The Nigerian Construction Industry (NCI) is constantly criticised for its ailing
performance as evident in the rising spate of dissatisfaction among its clients and
stakeholders. Recently the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) stipulate that
procurement of public assets and services must be through the ‘application of valuefor-money
(VfM) standards and practices’, as a way of improving service delivery.
Value Management (VM) seems an accepted approach for achieving VfM globally.
But how feasible is its adoption in NCI? This paper studied the adoptability of the
VM in NCI by identifying its determinants particularly at early stages of building
projects. The study adopts a theoretical approach towards identifying the dissonances
between procurement practice in NCI and that required for adopting the VM. Drawing
from theoretical considerations, 26 characteristics describing the planning and
contract strategy stages of the NCI were arrived at. Four aspects were further
identified for classifying VM requirements namely Environment, People,
Issues/Information and Process. The dissonances of Environment and People were
generally ‘low’ or ‘moderate’ while those for Issues and Process are either ‘high’ or
‘very high’. These considerations lends to the theoretical conclusion that, given the
current nature of NCI, VM is not adoptable. Although, subject to empirical validation,
VM can be adopted if the NCI pursue measures at engaging stakeholders on team
basis, implementing construction programmes that are effective; exploring the
concept of ‘partnering’ to reduce the fragmentations in project values; strengthening
client organisation to provide strong leadership with a high degree of commitment
and involvement, amongst others.