Perceptions and understandings of construction site productivity: Insights from the Danish construction industry

Productivity has been a recurrent topic in construction management research for decades. While an impressive number of inquiries have explored construction sector productivity from an ex-post perspective by measuring inputs and outputs of resources in construction activities, less attention has been invested in understanding construction site perceptions of productivity and understandings of how to improve productivity. The aim of the study is to contribute to existing literature in two ways. First by providing insights into the different perceptions of productivity among craftsmen and construction managers. Second by demonstrating how ambiguous understandings of productivity adversely affect the planning and execution of construction activities and thus complicates productivity improvements. The empirical material conducted through semi-structured interviews is analysed through a theoretical framework based on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The findings show that the construction managers embrace the idea of monetary rewards as an approach to address productivity issues. Analogously, the craftsmen request and highlight better communication between construction managers and craftsmen as well as increased influence on the planning and execution of construction activities as ways to improve productivity.