Student Learning Experiences in Higher Education: Investigating a Quantity Surveying Programme in Malaysia

Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a crucial role in fostering quality education. This paper examines the attributes that influence student learning experiences in a quantity surveying (QS) programme in a Malaysian private HEI and uncovers the underlying factors involved. The significance of these attributes as recognised by the students, obtained through a questionnaire survey, are subsequently presented. The findings reveal that the five most important attributes are closely related to the lecturer, namely the lecturer’s preparedness, responsiveness, interpersonal and communication skills, clarity and academic experiences. An exploratory factor analysis identifies the five major underlying factors to be the quality of academic learning to relate to professionalism and competency of lecturers, quality of academic services and support facilities, interpersonal connections and external considerations, curriculum structure and physical environment and facilities. Understanding these factors could help HEIs to devise effective strategies to enhance the quality of service and programme in higher education, which can result in a greater impact on the effectiveness of contemporary QS education and the reputation of the HEI as well as fostering student satisfaction and loyalty

Barriers to the adoption of new safety technologies in construction: a developing country context

The adoption rate of new technologies is still relatively low in the construction industry, particularly for mitigating occupational safety and health (OSH) risks, which is traditionally a largely labor-intensive activity in developing countries, occupying ill-afforded non-productive management resources. However, understanding why this is the case is a relatively unresearched area in developing countries such as Malaysia. In aiming to help redress this situation, this study explored the major barriers involved, firstly by a detailed literature review to identify the main barriers hampering the adoption of new technologies for safety science and management in construction. Then, a questionnaire survey of Malaysian construction practitioners was used to prioritize these barriers. A factor analysis further identified six major dimensions underlying the barriers, relating to the lack of OSH regulations and legislation, technological limitations, lack of genuine organizational commitment, prohibitive costs, poor safety culture within the construction industry, and privacy and data security concerns. Taken together, the findings provide a valuable reference to assist industry practitioners and researchers regarding the critical barriers to the adoption of new technologies for construction safety management in Malaysia and other similar developing countries, and bridge the identified knowledge gap concerning the dimensionality of the barriers

Assessing the expected current and future competencies of quantity surveyors in the Malaysian built environment

Purpose: Quantity surveying is a profession that blends engineering, construction and economics. To be competent is to have the ability to apply the set of related knowledge, skills and abilities to perform a task effectively. This paper examines the competency requirements for quantity surveyors (QSs) in the face of changing and increasing client needs. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a detailed meta-analysis of the literature, 12 basic/core and 16 evolving competencies are identified. Primary data were gathered through a field survey involving practicing QSs from client, consultant and contractor organisations, and university students undertaking QS programmes in Malaysia. The data obtained were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Findings: The significance of the basic/core and evolving competencies are presented. Overall, the most important contemporary skills are cost planning, valuation of works, measurement/quantification and contract documentation. The evolved roles require expertise in communication and negotiation, ethics and professional conduct and value management. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates there are misaligned expectations of the proficiency levels needed to provide contemporary and future services between practitioners in client/consultant organisations, contractors and new generation students. Originality/value: The findings provide guidance on the education, training and practice of quantity surveying to deal with emerging challenges in the dynamic built environments in Malaysia and beyond.</p

Ameliorating time and cost control with project learning and communication management: Leveraging on reusable knowledge assets

Purpose: Legions of projects fail to attain their time and cost objectives due to ineffective coordination. This is often due to a lack of essential learning from projects because of insufficient communication and working experience. One of the key reasons why this occurs is that managers are unaware of what knowledge needs to be retained. In contrast with knowledge management research, which mostly focuses on the systems and processes for capturing, storing, and retrieval of knowledge, this paper investigates the nature of project communication and learning and their role on project time and cost control. Design/methodology/approach: A stratified proportional purposive sampling approach was adopted in choosing the interview participants for the study. They are experienced industry practitioners working on building construction projects in Malaysia. Content analysis was then performed on the interview data. The identified variables were further validated by 11 industry experts from the three primary construction stakeholders. Findings: The results of a series of 12 in-depth interviews with industry practitioners are provided to reveal the effective communication tools for sharing and learning in a project-based environment, the learning inducing situations involved, and the use of reusable project experiences to improve project time and cost control. Research limitations/implications: A possible limitation of the study is its focus on a small group of Malaysian practitioners delimits the generalizability of the findings. Originality/value: A two-phase model with three-step project management process of input, tools, and output is developed from the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide as an aid for more effective knowledge reuse in project time and cost control in the future.</p

Investigating design changes in Malaysian building projects

The complexity and uncertainties associated with construction projects mean that contracts invariably provide sufficient flexibility for changes in design as the work proceeds. However, the concomitant effects of this arrangement often cause time and cost control to be adversely affected–resulting in schedule delays and cost overruns. In seeking an improved understanding, this study aimed to identify the specific causes of design changes and their implications –cost performance of Malaysia-based building projects. A total of 39 causes were first identified through a comprehensive literature review and, in conjunction with 12 semi-structured interviews with experienced construction industry practitioners, then categorised into those originating from clients, consultants, contractors, site and external sources. A questionnaire survey of 338 clients, consultants and contractors was then analysed to infer and rank the identified causes and their overall effect. The research reveals that building projects in Malaysia encounter time–cost overruns of 5–20% due to design changes. Lack of coordination among various professional consultants, change of requirements/specification, addition/omission of scope, erroneous/discrepancies in design documents and unforeseen ground conditions are the five most significant causes. The analysis also reveals considerable heterogeneity of perceptions between the respondent groups of the most significant causes of design changes, attributed to the adversarial culture within the industry

Capturing and reusing knowledge: analysing the what, how and why for construction planning and control

Learning from project experience is still lacking in the area of construction planning and control. A significant challenge is in deciding precisely ‘what’ engenders learning and ‘how’ knowledge can be reused. This study appraises critical learning situations (CLS) and the types of project knowledge to be reused to sustainably build capacity and improve the performance of construction projects. Given the underexplored area of study, an exploratory sequential mixed method research approach was adopted. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts and local practitioners to gain an in-depth insight into CLS and reusable project knowledge (RPK) pertinent to construction projects. Further, questionnaire survey responses from 338 construction practitioners in Malaysia were analysed. The findings reveal that construction time and cost control make a significant positive impact when past project experiences enhance expert judgements and stimulate knowledge reuse on future projects. Thus, the effective and efficient management of project knowledge should be optimised and considered of strategic value, giving rise to improved competency and sustainability within the construction industry.</p

A Conceptual Framework for Managing Design Changes in Building Construction

Design changes have always been an innate feature of the construction industry. Despite the various project management techniques, many building construction projects still fail to achieve their time and cost objectives. This paper aims to focus on design changes as a major cause of time delays and cost overruns. It seeks to discuss the causing factors of design changes in building construction projects and highlighting the resulting rework that is detrimental to project performance. Hence, this paper also aims to present a conceptual framework which was developed to better manage design changes through clued-up management decision to avoid future claims and disputes. Recent and current literature is examined and reviewed. The review approach was based on related literature to identified themes. The existing literature is summarised into five discrete themes of “design changes”, “rework”, “time and cost overruns”, “communication” and “decision-making”. The synthesised literature is subsequently utilised in the development of conceptual map which provided the direction for designing the conceptual framework. Extensive review of preceding studies on causes of time and cost overruns reveals that design changes is identified as one of the significant factors. However, there are limited studies in this domain. The discussion presents a knowledge gap of linking design changes and rework with decision-making in project management. This finding suggests the need for further empirical study. The framework stresses the importance of communication and management decision as the control mechanism. Researchers and practitioners in construction management field will find this study useful in understanding the causing factors of design changes and its detrimental impacts to project performance which risk the project to claims and disputes. The conceptual framework presents an imperative outcome to encourage further research in developing conceptual causal model of design changes which shows the key causal variables and their feedback loops