Quality of communication processes in public sector in Libya
Communication is the means by which housing employees are linked in order to manage, direct,cooperate, plan, design, and execute housing projects according to standard with high quality andon time. Housing communications are mainly achieved through verbal instructions, letters,reports, design drawings, symbols, signs, and posters through which members of an organisationsend and receive information internally and externally. Instructions must be clear, concise,complete, free of errors, meaningful, relevant, accurate and timely to those receiving them, inorder for successful action to be taken. Ineffective QC is the most frequently cited category of root causes of housing cost, timeoverruns, and housing shortage. It also, results in a quality of service delivery being below therequired standard and establishing housing buildings that fail to meet specified performancerequirements. To tackle the problems of housing shortage, the Libyan government adopted ambitious plans foreconomic development which showed considerable focus on the housing sector in the Gharianarea. Gharian is considered one of the most important municipalities in the mountainous area.The cumulative shortage on housing units was 16,785 units in 2008; in addition to thereplacement of 23,200 old units. To solve this problem, GLPC earmarked $ 25 million (twentyfive million dollars) which represent a 33% of Gharian Municipality Budget to establishintegrated housing complexes, build new units for low income people, and to amend the existingbuildings to fill the gap of housing units. This study aims to investigate and document the main factors that impact on the QC processes inthe Gharian Local Planning Council (GLPC) in Libya, the impact of QC on the main activities ofGLPC; and to provide an appropriate guidance document for implementing QC processes in theGLPC. The research methodology of the study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches.21 Semi-structured interviews, at the pilot study stage, were carried out with housing managersand non-management personnel from the Gharian housing organisation. The semi-structuredinterviews allowed respondents to inform and provide the research with additional issues that hadnot been covered in the literature review. Content analysis was used to analyse the qualitativedata, using Nvivo (V.8) software. In addition, certain questions lent themselves to be betterexplored through postal survey. A total of 118 useable questionnaires, representing a (66%) response rate were received fromsenior, middle, junior managers and non-manager personnel of the Gharian housing organisationin Libya, providing the data base for the quantitative analysis. The Statistical Package for SocialScience Software (SPSS V. 16) was used to analyse the quantitative data and various statisticalmethods, including Mann Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, and factor analysis were conductedon the data. The results of the study reveal that the main factors that impact on the QC in the housing sectorare: organisational structure, organisational culture, information and communication technology,training programmes development, and the recruitment process. These findings were alsoinstrumental in the development of a guidance document on QC. The results of this researchcould assist policy makers when setting the strategic national plans, individual managers toimplement the plans, training developers for developing training programmes, and provide auseful point of information to academics and researchers. There is a need for more empirical studies to explore and document the issues of organisationalstructure, organisational culture, and organisational strategy and their impact on QCs in thehousing sector. An in-depth empirical investigation into the Libyan national culture and itsimpact on implementing guidance on QC is needed and would lead to results of practical utility.A study on other public sectors which adopts similar research methodologies to the current studywould also contribute to the body of knowledge in the communication area.
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