

agreement on a standard productivity measurement system. Researchers have concluded
that it is difficult to obtain a standard method to measure labor productivity because of
project complexity and the unique characteristics of construction projects [24]. So different
measures of productivity serve for different purposes, it is important to choose a measure
that is appropriate to the purpose.
Labor can be measured in three ways [22]:
a. Number of hours worked: - This measure reflects the actual amount of input used. It
excludes hours paid but not worked (e.g. holidays, paid leave).
b. Number of workers engaged: - This measure is more commonly used, as data on hours
worked may not be readily available. Part-timers are converted into their full-time
equivalent. An average figure for a period is used, as the number of workers may
fluctuate over time.

c. Cost of labor:- Labor costs include salaries, bonuses, allowances and benefits paid to
employ it into the output
The important function in any production set-up is that the budgeted quantity of work must
be achieved over a period of time. Labor productivity depends upon how labors are
utilized. Labor productivity can be higher or lower depending on factors like availability of
work load, material, working tools, availability of power, work efficiency, level of
motivation, level of training, level of working condition (comfortable or poor) etc. Labor
productivity can be measured in terms of hours or money [7].
Labor productivity is,
[Eq 2.1]
Labor productivity (in terms of hours) is,
[Eq 2.2]
Labor productivity (in terms of money) is,

( )
[Eq 2.3]
The productivity of labor can be increased by increasing efficiency of labor and reducing
labor time. The Volume measure of output reflects the goods and service produced by the
workforce. Numerator of the ratio of labor productivity, the volume measure of output is
measured either by gross domestic product or gross value added. Denominator of the ratio
of labor productivity, the input measure is the most important factor that influences the
measure of labor productivity and reflect the time, effort and skill of the workforce. Labor
input is measured either by the total number of hours worked of all person employed or
total employment (head count). It is generally accepted that the total number of hours
worked is the most appropriate measure of labor input because a simple head count of
employed persons can hide changes in average hours worked, caused by the evolution of
part time work or the effect of variation in overtime, absence from work or shifts in normal
hours. However the quality of hour- worked estimate is not always clear.

In contrast, total employment is easier to measure than the total number of hours worked.
However, total employment is less recommended as measure of labor productivity because
it neither reflects changes in the average work time per employee nor change in multiple
job holdings and the role of self-employed person ( not in the quality of labor) [7].
Although, Productivity can be expressed as Factor concept [7]
a. Partial Factor Productivity: - Considers a single input in the ratio. Partial-factor

productivity would be the ratio of total output to a single input.
 Output/labor, output/machine, output/capital, or output/energy.
b. Multi Factor Productivity: - Utilizes more than a single factor. Multifactor productivity
is the ratio of total output to a subset of inputs. A subset of inputs might consist of
labor and materials or it could include capital
c. Total Factor productivity: - Measured by combining the effects of all the resources
used in the production of goods and services (labor, capital, raw material, energy, etc.)
and dividing.
An empirical studies states that construction productivity can be measured by metric tools
in terms of project level as task level productivity, project level productivity and industrial
level productivity [25].
a. Task level productivity measure
Tasks refer to specific construction activities such as concrete placement or structural steel
erection. Task-level metrics are widely used within the construction industry. Most task-
level metrics are single factor measures and focus on labor productivity.
b. Project Level Productivity Measures
Projects are the collection of tasks required for the construction of a new facility (e.g., the
construction of a new commercial office building) or renovation (i.e., additions, alterations,
and major replacements) of an existing constructed facility. Since a project is a collection
of tasks, project level productivity Measures are more complicated as compared to task
level productivity measurement.
c. Industry Level Productivity Measures
At the industry level productivity, the amount (or value) of output produced per unit of
input provides a measure of industrial efficiency. Industry level productivity measures can
be developed for different building types or infrastructure types. For each building or
infrastructure type, productivity measures can be created, and these productivity measures
can serve as benchmarks for practitioners who engage in such projects. Industry level
productivity measures can be either single factor (labor) productivity or multifactor
productivity.
In construction there are two commonly used benchmarks that use labor productivity as a
major input. These are [11].
a. Project level labor productivity benchmarks

b. Work team (Crew) level labor productivity benchmarks
Project level labor productivity benchmarks: These are labor productivity benchmarks that
are designed to compare the efficiency of one project with another. Essentially, the
benchmarks are external to the project and can be used to compare the efficiency of any
two projects working over comparable conditions, often projects under the same corporate
management [11].
Work team (Crew) level labor productivity benchmarks: These are labor productivity
benchmarks that are designed to show the efficiency of a work team or trade by comparing
with the best work performance through its past activity life. Essentially, these kinds of
bench marks are internal and can be used to evaluate the productivity performance of a
work team against its best achievement in the past [11].
A work measurement system is a management system designed to analyze the touch labor
content of operations, establish labor standards for that operation, measure and analyze
variances from those standards and continuously improve both the operation and labor
standards used in that operation. Without reliable and accurate productivity estimates, it
would be impossible to improve existing operations and management or effectively plan
new ones, decide on layout and routing considerations; or design new work methods .
Table 2.6 display form of labor productivity standard which depending on the purpose of
measurement

Table 2-5 Form and use of labor productivity standard
Labor Productivity Standards Purpose of Labor Productivity

S.No
Forms Standards
Expected (average) labor Used primarily to judge efficient
1
productivity standards work Methods and work area layouts
Used primarily to balance a paced
95 th percentile labor production by labor; production
2
productivity standards equipment where material shortage is
improbable
Expected (average) labor Used primarily for labor cost
productivity Standards plus estimation, delivery time quotations,
3
some allowance for non- scheduling and as an initial
working time productivity improvement standard.
Work measurement is the application of techniques which is designed to establish the time
for an average worker to carry out a specified manufacturing task at a defined level of
performance. It is concerned with the duration of time it takes to complete a work task
assigned to a specific job. It means the time taken to complete one unit of work or
operation it also that the work should completely complete in a complete basis under
certain circumstances which take into account of accountants time.
Work measurement techniques are listed below:
1. Historical data method: - a method uses the past-performance data. Here, past
performance is used as a guideline for setting work performance standards. The main
advantage of this technique is that it is simple to understand, quicker to estimate and
easier to implement. However, past performance is not the best basis for fixing
performance standards. This is because there may be many changes in technology,
employees‟ behavior, abilities, etc.
2. Time study: - Time study with the help of a stop watch is the most commonly used
work measurement method. Time study is best suited for short-cycle repetitive jobs.
Most of the production jobs can be easily timed by a time-study. Time study procedure
consists of the following steps:
a) Select the job to be timed.

b) Standardize the method of doing the job.

c) Select the worker to be studied.
d) Record the necessary details of the job and conditions of work.
e) Divide the job into elements. Here, ‟element‟ is a part of the job.
f) Find out the time taken to do every single element.
g) Keep provisions for relaxation, etc.
h) Fix the standard time for doing the job.
3. Work sampling: - In this technique, the workers are observed many times at random. It
is done to find out for how much time the worker is actually on the job. It checks how
long he is working and how much time he is not working (idle time).
Work sampling method does not involve stop watch measurement. The purpose of
work sampling technique is to estimate what proportion of a worker‟s time is devoted
to work-related activities. Work sampling method involves following three main steps:
a) Deciding what activities are defined as ‟working‟. Non-working are those
activities which are not defined as working.
b) Observe the worker at selected intervals and record (write down) whether
he is working or not.
c) Calculate the portion of time (P), a worker is working which equal to
‟Number of observations during which is working occurred‟ divided by
‟Total Number of observations.‟
4. Synthesis method: - In this method, the full job is first divided into elements (parts).
Then the time taken to do each element of the job is found out and synthesized
(totaled). This gives the total time taken for doing the full job. In this technique, the
time taken to do each element of the job is found out from previous time studies. So,
this technique gives importance to past-time studies of similar jobs. The main use of
synthesis method is it provides reliable information about standard time for doing
different jobs and economical because there is no need to conduct new time studies.
5. Predetermined motion time system (PMTS):- PMTS technique, the normal times are
fixed for basic human motions. These time values are used to fix the time required for
doing a job. Normally, three times are fixed for one job. That is, one time is fixed for

each level of performance. The level of performance may be normal, fast and very-fast.
PTMS is better than motion studies because it gives the detailed analysis of the motion,
and it fixes the standard time for doing that motion. PTMS technique is used mostly for
jobs, which are planned for future. However, it can also be used for current jobs as an
alternative to time study.
The benefits or advantages of PMTS method:
a) It is a very accurate method and it avoids subjective judgment or bias of
rater.
b) It is an effective and economical method for repetitive jobs of short
duration.
c) There is no interference in the normal work routine, and so it does not face
any resistance from the employees.
d) It helps to improve the work methods because it gives a detailed analysis
of the motions.
e) It is more economical and fast compared to normal time studies.
6. Analytical estimating: -it is used for fixing the standard time for jobs, which are very
long and repetitive. The standard-time is fixed by using standard-data. However, if
standard data is not available, and then the standard time is fixed based on the
experience of the work-study engineer.
Production in labor hour can be estimated using historical data, field observations, and
national standards.
1. Historical Data: - The best source for labor productivity is historical data. Historical
labor productivity is obtained by determining the number of labor hours required to
complete a certain quantity of work on past jobs. This information is obtained from the
accounting system. The productivity is calculated by dividing the number of labor
hours by the quantity of work performed as expressed by the following equation:
[Eq.2.8]

2. Field observation:-Labor productivity from field observations can be calculated in three

ways: cycle time, rate of progress, and daily production.
Cycle time is used for repetitive tasks. Repetitive tasks are tasks that repeat over and over,
such as placing HCB in row and the process of placing one row of HCB is known as a
cycle. The productivity of repetitive tasks is determined by measuring the time it takes to
complete a cycle, which is known as the cycle time. Because the time it takes to complete a
cycle varies from cycle to cycle, at least 30 cycles should be measured when determining
the cycle time. The average cycle time is determined by summing the cycle times and
dividing by the number of observations, using the following equation:
[Eq.2.9]
Where,
CT = Cycle Time and N= Number of Observation
The size of the crew takes this into account. Finally, one needs to account for the number
of units produced during a single cycle because production is measured by the number of
units produced. All of these factors are accounted for in the following
[Eq 2.10]
Where, CTaver = average cycle time in minutes per cycle
AE = adjustment factor SE = system efficiency (minutes per 60 minute

hour)
Size = size of crew Units = number of unit produced per cycle
Rate of progress is used for linear tasks. Linear tasks are tasks that progress along a line
rather than in a cyclical motion. Linear tasks include paving roads, installing pipes,
painting striping on roads, installing curbs, and so forth. The productivity for linear tasks is
measured by the rate the task proceeds or rate of progress. Linear tasks consist of two
components: production time and travel time. The productivity is calculated from the
following equation:
( )( )
Labor hour/unit [Eq 2.11]
( )( )
Where, quantity = quantity of work to be performed

RoP = rate of progress measured in unit per minute
TT = travel time (minute)
Size = size of crew
SE = system efficiency (minute per 60 minute hour)
Daily production: - the production for all tasks can be determined by measuring the
quantity of work performed during a day and dividing it into the number of labor hours
required to complete the work. The productivity is determined in the same manner the
productivity was determined from historical data. Because the whole day is used, the
system efficiency is already incorporated in the calculation.
3. National standard:-The least accurate source of data is that from national standards
books. Labor productivity varies greatly around the country. As a result, national standard
books should only be used when historical data or field observations are not available or
as a check of the calculated productivity. When using national standards, the labor
productivity should be adjusted for area, project size, time of year, and so forth.
2.9. Summary and gap analysis
SMEs are established and considered by government as a significant source of direct

employment than value creation and available in all regions. Now a days Ethiopia have a
number of higher educational institutions from which the greatest number of students
graduated by engineering fields. Out of this engineering graduated students most of them
will be involve in Small and Micro Enterprise of construction sector. These enterprises
may lack experience of managing the project, the financial system and other factors.
From the empirical research studied construction projects in worldwide have been
experiencing significant cost and time overruns, with low labor productivity identified as a
major reason for project delays and cost overruns. In order to enhance the growth of
Ethiopia construction industry, improving of labor productivity has a significant role due to

the fact that the construction industry involves an employment of huge number of
employees to carry out the work.
Information on labor productivity is essential in the determination of cost and duration of

man controlled activities but the most important contribution of productivity data of labor
is for continuous performance management and establishes benchmark to guide and
improves daily crew. In Ethiopian construction industry there is limitation in that the
methods that are used for the setting of standards which did not follow the scientific
principle for developing engineering standards. Hence two things are missing; one is the
development of standards by appropriate scientific method and the other is continuous
updating of the standard with a change in method of construction and resource capability.
These practices have made the Ethiopian contractors devoid of benchmarks to which they
can compare their performance.
This construction sector have different work type includes road, building, cobblestones,
ditch (canal), HCB production, ditch production, HCB work and related works. Besides to
this works there are no detailed studies which identify areas of poor labor productivity
performance in construction enterprise sector. In order to identify whether there is poor
labor productivity performance it need to be measure and compare the productivity rate
with standard labor productivity and other construction contractor.

CHAPTER THREE
DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Description of study area
This part deals with the brief description of the study area, discusses the sources and
methods of data collection and estimation procedure followed during the analysis.
Figure 3-1 Topographical map of Sidama zone and Ethiopia

Sidama zone is a zone in the southern nations, nationalities and peoples region (SNNPR)
of Ethiopia. It is named for the Sidama people, whose homeland is in the zone. Sidama is
bordered on the south by the Oromia region (except for a short stretch in the middle where
it shares a border with Gedeo zone). On the west by Bilate River which separates it from
Wolayita zone, and on the North and east by the Oromia region.

3.1.1. Location and geography
Sidama zone has geographic coordinates of latitude, North: 5‟45” and 6‟45” and longitude,
East, 38‟and 39‟. Sidama zone has 19 Woreda including Hawassa, the capital of Sidama
and SNNPRS, Aleta wendo, Arbegona, Aroresa, Bensa, Bona zuria, Boricha, Bursa,
Chere, Chuko, Dale, Dare, Gorche, Hula, Loko abaya, Kalga, Shbedino, Wensho, upto
Wendo genet.
Now a day, in Sidama zone numbers of Small and Micro enterprises are registered.
According to the Sidama zone town and house development bureau in 2009E.c there are a
total of 4139 licensed enterprise in the zone. Out of these 1217(29.42%) are retail trade,
839(20.27%) are manufacturing, 528(12.75%) are agriculture, 991(23.94%) are service
and 564(13.62%) are construction sector. In addition, there are around 1555 Small and
Micro business in the town operating without licenses but only undertake registration. In
terms of the sectors, the majority are engaged in petty trade, services, and manufacturing
activities.
3.2. Research Methods and Procedures
3.2.1. Data Type and Source
The research has relied on qualitative and quantitative types of data. Quantitative research
is an objective measurement of a problem based on a theory composed of variables that
can be measured in numbers; while qualitative research emphasizes meanings, experiences
and descriptions to subjectively evaluate the opinion, view or perception of respondents
towards a particular issue. The decision in the choice of the research type is mainly
depends on the type of study and availability of the information required for the study
A qualitative research of exploratory type which identifies a situation, evaluates options

and proposes new findings is used as a research strategy of this thesis. Concerning sources
of data, both primary and secondary sources have been used in generating valuable and
relevant data. Primary data has been collected through field work survey in terms of time
and quantity of work. That is a daily work hours and a daily quantity of work executed.

Information on the status of employment, income and other data has been collected from
the SMEs owners, employees, and from Sidama zone building and town development
bureau. The researcher has used an interview, and focus group discussions. Secondary data
has been collected from officially published and unpublished materials. Reports, statistical
reports, brochures, and other material have been used for other necessary information.
3.2.2. The research characteristics and type
The study has been use a case study as a strategy for inquiry and onsite observation of
construction project and the studied work teams was also the part of the study. This
research can be categorized as applied, exploratory, descriptive and correlational type. It is
applied and exploratory because the research was initiated from practical problems and
finds whether there is low labor productivity performance of selected project. It is also
descriptive and co relational because it tried to describe the actual labor productivity
performance of the surveyed projects and relates the managerial causal problems with
labor productivity performance.
3.2.3. Study Design
The research comprised a study of productivity measurement techniques for various on-
going building projects and investigating measurement of labor productivity of masonry
work, HCB work and concreting operations. The input data were taking from the
government bureau showed that the total number of small and micro enterprises sector are
4359 and out of this 564(13.62%) are spent in construction sector. Specifically these
construction sectors are worked in HCB wall building, cobblestone, road, general building
work and others. For the matter of research scope the samples are focused in project having
masonry, HCB and concrete work then the proposed selected enterprises are worked under
building and ditch work which are in 36 contractors are license registered. Out of this only
17 contractor are active. The analyses were done by case study and then five number of
case study projects (enterprises) were selected based on the criteria of:-
a) An enterprise registered under building construction before year of 2007E.c
b) An enterprise named by a zone in the categories of „growth stage contractor‟

c) An enterprise have active ongoing project work with in the research period
According to the literature review different methods are exist to measure labor productivity
such as Time and motion study, Work sampling method, Activity sampling, Delay survey
method, Audio visual method, automated method (using video camera) and Historical
method/ secondary data. The selection criteria for the methods are
a) The output should be quantifiable and highly correlated with the labor hours;
b) The output measurement should be independent from factors that have influence
on the productivity, such as site conditions and labor skills; and
c) The measurement procedure should be cost effective and easy to track. Based on
project characteristics some techniques require continuous observation and some
require intermittent observation of a worker or a crew involved in a task. But in
this research continuous observation was taken.
3.2.4. Data collecting and analysis
There are a few ways of obtaining data for productivity computation of buildings under
construction. On construction site a supervisor work out daily quantities of: masonry work
(in cubic meters), HCB installed (in square meters); and concrete mixing (in cubic meters)
then number of hours spent daily by the workers for each of activities monitored. From the
above records, it is possible to compute the following on a daily basis:
Labor productivity (HCB) = area of HCB installed/ no of man hour
Labor productivity (Masonry) = quantity of Masonry/ no of man hour
Labor productivity (concreting) = quantity of concrete mixing (m3)/ no of man hour
The material used to gather this daily data is digital video camera to record each crew‟s
movements. The digital video camera was positioned to view the activity area at right
angle to provide “depth” in direction being viewed. Viewing the videos several times
allowed to record data on each of the observed crew members. Video data collection
required to be entered into spreadsheet so that the necessary tabular results could be
generated using MS Excels for each job. Table3.1below shows sample worksheet in order
to collect manpower data for each jobs.

Table 3.1 Sample manpower record sheet for proposed work
Title of project:- Date , Floor level or section:- .
Concrete m2, HCB m2 Masonry m3

HCB work
Date Number of Begin time End time Man hour
worker
Concrete mixing
Masonry work
Cement mortar mixing
The collected data from the above sheet will be analyses by the following steps also
called it Man-hour production rate[24]
1. Write down the time when production begins and record the time at the end of the
day when production ends.
2. Use the starting time and ending time to add up the total number of production hours
for the day. It can be deduct any time for breaks, such as lunch breaks, if no
production at all was taking place and count the number of units that were produced
during the day
3. Divide the number of produced units by the number of production hours in the day.
The end result of this calculation tells you the number of items produced per hour,
which is the hourly production rate.

CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
The data analysis and discussion section are presented in three parts. First, the general
profiles of the enterprise are tabulated, second, the activity and recorded times of work are
described. The third part is consist analysis and discussion
4.1. Profiles of the case studies area
Age of the enterprise:- age of enterprises refers to the duration of time that the enterprises
stay in the business. This study considers the age from the period of establishment up to
the time were data collected three and above years (before 2007E.c). Long period
attendance of the enterprise in the business builds the performance of enterprises to stay in
the business.
Age of the labor:- the age of labor refers to the length of time that the labors have existed.
There is a feasible relationship between the age of labor, performance of the enterprise and
productivity of work. The age of labors in the projects is varying from 23-55 yrs.
Experience of labor:- the experience of each labor refers to the labor knowledge or skill
acquired over time. When the labors have the experience of being able to do the specific
work then the enterprise have good performance and labor productivity. The maximum
experience of labor on related work is 35 yrs.
Educational level of labor:- the level of education attained by the labor of the enterprises is
the attainment level of formal education. The education level of labor is varying from
grade 6-12.
4.2. Description of case studies with respect to works
This research many focus on labor productivity of construction process. Under this
activities value adding process and non-value adding activities (process) can be categories,
but the non-value adding activities are deducted to evaluate the productivity of labor.

Therefore, the measurement of labor productivity mainly focused on value-added activities

of labor on the work. Any activities that changes the shape, form, or function of materials
or information to meet customer‟s needs but excludes common construction work such as
material handling, inspection or temporary structures is called value adding activities (VA
activities) [26]. Construction processes required for construction operation, yet have no
permanent effect on the finished product these are material positioning, in-process
inspection, and temporary work and support activities are called non value adding but
required activities NVAR activities. Anything that takes time, resources or space but does
not add value to the product or service delivered to the customer is called non value adding
activities. The potential cost and time saving achieved by eliminating or reducing NVA
activities are significant. These activities are [26]:
 Over production:- products being produced in excess quantities or products being

made before customers need them
 Waiting: - products, equipment or people that must wait because of poor
scheduling, production control or unbalanced crew size.
 Transport: - unnecessary movement of materials. Material handling and transport
necessitated by the relocation of work are unavoidable in construction.
 Extra processing: - rework, re-handling or storage that is caused by defects in
design, fabrication or construction activities. This type of waste occurs with in
crews.
 Inventory:- extra raw or fabricated material, excess construction equipment.
 Motion:- extra movement by employees or movement of equipment caused by
inefficient layout, remote lay down areas or improper work sequences.
 Defects:- errors or deficiencies in finished products that require crew to return to a
work item or require a follow- up crew to perform added work. This type of waste
occurs between crews.
Table 4.1below shows the classification of task for HCB and Masonry work, and their
activities as value adding, non-value adding and non-value adding but required activities.

Table 4.1 Classification of activity with task
Activities Work task Categorize of work

HCB work  placing cement mortar VA
 positioning and adjusting HCB (value adding)
 Checking HCB alignment NVAR
 Inspection In process inspection
 Measuring and marking
 Doing noting while waiting, NVA
talking  Waiting
 Unnecessary transportation  Transporting
 Walking, unnecessary movement  Extra processing
 Defective work  Inventory
 Motion
 Defect
Masonry work  placing stone Masonry VA
 placing cement mortar (value adding)
 Checking masonry alignment NVAR
 Inspection In process inspection
 Measuring and marking
NVA
 Doing noting while waiting,  Waiting
talking  Transporting
 Unnecessary transportation  Extra processing
 Rework  Inventory
 Sorting and categorizing bar size  Motion
 Walking, unnecessary movement  Defect
 Defective work
Note that, the value adding(VA) and non-value adding but required(NVAR) activities are
active time spent in construction site while the non-value adding(NVA) activities is
inactive time. Studies made by the former version of BaTCoDA have standard labor
productivity rate. Currently our construction industry used this standard productivity rate.
In our research studies, SMEs doesn‟t use any equipment and machine. But, in order to
measure the productivity of SMES we need a baseline or standard. Therefore, the
researcher tries to use the former standard productivity as a baseline in Table 4.2 below.

Table 4.2 Standard labor productivity from former BaTCoDA
Item and Labor Gang Work to be Rate of work

description requirement Executed executed
1. Masonry work at
sub structure
1.1. 40cm thick 2M+6D.L 8hr 5m3 1.66hr/m3
1.2.50cm thick 2M+6D.L 8hr 6m3 1.33hr/ m3
1.3.60cm thick 2M+6D.L 8hr 7m3 1.15hr/m3
2. Masonry work at
super structure
2.1.40cm thick 2M+6D.L 8hr 3m3 2.66hr/m3
2.2.50cm thick 2M+6D.L 8hr 4m3 2hr/m3
3. HCB work
3.1.20cm thick up to 1M+2D.L 8hr 10m2 48min/m2
2m 1M+2D.L 8hr 8m2 1hr/m2
3.2.20cm thick from
2-4m
Standard value of labor productivity for Masonry work defined in terms of per volume of
work and day. The masonry work crew have eight daily labors execute 6m3 per day(8hr)
that means the crew execute 0.75m3 of masonry work per one hour and one labor should
execute 0.75 m3 of masonry work per one labor.
Standard value for HCB work crews have three daily labor execute 10 m2 per day(8hr) that
means the crew execute 1.25 m2 per one hour and one labor should execute 3.33 m2 of
HCB work per one labor
4.3. Case study No.1
The objective of this case study is to determine and quantify the level of productivity in
certain operations of construction sites. The data have been collected through the use of
„„Activity Sampling‟‟ technique. Activity sampling as a technique for quantifying the time
spent by construction craftsmen in certain predetermined categories of activity
The data collected was done by one of enterprise registered under Sidama zone. Case study
1 is building for the purpose of library in elementary school with a total area of 450 m 2.

The researcher observes the HCB work (placing and positioning of HCB, mixing and
placing of mortar to the operation area). Video data collection and sheet paper was used to
observe each crew member activities.
The HCB crew consisted of one mason and one helper. Three daily laborers (Two female
and one male) were engaged to mix and deliver cement mortar to the building.
The work was carried out 6 days a week, Monday to Saturday. The working day was 8 hr
per day divided into two periods: from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Lunch break was from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm.
All required material were delivered and unloaded on a working area next to the building.
Materials were then transported manually to where the operation was carried out. Mortar
was mixed manually at the ground floor. The summary of each crew member‟s activity
with actual time spent on value adding and non-value adding but required activity are
presented according to the work task.
4.3.1. HCB work
According to Ethiopia labor proclamation No 42/1993, section 61, normal hours of work
shall not exceed eight hours a day or 48 hours in a week. Active time is a time when labors
execute actual work which has direct and indirect effect on operation of job whereas
Inactive time is a time of labor which doesn‟t have directly or indirectly to the operation of
job i.e. waiting of material and tool, rework, unnecessary movement and talking.
Following to this daily active and inactive time of working hour spent in construction site
in percent presented on Chart 4-1.

% of AT %of IT
90.00
80.00 8.33 16.46
13.75 10.83
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00 75.21 69.17 70.21
65.42
30.00 7.29
20.00 24.58
10.00
0.00
day1 day2 day3 day4 day5
Chart 4- 1 Percentage of daily Active and inactive time spent in construction site
The typical HCB work crew result shows the maximum time spent in construction site is
86.67% of working hour in day4. But the maximum and minimum active hour in a day is
75.21% in day1 and 65.42% in day2 respectively. The maximum and minimum inactive
hour in a day is 16.46% in day4 and 8.33% in day1 respectively. 75.21% of working hour
is value adding and non-value adding but required activities i.e placing mixing mortar,
placing and positioning of HCB stone while 16.46% of working hour was spent on waiting
of material, tools, and doing nothing (non-value adding activities). In 5th day there were
heavy rain then the total time spent hour is 31.87% of working hour these implies that rain
has a factor on labor productivity.
Table 4.3 describes the quantified time to placing mortar and HCB, balancing and
measuring of the work within a certain time and the last two columns shows labor
productivity rate in terms of hourly production rate and labor productivity rate per labor
work. The relation of standard productivity rate and measured productivity rate are
presented by chart 4-2.

Table 4.3 Description of HCB crew working hour in a day
Work Days No of Active Inactive Output m2/hr of m2/man

2
description worker hour hour area(m ) work a day
Day1morn 5 2.67 0.47 20.16 7.560 4.032
Day1after 5 3.35 0.20 14.85 4.433 2.970
Placing Day2morn 4 15.96
2.27 0.85 7.041 3.990
and
Day2after 4 2.97 0.25 12.4 4.180 3.100
Positioning
HCB Day3morn 4 3.02 0.23 6.93 2.297 1.733
20cm thick Day3after 4 2.52 0.63 9.24 3.672 2.310
Day4morn 5 2.98 0.65 7.15 2.397 1.430
Day4after 5 2.63 0.67 5.28 2.005 1.056
Day5morn 4 1.97 0.58 15.9 8.085 3.975
Productivity per labor for HCB work

4.5
Productivity rate in m2/man
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5 productivity in
2.0 sq.m/man
1.5 SPR in
1.0 sq.m/man
Chart 4- 2 Productivity per employee for HCB work
The measured productivity rates expressed as

( )
[Eq 4.1]
The value of SPR is (3.33m2/ man) it means that one labor should execute 3.33m2 and above
of HCB in a day. The resulted measured productivity rates laid below SPR line indicates that
there is low labor productivity. The reason of this low productivity is the area of mixing
mortar is far from the working area and improper use of daily labor working time. But 33.3%
of the total data shows there is high productivity.

Productivity of HCB crew

8.300
Productivity rate in m2/hr

7.800
7.300
6.800
6.300 productivity
5.800
5.300 (m2/hr)
4.800 SPR in
4.300
3.800 m2/hr
3.300
2.800
2.300
1.800
Chart 4- 3 Productivity rate of HCB placing and positioning

The measured productivity rates expressed as
( )
[Eq 4.2]
Chart 4-3 shows the resulted measured productivity rates laid above SPR (2.5m2/hr) line is
indicates that there is High labor productivity but 33.3% of the total data show there is low
labor productivity which is laid below the line. Labor productivity can be affected by time
of a day i.e at the morning and afternoon of a day. The result of productivity in morning
and afternoon presented on Chart 4-4.
Effect of time in labor productivity

8.5000
Productivity in m2 /hr of work
7.5000
6.5000 Morning
5.5000 Time
4.5000 Afternoon
3.5000 time
2.5000
1.5000
Day 1 Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5
morn morn morn morn morn
Chart 4- 4 Effect of time on labor productivity of HCB work

95.0%
75.0%
55.0%
Increasing
35.0% %age of
productivity
15.0%
-5.0%
0 2 4 6
-25.0%
Chart 4- 5 Increasing percentage of productivity of HCB work

Thus the chart express that productivity at the morning is higher than afternoon. The
increasing percentage of productivity at the morning with in a day is varied b/n 8.9% to
26.1%. The higher increasing value is due to good motivation to finish the operation and
good supervision of work.
4.3.2. Mixing of cement mortar
The daily active and inactive time of working hour spent in construction for mixing cement
mortar is presented on chart4-6.
% of AT %of IT
100.00
90.00
80.00 30.42 30.00
70.00 12.92 21.46
60.00
50.00
40.00
58.75 57.50 61.25 4.17
30.00 51.46
20.00 27.29
10.00
0.00
day1 day2 day3 day4 day5
Chart 4- 6 Percentage of daily active and inactive time spent in construction site
The typical cement mortar mixer work crew result shows the maximum time spent in
construction site is 91.25% of working hour in day4. But the maximum and minimum
active hour in a day is 61.25% in day4 and 51.46% in day3 respectively. The maximum

and minimum inactive hour in a day is 30.42% in day2 and 12.92% in day1 respectively.
61.25% of working hour is value adding and non-value adding but required activities i.e
delivery of materials and mixing of mortar while 30.42% of working hour was spent on
waiting, bringing of water and doing nothing (non-value adding activities). In 5th day there
were heavy rain then the total time spent hour is 27.29% of working hour these implies that
rain has a factor on labor productivity. Table 4-4 describes the quantified time to deliver
material and mixing of mortar within a certain time and the last two columns shows labor
work.
Table 4.4 Description of cement mortar crew working hour in a day
Work Days No of Active Inactive Output m3/hr of m3/ man

3
description worker hour hour Volume(m ) work a day
cement Day1morn 2 1.90 0.70 2;6 (2.473) 1.302 1.237
mortar Day1after 2 2.80 0.33 2;6 (2.473) 0.883 1.237
mixing Day2morn 2 2.32 1.12 2;6 (2.473) 1.067 1.237
Day2after 2 2.28 1.32 2;6 (2.473) 1.083 1.237
Day3morn 3 1.77 0.53 4;12 (4.946) 2.800 1.649
Day3after 2 2.32 1.18 2;6 (2.473) 1.067 1.237
Day4morn 2 2.38 1.17 2;6 (2.473) 1.038 1.237
Day4after 2 2.52 1.23 2;6 (2.473) 0.983 1.237
Day5morn 2 2.18 0.33 2;6 (2.473) 1.133 1.237
Labor productivity of Mortar mixer crew

3.000
2.750
2.500 productivity in
2.250 m3/hr
2.000
1.750 average value
1.500
1.250
1.000
0.750
Chart 4- 7 Productivity rate of cement mortar mixer crew

The cement mortar mixer crew have three daily labors and resulted executed work with a
minimum of 0.883m3/hr to maximum of 2.8 m3/hr productive rate. Since the output chart of
volume of mortar per labor is straight line with average of 1.26 m3.
2 is building construction for the purpose of market in with a total area of 900 m2 (30m x
3m). The researcher observe the Masonry work with a detail work of placing crushed stone
on the place, mixing and placing of mortar on construction area. Video data collection and
sheet paper was used to observe each crew member activities.
The Masonry crew consisted of one mason and one helper. Three daily laborers were
engaged to mix and deliver cement mortar to the operation area. The work was carried out
6 days a week, Monday to Saturday. The working day was 8 hr per day divided into two
periods: from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Lunch break was from
12:00pm to 1:00 pm.
was mixed manually at the ground floor.
The summary of each crew member‟s activity with actual time spent on value adding and
non-value adding but required activity are presented according to the work task.
4.4.1. Masonry work
The daily active and inactive time of working hour spent for masonry work crew in percent
presented on Chart 4-8.

% of AT %of IT
100.0
90.0
80.0 18.54
70.0 21.98 24.27
60.0
50.0
40.0 66.68
30.0 47.95 46.28
20.0
10.0
0.0
day1 day2 day3
Chart 4- 8 Percent of active and inactive time spent in construction site

The typical masonry work crew result shows the maximum time spent in construction site
is 85.22 % of working hour in day3. But the maximum and minimum active hour in a day
is 66.68% in day3 and 46.28% in day 2 respectively. The maximum and minimum inactive
hour in a day is 24.27% in day2 and 18.54% in day3 respectively. 66.68% of working hour
is value adding and non-value adding but required activities i.e crushing and placing stone
masonry, placing and positioning of mortar while 24.27% of working hour was spent on
waiting of material, unnecessary movement and doing nothing (non-value adding
activities).
Table 4.5 describes the quantified time to crush and positioning of stone, placing mixed
mortar within a certain time and the last two columns shows labor productivity rate in
terms of hourly production rate and labor productivity rate per labor work. The relation of
standard productivity rate and measured productivity rate are presented by chart 4-9.
Table 4.5 Description of masonry work crew working hour in a day
Work Days No of Active Inactive Output m3/hr of m3/man a

description worker hour hour (m3) work day
Masonry Day 1Morn 6 2.377 1.058 3.8 1.59 0.95
work Day1 After 6 1.460 0.700 1.7 1.16 0.42
50cm Day2 Morn 6 2.770 1.142 4.5 1.62 1.12
thick BGL Day2After 6 0.933 0.800 2 2.14 0.50
Day3 Morn 6 2.901 0.700 5 1.72 1.25
Day3After 6 2.433 0.783 4 1.64 1.00

Productivity per employee

1.400 productivity(
1.200 m3/man)
1.000
SPR(m3/man)
0.800
0.600
0.400
Chart 4- 9 Productivity per employee for Masonry work

The value of SPR is (0.75m3/ man) it means that one labor should execute 0.75m3 and
above of Masonry work in a day. Out of the whole data 33.3% of them indicate that there
is low labor productivity and the rest of 66.7% of data indicate that there is high labor
productivity which lay above the line. The reason of this low productivity is due to
shortage of labor to deliver crushed stone, rework of defective and unbalanced stone.
Productivity of Masnory work crew

Productivity rate (m3/hr)
2.5000
2.0000
productivity
1.5000 (m3/hr)
1.0000 SPR(m3/hr)
0.5000
Chart 4- 10 Productivity rate of placing of Stone Masonry with Cement Mortar

The result from Chart 4-10 measured productivity rates laid above SPR (0.75m3/hr) line is
indicates that there is High labor productivity.
Labor productivity can be also affected by time of a day i.e at the morning and afternoon of
a day. The reuslt will showed in below chart 4-11.

Effect of Time in Productivity

2.2000
Productivity in m3/hr of day

2.0000 Morning
1.8000 Time
1.6000 Afternoon
1.4000 Time
1.2000
1.0000
day1 day2 day3
Chart 4- 11 Effect of time on labor productivity of masonry work

Accordingly the Chart 4-11 productivity rate at the afternoon is higher than morning time.
The increasing percentage of productivity is varying 2.9% to 15.8%.
4.4.2. Mixing of cement mortar
The following chart shows daily active and inactive time spent in construction site in
percent
% of Active % of Inactive
100% 9.38
23.96 21.04
80%
60%
40.67
40% 39.54 42.50
20%
0%
day1 day2 day3
is 63.54% of working hour in day3. But the maximum and minimum active hour in a day is
hour in a day is 23.96% in day2 and 9.38% in day1 respectively. 42.5% of working hour is

value adding and non-value adding but required activities i.e delivery of material and
mixing of mortar while 23.96% of working hour was spent on waiting of material, delivery
of water, unnecessary movement and doing nothing (non-value adding activities).
Table 4.6 describes the quantified time to deliver materials and mixing mortar within a
certain time and the last two columns shows labor productivity rate in terms of hourly
production rate and labor productivity rate per labor work. The relation of standard
productivity rate and measured productivity rate are presented by Chart 4-13.
Table 4.6 Description of mortar mixer crew working hour in a day
Work Days No of Active Inactive Output m3/ hr of m3/employee

description worker hour hour Volume(m3) work a day
cement Day1morn 2 2.200 0.417 2;6 (2.473) 1.124 1.237
mortar Day1after 2 1.053 0.333 2;6 (2.473) 2.348 1.237
mixing Day2morn 2 2.397 0.767 2;6 (2.473) 1.032 1.237
Day2after 2 0.767 1.150 2;6 (2.473) 3.226 1.237
Day3morn 3 2.633 0.533 2;6 (2.473) 1.878 1.237
Day3after 2 2.317 0.867 2;6 (2.473) 1.067 1.237
Productivity of Mortar mixer crew

3.500
3.000 Productivity in
m3/hr
2.500 Average value
2.000
1.500
1.000
Chart 4- 13 Productivity rate for mortar mixer crew

The cement mortar mixer crews have three daily labors and execute work with a minimum
of 1.032 m3/hr to maximum of 3.226 m3/hr productive rate. Since the output chart volume
of mortar per labor is straight line with average of 1.24m3.

The data collected was done by one of enterprise registered under Sidama zone. Case
study3 is building for the purpose of market in with a total area of 600 m2 (20m x 3m). The
researcher observe the Masonry work with a detail work of placing crushed stone on the
place, mixing and placing of mortar on construction area. Video data collection and sheet
paper was used to observe each crew member activities. The Masonry crew consisted of
one mason and one helper. Three daily laborers were engaged to mix and deliver cement
mortar and concrete to the building. All required material were delivered and unloaded on
a working area next to the building. Materials were then transported manually to where the
operation was carried out. Mortar was mixed manually at the ground floor.
The summary of each crew member‟s activity with actual time spent on value adding and
non-value adding but required activity are presented according to the work task.
4.5.1.Masonry work
The following chart shows daily active and inactive time spent in construction site in
percent.
100.00 % of AT % of IT
80.00
16.46
60.00 25.21 28.65
40.00
44.51 69.73
20.00 46.25
0.00
day1
day2
day3
is 86.19% of working hour in day3. But the maximum and minimum active hour in a day is
hour in a day is 28.65% in day2 and 16.46% in day3 respectively. The 69.73% of working

hour is value adding and non-value adding but required activities i.e placing and
positioning of crushed stone, placing of mixed mortar and balancing while 28.65% of
working hour was spent on waiting of mixed mortar, unnecessary movement and doing
nothing (non-value adding activities).
Table 4-7 describes the quantified time to deliver materials and mixing mortar within a
certain time and the last two columns shows labor productivity rate in terms of hourly
production rate and labor productivity rate per labor work. The relation of standard
productivity rate and measured productivity rate are presented by Chart 4-15.
Table 4.7 Description of masonry work crew working hour in a day
Work Days No of Active Inactive Output m2/hr of m2/employee

description worker hour hour area(m2) work a day
Masonry Day1morn 6 2.455 1.475 2 0.8147 0.500
work Day 2after 6 1.106 0.542 1.1 0.9944 0.275
Day2morn 6 1.567 0.775 2.8 1.7872 0.700
Day2 after 6 2.133 1.517 3.9 1.8281 0.975
Day3morn 6 2.312 0.750 1.8 0.7787 0.450
Day3after 6 3.267 0.567 4 1.2245 1.000
Productivity of Masnory work per labor

1.200
productivity in
Productivity in m3/man
1.000 cumec/man
0.800
SPR in
0.600
cumec/man
0.400
0.200
Chart 4- 15 Productivity per employee for Masonry work

The value of SPR is (0.75m3/ man) it means that one labor should execute 0.75m3and
above of Stone Masonry in a day. The resulted measured productivity rates laid below SPR
line indicates that there is low labor productivity and 33.3% of the data shows there is high
productivity.

Productivity Masonry work crew
Productivity in m3/hr
2.00
1.75 productivity in
1.50 m3/hr
1.25
1.00 SPR in m3/hr
0.75
0.50
Chart 4- 16 Productivity rate of masonry work crew

The measured productivity rate for masonry work crew laid above SPR (0.75m3/hr) line is
high productive.
4.5.2. Mixing cement mortar
The daily active and inactive time of working hour spent in construction site is presented
on table below.
Table 4.8 Description of mixing cement mortar working hour in a day

description worker hour hour Vol work a day
(m3)
cement Day1morn 2 2.017 0.992 2;6 1.226 1.237
mortar Day1after 2 1.033 0.333 2;6 2.393 1.237
mixing Day2morn 2 1.250 0.767 2;6 1.978 1.237
Day2after 2 1.633 0.417 2;6 1.514 1.237
day3morn 2 2.000 0.633 2;6 1.237 1.237
day3 after 2 2.967 0.717 2;6 0.834 1.237

Productivity of mortar mixer crew
productivity rate in m3/hr

2.500
2.300
2.100
1.900
1.700
1.500 Productivity in
1.300 m3/hr
1.100
0.900 average
0.700
0.500
Chart 4- 17 Productivity rate of cement mortar mixer crew

The cement mortar mixer crew can execute work with a minimum of 0.834m3/hr to
maximum of 2.393 m3/hr productive rate. Since the output chart volume of mortar per
labor is straight line with average of 1.24m3.
4 is shade for the purpose of Market with a total area of (3m x 6m) 24m2. The researcher
observes HCB work (placing and positioning of HCB, mixing and placing of mortar to the
operation area) and mixing of concrete. Video data collection and sheet paper was used to
The HCB crew consisted of one masons and one helper. Three daily laborers were engaged
to mix and deliver cement mortar and concrete to the building. The concrete mixing work
crew consisted of two mixers and two materials deliver.

4.6.1. HCB work
The following chart shows daily active and inactive time of working hour spent in
construction site for HCB work in percent.
Percentage of working time

7.29 4.79
12.08
% of WH % of DH
72.49 41.04
70.63
day1 day2 day3
Chart 4-18 Percentage of daily active and inactive time spent in construction site
hour is value adding and non-value adding but required activities i.e placing mixing
mortar, placing and positioning of HCB stone while 12.08% of working hour was spent on
waiting of material, tools, and doing nothing (non-value adding activities).
Table 4-9 describes the quantified time to placing mortar and HCB, balancing and
presented by Chart 4-19

Table 4.9 Description of HCB work crew working hour in a day
Work Days No of Working Delay Output m2/min m2/man

description worker hour hour area(m2) of work a day
placing Day1Morn 5 2.283 0.500 9.06 3.968 3.020
and Day1 After 5 3.517 0.083 8.8 2.502 2.933
positioning Day2Morn 5 2.400 0.800 10.08 4.200 3.360
HCB Day2After 5 3.250 0.167 9.52 2.929 3.173
Day3Morn 5 3.283 0.383 2.64 0.804 0.880
Productivity of HCB per employee

Prodducttivity in m2/man
3.500
3.000 productivity
2.500 in m2/man
2.000
SPR in
1.500 m2/man
1.000
0.500
Chart 4- 19 Productivity per employee of HCB work

The value of SPR is (3.33m2/ man) it means that one labor should execute 3.33m2and
above of HCB in a day. Chart 4-19 illustrate the resulted measured productivity rates laid
below SPR line indicates that there is low labor productivity. The reason for low labor
productivity is ineffective use of time and improper ratio of labor.
Productivity of HCB crew

Productivity rate in
4.50
productivity
m2/hr
3.50
in m2/hr
2.50
1.50 SPR in
0.50 m2/hr
Day 1 Day1 After Day2 Day2After Day3
Morn Morn Morn
Chart 4-20 Productivity rate for HCB work crew

The hourly productivity rate of HCB crew from the Chart 4-20 indicates that 80% of the
whole data are high productive.
4.6.2. Concrete mixer crew
The quantified time to deliver material and mixing concrete within a certain time is
presented on Table 4-10. The last two columns shows labor productivity rate in terms of
hourly production rate and labor productivity rate per labor work. The relation of standard
productivity rate and measured productivity rate are presented by chart 4-21.
Table 4.10 Description of concrete mixer crew working hour in a day

description worker hour hour Vol(m3) work a day
Concrete Day1morn 4 1.00 0.55 4.87 4.87 1.217
mixing Day1after 4 2.28 0.60 4.87 2.13 1.217
Day2morn 4 1.55 1.40 4.87 3.14 1.217
Productivity of HCB work crew

5.00
4.50 Productivity
in m3/hr
4.00 Average
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
Day 1morn Day1 after Day2 morn
Chart 4- 21 Productivity rate of concrete mixer crew
The concrete mixer crew can execute work with a minimum of 2.13m3/hr to maximum of
4.87 m3/hr productive rate. Since the output chart volume of mortar per labor is straight
line with average of 1.217m3.
5 is shade for the purpose of Market with a total area of (6m x 6m) 36m 2. The researcher
observes HCB work (placing and positioning of HCB, mixing and placing of mortar to the
operation area) and mixing of concrete. Video data collection and sheet paper was used to
The HCB crew consisted of two masons and one helper. Three daily laborers were engaged
to mix and deliver cement mortar and concrete to the building. The concrete mixing work
crew consisted of two mixers and two materials deliver.
4.7.1. HCB work
The following chart shows daily active and inactive time of working hour spent in
construction site per day for HCB work in percent.
Percentage of woking time

%AT %IT
9.38 20.63 9.58
63.13 61.25 32.50
day1 day2 day3
hour is value adding and non-value adding but required activities i.e placing mixing
mortar, placing and positioning of HCB stone while 20.63% of working hour was spent on
waiting of material, tools, and doing nothing (non-value adding activities).
Table 4-11 describes the quantified time to placing mortar and HCB, balancing and
presented by Chart 4-22.
Table 4.11 Description of HCB work crew working hour in a day

description worker hour hour area(m2) work a day
placing and Day 1Morn 5 2.97 0.33 11.44 3.856 2.288
positioning Day1 After 5 2.08 0.42 5.06 2.429 1.012
HCB Day2 Morn 5 2.45 0.67 4.18 1.706 0.836
Day2After 5 2.45 0.98 4.13 1.686 0.826
Day3 Morn 5 2.60 0.77 5.4 2.077 1.080
Productivity of HCB work per labor

4.000
Productivity rate in m2/man
3.500
3.000 productivity
2.500 in sqm/man
2.000
1.500
1.000 SPR in
0.500 sqm/man
Chart 4- 23 Productivity of employee for HCB work

The value of SPR is (3.33m2/ man) it means that one labor should execute 3.33m2 and above
of HCB in a day. Chart 4-22 illustrate the resulted measured productivity rates laid below
SPR line indicates that there is low labor productivity. The reason for low productivity is lack
of experience and concentration on work.

Productivty of HCB crew

4.0

3.8 productivity
3.5 in m2/hr
3.3
3.0 SPR in m2/hr
2.8
2.5
2.3
2.0
1.8
1.5
Chart 4- 24 Productivity rate of HCB work crew

The value of SPR is (2.5 m2 /hr) it means that e HCB work crew should execute 2.5 m2 of
HCB work with one hour. The 80% of productivity rate below SPR line indicates that there
is low productivity of labor. The reason for low productivity is lack of experience,
concentration on work and more defective work.
4.7.2. Concrete mixing
The quantified daily active and inactive time of working hour spent in construction site for
concrete mixing is presented on Table 4.12 below.
Table 4.12 Description of concrete mixer crew in a day
Work Days No of Active Inactive Output m3/hr m3/labor

description worker hour hour (m3) of work a day
concrete Day1morn 4 0.567 0.233 9.74 17.18 2.435
mixing Day1After 4 0.833 0.183 4.87 5.84 1.218
Day2 after 4 2.550 0.217 9.74 3.82 2.435

Productivity of concrete mixing crew

17.0000
15.0000 Productivity
13.0000 in m3/hr
11.0000 average
9.0000
7.0000
5.0000
3.0000
Day 1 Day2
Chart 4- 25 Productivity rate of concrete mixing crew

The quantified result from the chart shows that the crew can execute a work with a
maximum of 17.18 m3/hr and average output volume of work is 2.03m3 per one labor.
4.8. Comparison of the case studies productivity rate
Generally the case studies are labor intensive and they used the same construction method
to operate the job. The comparisons of case studies are presented in terms of the activity on
Table4-13 and Table 4-14 show the average value of activity below.
Table 4.13 Result of work sampling in percentage of active and inactive

time
Work description Share in % Project 1 Project 4 Project 5 Average

placing and Total working 72.25 69.45 65.48 69.06
positioning HCB time/8hr
20cm thick Active time 60.92 61.39 50.29 58.20
Inactive time 11.33 8.06 13.19 10.86
Work description Share in % Project 1 Project 2 Project3 Average

Mixing cement Total working 71.04 59.03 61.49 63.86
mortar time/8hr
Active time 51.25 40.90 73.86 45.86
Inactive time 19.79 18.13 26.14 18.00

Work description Share in % Project 2 Project3 Average

Masonry work Total working 75.24 76.94 76.1
50cm thick time/8hr
Active time 53.64 53.50 53.6
Inactive time 21.60 23.44 22.5
Work Share in % Project 4 Project5 Average

description
Mixing concrete Total working 46.15 28.65 37.4
time/8hr
Active time 30.21 24.69 27.45
Inactive time 15.94 3.96 9.95
100.00% Total working Active time Inactive time

90.00%
76.09%
80.00% 69.06%
63.85%
70.00% 58.20%
60.00% 53.57%
45.86%
50.00% 37.40%
40.00% 27.45%
22.52%
30.00% 18.00%
10.86%
20.00% 9.95%
10.00%
0.00%
HCB crew Masonrycrew Cement mortar Concrete crew
crew
Chart 4- 26 Average working time per day

4.8.1. HCB work crew
HCB work of case studies result showed the same methodologies and crew allocation for
the work. They were used only 5 workers for delivery of mixed mortar, placing and
positioning of 107.87m2 HCB on case study (project 1), 40.1m2 HCB on case study
(project 4) and30.21m2 HCB on case study (project 5). The overall active time spent by the
HCB crew on case study 1 reaches up to 60.92 % of the total working hour, case study 4
up to 61.39 % and case study 5 up to 52.29 %. The result shows that there was unnecessary
allocation of skilled labor, ineffective use of time and improper site layout.

The hourly production rate of HCB work crew of project 1 are high productive than project
4&5. According to the standard productivity rate of 2.5 m2/hr, project 1 and project 4 have
high productivity rate while project 5 shows low labor productivity rate. In average of the
case studies results which is 3.3.m2/hr is greater than standard value, and then we can
conclude small and micro enterprises have high labor productivity rate in HCB work.
In other condition, man production rate per day can expressed by ratio of total output work
in a day to number of labor involved to operate the job. Based on the man production rate
per day project 1 are high productive than project 4&5. But the standard value of3.33
m2/man is higher than all projects then we can say that small and micro enterprises have
low man production rate per day.
4.8.2. Masonry work crew
Masonry work case studies result showed the same methodologies and crew allocation for
the work. They were used only five workers for delivery of mixed mortar, placing and
positioning of 21m3 stone masonry on case study (project 2) and 15.6m3 stone masonry on
case study (project 3). The overall active time spent by the stone masonry crew on case
study 2 reaches up to 53.64 % of the total working hour and case study 3 up to 53.5 %. The
result shows that there was unnecessary allocation of skilled labor, ineffective use of time
and improper site layout.
The hourly production rate of masonry work crew of project 2 is high productive than
project 3. According to the standard productivity rate of 0.75 m3/hr, project 1 and project 3
have high productivity rate. In average of the case studies results which is 1.44m3/hr is
greater than standard value, and then we can conclude small and micro enterprises have
high labor productivity rate in HCB masonry work.
In other condition, man production rate per day can expressed by ratio of total output work
in a day to number of labor involved to operate the job. Based on the man production rate
per day project 2 is high productive than project 3. Both project2 &3 have higher man
production rate per day than the standard value of 0.75m3/man, and then we can conclude
that small and micro enterprises have high man production rate per day.

4.8.3. Cement mortar mixer crew
Cement mortar mixer work case studies result showed the same methodologies and crew
allocation for the work. They were used only 5 workers for delivery of water, material and
mixing process of 24.75m3 mixing mortar on case study (project 1), 14.84m3 mixing
mortar on case study (project 2) and 14.84m3 mixing mortar on case study (project 3). The
overall active time spent by the mortar mixer crew on case study 1 reaches up to 51.25 %
of the total working hour, case study 2 up to 40.9 % and case study 3 up to 45.42 %. The
result shows that there was unnecessary allocation of skilled labor.
Cement mortar mixing doesn‟t have settled standard productivity rate. With regard to
measured results project 2 have high productivity rate than project1&3. In average mixing
mortar have a hourly productive rate of 1.56 m3/hr and man production rate of
1.237m3/man.
4.8.4. Concrete mixer crew
Concrete mixing work case studies result showed the same methodologies and crew
allocation for the work. They were used only 5 workers for delivery of water, material and
mixing process of 14.61m3 mixing concrete on case study (project 4) and 24.35m3 mixing
concrete on case study (project 5). The overall active time spent by the concrete mixer
crew on case study 4 reaches up to 30.21 % of the total working hour and case study 5 up
to 24.69 %. Main reason for higher inactive time is ineffective use of time and in-
appropriate crew size ratio of skilled and unskilled workers. Percentage of total working
time is varying from 41.15% to 76.09%. Out of this the maximum and minimum
percentage of active time is 58.2% and 30.05% respectively whereas inactive time is
22.52% and 10.86% respectively.
Concrete mixing doesn‟t have settled standard productivity rate but with regard to
measured results project 5 have high productivity rate (8.94 m3/hr, 2.029m3/man) than
project 4. In average mixing concrete have a hourly productive rate of 6.18 m3/hr and man
production rate of 1.624m3/man.

Table 4.14 Result of active time productivity spent in construction site
Work description Unit Project Project Project Project Project Average SPR
1 2 3 4 5
Placing and m2/min 4.62 - - 2.88 2.34 3.3 2.5
positioning of m2/man 2.73 - - 1.60 1.21 1.85 3.33
HCB
Mixing cement m2/min 1.26 1.8 1.56 - - 1.56 -
mortar m2/man 1.24 1.24 1.24 - - 1.24
Masonry work m3min - 1.65 1.24 - - 1.44 0.75
m3/man - 0.87 0.65 - - 0.76 0.75
Mixing concrete m3/min - - - 3.36 8.94 6.18 -
m3/man - - - 1.22 2.03 1.62
6.18
Average productivity rate
3.3 m2,m3/min m2,m3/man
1.848
1.56 1.44 1.624
1.237
0.763
Placing and Mixing cement Masonry work Mixing concrete

positioning of HCB mortar
Chart4- 27 Average labor productivity rate

4.9. Improving methods of labor productivity
Improving productivity of SMEs is based on both individual and team productivity so as to

get a continuous and better output. Number of researches has been done before to improve
productivity as individual and organizational level. For the case of small and micro
enterprises the following strategies are selected.

a. Crew arrangement; it is better to assigning the crewmember as per there better skill i.e.
mason has better skill in HCB work should be assigned in HCB work rather than
masonry work.
b. Incentive and Motivation to worker towards project completion
c. Advance site layout; site layout has a great influence on productivity so it is better to
use proper site layout of construction area to reduce unnecessary movement, inactive
working hour, risk and accident.
d. On time payment to the worker; it is one of method of motivating workers and has
positive effect for timely completion of project.
e. Plan to avoid work stop; it is better plan or schedule daily tasks to supply required
materials before the time
f. Contract agreement; it is better to make the employment as contract for fixed amount
of work rather than daily paid.
g. Skilled Labor availability; it is better to employee skilled labors to increase efficiency
of work rather than unskilled labor.
h. Proper utilization of working hour; it is necessary to utilize working hour by
scheduling daily tasks, motivate workers, supply required materials on time and so on.

CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1. Conclusions
Small and Micro Enterprises are one of the construction sectors and having a big role in
economic growth of country. The main objective of this research was to measure labor
productivity rate of SMEs on building contractors on selected construction project.
Measuring labor productivity in construction industry is by nature difficult due to
uniqueness of project. But to decide whether the contractors are well performing
(productive) it needs to be measure in terms of time, output work and number of labor. So,
in order to do the work four major activities were selected (HCB work, masonry work,
mixing mortar and mixing concrete) then two and three case studies were conducted for
each selected activities to measure quantified time spent to operate the activities. In overall
five case studies at five constructions site were conducted. After analyzing all conducted
data conclusion were made in this chapter as follow.
1. All case studies conducted by the same method of construction. Every required
construction material were delivered by truck and dumped manually around the
construction area. Every activity was done without construction machine like concrete
mixer, crane and others to reduce time of construction. Therefore, small and micro
enterprise contractors are labor intensive.
2. According to proper construction site layout project 1 is better than other projects.
Improper construction site layout led to unproductive working hours per labor due to
improper transporting time and unnecessary movement. On the HCB work cases
project 1 is well performed the work with less hour by minimizing transportation time
of HCB due to proper site layout of construction than other contractors. The average
productivity rate is 3.3 m3/hr which is greater from current used standard value.
3. On the masonry work cases project 2 is well performed the work with less hour by
having more number of labor in operation. The average productivity rate is 1.44 m3/hr
which is greater from current used standard value. The average man production rate per
day (0.76m3/man) which is greater from current used standard value.

4. On the mortar mixing cases project 2 is well performed the work with less hour than
other project. The average productivity rate is 1.56 m3/hr by two daily labors
(mixers).Mixing mortar doesn‟t have standard values then the research decided that
average mixing mortar productivity rate of (1.56 m3/hr, 1.237 m3/man with two daily
labor) can be used as standard.
5. On the concrete mixing cases project 5 is well performed the work with less hour than
project 4. The average productivity rate is 6.18 m3/hr by four daily labors. Mixing
concrete doesn‟t have standard values then the research decided that average mixing
concrete productivity rate of (6.18 m3/hr, 1.624 m3/man with four daily labors) can be
used as standard.
6. Assessment of result in Addis Ababa building contractors indicates that only 13% of
contractor measures labor productivity to setting unit rate and to prepare working
schedule. The rest 87% of contractor do not measure labor productivity due to lack of
awareness, negligence and believes that it is difficult to implement. A small and micro
enterprise does not have an experience to measure labor productivity at all due to lack
of awareness, negligence and shortage of project time. The productivity of labor can be
increased by increasing efficiency of labour and reducing labor time. The main
improvement strategies are considering crew arrangement, advanced site layout,
incentive to worker, work scheduling, skilled labor assigning and utilizing working
hour properly.
3.2. Recommendations
In general the study in above is concluded according to the quantified results. But the
results have a value of high and low rate. These low rates should be improved by
management system and systematic way of construction methods. So in order to give
better understanding and improving the productivity of labor recommendation is made as
per involved parties.

For the Small and Micro Enterprises
1. The research believes that measuring performance of labor is important to plan proper
work schedule and determining unit rating. Beside that if the enterprise measure
performance of labor crew in one project site then it can be applicable for the next project
sites until they change construction method.
2. As a conclusion of man production rate of activity improper crew management has
effect on man productivity. So, crew arrangement should be well planned to increase crew
productivity.
3. Enterprises are advised to use low cost machineries like vibrator, hand mixers to
increase efficiencies, quality of work and also reduce labor time.
4. Special attention should be given to experience sharing among other SMEs around
them and with medium and high enterprise contractors regarding to site layout of
construction area and others issue.
For Small and Micro Enterprises Development Bureau (Representative of enterprises

sector)
1. The development bureau should give a special facilitation on low cost machinery for
rent to improve the productivity and performance of the enterprises and to reduce their
costs.
2. The development bureau should give special attention on upgrading scope of enterprises
to compete with other contractors.
For Construction Ministry
1. In order to do the study current used productivity rate is not up to date and doesn‟t
express small micro enterprises construction method. So Ethiopian construction ministry
should give attention on preparing new standard productivity rate for the current
construction industry and special to small, micro and medium enterprises contractor. The
Ministry can use this research as a basic benchmark for generating the productivity
standard.

REFERENCES
1. Construction, F.M.o.U.D.A., Survey on Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in

Selected Major Cities of Ethiopia, 2013.
2. Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA), Report on The Ethiopian Economy, in The
Current State of The Construction Industry2006/07, Ethiopian Economic Policy
Research Institute: Addis Abeba,Ethiopia
3. Ayalew T., Dakhli Z., and Lafhaj Z., Assessment on Performance and Challenges of
Ethiopian Construction Industry. Journal of Architecture and Civil Engineering 2016.
Volume 2 (11 ): p. 01-11.
4. Tran V. and Tookey J., Labor productivity in the New Zealand construction industry: A
thorough investigation. Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building,
2011. 11 (1): p. 41-60.
5. Attar A.A.,Prof. Desai D.B,A Study of Various Factors Affecting Labour Productivity
and Methods to Improve It IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering: p.11-
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6. Accelerate Consulting Development, Micro,Small And Medium Enterprise In Egypt, in
Special Focus on Entrepreneurship, Streamlining Business Procedures and Value
Chain Analysis2014, Creative Associates International.
7. Underhill Coperate Solution (UCS), Literature Review on Small and Medium
Enterprises’ Access to Credit and Support in South Africa, 2011, : Pretoria, South
Africa.
8. Compeition Commission,Report on how best to harness the job creation potential of
SMEs,2015/2320(INI),Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
9. Amanuel M., A Study on Factors Affecting Labor Productivity on Building
Construction Projects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in School of Civil And Environmental
Engineering (Construction Technology And Management Stream)2016 Addis Ababa
University Institute of Technology(AAIT).
10. Zewdu Z.T., Construction Projects Delay and Their Antidotes: The Case of Ethiopian
Construction Sector. International Journal of Business and Economics Research, 2016.
5(4): p. 113-122.

11. Alemu T., Measurement of Labor Productivity In Construction Project, in Civil

Engineering Department2006E.C, Addis Abeba University.
12. Tefera H., Management Control of Projects in Construction Industry Ethiopian
Context, in School of Management Studies,2013, Indra Gandhi National Open
University, Maiden Garhi, New Delhi
13. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), Central Statistical Authority,(2003),
Report on bi- annual employmentand unemplyment survey, 1st yar roud 1 statistical
bulletin 319.
14.Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia(FDRE), Federal Micro And Small Enterprises
Development Agency Establishment C.o.M. Regulation, Editor 2011. p. 5766.
15. Gebreeyesus M., Growth of Micro-Enterprises: Empirical evidence from Ethiopia,
2007, Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI).
16. Tadesse B., The Role of Micro and Small Enterprises in Employment Creation and
Income Generation A Survey Study of Mekelle City, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, in
Department of Management,MBA thesis 2010 E.C, Mekelle University.
17. Czumanskia T., Integral Analysis of Labor Productivity, in 45th CIRP Conference on
Manufacturing Systems, Elsevier B.V. Selection: Hamburg University of Technology,
Germany. p. 55 – 60.
18. Abera, Y., Market Challenges and Opportunities of Micro and Small Scale Enterprises
in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia,MBA thesis 2016 Dire Dawa University.
19. OECD Manual., Measuring Productivity in Measurement of Aggregate and Industry-
Level Productivity Growth 2001.
20. Aki Pekuri, et al., Productivity measurement and development in construction industry,
2011, Research Gate: University of Oulu, Finland.
21. Pinheiro J. Key Performance Indicators applied to Construction Sector Performance
and Benchmarking, in Extended Abstract2011.
22. A Guide To Productivity Measurement. SPRING Singapore, 2011./www.spring.gov.sg
23. Mostafa E. Shehata K.M., Towards Improving Construction Labor Productivity And
Projects’ Performance, Alexandria Engineering Journal , 2012.

24. Ahmed H., Analysis of Building Sector Construction Productivity Trends in North
America between1995 and 2009, 2011, University of Waterloo.
25. Allison L. Huang, R.E.C., and David T., Metrics and Tools for Measuring
Construction Productivity: Technical and Empirical Considerations 2009, National
Institute of Standards and Technology Building and Fire Research Laboratory.
26. Sahlu A., Studying Construction Site Waste Based on Lean Thinking on Selected Addis
Abeba Building Construction Sites: A Case Study, in School of Civil And
Environmental Engineering( Construction Technology And Managemnt Stream),MSc
thesis 2017, Addis Abeba University.

APPENDICES

APPENDICES 1 HCB WORK ACTIVITY IN PROJECT1, PROJECT3 AND PROJECT5

Number Inactive
Item Working Active
Date of volume of work time
no hour(hr:min) time(min)
worker min
Project 5/2/2011, 2:50 -3:35 2 mason, 45
1 morn 3:48 - 4:13 2 helper 25 13
24*0.84=20.16m2
4:25 - 4:44 19 12
4:47 - 5:58 71 3
160 28
lunch time
7:32 - 8:26 2 mason, 54
5/2/11,after 2 helper
8:30 - 9:52 22.5 82 4
9:57 - 10:40 m*0.66=14.85m2 43 5
10:43 -11:05 22 3
201 12
2:53 - 3:46 2 mason, 53
6/02/11, morn 2 helper
3:51 - 4:24 33 5
19*0.84=15.96 m2
4.28 - 4.57 29 4
5:39 - 6:02 21 42
136 51
lunch time
7:46-8:06 2 mason, 20
6/02/11. after 2 helper
8:13-8:56 22.5*0.55=12.4 43 7
8:58-9:41 m2 43 2
9:47-10:59 72 6
178 15
2:48-3:24 1 mason, 36
7/02/11, morn 1 helper
3:29-3:56 27 5
21*0.33=6.93 m2
4:01-5:14 73 5
5:18-6:03 45 4
181 14
lunch time
2:47-2:56 1 mason, 9
3:12-3:48 1 helper 36 16
8/2/2011,morn 3:50-4:19 14*0.66 = 9.24m2 29 2
4:27-4:54 27 8
5:08-5:58 50 12
lunch time 151 38
7:18-8:02 1 mason, 44
8/02/11, after 13*0.55= 7.15m2
8:13-8:47 1 helper 34 11

8:53-9:21 28 6
9:29-10:04 35 8
10:18-10:56 38 14
179 39
2:46-3.25 1 mason, 39
3.34-4.20 1 helper 46 10
9/02/11,morn 8*0.66=5.28m2
4.37-5.18 41 17
5.31-6.03 32 13
158 40
lunch time
7.30-8.14 1 mason, 44
8.26-8.49 1 helper 23 12
9/02/11, after 19*0.84= 15.9m2
9.08-9.31 23 17
9.37-10.05 28 6
118 35
3.31-3.50 2mason,
10/02/11, 4.0-4.10 3 helper 23*0.12= 2.76m2 27.95 10
morn 4-10-4.22 7*0.12=0.84m2 12 5
4.23-6.00 45.5*0.12=5.46m2 97 15
9.06 136.95 30
11/5/2018,
7.28-8.49 10.7*0.84= 8.98 81 5
Morn 2mason,
Project 3 helper m2
8:49-10:59 130 0
2
211 5
3.03-3.36 33
3.42-4.35 53 5
After 4.30-4.51 2mason, 6.4*0.84=10.6m2 21 13
5.18-5.23 3 helper 5 26
5.27-5.59 32 4
11/6/2018,
144 48
Morn
2.43-3.16 1 mason, 33
3.20-4.38 1 helper 78 4
6.48*1.47=9.52m2
4.41-5.26 45 3
5.29-6.08 39 3
195 10
7:25-8:03 1 38
8:14-8:59 mason,1 45 11
7/02/11, after helper 4.8*0.55 = 2.64m2
9:05-10:14 69 6
10:20-11:05 45 6

197 23
2:43-3:32 1 mason, 49
3:37-4:16 1 helper 39 5
26*0.44 = 11.44
4:21-4:54 m2 33 5
5:04-6:01 57 10
178 20
7:20-8:46 1 mason, 86
8:49-10:28 1 helper 99 5
7/02/11,after 23*0.22 =5.06m2
10:30-11:00 30 2
215 7
2.53-3.36 1 mason, 43
3.42-4.18 1 helper 36 6
9/02/11,morn 4.30-4.51 7.6*0.55=4.18m2 21 13
5.08-5.23 15 17
5.27-5.59 32 4
147 40
7.32-8.15 1 mason, 43
8.30-9.16 1 helper 46 15
12.5*0.33 =
9/02/11,after
9.28-9.49 4.13m2 21 12
10.21-10.58 37 32
147 59
2.39-3.45 1 mason, 66
3.52-4.09 1 helper 17 7
10/02/11,
6.4*0.84=5.4m2
morn 4.38-5.23 45 29
5.33-6.01 28 10
156 46

APPENDICES 2 MASONRY WORK FOR PROJECT 2 AND PROJECT 3

Active Inactive
Date area/vol./length time(min) time(min) Number worker
15*40*60=3.6m3 76 33
1.5*40*60=0.36m3 25.45 14.5
Project 2 2*40*60=0.48m3 31.13 14 1masn, 1 helper
7/9/2018
0.5*40*60=0.12m3 10 2
3.8 142.58 63.5

3*40*60=0.72m3 21.2 9.5
7/9/2018 3*40*60=0.72m3 37 14.5
1*40*60=0.24m3 16.17 10
1.5*40*60=0.36m3 13.2 8
0 0
1.7 87.57 42
2mason,1 helper
15*40*60=3.6m3 62 37
8/9/2018 5*40*60=1.2m3 58 14.5
2.5*40*60=0.48m3 46.15 17
4.5 166.15 68.5
8/9/2018 10*0.4*0.5 56 48
2 56 48
5*40*60=1.2m3 48.06 26
1 mason,1 helper
9/9/2018 20*40*60=7.2m3 126 16
5 174.06 42
20*40*60=7.2 146 47 1 mason,1helper

4 146 47
Active Inactive
Date area/vol./length time(min) time(min) Number worker
Project3 5*40*60=1.2m3 47.3 23
7/8/2018 3*40*60=0.72m3 65 37.5 1mason, 1 helper
2*40*60=0.72m3 35 28
2 147.3 88.5
3*40*60=0.72m3 37 14.5
7/8/2018
1*40*60=0.24m3 16.17 10
1.5*40*60=0.36m3 13.2 8
1.1 66.37 32.5
10*40*60=2.4m3 55 21.52
8/8/2018
4*40*60 39 25
2.8 94 46.52 2mason,1 helper
2.5*40*60=0.6m3 36 46
8/9/2018
17*40*60=4.08m3 92 45
3.9 128 91
9/9/2018
1.8 138 35
9/9/2018 1 mason,1 helper
4 196 34
APPENDICES 3 MIXING CEMENT MORTAR FOR PROJECT 1, 2 AND 3

working volume of Active Inactive
Date time(hr:min) number of worker work time(min) time(min)
2.32-2.40
8
Project1 2.47-3.04 17 7
6/2/2011 (1male,2female)
3.04-3.06 2
3.06-3.27 19 3
4.02-4.32 30 32
6sand and
4.32+4.53 2 cement 21 0
4.53+5.10 17 0
114 42
7.10-7.27 17 7
7.34-7.50 16 1
7.51-8.00 9 0
6/02/11 after 8.18-8.34 16 3
8.37-8.53 16 0
9.15-9.36 21 5
9.41-9.52 11 0
9.52-10.09 17 0
10.09-10.24 15 4
10.28-10.57 30 0
168 20
7/2/2011morn 2.31-2.47 16
2.51-3.14 23 4
3.18-3.45 27 4
4.02-4.36 34 17

4.59-5.11 12 23
5.30-5.57 27 19
139 67
7.02-7.19 17
7.24-7.45 21 5
7/02/11 after 8.05-8.20 15 20
8.21-8.36 15 1
9.12-9.44 32 36
10.01-10.38 37 17
137 79
2.30-2.51 21
8/02/11 morn 2.54-3.20 26 3

3.41-5.12 31 21
5.28-5.58 30 8
108 32
7.17-7.36 19
7.43-7.57 14 7
8/02/11 after 8.01-8.36 35 4
2(6
8.56-9.23 cement:2 27 20
9.41-9.56 2 worker cement) 13 18
10.18-10.49 31 22
139 71
2.31-2.49 18
2.58-3.26 28 11
9/02/11 morn 3.45-3.58 13 19
4.04-4.32 28 6
4.50-5.28 38 18
5.34-5.52 18 16
143 70
7.19-7.49 30
9/02/11after 8.26-9.07 41 37
9.42-10.29 47 35
10.31-11.04 33 2
151 74
2.39-3.54 75
10/02/11 morn 4.08-4.32 24 14
4.38-5.10 32 6
131 20

APPENDICES 4 MIXING CONCRETE FOR PROJECT 1, PROJECT2 AND PROJECT 3

Working Number of volume of Active Inactive
Date time(hr:min) worker work time(min) time(min)
3.40-4.51 34 14
4.55-6.08 2,6,6 21 10
Project5 6/2/2011 9.74 54 24
8.30-3.19 2,6,6 85 23
4 mason 4.87 85 23
3.12-4.25 73 8
7/2/2011
4.35-5.55 2,6,6 75 5
9.74 148 13
4.09-4.20 11
Project 4
2/11/2018 4.21-4.31 4 mason 10 1
4.32-4.34 2 1
2,6,6
4.48-5.10 22 14
5.27-5.42 15 17
60 33
2/11/2018 after 8.12-8.44 32
8.45-8.53 9 1
8.59-9.18 19 6
9.32-10.10 38 14
10.21-10.43 22 11
10.47-11.04 17 4
137 36
3.08-3.19 11
3.30-3.58 28 11
3/11/2018 2,4,8
4.18-4.24 6 20
4.41-4.53 12 17
5.20-5.32 12 27
5.41-6.05 24 9
93 84
4.27-5.20 1mason1helper 9m2 53
2/11/2018 4deliver
5.49-6.22 9m2 33 29
18 86 29
2/11/2018 after 8.45-9.23 9m2 28
9.57-11.08 7m2 71 34
16 99 34

Measuring Labor Productivity of Small and Micro Enterprise Contarctors in Building Construction in Sidama Zone

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Measuring Labor Productivity of Small and Micro Enterprise Contractors on Building

Construction in Sidama Zone: A case study

Mrs. Betelehem Belete.

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page III

I declare that this thesis entitled” MEASURING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY OF SMALL

Name: Mrs. Betelehem Belete

Name: Prof.( Dr. -Ing), Abebe Dinku

Place and Date of Submission: _____________________________

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page IV

2.5. Productivity in construction industry ..........................................................................18

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page VI

4.5.1. Masonry work ......................................................................................................56

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page VII

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page VIII

Table 2.1 Classification of Small and Micro Enterprises in Ethiopia ......................................13

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page IX

SMEs Small and Micro Enterprises

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page X

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page XI

1.1. Background of the study

According to Ethiopian economic association between 2010/11-2014/15, major

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 1

1.2. Statement of the problem

1.3. Objective of the research

1.3.1. General objective

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 2

a. To assess productivity and performance of small-micro enterprises building contractors

1.4. Research question of the study

1. What are labor productivity management systems in practices of construction industry

1.5. Significance of the study

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 3

1.6. Scope of the study

1.7. Outline of thesis

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 4

Methodology used Material and Material used

Figure 1-1 Organizational structure of research

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 5

2.2. Overview of construction sector in Ethiopia and other countries context

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 6

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 7

2.2.2. The role of the construction industry in economy

a) Contribution to national income: - the construction industry has important contribution

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 8

b) Contribution to employment: - the role of the construction industry in terms of creating

2.2.3. Efficiency of construction sector in Ethiopia

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 9

2.3. Overview of building construction contractors in Ethiopia context

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 10

2.4. Small and Micro Enterprises in different countries

2.4.1. Definition of Small and Micro Enterprise in different countries

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 11

In developed countries, “the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

United Nations Industrial Development Organization Investment Promotion Unit

According to Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia the legal definition of SMEs

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 12

c. Cottage/Handcraft Manufacturing Establishments performing their activities by hand

According to this, Federal Small-Micro Enterprises Development Agency Establishment

Table 2.1 Classification of Small and Micro Enterprises in Ethiopia

Level of the Human Total

2.4.2. Recent background of Small and Micro Enterprises

promotion of SMEs development as one of the important instruments to create productive

 SMEs Development Strategy of 1997 and

2.4.3. Importance of SMEs on economic growth of Ethiopia/Developing countries

HU, Department of Civil Engineering Page 15