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The UK Construction industry is a wide ranging complex environment with constantly evolving cultural, technical and organisational dynamics. Collaboration systems are used within that environment to store information and aid construction professionals in dealing, manipulating and completing information vital to projects. There are many collaboration systems available to the construction market, but most are based on versions used in other less similar industries. As a result though the software packages available to work at a level acceptable to the major construction contractors, they are not fully satisfying the customers need. The quality of the software available currently could be improved. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a Japanese product development tool developed in the 1960s. It is a quality system for strategic competitiveness; it maximises positive quality that adds value; it seeks out spoken and unspoken customer requirements, translates them into technical requirements, prioritises them and directs the process to optimise those features that will bring the greatest competitive advantage. QFD has been applied largely anonymously to software in the United States of America, and sparingly to construction within the UK. Blitz QFD is a form of QFD that focuses specifically on the essential quality items of the customer. This method could be implemented within the construction industry creating a fully auditable transfer of customer needs to essential software design features. Blitz QFD would be a valuable development methodology in a construction industry that demands faster, user focused project collaboration software where the user's needs are not currently being satisfied.

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The objective of this thesis is to investigate Total Quality Management (TQM) as a means of making the Saudi construction industry more efficient. The thesis also examines the effect of TQM on industry in general. Although TQM is a management concept that has been implemented in many industries effectively and with encouraging results, adopting TQM in the construction industry is more challenging due to its unique characteristics. The research has examined the compliance of the Saudi contractors and design offices with the principles of TQM qualitatively through personal interviews, and quantitatively through a mailing questionnaire. The objective of this part of the thesis is to determine the levels of industry compliance with the principles of TQM, and to detect the potential obstacles to compliance. In addition, this thesis has examined the effectiveness of TQM implementation in the Saudi construction industry. A case study of TQM implementation in one of the largest project owners (client) in Saudi Arabia has been reported and analysed. In addition, the findings of interviews with contracting companies, to determine the effectiveness of TQM as a solution to the problems of the Saudi construction industry, have been reported and discussed. Furthermore, practical TQM implementation experience in a small construction firm has been reported to augment the findings of other sources, namely the personal interviews and the questionnaire. The interviews with the contractors identified the major problems of the Saudi construction industry, which have been reported in this research. These problems have been further investigated in order to determine their significance through the mailing of a questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire have been reported and analysed in this study. The thesis has discussed those problems that have been identified statistically as significant (major) problems, and proposed solutions to them.

The thesis is concerned with the implementation of Total Quality Management principles in a construction company in the United Arab Emirates. Three case studies regarding the progress of TQM implementation in the concerned company are highlighting successes, failures and difficulties, and are assessing results through the review of Key Performance Indicators set by the organisation. Progress in TQM implementation is externally confirmed by recognitions granted by a governmental TQM award body. Critical Success Factors, as identified through Total Quality Management literature review, are reviewed in the light of the TQM implementation experience of the company considered, and recommendations and guidelines for similar organisations are drawn from this experience.