THE APPLICATION OF EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT FOR TIME AND COST MONITORING WITHIN THE MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The management of construction projects are becoming more challenging for civil engineers in the 21st century due to increasingly competitive performance expectations from the project stakeholders. However, among the financial and non-financial performance indicators, time and cost monitoring of construction projects are the critical issues for an effective project management. The traditional approach of project time and cost performance measurement is generally based on direct monitoring in which there is a split-up between them. Both of these parameters are measured and reported in isolation with each other by comparing their planned and actual values. Therefore, the traditional monitoring approach does not truly relate the time versus cost performance of the project. Furthermore, this approach is not so much efficient to provide early warning indicators and forecast future performance trends. As a remedy of these limitations in traditional monitoring practices, Earned Value Management (EVM) methodology integrates the work scope, cost and schedule to enable effective project performance measurement. EVM is based on three data sources and is able to compare the budgeted value of work scheduled (PV) with the Earned Value (EV) of physical work completed and the Actual Cost (AC) of work completed. Hence, performance data achieved by using EVM is an objective measure of actual work performed and can be used for the future performance analysis and forecasting. Due to these advantages, this study has proposed EVM method and extends its knowledge and applications for the Malaysian construction industry. The proposed study is based on a mixed methodology that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methods and is designed into three phases. The first phase is based on a quantitative survey that aims to obtain a perception, understanding, barriers and enablers of EVM method for the local construction industry. The second and third phases will subsequently employ qualitative data collection and analysis of EVM applications through case studies and semi structured interviews. The questionnaire feedbacks were analyzed by using statistical tools such as frequency analysis, cross-tabulation, average index analysis, spearman’s correlation and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance to establish findings. This survey reveals that although the EVM methodology is recognized by the practitioners of local construction industry, nevertheless it is not very much in use. As 80% of the respondents are not practicing EVM method in their working environment. The survey has identified the “lack of EVM knowledge, expertise and experience” as the most important barriers. The study has found that there is a good degree of agreement among the respondents regarding the potential enablers of EVM method. The analysis of descriptive case studies explores the applications of EVM in different project scenarios. The study has also determined from the perspective of construction experts that EVM methodology would facilitate the clients and contractors in terms of integrated cost, schedule, and technical performance measures. The overall findings of this study support the application of EVM as a standardized project control method for the Malaysian construction industry

THE APPLICATION OF EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT FOR TIME AND COST MONITORING WITHIN THE MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The management of construction projects are becoming more challenging for civil engineers in the 21st century due to increasingly competitive performance expectations from the project stakeholders. However, among the financial and non-financial performance indicators, time and cost monitoring of construction projects are the critical issues for an effective project management. The traditional approach of project time and cost performance measurement is generally based on direct monitoring in which there is a split-up between them. Both of these parameters are measured and reported in isolation with each other by comparing their planned and actual values. Therefore, the traditional monitoring approach does not truly relate the time versus cost performance of the project. Furthermore, this approach is not so much efficient to provide early warning indicators and forecast future performance trends. As a remedy of these limitations in traditional monitoring practices, Earned Value Management (EVM) methodology integrates the work scope, cost and schedule to enable effective project performance measurement. EVM is based on three data sources and is able to compare the budgeted value of work scheduled (PV) with the Earned Value (EV) of physical work completed and the Actual Cost (AC) of work completed. Hence, performance data achieved by using EVM is an objective measure of actual work performed and can be used for the future performance analysis and forecasting. Due to these advantages, this study has proposed EVM method and extends its knowledge and applications for the Malaysian construction industry. The proposed study is based on a mixed methodology that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methods and is designed into three phases. The first phase is based on a quantitative survey that aims to obtain a perception, understanding, barriers and enablers of EVM method for the local construction industry. The second and third phases will subsequently employ qualitative data collection and analysis of EVM applications through case studies and semi structured interviews. The questionnaire feedbacks were analyzed by using statistical tools such as frequency analysis, cross-tabulation, average index analysis, spearman’s correlation and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance to establish findings. This survey reveals that although the EVM methodology is recognized by the practitioners of local construction industry, nevertheless it is not very much in use. As 80% of the respondents are not practicing EVM method in their working environment. The survey has identified the “lack of EVM knowledge, expertise and experience” as the most important barriers. The study has found that there is a good degree of agreement among the respondents regarding the potential enablers of EVM method. The analysis of descriptive case studies explores the applications of EVM in different project scenarios. The study has also determined from the perspective of construction experts that EVM methodology would facilitate the clients and contractors in terms of integrated cost, schedule, and technical performance measures. The overall findings of this study support the application of EVM as a standardized project control method for the Malaysian construction industry

Allelopathic Effect of Methanol and Water Extracts of \u3cem\u3eCamellia sinensis\u3c/em\u3e L. on Seed Germination and Growth of \u3cem\u3eTriticum aestivum\u3c/em\u3e L. and \u3cem\u3eZea mays\u3c/em\u3e L.

This study describes the possible effects of tea residues on crop production. To investigate the negative effects of tea on two cereal crops, i.e. wheat and maize, laboratory experiments were conducted during May 2014 and repeated in June 2014 to study the effect of black tea extract on wheat and maize seeds’ germination and growth. The experiment was conducted in petri dishes and laid out in completely randomized designs, replicated thrice. The petri dishes were kept in a growth chamber, with the temperature set at 25°C. 50 g of each dried fresh and used black tea was separately soaked in 500 ml of hot and cold distilled water. The same amount of tea residue was soaked in 500 ml of methanol. Ten seeds of each wheat variety (Siran) and maize variety (Azam) were placed in each petri dish. 10 ml of each extract was applied to each petri dish according to the requirement. A control (distilled water) was used for comparison. Analysis of the data revealed that tea extract significantly suppressed seed germination and the growth of wheat and maize. Methanol extracts, on the other hand, completely inhibited seed germination. The negative effects of tea extracts on seed germination of crops warns that apart from polluting the soil, the crop production could be greatly affected by dumping tea waste in agricultural fields. However, used cautiously, the application of tea extract can be used to suppress the growth of weeds in agriculture

Teachers’ Self-Assessment of Their Teaching Effectiveness at Higher Secondary Level in Pakistan: A Case Study

Self-assessment is a process of continuous reflection, self-monitoring, and selfjudgment, to review an individual’s strengths and weaknesses and helps to discover areas which need improvement. It involves an individual’s learning from his experiences, by judging his personal, educational as well as his professional performance. Selfassessment enables teachers to get control over their progress. It can serve as one of the most influential tools for the measurement of teacher quality. The researcher of this study administered a questionnaire which consisted of two parts. Part one comprised of SITE II (Self-assessment Instrument for Teacher Evaluation II) on which teachers rated themselves, and part two was designed to explore teachers’ opinion about the effectiveness of self-assessment. The sample comprised of 107 teachers of higher secondary level. The basic motive of the researcher was to enhance learning through self-assessment to know if such self-assessment exercises may promote quality teaching in classrooms. It was found that the respondents viewed that self-assessment helps them understand their strengths and weaknesses. It establishes teachers’ involvement in self-learning, which can serve as a sound basis in the teaching process. By doing self-assessment, teachers can re-consider as to how they are teaching in their classrooms

The Mediating Role of Benefit Management for Sustaining the Performance of Infrastructure Projects

Benefit management is a valuable approach, promoted and supported by strategic management for maximizing organizational benefits. It has also been recognized as a means of improving project performance, though more research is needed to understand how it works. This research adds to the contemporary literature on public sector project management by studying the links between project governance, benefit management, and project performance from a developing country perspective. This study provides insights for project professionals who are working in government organizations for optimizing the benefits of investment. The study provides a reference to formulate strategies for managing and governing the performance of government-funded projects in developing countries like Pakistan. The research uses a positivist approach and quantitative design. The quantitative technique is employed to address all the aspects of the study. The structural equation modeling revealed that benefit management acted as a mediating factor in the relationship between project governance dimensions and public sector project performance. This study highlights the importance of incorporating a comprehensive benefit management approach to streamline the benefit management process by aligning projects with the organizational strategy for sustaining project performance. These findings stress the need for a comprehensive benefit management approach in improving the project performance of government-sponsored projects. The study attempts to improve the understanding of project professionals about the role and significance of benefit management, which will be helpful to get organizational support for the employees who are striving to improve the project performance in Pakistan

An empirical study of emotional labor on customer loyalty intentions with mediating role of perceived service quality in banking sector

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between emotional labor and customer loyalty intentions. Investigating the mediating role of perceived service quality between the above variables is another objective of the study. The theoretical model of the effect of employee emotional labor on customer loyalty intentions having mediation of perceived service quality has been developed and tested. Causal research design on quantitative collected data provided support for the hypotheses from a sample of 350 bank customers in Malakand division KP, Pakistan. The results showed that employee emotional labor dimensions such as deep acting and Surface acting differentially affect customers' loyalty intentions. Furthermore, the effect of Deep acting on customer loyalty intentions is more than the effect of Surface acting. Researcher also investigate the potential mediating effect of perceived service quality on the relationship between emotional labor and customer loyalty intentions and find good support for such an effort from results

Analytical analysis of the magnetic field, heat generation and absorption, viscous dissipation on couple stress casson hybrid nano fluid over a nonlinear stretching surface

The aim of this research paper is to study two-dimension flow of Casson hybrid nanofluid along with magnetic field, heat generation and absorption, and viscous dissipation on a nonlinear extending surface. The primary goal of this study is to improve the heat transfer relationship, which is in high demand in the manufacturing and engineering industries. The outputs of this study will be used to reduce the energy consumption in industry and other engineering fields,for example, the achievement of energy is not enough, but also to adjust the con-sumptions of energy and this is possible only to approve the development heat transmission liquids to mechanism the expenditures of energy and to improvement. The described similarity transformation is used to convert the non-dimensionless form of the nonlinear partial differential equation to the dimensionless form of the nonlinear ordinary differential equation. An approximate analytical method is used to solve the derived dimensionless form of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, one for velocity and the other for temperature. Graphs are used to highlight the most relevant results acquired from velocity and temperature. Tables are used to describe the skin friction coefficient and the Nusselt number.The work of U·F.G. was supported by the government of the Basque Country for the ELKARTEK21/10KK-2021/00014 and ELKARTEK22/85 research programs, respectively

The impact of safety and health towards construction workforce productivity

The purpose of this research is to study the impact of safety and health towards construction workforce productivity among G3 contractor in Kuantan, Pahang. Previous research found that poor performance of time and budget, wastage in site and low productivity are mainly caused by the safety and health issues happen in construction industry. The lack of safety concern based on insufficient safety compliance and poor attitude towards safety. While poor safety measure on working environment and material storage causes injuries and accident that affect works in site. Lack of health concern base on physical health issue we discuss about respiratory illness and mental health issue about stress and burnout has found affect the most among construction workers. Quantitative research is used to collect data and analyse by using PLS-SEM model. The data has applied to test the hypothesis based on the research objective. This research has collected 152 responses from G3 contractor workers in Kuantan, Pahang. Hence, the result of this survey is slightly limited but it could be used as a reference for future study base on safety and health topic

Important Determinants of Informal Entrepreneurs

Informal entrepreneurs operate in a shadowy sector where they produce legal goods but do not register their businesses under the requirement of government authorities. Hidden practices of entrepreneurs are a persistent problem for both developed and developing nations. Academic scholars and policymakers considered that public institutes are responsible for this occurrence where taxes rate too high, tough registration procedure with high cost, and political instability are considered significant. In this study, factor model is struggled to investigate the important determinants of informal entrepreneurs. The authors collected survey-based data from 30 markets of Lahore city, provincial capital city of Pakistan. Snowball sampling technique used for picking the respondents because no comprehensive list of informal entrepreneurs is existing in these markets. Sample size was 1200 and 40 structured interviews were conducted in each market with the help of four trained interviewers. Shockingly, this study reveals that not only institutional factors are the most serious but also individual and structural factors are also play a positive role to stay in informal entrepreneurship, at least in developing nations. The outcomes of this study will help policymakers who work to minimize and mitigate the informal activities. Findings verified that individual and structural factors also have a significant role in the development of informal entrepreneurship culture. Government departments and other regulatory agencies can be considered important factors for taking policy decision to minimize the size of such enterprises. This paper is pioneer to factorize the individual, structural, and institutional based determinants to explore the most important reasons for informal entrepreneurs

Importance and Challenges of SMEs: A Case of Pakistani SMEs

This paper attempt to highlight the importance and challenges that SMEs facing now a days. The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) regarded as a key contributor in progression of an economy and main pillar of GDP of any country. SMEs are the major source in generating employment. Generally, the large firms are often thought as the larger contributors towards the economic development and foreign exchange earnings but now this point of view has been changed because countries like Korea, Taiwan, and Japan have developed and boosted their economies through the Small and Medium Enterprises businesses