Human factors influencing contractors' risk attitudes: a case study of the Malaysian construction industry

Malaysia is one of the most rapidly developing countries among developing nations. The construction industry has played a major role in Malaysia’s rapid economic growth. Among the major sectors in Malaysia, the importance of the construction industry is unique regardless of the level of the country’s development. However, the attitude of the construction industry in Malaysia towards managing contractors’ risk attitudes is very weak. The introduction of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1994 by the Malaysian government made all industries in Malaysia to identify risks, conduct risk assessment and control risk. In addition, the Malaysian construction industry simultaneously implemented an integrated system to ensure consistency and better performance of projects. To identify the factors influencing contractors' risk attitudes, relevant literature was reviewed, and a questionnaire survey was conducted. This study focused on the G7 contractors operating in the Malaysian construction industry. One hundred and nineteen copies of a structured questionnaire were analysed with a response rate of 85%. Structural equation modelling was utilized to test the hypotheses developed for the study. Results showed that government policies played a moderating role in enhancing the relationship between human-related factors affecting contractors’ risk attitudes in the construction industry

Green supply chain nuances in east malaysian construction industry

The antecedent influence of technology innovation, regulatory regimes and stakeholders’ pressure on green supply chain management have been investigated disparately, with mixed results. This study aimed to explore the potential and specific effects of these selection pressure among sampled construction organizations in Sarawak Malaysia using the Triple Embeddedness Framework as an underpinning theory. Using a self-report online survey instrument, we sampled 350 contractors in Sarawak, and 114 responses were received after repeated reminders. However, after removing seven incomplete responses, only 107 usable surveys were considered for data analysis, denoting a response rate of 30.6%. Data screening was then carried out using SPSS version 23, while SmartPLS version 3.2 was used to assess the measurement and structural models. The findings suggest that regulatory pressure and technology orientation positively relate to the contractors’ green supply chain management. There is also a significant mediation of technology orientation in customer, regulatory pressure and green supply chain management relationships. This study contributes to the construction project supply chain body of knowledge by channelling the Triple Embeddedness Framework toward green supply chain management by providing empirical grounds from the hypothesized relationships. Stakeholders’ unification is also suggested for sustainable upstream and downstream integration

Lean business model canvas and sustainable innovation business model based on the industrial synergy of microalgae cultivation

As a fundamental principle of natural resource management, sustainability encompasses a range of interrelated concepts, including operational efficiency, environmental effect minimization, and socioeconomic impact analysis. Microalgae have the capability to minimize CO2 emissions while also generating a large volume of oil, which might make them useful in the development of the next generation of biofuels. The emphasis was on researching the technological possibility of biofuel microalgae cultivation with CO2 provision from flue gas manufacturing due to various factors influencing microalgae production. Biodiesel microalgae, on the other hand, are quiet and far from commercially viable products due to numerous bottlenecks, which can be resolved by recognizing microalgae biomass manufacture as a market advantage when combined with a production facility from the perspective of a lean business model canvas for algae cultivation and sustainable business model innovation. This article aims to establish a lean canvas business model and a sustainable, innovative business model based on the industrial synergy of microalgae cultivation in the biodiesel production pathway. The results have contributed to developing scenarios for lean business model canvas and a sustainable, innovative business model for varying degrees of transition in the business model. Improved collaboration with external stakeholders and the introduction of new consumer networks were among the many examples given. The findings of the study contribute to a better understanding of how the global market for microalgae is changing

Effects Of Contractors’ Delay Factors On Building Project Performance Among Kuantan Malaysian Construction Industry

In Malaysia, construction companies have played a great role in the growth of the country’s economy over the years. Timely completion of construction projects is a major criterion of project success. Failure to complete the project on time will ultimately result in a delay. The need to control the causes of delays during the construction process arise when the number of delay project has been increased from time to time. Hence, it is essential to identify the causes of this problem from the early stage of the construction project. Some studies in the construction field have shown that quality performance by contractors has been decreasing and affecting the organization’s level of advancement in the industry. To address the issue, this paper aims to investigate the significant relationship between contractor experience and building project performance in Kuantan Malaysian construction projects, and to examine the significant relationship between effective communication and building project performance in Kuantan Malaysian construction projects. Eighty-nine (89) construction companies that registered under the CIDB Malaysia among Kuantan, Malaysia construction companies were surveyed. PLS-SEM technique was used in this research to assess both the measurement and structural models. The results showed that contractor experience and effective communication played a significant positive relationship on building project performance among construction companies operating in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia

Sustainable system for supply chain management in the Malaysian manufacturing industries: a review and research direction

Management teams across the industry have made significant improvements in innovative supply chain infrastructure and processes, and their facilities and products have since been significantly improved in several instances. Therefore, each of these businesses has progressed well past simple marginal improvements. Nevertheless, it is essential to be able to function smoothly through deeper connections across the whole supply chain path. It is crucial to combine the market operations, resources, and expertise to accomplish the business performance across the different channel participants in a win-win situation. A total of 77 articles were actively reviewed, including 50 Scopus journals and 27 conference papers spanning from years of publication 2003 to 2020. The implementation of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is a fundamental enabler that may drive businesses to concentrate on addressing environmental challenges and administering social and economic gains. Implementation reveals that this principle helps enterprises to obtain improved production, reduced operational costs and lower inventories. Therefore, this research intends to explain the scope of sustainable supply chain activities and introduce a sustainable supply chain management framework that can improve Malaysian manufacturing industries

The impacts of social responsibility on the environmental sustainability performance of the Malaysian construction industry

Properly harnessed social responsibility is vital for construction organization’s environmental sustainability as it provides are source for their competitive edge in construction project delivery. This study examines the impacts of social responsibility on Malaysian construction firms’ environmental sustainability performance. Across-sectional survey of 185 questionnaires was administered to respondents from Malaysian G7 construction firms. PLS path modelling out comes show that social responsibility and coercive pressure are positive predictors of environmental sustainability performance. The results also established that despite the charitable nature of social responsibility, construction firms are still obliged to be socially responsible through investment in environmental and social responsibility activities. This could result from conformity with guidelines that mandated them to spend on social responsibility activities and secure legitimacy from multiple stakeholders. Our results also reveal that coercive pressure transmits the positive effects of social responsibility on environmental sustainability performance. Thus, it was established that coercive pressure is a positive mediator and a facilitator that plays a complementary role between social responsibility and environmental sustainability performance. The implications and recommendations for future research are also discussed

“I want to serve, but the public does not understand”—An approach to employees’ intention to stay in the Malaysian construction companies

This paper explicitly clarifies an employee’s goal to voluntarily stay in his/her current employment. A large volume of research has concentrated on corporate environments on the causes of workforce turnover. Nevertheless, little was done to investigate workers’ desire to remain, which was the essential parameter in determining their stay in the construction sector. Therefore, this research was undertaken to explore the relationship between job embeddedness (off-the-job and on-the-job and the intent of staying in Malaysian construction companies with the mediating impact of continuance commitment. For the analysis, a simple random under probability sampling technique was used. Of the overall 280 samples surveyed, 243 responded and used it in the report, 86.8% of the response rate. A structural equation modeling approach was used to analyze the direct and indirect relationships as drawn by the hypotheses. This research showed that the component of the off-the-job, on-the-job embeddedness and intention to stay were substantially linked. At the same time, continuance commitment plays a full mediation between the convergence of off-the-job, on-the-job and the intention to stay. These findings suggest that construction companies in Malaysia need to consider organizational and community embeddedness relationships along with continuance commitment in the invention of programs designated to influence workers’ intention to stay on their current jobs

Emerging challenges and sustainability of industry 4.0 Era in the Malaysian construction industry

Today's businesses are challenging what to call a new technological change. Technological advancements are going towards more enhanced internet-based method resolutions. This step is usually pointed to being Industry 4.0 and is supposed to hold the potential for new adaptable, independent products able to manage themselves. By modern technologies, nevertheless, there is additional demand for new skills and qualification demands on the workforce in the construction industry. Moreover, manufacturers or construction companies of today usually have obstacles with hiring newly qualified workers, particularly the younger one. Construction companies are looking to achieve Industry 4.0 would consequently have to maintain the development and education of existing workers while including attracting new workers. The paper objects are to explain what modifications that help achieve a sustainable of industry 4.0 in the construction industry, efficient and recognizing potential developments, understanding hazards connected with economics and supporting the simulation improvement

Examining technology orientation constructs: A validation study

This study validates technology orientation (TO) constructs in the Malaysian construction industry context. Using a well-structured online-administered questionnaire, the data was collected from one hundred and eighty-five representatives of Grade 7 (G7) construction firms comprises of top or middle management level who are involved in the day-to-day running of the firm as well as taking strategic decisions about how the firms are been run like CEO, Executive Director, Managing Director, Construction Managers, and Project Managers). The data was analyzed using Smart-PLS 3 software. Results of this analysis revealed that all the technology orientation’s dimensions namely, technology capability, top management capability, learning (commitment to learning), and unlearning (commitment to change) were highly applicable. Acceptable level of internal consistency, reliability, discriminant validity, and convergent validity for each of the constructs of the technology orientation was established. Based on the outcome of the analysis, it is therefore recommended that the TO instrument are suitable for measuring all the constructs of TO to study how Malaysian construction firms can combine their capabilities to build the assets of the organization and allow them to be utilized in a wellorganized and efficient way

Analysis of some factors driving ecological sustainability in construction firms

Construction management scholars, institutional investors, and construction practitioners are strongly emphasizing firms’ needs to respond adequately to the harmful effects of construction on human societies and the environment. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the environmental dimension of the triple bottom line of sustainability within the construction industry by considering regulatory framework and a set of organizational capabilities (organizational culture, flexible design, quality orientation, product diversity, and customer loyalty) that have been highlighted to aid firms’ achievement of ecological sustainability. Using survey data of Malaysian large construction firms, structural equation modelling was used to confirm the mediating role of organizational capabilities in the regulatory framework and ecological sustainability relationship. The findings of this study established how proactive firm core competencies can strengthen construction businesses in developing nations to discover new avenues of performing environmentally sound construction businesses. It also demonstrated how a favourable regulation targeted at the unique configuration of large construction firms in Malaysian context could contribute to their environmental sustainability performance. The limitations and future research directions are also discussed