Thesis on A study of the effect on Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods/Industrialised Building Systems in the Malaysian Building Industry

Chapter 1

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

The contemporary business environment is undergoing a metamorphosis as rapid technological innovations, competitive markets, diverse customer preferences, and extensive global operations prevail in it. To ensure continuous operation and survival in today’s rigid business environment, a company has to be open to change and improvement. Business processes, services, products and operations should be consistently subject to evaluation and refinement (Roberts, H 1993). The norm is to deliver quality output while maintaining flexible and effective operations.

            Ensuring quality operations is a vital concern for most businesses. Business organizations exist with an ultimate purpose to fulfill for the staff, partners, clients, shareholders and the society at large. In turn, these groups pose certain expectations from the organization.  The scope of this research is limited to the construction industry in Malaysia. In practice,  the construction industry has embarked on innovation and modern methods of construction as compared to the traditional construction methods that has so far been carried out. Innovation is an essential feature that the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) of Malaysia attempts to pursue. There is a concerted effort by the CIDB to be a proponent for development of new technologies and techniques of construction in order to affect a positive change in the quality of local construction. This study will look at the effects of implementation of these technologies on the quality of construction and its tandem affect on cost and time.

Dry construction generally refers to the use of dry materials and associated methodologies, such as aerated autoclave concrete, light weight concrete, gypsum board, plywood or wallboard in construction, excluding the application of plaster or mortar. Wet construction refers to any method which is generally in-situ and requires much on-site preparations. Industrialized building systems, modular systems and other forms are important facets of dry construction methods and are essential to their successful implementation. The general aim of this study is to compare the efficiency of dry construction vis-à-vis wet construction techniques in terms of quality parameters.

The predominant form of construction in Malaysia is still wet or in-situ construction, but there is greater pressure to change to dry construction techniques in order to affect positive effects on quality, shortened project duration and lowering of costs through reduction of wastes and repetitive practices.

 

Premise

The premise of this research is that dry construction methods promote the improvement in quality of construction in the Malaysian building industry. Dry construction has been utilized with relative success in construction industries in other countries and has in some cases proven very effective in raising the quality of building projects while reducing or maintaining costs and reducing construction time.

This study thus attempts to investigate whether the aforementioned affects of dry methods are true in the case of the Malaysian construction industry. If it is an affirmation of dry construction methods, what are the main reasons and actions put into place to make it so. If it is a negation of these methods, what needs to be done to encourage dry methods to be utilized in the local construction scene. In both cases, an investigation of the degree of industrialization of the local building construction processes will be determine to set a baseline on levels of utilization of dry methods.

 

Statement of the Problem

In this study, quality will be the main parameter considered while that of time and cost is secondary effects investigated. The documentation of construction programs, the bills or financial statements and the specifications differ based on which construction technique the project manager and also engineers and architects will decide to use. Topical at the moment are quality control and quality assurance issues. Quality could be defined in two ways: characteristics and perception. As such, a construction project must have specified and quantifiable characteristics and depend on the subjective reaction of the people regarding the project. Quality efficiency is a must in the construction and building industry. The question worthy of researching is: How do dry and wet construction techniques differ in the adherence of quality standards required and what are the similarities or differences in construction quality performance indicators if dry or wet construction technique is employed? Likewise, will there be similarities and differences in time and cost performance indicators depending on the techniques used. Other issues that the study attempts to address are:

Identification of key practices/initiatives which promotes/discourage the use of dry construction techniques.

In what situations are wet construction techniques preferred over dry construction techniques.

 

Research Aims and Objectives

The main purpose of this research is to determine whether dry construction methods gives more benefits than wet ones with respect to the quality of construction primarily and to time and cost factors secondarily. The study looks at:

§  How dry construction will be beneficial in completing a construction project with better quality within specified time allocated.

§  Decide on which construction technique is preferred by industry experts and practitioners in Malaysia and why.

 

Roadmap

A roadmap of the research can be illustrated by the flow chart below

 

 

Some performance indicators as mentioned in the flow chart above is suggested below:

•         Quality:

–        Number of NCRs / Total project size (in RM or in terms of volume) a smaller the better (NCR = non-conformance reports)

–        Total cost of rework / Total cost of project  a  smaller the better

–        Number of laborers / Total cost of project a Higher ratio indicates lower degree of prefabrication

–        Number of accidents / Total number of workers in the project a smaller the better

•         Time:

–        Amount of time on rework / Amount of time to complete task a smaller the better

–        Amount of preparation time/Total project time a Higher ratio means higher industrialization

•         Cost

–        Cost of site preparation / Total cost of project a Higher ratio indicates high degree of prefabrication

–        Cost of transportation / Total cost of project a Higher ratio indicates high degree of prefabrication

–        Number of laborers / Total cost of project a Higher ratio indicates lower degree of prefabrication

–        Number of machinery (cost) / Total cost of project  a Higher ratio indicates higher degree of prefabrication

  

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

 

This chapter shall be discussing the findings of related researches to this study. The contents of this portion of the study is gathered and collated from its secondary data. Actually, innovation such as implementation of dry building methods in accordance to quality management in Building Industry with respect to their organizational culture is presently one of the important aspects for business efficiency and success. Basically, most studies have shown the advantages of having an established TQM practices, innovation efforts, organizational culture, including increased profitability, enhanced customer satisfaction and developed workforce (Denison, D.R., and Mishra, A.K., 1995). While this is so, other studies claimed that organizational changes in culture can also lead to failures (Hansen, G.S., and Wernerfelt, B., 1989). Though findings tend to have certain conflicts, the bottom line of this issue is that cultural assessment and the effective strategies for overcoming challenges on cultural change should be emphasized in order for the organization to survive and produce quality service/products (Hansen, G.S., and Wernerfelt, B., 1989).

As the application of innovation efforts, TQM and assessment of organisational culture has been highly recognised in the business field, the principle and theories supporting this concept would have to be defined. Thus, this study aims to increase the general understanding with regards to organisational culture as well gain additional knowledge about its impact to service quality of Malaysian Building Industry. Furthermore, this study aims to identify the effect on Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods in the Malaysian Building Industry and their operation as a whole. 

 

Planning and Execution

            Project life-cycle generally consists of four phases (in order); namely: concept and initiation, design and development, implementation or construction, and commission or handover (Burke, 2003, p. 24).  Planning and execution stage are likely synonymous to the second and third stages which situate them in the middle of the project life-cycle.  In this position, planning has the highest potential to add value as well as the level of influence throughout the whole project.  On the other hand, execution has the highest cost of change (p. 24).  Since the success of the latter is precedent to the success of the former, poor management in planning alone can cost one to several objectives of the project.  However, underestimating execution contingencies to support or enhance planning inadequacies and loopholes can cause the same. 

            Planning can also refer to several planning steps throughout the whole project not just a single or overlapping phase.  In fact, it is what the project participants used to build key objectives under project charter (p. 95).  As poor management takeovers this crucial undertaking, they may be installing over- or under-estimated value of the project.  Thus, irrational objectives could be created.  In addition, going further back into project selection, inability to carry-on key objectives that initially made the project acceptable as the project accelerates can entirely deter its value-adding potential.  For example, new technology (selected for customer-value centrism) is cheaply funded (cost-savings centrism) which resulted to sub-standard parts (defeats the former and supports the latter). 

            Theoretically, poor project management can be a cause of internal conflict and inadequate authority (Stuckenbruck, 1981, p. 9).  The former is characterized by poor schedule and budget control because of the absence of cooperation between the project team and functional organizations.  This readily explains how the planning stage under the project life-cycle can be ineffectively made with this situation.  As a result, time and cost objectives are at risk of distortion.  As the project team would want to keep the objectives, the conflict can induce bottlenecks especially in coordination.  In effect, the project team is bound to devise tactics to solve such bottlenecks which ultimately result in limiting the scope of the project, revising the original objectives and attempting to stand on their own. 

            The latter is highlighted by non-commitment of resources, personnel and facilities to the project as the top-management failed to provide backing on the project manager.  The negative symptom of this is likely to emerge in the execution phase where the planned schedule and resource proposals are not diligently followed.  There can be delays in issuing budgets to pay for supplier invoice or using project members to do other responsibilities that can hamper project efficiency.  As a result, output targets like cash flows or early completion are reduced on their probability to be obtained.  Task floats that can be used for flexibility to delay or expedite certain activities can be exhausted due to such symptoms.

            However, with these circumstances, project objectives are not entirely unattainable because usually there are trade-offs. Using the integrated risk management model, project objectives can be transcribed to three most crucial project elements which is time, cost and quality (Burke, 2003, p. 257).  Quality is the most complex and difficult to discern making it also difficult to evaluate.  The management can simply choose their best engineers and maybe in the right position to assume a quality output.  However, their assessment can only be figured out after testing and completion of the project.  As such, this situates cost and time in the forefront of project analysis and consideration to become the foundation of objectives.

            The banana curve clearly shows the trade-off between time and cost (Burke, 2003, p. 207).  When project time is reduced, the cost usually escalates while the reverse is likely true.  For a project initiated by an average manufacturer, the curve is very useful to obtain optimal returns from the project.  This trade-off can be represented by two conflicting project objectives such as “To be able to finish the project as early as possible to position resources on their regular responsibilities and early inflows from the finished project” and “To implement the project efficiently to reduce the risk of loss and maximize project returns”.  From this, priority is necessary for effective decision-making.  This goes beyond time, cost or quality aspects but on how much the company believes on the feasibility of the project to provide benefits.  But the question is “What is the ultimate objective of the project?”

            As such, when a poor project management occurred in the planning phase, task schedules may not obtain their optimal levels (e.g. allow maximum floatation for flexibility and contingencies) but the conflict may as well teach project members to be resourceful and put the project to a greater level.  Thus, a certain project objective (maybe an implicit one) that contributes to other project management knowledge areas like information communications is achieved even though schedule optimization has been a failure.  This is the same for execution stage.  When a contingent action is proposed and there is no support from the top-management, governance mechanisms (maybe another implicit objective) are adopted. 

            It is necessary for project managers and top-management to provide an identity to the project at hand.  This will concretize the importance of the project objectives compared to organizational/ functional ones.  In this way, poor project management can be prevented in the planning and execution stages.  This will also limit the likelihood of the project to adversely affect implicit objectives that is beyond its scope.  Prioritization can be applied and trade-offs can be measured.  As this is in place, the final task is to prevent poor project management to emerge in both planning and execution stage.  The ideal situation is to filter planning problems and correct it under execution stage.  Otherwise, the project can face total failure of completion and all attached objectives will be bound also to demise.   

 

The Case of Dry Building Methods/Industrialized Building Systems

            In Malaysia, decisions are based from incomplete information and uncertainty about the outcome that Industrialized Building Systems that gives rise to an intrinsic element of every project which is risks.  As much as an Industrialized Building Systems wants to avoid risks, it is unlikely to do so because the general rule is that higher (lower) risks post higher (lower) returns (Mcmenamin, 1999).  This is concretized with the universal business doctrine to profit.  In addition, as the Industrialized Building Systems not simply wants to have a partial competitive edge rather a sustainable one, complying with the four criteria on having sustainable competitive advantage necessarily accumulates greater risks (Hitt, Hoskisson & Ireland, 2003, p. 88-92).  When the Industrialized Building Systems embraces valuable, costly-to-imitate, rare and non-substitutable capabilities, it already initiated to move its risks continuum towards total risks and away from no risk and limiting the assurance of the scope of risk management (Burke, 2003, p. 252).

            For example, one of the root causes of a failed Industrialized Building Systems is due to the level of innovation (p. 259).  A high level of innovation is a candidate of producing a competitive platform like Amazon’s website that acts like a human salesperson (Hitt et al 2003 p. 90).  The Industrialized Building Systems is likely to result to high design costs as “one-click” technology should be developed including purchase of necessary rights/ license to execute the project.  On the other hand, a low level of innovation may emerge from Amazon’s homogeneity with industry standards that restrains project initiation because it does not have the willingness to exploit the absence of innovation in the industry.  Due to this, a project feature usually entails high level of innovation.  This necessarily requires huge funding, technical expertise and restructuring from the company.  In the contrary, as risks are high, the company has to gamble.  It has to rely with the untested procedures, technology and techniques by exposing its liquidity and strategy to complete the project and derive anticipated returns.                

 

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Definition

In the definition provided by Ham, V.K (1991) TQM was defined as

“ a management system in continuous change and consisting of values, methodologies and tools, the aim of which is to increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources.”

 

Total Quality Management is a management approach that originated in the 1950's and has steadily become more popular since the early 1980's. Total quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organisation of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company's operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations. Total quality management (TQM) is a method by which management and employees can become involved in the continuous improvement of the production of goods and services. It is a combination of quality and management tools aimed at increasing business and reducing losses due to wasteful practices (Hill, F. and Collins, L. 1998). TQM promises to continuously improve the quality of corporate operations towards a goal of perfecting the quality of products and services to enhance the competitive edge and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

 

Methods and Approaches

The three different approaches that TQM takes into consideration are as follows:

 

·         TQM is customer driven -

It means that everything that an organisation operating TQM does is designed to satisfy the needs of its customers. Also according to this, for TQM to be successful the whole organisation should be involved, otherwise it would mean that not everyone is dedicated to satisfying customer needs and the organisation cannot be operating “Total Quality Management” (Burati J.L. and Oswald T.H. 1993).

 

·         Organisation must have tough quality management -

Senior management must not just sustain TQM but also actually coerce its realisation in order to reveal the organisation's genuine commitment to the program. Management must consider that quality is every bit as vital as expenditures and take the analysis that it is important to get things right first time in order to suit the customer. Without such commitment TQM is likely to fail, the employees tend to view it as just another management fad, which requires token support (Chase G.W. 1993).

 

·         Emphasis on teamwork -

Another approach is to require every employee of the organization operating TQM to be actively involved in adding value to its products and services. There is an emphasis on teamwork, which is often seen in the operation of quality circles, through which every employee can contribute to improving quality, but at the same time employees are also encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions. Organisations that operate TQM reward good work and as a consequence employees tend to take pride in what they do. Employee development is common as it is seen as a means by which employees can increase the value, which they add to the products and services (Chase G.W. 1993).

Finally, another study claimed that organisations operating TQM tend to make decisions based on facts rather than just management opinion and this means that companies that adopt TQM tend to use a lot of statistical techniques such as flow charts and scatter diagrams. As the TQM organisation views itself as a series of processes, the collective term given to the statistical techniques by which it manages itself is Statistical Process Control (SPC) (Chase G.W. 1993).

A study said that the use of scientific methods is to monitor performance and to identify points of high leverage for performance improvement. Many TQM authorities are of one voice in advocating the use of statistical tools to monitor and analyze work processes. A wide variety of statistical tools are available to identify the points of highest leverage for quality improvement, to evaluate alternative solutions to identify problems, and to document the results of process changes. Many of the tools involve applications of probability theory to generate findings that then can be summarised pictorially. Literally dozens of "quality tools" have been described in the research. Three of the most commonly used tools are control charts, Pareto analysis, and cost-of-quality analysis (Clemons, E. 1995).

 

Benefits

Total quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that aims to provide, and continue to provide, its customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company's operations, with things being done right first time, and defects and waste eradicated from operations (Wageman 1995)

 

The benefits of TQM are as follows:

1.    Customer satisfaction –

      In TQM customer satisfaction is considered as one of the most essential. A TQM organisation understands the customer’s requirements very fast and responds accordingly. The concept of requirement not only takes into consideration the products and services required but it also takes into consideration that facts that would give it an edge over the other companies in the global market.

 

2.    Continuous improvement –

      Continuous improvement of the quality of the product helps to gain and maintain a higher level of customer satisfaction. TQM tends to keep a check at regular intervals at the processes involved, which in turn helps in improvement of the product quality and leads to an increase in customer satisfaction. TQM takes into consideration the fact that “Prevention is better than cure.” It helps to prevent errors and tries to produce products or services that are error free.

 

3.    Multifunctional teams –

      It is essential that across all the departments in an organisation, the employees be given information on all the processes involved. TQM helps in having an inter-departmental communication on regular basis, which is essential for an effective management. By doing this multifunctional team comes into consideration where every individual understands the problems and requirements of each department. Doing this helps every individual to understand the causes of any problem that would occur and try to find a solution.

 

4.    Education and training –

      A successful TQM environment has on-going education and training of the employees. This helps in providing better quality of the products and services. The employees tend to take more responsibilities once they understand the overall processes that are implemented. They tend to act more creatively and try to innovate solutions to the problems.

 

Total Quality Management is a planned procedure for satisfying internal and external customers and suppliers by integrating the business environment, continuous improvement, and come through with advancement, growth, and safeguarding the cycles while changing organizational culture. Furthermore, TQM is an array of management system throughout the organization, geared to ensure that the organization to continuously attain or surpass customer requirements. Total Quality Management is a philosophy of management that is driven by the constant attainment of customer satisfaction though the continuous improvement of all organizational processes (Robbins, 1998).  It is a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions such as marketing, finance, design, engineering, production, customer service, and others to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives (Hashmi, 2000).

It is known that every organization’s primary purpose is to stay in business, so that it can promote the stability of the community, generate products and services that are useful to customers, and provide setting for the satisfaction and growth of organization members (Juran, 1969; Ishikawa, 1985; Deming, 1986).  From this perspective, it can be said that TQM strategy for achieving its normative outcomes is rooted in four interlocked assumptions: quality, people, organizations, and the role of the senior management (Wageman, 1995).  Although the organizational purposes advocated by TQM do not unequivocally address traditional economic and accounting criteria of organizational effectiveness, the pioneers of this strategy believe that organizations that produce quality goods will eventually do better even on traditional measures such as profitability than organizations that will attempt to keep costs low by compromising quality. 

            On the other hand, the second assumption is if directed people who care about the quality of work they do and take initiatives to improve it are provided with the tools and training that are needed for quality improvement and management pays attention to their ideas, this would largely benefit the organization. TQM emphasizes that organizations must remove all systems that create fear which include punishment for poor performance, appraisal systems that involve the comparative evaluation of employees, and merit pay to have motivated employees pursuing precision with their works.

            Another assumption points that organizations are systems of highly interdependent parts, and the central problems they face invariably cross traditional functional lines. To produce high-quality products efficiently, for instance, product designers must address manufacturing challenges and trade-offs as part of the design process. Deming (1993) and Juran (1969) insist that cross-functional problems must be addressed collectively by representatives of all relevant functions. On the contrary, Ishikawa (1985) argues that instead of setting overall directions, each line division in cross-sectional teams should set its own goals using local objective-setting procedures.

            In the fourth assumption concerning senior management, quality is viewed as ultimately and inescapably the responsibility of top management. Because senior managers create the organizational systems that determine how products and services are designed and produced, the quality-improvement process must begin with management's own commitment to total quality. Employees' work effectiveness is viewed as a direct function of the quality of the systems that managers create.

            Generally, TQM gives great much consideration on the customer, continuous improvement, quality, measurement, and employee empowerment.  As what was emphasized previously, TQM is a philosophy of management driven by the constant attainment of customer satisfaction through the continuous improvement of all organizational processes.

 

Quality Planning and Assurance  

Quality Planning according to Crow (2001) is a framework designed in developing products in the industry, particularly the automotive industry. Quality Planning has four phases: (a) Plan and Define Program (b) Product Design and Development Verification (c) Process Design and Development Verification.

On the other hand, quality assurance main goal is to make sure that the organizations products and services fulfills and even exceeds customers’ expectations. It covers all activities from design to documentation. The most widely used paradigm in Quality Assurance management is the Shewhart Cycle also known as the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach.

            The PDCA Cycle according to HCI Professional Services (2006) coordinates the organization or company’s continuous improvement efforts. The company used this cycle as a paradigm for Quality Assurance management for the new project.

            Plan. The organization must identify first the problems that the new store will face and come up with solutions to the problem. The problems would be mainly on the production, availability of raw materials and equipment. Does the organization need to import raw materials? Are the raw materials enough for mass production? Can the equipments handle the production?  The abilities and skills of manpower. Do the employees have the skills in operating equipments? These problems can be checked by using quality control measures interpreted by charts.

Do. After finding out problems changes must be done to provide solutions. The company must begin on a small-scale for trial. If the problem is on the availability of raw materials the design team must experiment new styles that will be produced on a small scale. If it is on the equipment, the company must reduce its production to avoid further damage on the machines. If it is on the manpower, further training on the employees who performed weakly, and provide small-group leadership skills.

Check. Find out if the small scale changes are effective or not. The company can check if the experimental designs are effective by selling the products on a small scale. The response of the consumers is the key in checking of its effective. Check if the reduced production of goods has great effect on gaining profits, whether it decreased retain or increased. These things can be checked using data check sheets and control charts. On the manpower, the training and leadership skills can be seen effective by the performance of the employees, whether they improved or not.

Act. Implement the changes in the organization if the experimental changes are successful. This is done in the company by doing mass productions and changing some process standards. And formal training of the employees.

 

Quality Control

Abel et. al (n.d) discussed that quality control is used in measuring and controlling of the products as it is being developed. It is designed to: (a) provide routine and consistent checks to ensure product integrity, correctness, and completeness (b) Identify and address errors. (c) Document and archive inventory material and record all Quality control activities. Basically, Quality Management is always people-driven and thus its results are seen in terms of high performance team work, enhancement of employee morale and creation of a harmonious organizational climate in addition to attaining excellence (Lakhe and Mohanty, 1995), thus making it compatible with the service or construction industry. The wide spectrum of the business sector that includes construction, health care, education, banking, insurance, hotels, transport, etc. which involves a wide variety of people that needs to be managed efficiently (Lakhe and Mohanty, 1995). Thus, today, more and more companies are turning to TQM to be able to solve the problems in the varying consumer perspectives and demands. Lakhe and Mohanty (1995) stated that in order to implement Quality Management in the service sector effectively, it is necessary to understand clearly the unique characteristics of the service operations, the role of clientele of services as well as that of the providers of services and the application of appropriate quality control concepts, tools and techniques.

            However, the conflict is that there is a difficulty in defining its quality of service/products moreover defining it objectively (Kaneko, 1988). The application of Quality Management in most organization is considerable for business industries in a sense that first, the adoption of Quality Management results in better quality facilitating to increase the market share and profitability; second, it would enhance the image of the company by treating a loyal customer base; third, it would help attract high quality human resource to have a career in the organization. It is indeed important for service businesses where human resource is the key to long-term success. Fourth, quality improvement will lead to increase in sales, optimal production and distribution of services, better salaries and promotional avenues to employees, and high morale. Then finally, the cultural change which Quality Management aims at would help service business to attend to the needs of customers in an improved manner, thus promoting customers’ delight (Lakhe and Mohanty, 1995).

 

Malaysian Building Industry Organizational Culture

Many definitions have been used to characterise organisational culture. Probably, the most common was the one based on Schein’s point of view in which his fundamental assumptions comprise the core and most important aspect of organisational culture. Schein’s (1992) definition appears to emphasise on having a common goal or unified direction among organisational members which is based on the past challenges and experiences the business had successfully overcame. These common goals are then achieved through past practices and strategies that are guaranteed to work. Schein develops a definition which stressed on the importance of having a standard that is consistently applied by the members of an organisation.

In common terms, organisational culture is defined as the manner in which things are accomplished. The definition given by Schein was supported by other researchers such as Cummings and Worley (2001). According to these authors, organisational culture involves the sharing of learning. Sharing of thoughts and experiences with others implies that organisational culture promotes a certain level of stability among the members of the organisation. In Malaysian Construction Industry, organisational culture basically encompasses the values, beliefs and assumptions on what the organisation is all about, how its workforce and innovation practices should behave and how it defines itself in relation to its external environment. It is the organisation’s reality that shapes its activities. A culture is reflected in an organisation's philosophies, rules, norms, values, climate, symbols, heroes, and almost everything its member do (Oden, 1997).

In comparison to earlier times, organisational culture is more in demand and recognised at present (Schein, 1992) due to competition, increased globalisation, diversified workforce and formation of business coalitions. This in turn led to product and strategy innovation; integration among organisational units to improve efficiency, quality, speed in manufacturing and distribution of services; introduction of new technologies; international transactions; facilitation of teamwork; and management of the diverse human resource (Collins and Porras, 1994).

With the continuous evolution of the corporate world, an organisation must learn to adapt to changes and settle for applicable innovations such as the implementation of dry building methods. Indeed, there is no single formula for a company to succeed. An organisation’s future has multiple possibilities, thus one must learn to think imaginatively in order to develop and cope with challenges. The challenge then for organisations in dealing with organisational transitions, is by learning and actively managing change. This in turn, can be facilitated by an organisational culture.

 

Relationship between Organisational Culture and Quality

Seeing the importance of quality in an organisation/corporation, every corporation should be eager to implement quality improvement programs. There are a number of such quality improvement programs such as Total Quality Management, Taguchi method for product and process design, statistical process control or quality function deployment, etc .  However, such kind of programs cannot achieve their full potential unless the core beliefs and values of organisation’s members are implanted with the concept of quality (Watson 2004).  That means quality concept has to be incorporated into corporate culture for effective implementation of the above programs, which in turn is important for enhancement of organisational performance.  Moreover, to manage quality in the context of organisational culture, we means not only to introduce the concept but we also mean to manage, to sustain the concept in the culture long enough for it to root into the basic belief and values of the member.  Researches revealed that empowerment of employees are more important than rigid rules or standards for the successful implementation of quality services (Watson 2004 and Ambrož 2004).  As such, service standards and could be very superficial unless employees are ready and committee to change.  It is because achieving quality services associated with the internal positive feeling such as better relationship with customer and thus meeting the changing needs of customer, i.e. the positive outcome.

             

Innovation in Malaysian Building Industry     

In the context of Malaysian Building Industry, external and internal scanning including competitor intelligence is of little help because uncertainty goes beyond the risk management scope.  Risks are identifiable but are hardly quantifiable because there is yet to provide systematic trend of risk occurrence associated with the innovation.  Thus, probability and consequences/ impact of innovation risks (Burke, 2003, p. 261) are difficult to indicate.  This positions any risk response under a highly subjective framework.  In heuristic studies like that of Tyersky & Kahneman (1983), information involving formal and probability characteristics that tend to obligate a person was less regarded than the more natural, informal and easier way of cognition (p. 293-315).  According to Burke (2003), other common reasons of project failure are port estimation, inadequate planning, insufficient control and lack of commitment (p. 260) which are the most probable consequences of non-objective approach. 

            As observed, a successful feasibility study regarding an innovation is not an assurance that the project will also be triumphant.  In concept phase, poor estimation will emerge in indirect costing. In the design phase, flexibility of task schedules is tightened by certain innovation dilemma like being the first-mover.  In the implementation phase, human resource aspect of the project can be neglected as managerial skills would be overly-focus on anticipating difficulties from new and ambiguous technology.  In the commission phase, innovation testing can result to persistent problems that require overtime and extension of the completion date.  The overall phases of the project post threats to costs, quality and time due to the presence of large amount of uncertainties and risks.  This particular phenomenon can be associated with innovation’s integrated approach to companies (Luecke & Katz 2003).

Aside from innovation, projects typically affect a set of stakeholders which includes customers, employees, suppliers, the government and the public.  What the project team and the company want are to minimize the negative effects of the project to them and maximize positive effects to aid in profitability and longer product life.  This is where legitimacy theory takes place (Deegan & Rankin, 1996, p. 53) where an entity is required to provide evidence that it is indeed legitimate to be operating within a societal framework.  Indication of failure to legitimize includes environmental pollution, employee abuse and fraudulent marketing.  The technical image of building and design are said to portray technical innovation in the solution of social, economic and environmental dilemma and conflicts. In this image buildings and designs is a matter of developing technical devices that neutralize or make benefits out of what may temporarily appear to be problems. The track record of architects and designers over the centuries in finding technical solutions to innumerable issues inspire confidence that the same will happen in the future. Success is seen as a matter of applying the tools of the social, economic and physical sciences to analyze the situation and discover a range of answers. But neither applying these tools nor implementing the answers is easy. The prerequisite for success is professional expertise.

The technical image forefronts hard 'facts’ and particularly the measurable 'environmental facts' of the constituents of air, lighting and noise levels, resource consumption, etc., along with equally measurable economics. Herein, success can also be measured: reduced energy consumption, reduced embodied energy in materials, internal temperatures and lighting levels within desired levels, reduced initial and operating costs. The key is rationality and efficiency in planning, material use and systems.

The symbolic/aesthetic representation of the image is one of technical proficiency in using the materials of modern and sustainable design and building: sparkling glass, gleaming stainless steel, precision cladding panels in alloys or aluminium (justified by their low weight and long life). Passive and active devices such as double skin external walls and roofs, filtering and responsive glass, 'sun scoops', sun-tracking sunshades and photovoltaic panels supplement this international language of architecture. Not visible will be geothermal systems, heat recovery, and the 'intelligent' computer control of lighting, heating and cooling via timers and movement detectors. The archetypal visual image is the high-tech corporate office in a city of similar offices: efficient people in efficient buildings, both in control, both responding to challenges through innovation. An emblematic project might be the Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany (architects Foster and Partners), described as 'the world's first ecological high-rise office block' (Jones, 1998) and, when constructed, Europe's tallest building. It has many technical features. Amongst them are double skin walls, dual natural and artificial ventilation systems (operable windows which can all be closed by a central control, with natural ventilation replaced by full air conditioning when weather conditions dictate), four-storey high winter gardens which enable inward-facing offices to have natural light, an atrium acting as a ventilation chimney, and sludge water from the air-conditioning cooling towers used for flushing lavatories (Jones 1998:228 and Daniels 1995:91-5). But designers could also adopt as an emblematic project a small house or a factory. Indeed, the facilities for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, hailed for the environmental responsibility that was a factor in the original award of the Games to Sydney in a highly competitive bid process, overwhelmingly reinforce the technology image. It is a part of this image that technology can deal with any project in any place.

The 'eco-technique' logic that Guy and Farmer (2001:142) find in the discourse of architecture projects this image. They note its link to 'ecological modernization' at the policy level, which portrays apparently serious environmental side-effects of development as just more problems in the path of modernization which can be managed, like other problems, by international treaties and local regulation. The field of significance is global, the problems are global (with an emphasis on climate change and transnational pollution), and the answers and the expertise to implement them are universally applicable.

 

Project Management in Malaysian Construction Industry

            According to Cleland and Gareis (1994), projects should transform an unsatisfactory (existing or future) state to a better state within a certain time, using a limited effort. In more pragmatic terms, a project (e.g. implementation of dry building methods) means that there is someone who always has the unique needs for something new tangible outcomes (the creation) of it, and requires knowledge and resources to conduct the realization of the concept within the specific constraints of time, money and specifications (Cicmil, 1997). Furthermore, required expertise and resources are needed, either in-house or from the market, need to be pooled together to create the change – the transition from the idea to the creation, according to the client’s expectations, which are provided by professionals, consultants, contractors and sub-contractors (Cicmil, 1997).

Rationally, project management plays an important role in the process of the project because it is the only way to organize the activity process within the project effectively. Project management is simply the process of managing, allocating, and timing resources to achieve a given goal in an efficient and expedient manner (Badiru, 1993). Projects come in simple or complex. Moreover, the objectives that constitute the specified goal may be in terms of time, costs, or technical results. Several techniques have been created in order to execute this type of management with ease. Project management techniques are used widely in many enterprises, including construction, banking, manufacturing, marketing, health care services, transportation, R&D, public services, and so on. Some examples of project management techniques include: the statement of requirements; work breakdown structure; dependency structure matrix; cost management approaches; and resource allocation matrix. Because requirement gathering is an important part in project management, statement of requirements would be a valuable tool in avoiding problems (Project Smart, 2003). The dependency structure matrix then identifies relationships within particular tasks and orders them in a fashion that is organized, less costly and saves time. On the other hand, resource allocation matrix is specific because it helps in the consolidation, efficient utilization of resources, etc. (Watermark Learning, 2004). Finally, cost management approaches helps the project team estimate and manage the cost of the project. Aside from those, there is a multitude more of techniques pertaining to effective project management. This is perhaps due to the difficult nature of managing an ongoing project. Models and techniques basically guide project managers along the way. In this paper, the WBS, DSM and a particular cost management approach will be integrated into the plan.

            Managing projects put the manager into a difficult position because of the weight of responsibility associated with the task. Based on existing studies, the rate of project failure is high (Cicmil, 1997). Cicmil (1997) enumerated the reasons on why projects fail. Cicmil (1997) stated that reasons include: poor understanding and identification of the client/customer/end-user needs; inadequate specification of project requirements and project constraints; consequently, setting unrealistic project goals altogether; organizational behavior factors including structure, functions, performance, and associated behavior of groups and individuals; bounded rationality in the process of project planning and project implementation, i.e. the lack of appreciation of dynamics and change; poor monitoring and control during the project implementation phase; and measurement and assessment of project progress against the plan (p.392).

The success of a project would most likely depend, one way or another, on how the project manager addresses the lifecycle. It mainly includes the management of information, technology and people. Perhaps, due to the reason to specify what are the specific important factors that should be considered within those three variables, researchers have identified several success factors in project management. For instance, Shenhar and Dvir (1996) identified several critical success factors such as: project mission; project planning; project control; top management support; and customer involvement. Almost similarly, Lester (1998) identified five critical factors for success in new product development projects, which include: the commitment of senior management acting through a culture that gives importance to innovative and entrepreneurial individuals; organizational structure and processes that supports cross-functional teams and provide guidelines for their operation; encouraging new product ideas to be generated; providing effective venture teams and leaders; and a tactical planning process for innovative projects. Kenny (2003) adds that project managers should also give importance to learning and innovation to ensure the success of the project.

Other non-technical issues aside with the issue among the task performers are the scheduling and cost of the project. Basically, these should be defined firsthand in the planning stage, or in the investigation stage. These non-technical issues are basically intertwined with the technical requirements for the project such as dry building materials needed. The project manager should know where to allocate the less expensive but effective technical tools. Of course, this also concerns handling the problems of scheduling i.e. acquiring the needed item on time, doing certain tasks on schedule, etc. The management of cost is a basic key element for survival in a highly competitive environment (Kato, 1993 and Cooper and Slagmulder, 1997), as it will determine the price of the new of product – on whether or not the masses will accept it as it is. This provides the opportunity for target costing. Target costing simply refers to the systematic process for reducing product costs that begins in the product planning stage (Fischer, 1995). On the other hand, aside from managing the budget, the project manager also has to make sure that the project will be finished right on schedule, thus needing to outline the flow of the project and the estimated time on which specific tasks should be done. For certainty, this might include the investigation of risks involved within the costing and scheduling of resources and tasks within the project. Basically, projects are unique undertakings which involve a degree of uncertainty and are inherently risky (Mak et al., 1998; PMI, 2000 and Czuchry and Yasin, 2003). Risk in projects can be defined as the chance of an event occurring that is likely to have a negative impact on project objectives and is measured in terms of likelihood and consequence (Baccarini, Salm and Love, 2004). For instance, over-budget can be a risk factor as the expenses waged in the project might not compensate the return of investment perceived. Furthermore, the slow-paced work of the team responsible for the project might also be a risk factor in meeting the target deadline of the project. This might also involve the risk in acquiring the technologies needed for the project. In addition, risk can also appear from the design, coding and implementation of the project. Thus, decision based on investigation should be critical in intertwining the technical and non-technical factors for the benefit of having an effective project. However, risk is just one example of how managers handle the lifecycle of the project. Others basically focus on control, quality, and fractal issues.  As mentioned in the previously, effective management of resources and time is imperative for the success of the project i.e. dry building methods of Malaysian construction Industry. The following are the cited techniques for the management of time and resources.

 

Work Breakdown Structure

            This point in project management basically refers to a hierarchical organization of the work elements contained in a project (Badiru, 1993). This approach is important because it is a valuable graphical tool in for decomposing complex projects into a manageable structure. Project decomposition and work simplification are important for enhancing project planning, scheduling, and control, thus further stressing the value of the work breakdown structure (Badiru, 1993). Here, a large project may be broken down into smaller subprojects which may, in turn, be decomposed into task groups (Badiru, 1993). The graphical structure of a WBS is similar to an organization chart, with different levels associated with different levels of detail about a project: Level 1 - contains only the final project purpose; Level 2 - contains the major phases or subsections of the project. These phases are usually identified by their contiguous location or by their related purpose; contains definable components of the level 2 phases (Baduri, 1993).

 

Dependency Structure Matrix

            Another approach that can be used to manage the project’s time and resources is the dependency structure matrix (DSM). In this technique, a spreadsheet-like representation is used to visualize both the sequence of relationships among the tasks to be performed and to show how they are constrained by each other (Denker, Steward and Browning, 2001). Basically, this matrix helps determine the relationship between items, particularly with their dependants, to know what will be affected by any change of in information content or validity (Denker, Steward and Browning, 2001). Denker, Browning and Steward (2001) stated that by analyzing the dependency structure of items, it can be possible to create and develop strategies that would lead to shorter project cycle times and improvement of quality. Blocks of items are basically included within a certain project, and each is interrelated one way or another. Fixing or allocating one item would basically affect the rest. Basically, by picking any task in the block, the dependencies to any other task in that block can be followed, and back again (Denker, Steward and Browning, 2001).  DSM’s role is to assist the project manager and his team in decision making, particularly how and when to plan project reviews. Furthermore, DSM also indicates which task can be accompanied in parallel without additional iteration. It also offers the option of re-sequencing tasks within the matrix to remove repetitions and minimize their scope. It also creates and organizes the order of tasks to be done and their corresponding ranks i.e. which should be done first, which should be next, which tasks can be done simultaneously, etc.

 

Cost Management Approaches

There are four cost management approaches, and each of them can be beneficial depending perhaps on the nature of the project or the culture of the company. The four cost management approaches are: traditional accounting; activity-based accounting; constraint-based accounting; and hybrid approaches (Lockamy III, 2003).

            In the traditional accounting system, high labor efficiency and machine utilization measures are being given importance. Traditional accounting systems view each capital request as a stand-alone project having no relationship to either current or future ventures. On the other hand, the activity-based approach in cost management refers to the collection of financial and operational performance information about significant activities of the business (Lockamy III, 2003). Here, cost allocations to products are based on those activities that drive cost (Lockami III, 2003). However, in constraint-based accounting, fixed costs are not allocated to products, but focuses on the firm’s profitability through the measures of Throughput (T), Inventory (I) and Operating Expenses (OE). Finally, the hybrid approach is the combination of two or more of the previously mentioned approach (Lockami III, 2003).

            Out of those approaches, Lockami III (2003) had developed a strategic approach in cost management. Its objective is basically to reduce costs while simultaneously strengthening the strategic position of the firm. Two key requirements must include: a systematic approach for analyzing costs in relation to organizational objectives, needs and capabilities within the framework of customer requirements; and a cost management approach that facilitates a holistic, integrative examination of cost relative to an organization’s fundamental goals and objectives. One of the main features of this approach is the effective utilization of the resource function, which includes research and development, design engineering, procurement, key suppliers (external resource), production, warehousing, and distribution. Its responsibility is to regulate the effective use of organizational resources engaged in the development, creation, and delivery of goods and services to targeted markets (Lockami III, 2003). Then, there is also the finance function, which is composed of the firm’s accounting and financial organizations. Its task is to track financial performance in terms of revenue, cost, profit, assets, and liabilities with the use of accounting data (Lockami III, 2003).

 

The Applicability Investigation of Dry Building Methods

The mentioned resource and time techniques can be effectively used for investigation for the building construction project. First, the work breakdown structure can be used in determining what information is needed to be acquired. The first step is that the items needed for the project should be identified and should broken down into small bits of tasks to be able to flexibly allocate them properly and to save time needed for the tasks.

The following are some of the tasks that should be done in the project:

Ø  Advantages of Dry Building Methods.

Ø  Determining the major drawback.

Ø  Estimating the cost of engaging in this method.

Ø  Estimating the return of investment.

Ø  Knowing the process of construction development.

Basically, the action needed for such investigation is an extensive market research. Thus, the team will be divided into subgroups, each with different topics to investigate. In each group work will also be subdivided i.e. one would do the paper work; the other one will do the literature review; while the other will do the field work. By breaking down tasks into pieces, the investigation will be faster and effective at the same time. This is where the WBS approach can be useful.

On the other hand, to determine the order of each investigation tasks, the dependency structure matrix will be used. This is to know which specific task within the research should come first or if there are tasks that can be done simultaneously or should be moved up to priority. For instance, in researching the advantages of using dry building methods in the construction industry, the steps are: get information; know if the information is relevant; analyze information; relate the information with the project; and highlight information that may be useful. From this order, the ‘highlight information that may be useful’ item can be better off moving up after the ‘get information item’. With the use DSM, a basic framework of the order of tasks can be structured and can be modified for lesser cost and time. Allocation of budget for the research will then be examined with the use of strategic cost management approach.

In this stage, the project definition will also be stated, including its scope and limitations. The project team will also be selected, and the plan for the needed trainings will be outlined. These tasks will be broken down into pieces as well and then will be allocated to the necessary teams. The WBS, DSM and strategic accounting will prove useful in this process.

 

Dry Building Method Analysis

            After investigating what are needed for the project, method analysis will be conducted. Tasks from bottom to up will be analyzed, and the focus will be on quality factors such as: performance; features; reliability; conformance; durability; serviceability; and aesthetics. Furthermore, each of the items from the method investigation will be analyzed based on the list provided here. For instance, the advantages of dry building methods will be linked with performance, feature, etc. and will be analyzed if this would be possible for the company to adapt. The rest of the list will be analyzed in the same approach. However, like in systems investigation, tasks in systems analysis will be broken down using WBS and then put the specific tasks into order using the DSM. After the tasks for analysis have been put into order, the DSM will be used to analyze if there are other possibilities of restructuring the tasks to save time or costs. Also in the systems analysis, the resource function of the strategic cost management will give information regarding the total estimated cost of the project.

            Aside from quality analysis, risk analysis will also be conducted. Risk in commercial and legal relationships, economic circumstances, human behavior, political circumstances, technology and technical issues, management activity controls, and individual activities will be analyzed. Again, issues will be subdivided for more flexible dissemination of task and faster flow of work. Basically, the analyst will provide a report of the analysis. This report will be submitted to the project architect so that a conceptual model can be made regarding on how an effective method can be designed. Then, the architect’s report as well as the analyst will be passed to the designer, who will then designate the tasks to the employees. Then, after the designer has provided a framework for the design, the framework will be given to the analyst to determine if the design will be effective or not.

 

Method Implementation

After the facts have been analyzed, all applications that have been confirmed and approved will be implemented. In methods implementation, the following steps suggested by Kuruppuarachchi et al (2002) will be followed: (1) formulate a network for collecting user requirements and user feedback; (2) set up monitoring and feedback network for collecting control information at each stage of the implementation process; (3) prepare to handle expected or unexpected crises and deviations from plans; (4) provide a strong leadership with concerns for the welfare of people and resource commitment; (5) provide a professionally stimulating work environment; (6) obtain top management support for the project and plan for an adequately resourced and proficiently executed launch; (7) promote client consultation and user participation and obtain approval from parties for what is being undertaken throughout the project; (8) use pro-active communications to establish more realistic expectations about the technology’s capabilities while communicating in a tailored way to each division or unit; (9) promote collaborative system development between users and developers; (10) use multi-functional project teams to bring complementary capabilities together during the total life of the project; (11) familiarize the staff about the incoming technology and train the people involved with the system (12) use intra project teams and intra and inter industry networking for technology transfer; (13) provide stakeholders with a detailed plan of the implementation process and explain how it achieves business objectives, and keep them informed about the system and progress of its implementation; (14) propose possible ways for restructuring, and; (15) method integration and interfacing.

            Time and resources will be minimized on those tasks by using the three time and resource techniques mentioned earlier. As usual, the WBS will be used to break down the structure of the tasks into simple ones, to be designated on the right people. Then, the DSM will create a list of those ‘broken down’ tasks and will evaluate any modifications that should be needed to help minimize time and cost. Of course, the costs of the project will be estimated first by the accounting division using strategic accounting. The accounting division will be required to present a report that should include suggestions on how costs can be minimized.

 

Scope Planning

One of the objectives of this paper is to provide a project plan for a new building method, specifically a dry building method. In the first part, some of the difficulties of being a project manager were discussed, which basically included both technical and non-technical aspects. In this part, certain resource and time management techniques will be discussed, and from it, a summary on how the project will be planned will be included.

            With its development, the stages have been simplified. They are also simply known as: identification of a problem; feasibility study; method investigation; method analysis; method design; method implementation; and review and maintenance. The plan for this project will focus on three of the seven stages, which are: investigation; analysis; and implementation.

  

Chapter 3

Methodology

The Method

The research will operate within the cross-sectional design, as the researcher will be collecting data using questionnaires, structured observation, and document analysis. The benefit of this shall enable the researcher to be able to focus on the breath of the research. Exploratory research will enable the study to look at the problem in both descriptive and exploratory manner. This study will use the principal ways of conducting an exploratory research, which includes: literature search; talking to experts about the subject; participative observation and conducting survey and interview.

It is planned that the questionnaire will have the 5-point Likert scale ranking questions. Wherever available, secondary data will be used if it is relevant and applicable for the current times. Sources in secondary research will include previous research reports, newspaper, magazine and journal content. Existing findings on journals and existing knowledge on books will be used as secondary research. The interpretation will be conducted which can account as qualitative in nature.

 

Sampling

The study shall use a combination of cluster and random sampling. The respondents will grade statements (using the Likert-scale) regarding the effect of construction quality of dry building methods in the Malaysian Building Industry. By employing the Likert-scale, the study would have an idea on the significance of the gathered responses. Moreover, it would provide a specific description of the answers imparted by the respondents, which would concurrently aid the researcher to organize suitable conclusions and sound recommendations.

As stated, the researcher will gather data, collate published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from social science journals, distribute sampling questionnaires; arrange interviews; and make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material. Afterwards, the researcher will summaries all the information, make a conclusion and provide insightful recommendations on the dealing with the effect on Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods/Industrialized Building Systems in the Malaysian Building Industry.

 

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of this study will be individuals and experts related to the Malaysian Building Industry who experienced using dry building methods. First, a self-administered questionnaire containing 8 to 10 questions and shall be filled out by the respondents. Ideally, the respondents will grade each statement in the survey-questionnaire using a Likert scale, with a five-response scale wherein respondents will be given five response choices.

 

 

 

The equivalent weights for the answers will be:

Range                                                Interpretation

      4.50 – 5.00                                        Strongly Agree

3.50 – 4.49                                        Agree

2.50 – 3.49                                        Uncertain

1.50 – 2.49                                        Disagree         

0.00 – 1.49                                        Strongly Disagree

The researcher opted to use the questionnaire as a tool since it is easy to construct having the rules and principles of construction are easy to follow. Moreover, copies of the questionnaire could reach a considerable number of respondents either by mail or by personal distribution. Generally, responses to a questionnaire are objectified and standardized and these make tabulation easy. But more importantly, the respondents’ replies are of their own free will because there is no interviewer to influence them. This is one way to avoid biases, particularly the interviewers’ bias.

 

Data Analysis Procedures

To analyze the quantitative data, percentage and weighted mean were most suitable statistical method to be used. Percentage could be representing the whole population and it is descriptive statistics. It indicates personal behavior in the some of the respondent. Weighted mean would perform the general opinion within the respondent of the survey samples, whether they agree to a given statement or not.

This research instrument was selected as it allows the acquisition of insights from selected respondents; with semi-structured interview, interviewees are able to express their feelings, concerns and opinions. This data-gathering tool is useful for both the study and the researcher since it helped in gathering relevant information from specific respondents.

After gathering all the completed questionnaires from the respondents, total responses for each item were obtained and tabulated. In order to use the Likert-scale for interpretation, weighted mean to represent each question was computed. Weighted mean is the average wherein every quantity to be averaged has a corresponding weight. These weights represent the significance of each quantity to the average. To compute for the weighted mean, each value must be multiplied by its weight. Products should then be added to obtain the total value. The total weight should also be computed by adding all the weights. The total value is then divided by the total weight. Statistically, the weighted mean is calculated using the following formula:

       or  

 

Once the computed mean for each survey item has been computed, the values are then compared to the Likert scale. The study will use different software or applications that can help to store, maintain and analyze the result of the data gathering activities. MS Word will be used in order to create different letters and memos as well as to create the sets of questionnaires. MS Excel and SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences) can also help to analyze the quantitative data that have been gathered from the interviews and questionnaires. The study will also use the Internet for some reliable electronic resources as well as other electronic libraries and journal database.

The use of interpersonal skill is also necessary in gathering data from the different entity that are related to the problems as well as gathering information and data that will be important in the study. The knowledge in business research is also a must, because this will be useful in analyzing and documentation of data. The data that have been gathered using the personal interviews will be tally and analyze in order to convert the data into information. Primary data that are collected will be presented using graphs, tables and figures. The secondary data that will be gathered will be written in a formal writing style. This documentation will serve as a diary of the project. It will show the different task that have done and not have done yet.

 

 

Chapter 4

Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data

 

            This part of the study will present the analysis and interpretation of the collated data.  Specifically, this will discuss the effect on Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods/Industrialized Building Systems in the Malaysian Building Industry.  Based on the data gathered from the secondary resources and from the studies made by different scholars, this paper will tend to determine the importance of effect on Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods in terms of the project’s success through the information gathered and analyzed. 

 

The Subjects          

The profile of the respondents is looked upon in terms of age, gender, and length of connection in Construction Business.

Table 1

Age of the Respondents

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

26-34

7

25.9

25.9

25.9

35-44

17

63.0

63.0

88.9

more than 45

3

11.1

11.1

100.0

Total

27

100.0

100.0

 

 

 

 

Figure 1

Table 1 and Figure 1 show the age range of the respondents. Almost 30% of the respondents were 26-34 years old, showing that most of them were already considered as young adult. Sixty three percent (63%) of the respondents were between 35-44 years old. On the other hand, a little percentage of 11% of the respondents is in more than 45 years old status. Basically, the apparent diversity of the maturity of the respondents reflects several implications in the study’s findings. To illustrate, the age bracket of the respondents has significant effect to the results of this study since the reliability of the responses becomes more affectivity if we consider the maturity of the subjects.

 

Table 2

Gender of the Respondents

 

Figure 2

Table 2 and Figure 2. The number of the female respondents (15%) shows a great discrepancy to the male (18%) with the total of 4 for female and 23 for male. Based on the figure, the dominated gender among the respondents is male. Based on the collated questionnaires, more than a half of the population is composed of male respondents while 15% are females. This shows a virtually unequal footing in terms of representation of gender regarding the perception of respondents to the progress of Construction Industry in Malaysia. The male respondents outnumber the female respondents by approximately 65%; this data provides a glimpse of the aggregate size of women in the workforce particularly of business environment.

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3

Years of Connection in Construction Business

Figure 3

Table 3 and Figure 3.The table and figure illustrated the number of years of the respondents that is related to construction business. Most of the respondents are known the business for more than two years i.e. 96.3% of the total number of respondents.

 

Part 1. Common Understanding on Quality

Aside from the efficiency and timely delivery of customer services that are necessary among organizations, quality is yet another factor with utmost significance. In order for the customers to be satisfied, their needs and preferences should always be met. Hence, the services that they use should also be of quality. Quality may be a broad term. But in connection to total quality management and corporate culture, quality may mean that customers are able to enjoy and make use of various services provided by Researcher’s agency/organization. These services must also be accurate and reliable.

As most of the respondents of the study, the way they perceived quality appeared to be varied as well. In Figure 4, although a greater number of respondents said that quality is something that needs commitment, the results of the participants’ responses seemed to be slightly well-distributed among the survey choices given.

Figure 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5

Generally, the participants of the study relayed that quality equals excellence. For most of them it meant that customers must not consider it a problem to avail the services offered by the Malaysian Construction Industry. The time that the customers spent to make use of these services/products must appear to be reasonable. As shown in Figure 5, majority (33%) of the respondents strongly agreed that quality meant that customers must be able to use the necessary services with less waiting time. In fact, during the interview, most of the respondents commonly observed this factor. As many customers will be seeking various services and products offered by the Malaysian Construction Industry, their waiting time must always be cut short with the breath-taking quality of services.

On the other hand, customers are able to make the most of the benefits provided by various social services when these are highly accessible. As this survey revealed, the participants mentioned that Malaysian Construction Industry was doing a relatively good job in making sure that the services/products are indeed accessible for the customers. The workers also mentioned that for them effective total quality management meant that going to the places were social services can be accessed must not be a problem for customers. Operational hours of the facilities providing these services must also be accessible for the customers. With these things under consideration, customers in Malaysian Construction Industry must be able to view the services/products as advantageous and beneficial. See Figure 6 for the percentage distribution of the participants’ replies with regards to the quality equating into comfort.

 

Figure 6

As supported by the results of the survey, majority of the respondents agreed that in many ways, quality of services must be significant, unique and ahead of others. 33% strongly agreed that quality to them must be equated with uniqueness. 22% agreed that high quality service can be equated with uniqueness and another 22% of respondents were uncertain. There were also 22% of participants who disagreed that high quality services/products must be equated with uniqueness. They said that some organizations in Malaysian Construction Industry offered only minimal services but still can be considered as of high quality. There were no respondents however, who strongly disagreed that services can be equated with uniqueness. See Figure 7 for the graphical presentation and percentage distribution.

 

Figure 7

Aside from the quality that is necessary among Malaysian Construction Industry, quality in organizational structure is yet another factor with utmost significance. In order for the customers to be satisfied, their needs and preferences should always be met. Hence, the organization must see to it that the services/products they provide are of great quality and significance. Quality in the context of organizational culture may be a broad term. But in a sense, this would mean that customers are able to enjoy the services and participate in various activities provided by Researcher’s agency/organizations. These activities will always be treasured by the customers.

Generally, the participants of the study observed that the lack of understanding and commitment is a common barrier in achieving quality in an organizational culture. Without proper training and understanding of customer services, they considered it a problem to properly perform their activities. The commitment that Researcher’s agency/organizations spend to engage in these activities appeared to be unreasonable. As shown in Figure 8, majority of the respondents strongly agreed that the activities that the lack of understanding and commitment is a common barrier in achieving quality in an organizational culture. In fact, during the interview, most of the respondents commonly observed this factor.

Figure 8

Organizations are able to make the most of the benefits provided by their customer services when their customers also enjoy and become interested. As this survey revealed, Malaysian Construction Industry was doing a relatively good job in making sure that the customer services were consistently enjoyable and interesting for the customers. Transportation going to the places were services/products can be accessed was not a problem for customers. Visiting hours of these places were also accessible for the customers. With these things under consideration, participants in the survey were able to conclude that an organization needs to invest in total quality management continuously to become a leading player in any industry. See Figure 9 for the percentage distribution of the participants’ replies with regards to whether an organization needs to continuously invest in quality management activities or not.

 

Figure 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 2. Perception of the Subjects concerning the effect on Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods/Industrialized Building Systems in the Malaysian Building Industry

Table 4 Perception of the Surveyed Respondents

 

Statements

Weighted Mean

Interpretation

1. The quality control department responds to the quality policies of the company on the construction quality of dry building methods.

4.25

Agree

2. The management of the department participates in implementing these quality policies.

3.8

Agree

3. In general, the dry building methods are effective and contributing to the Malaysian Building Industry in terms of customer satisfaction and increased sales.

4.6

Strongly Agree

4. The overall quality production of Malaysian Building Companies with regards to dry building methods is excellent.

5.0

Strongly Agree

5. The dry building methods will able to help the Malaysian Building Industry in attaining its objectives.

4.9

Strongly Agree

6. With regards to the quality of Dry Building Methods, there are now few dissatisfied customer.

3.6

Agree

7. The Dry Building Methods contributes to the advancement of Malaysian building Industry.

4.3

Agree

8. I am very satisfied to the effects of Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods.

4.0

Agree

9.  The quality of output is not sacrificed because the efficiency of dry building methods.

4.0

Agree

10. Dry Building Methods is best method that suits to the need of Malaysian Building Industry.

4.0

Agree  

            As seen in the presentation, majority of the subjects are either responded agree or strongly agree on each of the statements given in the survey questionnaire.   According to the subjects, the quality control department responds to the quality policies of the company on the construction quality of dry building methods in which the management of the department participates in implementing these quality policies.

Basically, most of them believed that the dry building methods are effective and contributing to the Malaysian Building Industry in terms of customer satisfaction and increased sales.  With a perfect weighted mean of 5.0, the subjects believed that the overall quality production of Malaysian Building Companies with regards to dry building methods is excellent.  Actually, the dry building methods will able to help the Malaysian Building Industry in attaining its objectives and one of their objectives is to please their customers. And based on their responses, there are now few dissatisfied customer because of the quality of dry building methods. They also asserted that the Dry Building Methods contributes to the advancement of Malaysian building Industry and the quality of output is not sacrificed because of its efficiency.

Dry Building Methods is best method that suits to the need of Malaysian Building Industry. Moreover, the general evaluation of the respondents about the quality polices in terms of dry building methods of the industry is very good. Furthermore, the respondents agreed that quality policies are significant in increasing the progress of the industry.

 

Quality Planning and Assurance

As discussed in the project context and with respect to the quality planning and assurance, the objective of this project is to identify the effectiveness of Dry Building Methods that will enhance the practices of Malaysian Building Industry. Thus, it should provide an assessment regarding the Dry Building Methods.

 

Cost and Time Estimates

In any project management plan, cost budgeting is an important thing that needs consideration since it engages in giving out the overall cost estimation to the individual work stuff to set up a baseline for gauging performance to the planned project (Lockami, 2003; Longman & Mullins, 2004; and Hansen & Mowen 2005).  The major yields of cost budgeting procedures are requirements of project funding, baseline of costs, updates to the cost management plan and requested changes (Raiborn & Payne, 1996). With this regard, cost control is also vital since it involves in controlling modifications to the project budget.  From this case, the Cost Control implies for Malaysian Building Industry are as follows:

• Cost estimation must be within approval budget
• Minimize cost changes if possible
• Any cost changes should be recorded and written in a report to be revised and review for corrective action if possible by the project manager
• Any request changes that is compulsory need to be written in a report then send to the high authority for an approval
• All cost changes should inform the stakeholders concerned by the project manager.

 

 

Developing the Plan

The success of a project would most likely depend, one way or another, on how the project manager addresses the lifecycle (Schokkaert & Eyckmans 1994). It mainly includes the management of information, technology and people. Perhaps, due to the reason to specify what are the specific important factors that should be considered within those three variables, researchers have identified several success factors in project management. For instance, Shenhar & Dvir (1996) identified several significant success factors such as: project planning; project mission; project control; customer involvement and top management support;. Almost similarly, Lester (1998) acknowledged the five important factors for business success in project developments, which include: the commitment of senior management acting through a culture that gives importance to entrepreneurial individuals; innovation, organizational process and structure that hold up cross-functional band and offer procedures for their process; creating new product ideas; giving efficient venture teams and leaders; and a planned process for modern projects. Kenny (2003) adds that project managers should also give importance to learning and innovation to ensure the success of the project.

 

Quality Control

Planning is one of the fundamental functions in management. It underlies the factors that will lead the organization into achieving its main goals. Thus, it is crucial to lay out a plan to organize the activities that are to be undertaken by the entire organization. The process of planning though entails setting the desired outcomes and drafting the set of actions to be implemented. It is a complex process that will require analysis of the organization's strengths and weaknesses as well as the external factors such as the opportunities and threats.

When Malaysian Building Industry decides to enhance their building methods through dry building methods as part of their strategy, the next important thing to consider is to have a quality control. The system designing process can have an effect on the application of a certain system. In this manner, consequences may follow which should be given attention by the management.  Thus, the organization should be aware of the possible problems related to Industrialized Building System application. The effect of these problems on Industrialized Building System design processes and the possible negative impact of the consequences should be identified.

The PMBOK defines project quality management as “… the process required ensuring that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken both the management of the project and the product of the project” (as cited in Burke, 2003, p. 240). In Malaysian Building Industry, the need for a plan that monitors the timelines and quality objectives is essential because it employ processes like job combination and workflow analysis to gather savings, this is known as quality control. A systematic execution will transmit information to the users of system.

Quality planning and control, according to Burke (2003, p. 241), ‘is the process of identifying the quality standards the project needs to comply with, to achieve the required condition and satisfy the terms of the contract’. There are certain activities that the firm need to take upon opening with the requirements of customer and finishing with excellent operation of software by customers in order to guarantee that all worthy system measures and standards appropriate for the scheme are followed, all the tests and reviews are conducted and planned. The following are such activities:

 Recording and resolution problems.

 Quality Plan preparation .

 Compliance to applicable Standards/Guidelines.

 Test cases preparation.

 Plans and test cases approval.

 Necessary focus on measures of quality.

 Test plans and assessment of test coverage preparations.

            Quality policies are guidelines set down in the norms of the company quality standards and the subsequent planning done according to it. The policy is important as it lays the foundation for the complete procedure to make quality implementation a successful venture.

Moreover, to ensure quality control, communication with the various members of departments and those with various tasks is also important since it is helpful for the outcome because of their perspectives. Lockami (2003) pointed out that the environment of the new project and the way that it is premised to be done is one of the most important parts for the production of the early corporation, and this is also important for this new project in order to avoid the problems that the other similar corporations have suffered. Each of the staff has to be evaluated immediately and precisely according to their abilities, skills and output. The focus of their core works are important as part of the management of the human resources and also included in the ways that their outcome will be done and included in the final output of the entire project, especially during the start.

            In relation to this, effective management and well-planned project implementation must be practiced to encourage teamwork and business progress. This can be done through effective communication, with good interpersonal, speaking, writing and listening skills. Aside from these, the organization can also seek professional help from Industrialized Building System professionals for additional guidance.

 

Part 3. General Questions

            During the interview, the interviewer encouraged the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. More importantly, the interviewer was objective and did not attempt, in any way, to influence the interviewer's statements. In order to do this, the interviewer did not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. Also, the questions thrown at the interviewees had been phrased clearly, so that interviewees can understand them, and they were delivered in neutral tone of voice. The researcher also avoided long questions, or those that are really made up of two or more questions, because by asking long-questions, the tendency to obtain a response for each aspect a researcher wants to explore will be lost. The researcher also avoided too many theoretical concepts or jargons, as the researcher’s understanding of such terms may vary from that of the interviewees. Also, during the interview, the researcher was determined to establish trust by not being too assertive and by being attentive to the interviewees’ responses. Finally, the researcher made sure that the interview did not last too long and did not consume much of the respondents’ time, as this may instigate uncooperativeness from the respondents.

 

1) What should be done in order to sustain the corporate culture in managing quality?

As most of the respondents of the study were from researcher’s organization, the way they perceived the means to sustain the corporate culture in managing quality appeared to be varied as well. Among the ideas that the respondents mentioned in order to sustain the corporate culture in managing quality include mainly the following:

 

• Allocation of appropriate total quality management programs besides technical and professional innovation of services and products.
• Participation of the overall Malaysian Building Industry in planning, financing and follow up of the quality management programs.
• Unification of the planning and follow up efforts for development of the total quality management in Malaysian Building Industry.
• Linking the training programs with the needs of the workers
• Supporting the suggested quality management programs of clients.
• Utilizing all quality management resources and capabilities in Malaysian Building Industry.
• Restructuring and updating some of the customer service facilities and structures
• Updating the quality management plans to match the client needs
• Supporting clients and workers in Malaysian Building Industry.
• Directing the focus of Malaysian Building Industry to organizations that need quality management and development.

 

2) What are the main concerns of customers in the quality movement?

Customers are able to make the most of their participation in the quality movement because of the learning provided by the Malaysian Building Industry, especially when these are relevant and highly accessible. As this survey revealed, most companies in the Malaysian Building Industry were doing a relatively good job in making sure that their workers were all keeping on improving their skills and knowledge through relevant and accessible training activities. However, the time needed to attend to these trainings seemed to be a problem for most workers. With these things under consideration, the government must be able to find ways to make these quality management movements even more advantageous and beneficial so Malaysian Building Industry can do their jobs effectively. See Figure 10 for the percentage distribution of the participants’ replies with regards to their main concerns in the quality movement.

 

Figure 10

 

3) What constitutes the appropriate environment to develop corporate culture in managing quality?

A majority of the participants of the study evaluated that the appropriate environment to develop corporate culture in managing quality must consist of customer service facilities in excellent condition, so there would be a lesser need for any changes or enhancements to be done.  The environment must also include experienced personnel who can effectively facilitate the management of quality in a corporate culture. As shown in Figure 11, majority of the respondents strongly mentioned that the 2 elements must be found in the environment to be able to effectively develop corporate culture in managing quality. In fact, during the interview, most of the respondents observed that the factors mentioned above might even cause either the success or failure of the corporate culture development and quality management.

Figure 11

 

TQM Practices Appraisal of Malaysian Building Industry

The business organization in this paper, a Building Industry, is both service and product businesses that operates in Malaysia. It has been in operation for so many years focusing on providing building services using wet building methods. With these years, the organization has experienced consistent growth marked by increase in the number of returning customers and employees. However, the industry needs to have some changes due to stiff competition and other operation-related issues. First is the issue of technology which is highly needed in the current society.  Next is the rate of turnover for full time employees in the said industry. In order to respond to the problem, the human resource managers of different building industries in Malaysia implemented an exit interview strategy. The strategy has been well accepted by managers because of the freedom given to them to execute the interviews and analyze the results. Unfortunately, the exit interview approach failed to deliver a concrete reason as to the increasing rate of staff turnover.

            Actually, the scenario at Malaysian Building Industry is a case of ineffective quality and operations management. According to Lowson (2002) operations management involves the conceptualization, establishment, administration and improvement of the internal and external mechanisms, systems, resources and technologies of the business organization in order to facilitate the production and efficient delivery of the major product and service combinations (p. 4). Furthermore, every business organization is faced with a stable concern for continuous improvement, sense of responsibility at the staff and management levels, and operational controls in its effort to successfully provide consumers what they need and guarantee the organization's survival. All these aspects fall into quality management (Avery and Zabel 1996, p.1).

Quality operation is important for Malaysian Building Industry as both product and service organization. The organization has a commitment to provide a form of product/service to its target markets and consumers which is building establishment using various building methods. The loyalty of the clients and their satisfaction are the primary concerns of the organization. According to Scharoun (2005) every product/service organization aims that customers love their service or product, acquire satisfaction and benefit from using the product/service, and return to purchase or avail of the service again. Thus, quality management is essential in ensuring that these goals are achieved (p. 1). Nersesian (2000) adds that a quality product or service satisfies consumers' needs and instills in them a sense of appreciation for the organization, thus, laying the foundation for customer return and even loyalty. It is a well-known reality that no company can survive in today's globally competitive environment without a quality product or service (p. 223). Quality and service are associated with each other. Corollary to this, discovery and maintenance of quality requires knowledge of the tools, skills, service setting, worker roles, consumer wants and organizational structure out of which service is originated and delivered to the customer (Bassett 1992, p. 129). McNamara (2006) claims that operations management encompasses all operations in the business and focuses on the effectiveness and efficiency of internal processes. From these perspectives, it can be deduced that operations management somehow includes human resource management in its function. The workforce of any organization is one of its major internal resources and all business processes such as accounting, purchasing, production, delivery, evaluation, decision making and office administration are managed by people. The problem at Malaysian Building Industry is not primarily an issue of the quality of product/service. Rather, it is the quality of the people who deliver the service. According to Hashmi (2009) a fundamental principle of quality management is that operational mistakes and inefficiencies, though mostly driven by defective processes and systems within the organization, can be possibly made by people at times. The results of the customer feedback system at Malaysian Building Industry, when analyzed more deeply, all boils down to the performance of the employees of the organization. The top complaint which is delays in dealing with written complaints/queries is a failure on the part of the duty managers. The complaints relative to billing are problems with the billing department while quality of service is a failure of the contractors. Considering all these elements, the management and staff of the organization carry the responsibility of evaluating their weaknesses and shortcomings and should be focused on improving their performance. However, the effort to deliver better performance and quality service/product should not be an individual approach. Malaysian Building Industry, as both product and service company, needs to adopt not only dry building method but also an organization-wide system that would provide the management an avenue to accumulate extensive amount of information regarding operations, staff performance, and consumer satisfaction. There is a need to have a concerted approach to consumer satisfaction. The company is presently lacking any sense of “oneness” as to how it would fulfill its goal. The managing director’s priority is customer satisfaction through proper and prompt service/product delivery while the employees are more concerned with the management’s willingness to listen to and respond to their concerns. The conflicting priorities somehow affect the motivation of the staff to perform at their best because they feel that their efforts are not recognized or appreciated.

Connor (1997) argued that the philosophy of quality management holds that people are critical to accomplishing quality objectives. People in the organization must experience meaningfulness and empowerment in their jobs so that they would enjoy increased intrinsic work motivation and high job satisfaction, display less absenteeism and turnover, and render high-quality work. Hence, quality management also advocates for the managers to lessen or totally abolish the "we and they" relationship between managerial and non-managerial positions. It requires upon the top management the willingness to create the condition of trust and responsiveness to various employee concerns that are necessary to continuous improvement (p. 501). Malaysian Building Industry management and personnel need to have a dialogue on what the business is facing at the moment and what should be done. Every concern of the business should be discussed among the personnel so that shared goals on how to address them would be determined and general strategies would be formulated. Taking a simple example, it can be considered that room cleanliness is an extreme importance for a Building Industry.

The key is for everyone to take responsibility in ensuring continuous coordination among the various functions and tasks within the organization. According to Scharoun (2005) shared goals and coordination ensure that all tasks within the organization build on each other, render a system of check and balance, and foster teamwork among the employees. These three components are instrumental to continuous improvement (p.1).

            One of the most widely-accepted management strategies that Malaysian Building can adopt is Total Quality Management in accordance to their dry building approach. Total Quality Management (TQM) is an integrative management approach for continuously improving the quality of products and services delivery through the participation of all levels and functions of the organization. It is a systematic process of instilling quality into the organization's products and services from the start of production and making quality the priority and responsibility of every person in the organization (Prasad, Tata, & Thorn 1999, p. 440). Generally, TQM has nine significant elements analyzed and validated by empirical studies. These are customer focus; top management’s commitment; quality information and reporting; training; responsibilities of quality control departments; employee participation; process management; product or service design; and supplier quality management (Lee 2004, p. 102). Total Quality Management would be very beneficial to Malaysian Building Industry. It is a participative strategy that empowers employees to take responsibility for enhancing quality in the organization by altering the bureaucratic atmosphere into an organizational culture characterized by free problem solving, collective decision making, trust among staff and management, a sense of ownership for goal fulfillment and problem solving, and self-discipline (Bethke, Clinton, & Williamson 1994, p. 10). If implemented properly, this would address the issue of employee turnover as the management would be obliged to consider the ideas and opinions of the employees in determining and solving company issues. The inherent element of the system that gives voice to the employees would change the perception of the staff that the managers in the organization have reluctance in listening to various concerns that they communicate. The TQM system can be implemented by analyzing the organization's current situations first. This procedure would require the management and personnel to sit down together and look into the history of the company, its mission and objectives, what the company lacks and needs at the moment, the events that resulted to the need for TQM, and the present quality working life of the staff. There is also a need to determine if the organization has stable financial standing, potent administrative systems, sufficient managerial competencies and strong staff morale since these considerations would affect the effectiveness of the TQM system (Hashmi 2009). Malaysian Building Industry is an industry that has a record of operational growth and committed management.

   

Chapter 5

Conclusion and Recommendation

Conclusion

 

            The changes in technology and management underwent by Malaysian Building Industry allowed them to adopt serious changes in strategy and development. From their desire to cope with the technological advancements of the century, the industry is making plans of implementing Industrialized Building Systems that will enhance the quality of services offered by Malaysian building Industry. Basically, the opportunities before Malaysian building Industry are significant.  The Malaysian building Industry has the technical solution and the market expertise to become the dominant force in the market i.e. to enhance the quality of their services. But as is typical in the building industry, the window of opportunity will not remain open for long.  The possibilities are virtually limitless, but the industry needs to introduce into the marketplace as soon as possible to ensure that they were able to take advantage of future opportunities even more lucrative than those presented herein. To be able to cope with competition against other industry worldwide, Malaysian building Industry must therefore plan their actions properly and implement their plan immediately. However, given their intention for change, the Malaysian building Industry must not also forget the presence of technical and non-technical problems that they can encounter, such as choosing the methods itself, its compatibility with the organization's method, budget, time and people. This is why, the adequate allocation of resources, including time and money must be planned accordingly to achieve success.

Based on the discussions above, it is found out that planning is a key resource of the organization, together with people, finances and material assets. Thus, it is accepted to state that project plan is a business issue. The discussion above revealed that through effective project planning management of the organization's resources and methods, organization administrators can add value to the services delivered to customers, reduce risks in the organization's business, reduce the costs of business development and service delivery and encourage improvement in internal business processes and external service implementation.

 

Recommendation

            An action plan needs to be implemented to assess the effectiveness of the set goals of the organization. In order to this, the Malaysian building Industry will have to communicate the information to the organization concerns. In the case of Malaysian building Industry, the planning of projects implementation should also include other external factors that might cause significant effect to the overall implementation of the project.  These factors are sometimes immeasurable since it is more related to the characteristics of project manager itself. To be able to carry out plans, the organization must provide continued development towards excellence and high performance. This pursuit involves the development of the quality decision skills to create an efficient team that will lead to increased productivity.

On the other had, it is recommended that when using a new building approach/method, it is better to build a report that is ideal for a specific need then to make a report based on a predefined concession.

            Finally, the use of the quantities in decision-making model helps us to minimize mistakes.  Aside from the steps above, it is also recognized to list all the alternatives, identify future events that may occur, and construct a pay-off table in making effective decisions.

Here, the WBS and DSM approach will also be discussed, so that the team will be refreshed of the approaches’ principles. The WBS and DSM will also be used to save time and costs necessary for the sessions. To allocate enough time, WBS will be used and each ‘broken down’ structure will be scheduled at the best time possible. Then, to know and organize the steps, or how the process of tasks within mentoring and coaching are related, DSM will be used. The analysis will be linked with the time analysis and investigation of the main tasks of the project to avoid conflicts in schedule and to avoid unnecessary costs.

 

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Watson, D. (2004). “Managing quality enhancement in the personal social service A front-line assessment of its impact on service provision within resident childcare” The Internal Journal of Public Sector Management vol. 17 No.2 pp. 153-165.

 

Survey Questionnaire

            The researcher is conducting a study on the effect on Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods/Industrialized Building Systems in the Malaysian Building Industry. To enable the researcher to make the necessary conclusions and recommendations for this study, it would be very much appreciated if you answer all the items in the questionnaire.

            Information given will be treated in strictest confidence.

Thank you.

 

                                                               

Part 1.  Personal Data

Direction : Please fill up in all the necessary information about yourself.  Don’t leave any item unanswered.

Age  ________

Gender Male ( )                    Female ( )

Years of Connection in Construction Business: _____________

 

 

Part 2. Common Understanding on Quality

Directions:  Encircle the number that best corresponds to your answer.

                        5          -           Strongly Agree

                        4          -           Agree

                        3          -           Uncertain

                        2          -           Disagree

                        1          -           Strongly Disagree

 

 

Statements

5

4

3

2

1

1. Quality in the Malaysian Construction Industry involves commitment.

5

4

3

2

1

2. Quality means that Malaysian Construction Industry being provided are always excellent.

5

4

3

2

1

3. Effective total quality management implies that customers using various Malaysian Construction Industry services/products experience comfort.

5

4

3

2

1

4. Quality means services/products are unique and ahead of others.

5

4

3

2

1

5. The lack of understanding and commitment is a common barrier in achieving quality in an organizational culture.

5

4

3

2

1

6. An organization needs to invest in total quality management continuously to become a leading player in any industry.

5

4

3

2

1

 

 

Part 3.  Determining the Perception Towards the effect on Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods/Industrialized Building Systems in the Malaysian Building Industry

 

Statements

5

4

3

2

1

1. The quality control department responds to the quality policies of the company on the construction quality of dry building methods.

5

4

3

2

1

2. The management of the department participates in implementing these quality policies.

5

4

3

2

1

3. In general, the dry building methods are effective and contributing to the Malaysian Building Industry in terms of customer satisfaction and increased sales.

5

4

3

2

1

4. The overall quality production of Malaysian Building Companies with regards to dry building methods is excellent.

5

4

3

2

1

5. The dry building methods will able to help the Malaysian Building Industry in attaining its objectives.

5

4

3

2

1

6. With regards to the quality of Dry Building Methods, there are now few dissatisfied customer.

5

4

3

2

1

7. The Dry Building Methods contributes to the advancement of Malaysian building Industry.

5

4

3

2

1

8. I am very satisfied to the effects of Construction Quality of Dry Building Methods.

5

4

3

2

1

9.  The quality of output is not sacrificed because the efficiency of dry building methods.

5

4

3

2

1

10. Dry Building Methods is best method that suits to the need of Malaysian Building Industry.

5

4

3

2

1

 

Part 4.  General Questions:

What is quality in Malaysian Construction Industry? What are the main concerns of customers in the quality movement?

What constitutes the appropriate environment to develop corporate culture in managing quality?

What should be done in order to sustain the corporate culture in managing quality?

 

 

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