Information Technology as a Viable Strategy for Improving Material Management Practices in SME Construction Projects Performance

Abstract

Success of any construction projects is related to its timely projects completion within budget, time and quality. Traditional materials management practice has been identified as a major issue in small and medium enterprises (SME) construction companies in most developing countries. Understandably, a key issue identified in the traditional practices is the lack of IT adoption in materials management practices. It is on this note, the paper seeks to explore factors affecting IT adoption for effective materials management in the Nigerian SME construction companies. Secondary sources such as past projects, journals and internet are the main source of data for this study. Data thus collected were studied and evaluated with the aim of articulating existing knowledge on how the materials management practice is carried out in SME construction projects. The significant findings of this study provides a generic overview of IT adoption within the context of SME and can assist SME and policy makers to towards formulating legislation for enhancing IT adoption in SME for an improvement of materials management practices towards sustainable projects performance and established profitable relationship with client's and create competitive advantange.