Purpose: Lack of strict compliance to the principles of total quality management (TQM) by construction organizations has brought about poor quality of the finished building projects. This has been blamed for the incessant structural failure reported in Nigeria. This study appraised TQM implementation in the Nigerian construction industry, with a view to mitigating structural failure rate of construction projects. To achieve this aim, the study aims to assess the practice level of TQM and the factors hindering TQM implementation on construction projects.Design/methodology/approach: The study utilized a well-structured questionnaire and convenient sampling method in the gathering and sampling of data among construction professionals in Imo state, Nigeria. Data analyses were done using, frequency, percentage, mean analytics and Pareto analysis.Findings: The study revealed that major practice of TQM principles with respect to structural failure rate are purchasing: ensuring the procurement of materials of the specified quality standard, ensuring the use of a quality improvement construction process of the organization, site management responsibility: this entails ensuring quality supervision by the project management leadership and monitoring and control of quality during the construction to guarantee firm observance quality standards. Also, the major factors hindering TQM implementation on construction projects are: inadequacy of the necessary machineries, equipment, tools and facilities for the effective execution of work on construction site; breakdown in communication and information exchange between the management and supervisory teams on site; poor attitudes and strategies toward maintenance of equipment, tools and machines; and absence of prompt salary and incentive payment. It was recommended that construction firms must require the suppliers of construction materials to strictly comply with quality specification evidence in quality certification of delivered materials to mitigate structural failure.Research limitations/implications: This study appraised TQM implementation in the construction industry of Nigeria, with emphasis on Imo state. The study underscores the practice level of TQM and the key factors hindering TQM implementation on construction projects. Following the localized geographical limitation of the study area, a similar research in other part/states of Nigeria or even in other developing countries of African is necessary.Practical implications: The practices level of TQM and the factors hindering TQM implementation were identified. This will be useful in guiding construction firms, other industry's key stakeholders and regulatory agencies in bringing about a sustainable quality management system for improve profit and value maximization and avoiding incessant structural failure.Originality/value: This is one of the few studies that have assessed the practice level of TQM and the factors hindering TQM implementation on construction projects in Nigeria. This study took place in Imo state with records of periodic structural failure and building collapse.

The Nigerian construction industry is largely based on linear and unsustainable approaches, which have resulted in housing deficits, affordability problems and environmental degradation. Though MC contributes to global sustainability, there is limited empirical evidence from developing countries such as Nigeria and its association with SDGs. Underpinned by integrating the triple bottom line (TBL) theory and innovation diffusion theory (IDT), this study fills this gap by critically examining how the adoption of MC in housing production contributes to achieving SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). The structured questionnaire was used to collect 124 data from construction experts using purposive and snowball sampling. With a reliability index of over 0.70, the gathered data was analysed using frequency, percentage, mean score, coefficient of variance (CV), Kruskal-Walli’s test, and Spearman correlation analysis. The study found that the environmental and social benefits of MC have a significant, positive impact on the SDGs 9, 11, and 12. The economic benefits exhibits no statistically significant relationship with SDG 9 and SDG 11 but has a weak statistically significant relationship with the attainment of SDG 12. The novelty of this research is the development and empirical validation of an integrated TBL–IDT framework that quantitatively correlates the environmental, economic and social benefits of MC to the achievement of SDGs 9, 11 and 12 in a developing context. The study advances knowledge on MC and proposes a decision-making framework for the delivering SDG-aligned sustainable housing.

Purpose: Culture is a set of learned mores, values, beliefs, attitudes, and a vital Critical Success Factor (CSF) that impacts project success or failure. The major challenges facing Multinational Construction Firms (MCF’s) working across borders are being able to develop cultural practices that balance global competitiveness and multinational flexibility. Hence MCF’s must develop cultural sensitivity and ability to manage and leverage learning to build future capabilities. Therefore, this study aims to assess the level of implementation of organisational culture amongst MCF’s in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: 307 well-structured questionnaires and 20 semi-structured interviews were administered to construction professionals and firm representatives randomly sampled amongst MCF’s across the South-Eastern States of Nigeria. Data analysis was through frequencies, percentile, Mean Item Score (MIS), and Kruskal-Wallis H Test. Findings: The study found that maintaining cultural standards and adhering strictly to due process (MS = 4.73), integrating the various subsystems of the organisation (MS = 4.52), and making significant changes to the organisation (MS = 4.47) were the top three (3) ranked overall Organisational Cultural Practices (OCP’s) implemented by MCFs. The study also found that 7.14% of OCP’s had very high level while 92.86% had high level of implementation. There is significant difference as firm location has great influence on the extent of implementation of OCP’s among MCFs. However, the desired very high level implementation has not been met across all States in the South-East region of Nigeria. Research limitations/Implications: The limitations include the insecurity situation in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria hindering frequent inter-State traveling of the researchers, difficulty in assessing staff and material documents from MCF’s during the questionnaire and interview session, and difficulty in assessing confidential information from MCF’s by non company management staff. Practical implications: The study recommends that MCF’s ensure a very high level of implementation of OCP’s is attained by directing the decisions and behaviour of management and employees, and focusing on excellent planning and control techniques (knowledge management) in the individual States of the South-East region of Nigeria. Originality/value: The study complements existing literature on the subject area by bridging research gap on the level of implementation of OCP’s amongst MCF’s in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria.

Technology-related barriers represent a significant set of perceived impediments to digital circular economy (CE) adoption. This study investigates the criticality and prioritisation of technology-related barriers to the digital transformation of CE practices in the Nigerian construction industry (NCI). A structured questionnaire was administered using purposive and snowball sampling techniques to collect data from construction professionals in Nigeria. One hundred and sixty-nine (169) valid responses were gathered, and data were analysed using the fuzzy relative importance index (FRII), fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE), sensitivity analysis, Harman’s single-factor test, Kruskal-Wallis test, coefficient of variation (CV) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The results reveal that all the assessed technology-related barriers are highly critical to the adoption of digital technologies (DTs) in CE practices, and the most critical barriers are ‘high investment cost and maintenance burden of enabling technologies’, ‘limited access to enabling technologies’, ‘weak research-to-practice translation leading to few digital CE tools fit for organisations’ use’, ‘low digital/CE literacy’, and ‘technology immaturity’. FSE results indicate the four categories of barriers are very critical, and the sensitivity analyses indicate the robustness and stability of the rankings. This study adopted multiple analytical methods to explore the technology-related barriers to adopting DTs in CE transition and practice in the NCI. It is among the first studies to combine FRII, FSE, and sensitivity analysis to advance knowledge in this underexplored area in construction management. The findings provide empirical evidence to support policymakers, regulators, construction organisations and stakeholders in designing effective interventions to achieve industry-wide CE digitalisation.