The Importance-Performance Analysis of Crisis Management Strategies of Thailand’s Small Construction Business During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a global economic crisis, profoundly impacting human health and presenting substantial operational challenges for businesses and organizations worldwide. The construction industry, in particular, has been severely affected by the adverse consequences of the pandemic. The pandemic-related economic downturn is characterized by slower growth, higher unemployment, supply chain disruptions impacting the availability of construction materials, and decreased investment. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for industry participants to address short-term and long-term market challenges. This study employed Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) to assess respondents’ perceptions of 12 strategies identified from literature reviews. Each strategy was rated using questionnaires on a five-point Likert scale for importance and performance. This study aims to establish practical guidelines for mitigating the impact of the pandemic, including investigating the strategies employed by small construction businesses in Thailand during the pandemic. Thus, the two-dimensional IPA grid is divided into four quadrants: (1) Concentrate Here; (2) Keep up the good work; (3) Low Priority; and (4) Possible Overkill to enable each of the strategies to plot the importance and performance of the IPA grid. The result showed that extending the duration of new projects falls in the Concentrate Here quadrant, which is the most importance and performance strategy that must be improved with top priority, including the need for further improvement efforts for Thailand’s small construction businesses.