Advancing Construction Industries in Developing Countries: A Comprehensive Management Framework Considering the Levels, Obstacles, and Success Factors

There is a gap between the industry in developing countries and developed countries. This gap entails improving the industry and increasing the management role. Generally, the challenges facing developing countries' industries are management aspects of finance, technology, and experience. This study aims to develop a management framework for industry development by investigating the aspects of construction industry management in Iraq. However, the precise objectives are finding the constructs and items of Industry Level, Obstacle, and Success Factors. In addition to the literature review, the study comprised interviews and a series of questionnaire surveys. The interviews were conducted with five professional engineers based on prepared structured questions. The sampling method of the questionnaire was simple random sampling. The questionnaire design is based on three consecutive surveys based on a closed-ended question. The questionnaires have two constructs: background information and study objectives questions. The questionnaire was distributed to 103 engineers; however, only 85 to 90 were completed. The techniques used to analyze the data were mean values and ANOVA tests. The results showed that the level of construction industries was low due to obstacles, such as lack of financial allocations, manpower, and central regulations. These obstacles significantly affected investment and development in the industry. Also, the study revealed factors to develop the industry, such as activating the private sector, implementing projects, and satisfying competition. Consequently, a clear relationship exists between the study variables, so overcoming the obstacles of finance and expert manpower satisfied by supporting the investments and private companies. The developed framework consisted of four parts: factors of industry management, aspects of industry level, Obstacle factors, and Success factors. Each one of these parts contains several factors or items. The developed framework is a roadmap for developing the industry.