CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR MANAGING MULTI-SECTOR CONSTRUCTION PORTFOLIOS IN SAUDI ARABIA: A STUDY OF CONCURRENT COMMERCIAL, MEDICAL, AND RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS

Mohammed Ahmed Ali

doi:10.5281/zenodo.22095851

Abstract

Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 agenda has driven an unprecedented expansion of construction activity, with
contractors and program managers increasingly required to deliver commercial, medical, and residential projects
concurrently within a single organizational portfolio. While critical success factors (CSFs) for individual
construction projects are well documented, comparatively little research has examined how these factors behave
when projects from structurally different sectors are managed side by side under shared resource, financial, and
managerial constraints. This study addresses that gap by investigating the CSFs that most strongly influence
performance in multi-sector construction portfolios operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A
quantitative, questionnaire-based design was used to collect data from 120 construction professionals engaged in
concurrent commercial, medical, and residential developments across major Saudi cities. Respondents rated the
importance of 30 candidate CSFs drawn from the literature, and a Relative Importance Index (RII) was calculated
for each factor overall and by sector. The results identify top management commitment, effective cross-project
resource allocation, centralized monitoring and control, clear scope definition, and skilled project management
staffing as the five highest-ranked factors overall, though their relative priority shifts meaningfully across sectors
— medical projects place disproportionate weight on regulatory coordination and monitoring rigor, while
commercial projects emphasize resource allocation and supply-chain coordination. The findings extend lean
construction and critical success factor theory into a multi-sector portfolio context and offer practical guidance
for contractors and program managers seeking to allocate managerial attention across heterogeneous project types.
Limitations related to sample scope and self-reported data are discussed, along with directions for future
longitudinal and case-based research.

Keywords

critical success factors; construction portfolio management; multi-sector projects; Saudi Arabia; Relative Importance Index; project performance

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