Ethics as a solution to Corruption : a case study of the construction industry in Kenya

The construction industry endures a poor reputation and continues to experience ethical problems manifested in collapsed buildings, corrupt deals and a general lack of honesty. In this paper, the authors present results of an investigation into the prevalent ethical problems in the construction industry in Kenya and their impact on projects. A review of literature on corruption shows that emphasis is placed upon putting in place systems and policies for fighting corruption, yet this has not achieved much results. Literature in construction ethics shows that professional codes and ethics are only effective as far as the people are personally ethical. The method of conducting this study was through in-depth interviews of stakeholders to establish prevalent unethical practices in the industry. The authors present the results from a thematic analysis of perceptions of information-rich subjects from different sectors of the industry. The results show that unethical practices such as collusion, kickbacks and supplanting are mostly due to lack of honesty, greed and the desire to get rich quickly. The study concludes that most unethical practices are due to corrupt individual practices and recommends ways of incorporating ethics both at individual and institutional level

To what extent does personal virtue of project participants affect project management success?

This paper explored the influence of personal virtue or project participants on the success of construction projects. Literature was reviewed on virtue from the point of view of practice. A survey assessed the success of construction projects and evaluated the personal virtues of project participants, and the two were then analysed and correlated. The findings suggested that there was no significant relationship between project management success and personal virtue of project participants. Based on these findings, moral education for practitioners was recommended to sensitize them on the importance of virtues in work for betterment of the practice