Labor Productivity Influence in the Construction Industry : An interpretive approach to project success

Sammanfattning: The construction sector is one of the most important industries for the economy in Sweden. Between 2010 to November of 2020, there has been an increase in employment in the construction industry by 35.4 percent. In 2019 the Swedish construction sector was valued at EUR 53.3 billion, where the construction sub-sector makes up 47.6 percent (European Construction Sector Observatory - Country profile Sweden, 2020).  The construction industry is a fundamental part of society, whereas labor productivity, which represents the quantity of work performed per hour (Park 2006), is a vital element in the process of construction. Gunduz et al. (2020) state that labor consumes a significant amount of cost in construction projects, thus labor productivity is a determinator of cost optimization i.e., the process of making something as good or effective as possible (Cambridge Online Dictionary, n.d.). The benefit of productivity is seen as reduced construction time and cost (Fox, Marsh & Cockerham, 2010). Moreover, a lack of effective management activity towards construction resources can potentially decrease labor productivity. Thus, the familiarity of project managers with labor productivity factors is of major importance (Shehata & El-Gohary, 2011) and contributes to project success (Gunduz & Abu-Hijleh, 2020).