Application of Theory of Constraints in quantity surveying firm

As the construction projects grow in size and complexity, the roles of Quantity Surveying (QS) firms which provide QS services getting more significant. Theory of Constraints (TOC) views every process in a system are linked and bottleneck constraint needs to be identified and dealt with so that to achieve continuous improvement in the whole operation. So far, no research conducted on bottleneck constraints in QS firms working environment as well as the application of TOC to the constraints. Removing constraints are the most effective way to improve the overall system performance. As QS firm does not involve inventory, the TOC application and its impacts might be different. This research focused on how TOC approach could be applied in solving the bottleneck constraint appeared in the QS firm. This study adopted questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews with QS practitioners, which directly involved in the management of the QS firm. Descriptive and content analysis are adopted to analyse the identified bottleneck constraint, TOC methodology used to deal with the constraint, as well as the impacts of TOC to the QS firms. The discussion outcome further explains the TOC methodology used to deal with the constraint appeared and the impacts of applying it. In overall, the most common bottleneck constraint in the QS firms is the delay of other project participants. TOC can be applied in QS firm working environment and it brings positive impacts as it aids in the decision-making in QS firms.