ASSESSMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICAL PRACTICE IN CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES IN JIMMA, OROMIA

Abstract

The ethical issues in the construction companies are becoming the major parameters that affect the performance of the projects and even the survival of the company itself. The severity of undesirable effect of ethical matters such as corruption has been found to be heavy on the construction industry of sub Saharan Africa that comprises Ethiopia. This study, is on assessment of professional practice in construction companies in Jimma, Oromia, which aimed to evaluate the ethical practice in the construction companies by evaluating the ethical trends, frameworks and challenges, identifying the major ethical practices with their root triggering factors and outcomes, and investigating the ethical practice with respect to the professional code of ethics of the civil engineers. The study employed descriptive qualitative research approaches in data collection and analysis. The samples were determined by purposive sampling technique (non-probability sampling) from all construction companies in the city and then the samples were categorized in two groups: managers and professionals for data collection in which in- depth and structured interviews delivered respectively for the two sample groups. The interview questions were systematically designed based on the Consequence-Principle- Virtue/ CPV, Knowledge-Attitude-Practice/ KAP, and Code models, as well as qualitative validity and reliability test was done to meet the objectives of the study. The data were analyzed qualitatively majorly through thematic analysis and coding, including statistical presentation tools (tables, graphs, etc.) to the sake of demonstrating the qualitative results. The findings of this study indicated that ethical practice trend was in a low level. The frameworks of the companies for ethical practice is poor. There major challenges were less emphasis given to ethics, poor government, contradiction between market and ethics, and colleagues’ pressure to commit corruption. The major unethical practices were bribery and theft followed by hiding quality defects, non-receipt procurement, nepotism and favoritism, fraud in recites and documents, discrimination, theft and fraud, and coercion. These unethical practices were triggered majorly by high price of local construction materials, burdened bid process and unfair tax, and poor management support to employees (lack of ethical education & training) in the study area. The major outcomes of these unethical practices were low performance and damaged company reputation. The obedience to code of professional ethics/ CoE found to be low in construction companies in Jimma. The recommendation forwarded for construction companies and concerning governmental sectors by this study were establishing a rewarding system to practitioners for their good ethical practices; encouraging the construction companies to incorporate appropriate frameworks for ethical issues in their strategies; designing policy and system to distribute the EACE CoE book, monitor the implementation, and evaluate/ audit the company’s ethical status; setting a mandatory training and certification requirement of construction managers and professionals