INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF MULTICULTURAL TEAM DYNAMICS ON COST PERFORMANCE IN LARGE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Abstract

As project environments increasingly embrace cultural diversity, understanding how multicultural dynamics shape financial performance of construction project has become essential. Large construction projects often experience cost overruns and schedule delays due to multicultural team dynamics and this has resulted to poor project cost performance. This study investigates the effects of multicultural team dynamics on the cost performance of large construction projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. A quantitative research design was adopted and structured questionnaires were administered to 113 professionals across different construction firms with annual turnovers above ₦100 billion. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including correlation and regression techniques, to establish relationships between multicultural factors and cost-related performance metrics. Findings reveal that multicultural backgrounds affect project cost performance, through communication challenges, conflict arising from cultural differences and inconsistent work approaches among team members. The relationship between MTDF and ECP is weak and negative (r = –0.094) with significance value (p = 0.140) indicates that this association is not statistically meaningful. ECP in the regression analysis has a negative unstandardized coefficient (B = -0.156), indicating that larger cost-related effects result in somewhat lower MTDF ratings, albeit this link is not statistically significant (p = 0.074). The study concludes that multicultural dynamics are a major determinant of cost performance in project delivery. It recommends that organizations adopt robust diversity management strategies, intercultural training, and standardized communication protocols to enhance synergy among diverse project teams and improve cost outcomes.