Mekdam A. Nima, M. Razali Abdul‐Kadir and Mohd. Saleh Jaafar
The engineer’s personnel play a prominent role in enhancing the constructability of facilities design, construction and assessment. This paper is based on the constructability…
Abstract
The engineer’s personnel play a prominent role in enhancing the constructability of facilities design, construction and assessment. This paper is based on the constructability concepts identified by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) at Austin, Texas and represents and describes the constructability concepts in relation to the engineer’s personnel. It discusses the role of each of them in enhancing constructability of facilities projects. A set of obligations has been concluded as an answer to the question of "How can the engineer’s personnel enhance the project constructability?".
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M.R. Abdul Kadir, W.P. Lee, M.S. Jaafar, S.M. Sapuan and A.A.A. Ali
Labour usage represents one of the critical elements in the Malaysia construction industry due to severe shortage of local workers. This paper aims to present a construction…
Abstract
Purpose
Labour usage represents one of the critical elements in the Malaysia construction industry due to severe shortage of local workers. This paper aims to present a construction performance comparison between conventional building systems and industrialised building systems (IBS).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were obtained from 100 residential projects through a questionnaire survey in 2005. A total of 100 respondents participated in this study.
Findings
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicated that the actual labour productivity comparison between conventional building system and IBS was significantly different. Further, the comparison of crew size indicated that the conventional building system of 22 workers was significantly different from the IBS of 18 workers. Similarly, the cycle time of 17 days per house for conventional building system was found to be significantly different from the IBS of four days. However, the conventional building system was found to be insignificantly different from the IBS in term of structural construction cost.
Originality/value
The results acquired from this study could be used by project planners for estimating labour input, control costs and project scheduling. Additionally, they could be used to determine the most appropriate structural building system for executing a construction project at the conceptual stage.
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Wa'el Alaghbari, Mohd. Razali A. Kadir, Azizah Salim and Ernawati
The paper seeks to identify the major factors causing delay in building construction projects in Malaysia.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to identify the major factors causing delay in building construction projects in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was used to carry out the study. The questionnaire consisted of 31 factors which were grouped into four major categories by responsibility – contractor factors, owner factors, consultant factors and external factors. The level of importance of the categories was measured and the relative importance of weights was ranked.
Findings
The study finds that financial problems are the main factor and coordination problems are the second most important factor causing delay in construction projects in Malaysia. The results were analyzed to rank the causes of delay and further classify the types of delay.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of this study is limited to building projects in the Klang Valley area, where major Malaysian cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Seremban are located. The data for this study was gathered through a detailed questionnaire survey.
Originality/value
Based on the analysis of the ranking and intensity of causes of delay, this paper suggests possible improvements that could be made in order to reduce delays in the construction industry.
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Gholamreza Dehdasht, M. Salim Ferwati, Nazirah Zainul Abidin and Michael Olubukola Oyedeji
The transition of Malaysia from a developing country to a developed country was considered in vision 2020, whereby an average construction contribution of 6.0% in growth domestic…
Abstract
Purpose
The transition of Malaysia from a developing country to a developed country was considered in vision 2020, whereby an average construction contribution of 6.0% in growth domestic product (GDP) per annum was required. Despite this importance, still, the Malaysian construction industry has not reached the target yet. Understanding the weakness and strength of this industry can be an effective way to help the policymakers in selecting the best strategy in the promotion of the Malaysian construction industry in GDP growth. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the current issues and challenges faced by the contribution of the Malaysian construction industry in GDP growth.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve this objective, all the latest statistical data presented by the Department of Statistic and Construction Industry Development Board in Malaysia until March 2018 being collected and interpreted. Furthermore, through the literature review, the most significant challenges encountered by the Malaysian construction industry identified, compared and presented.
Findings
The results highlight that the contribution of Malaysian construction into GDP is increasing with a gentle slope. Nonetheless, the Malaysian construction industry has a high impact on the employment rate. More investment in the construction sector is required to meet an average of 6% contribution in GDP. Also, to be able to seize new opportunities in the global construction market, more exerted efforts have to overcome the challenges faced by this industry.
Practical implications
This study offers practical implications to policy and decision makers in the Malaysian construction industry. Despite the constant growth of the Malaysian construction industry in recent years, there is a need for more investments and overcome to challenges to encounter an average of 6% contribution in GDP. This study provides an overview and insights to investors, stockholders and managers to formulate a long-term plan promoting the efficiency of the Malaysian construction industry.
Originality/value
This study through explaining, comparing and interpreting the real statistical data, through the tables, figures and graphs, simplified the understanding of the weakness and strength of the Malaysian construction industry.
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This study aims to look into the scope of exploring and promoting business zakah for the enhancement of the well-being of the underprivileged in society.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to look into the scope of exploring and promoting business zakah for the enhancement of the well-being of the underprivileged in society.
Design/methodology/approach
This is mainly a qualitative research conducted using both primary and secondary data. Primary data have been collected from 34 business entrepreneurs in Bangladesh through semi-structured in-depth interviews. The secondary data have been collected from annual reports with a view to calculating business zakah of five business enterprises for providing an indicative picture of prospective volume of business zakah in Bangladesh. Finally, collected qualitative data have been analyzed thematically following the due procedures with a view to addressing the research questions.
Findings
The findings reveal that around thirty five percent of sample entrepreneurs have used business zakah fund for fully and partially financing their social projects. It also reveals that on average annual business zakah fund amounts to nearly 144m BDT (around US$1.7m) per business enterprise. These findings bear clear witness that business zakah has extensive scope and promising prospect to be an instrument of financing social projects aimed at ensuring social well-being of the disadvantaged.
Practical implications
The findings of this research can be used as a guide to promote business zakah to finance social programs aimed at ensuring the well-being of the underprivileged of all societies particularly of Muslim countries representing one-fourth of the world population.
Originality/value
Exploring and promoting business zakah as an initiative of broadening the base of zakah is an innovative move and net addition to the literature of Islamic finance. It contributes greatly to the poverty alleviation movement in the sense that Muslim business entrepreneurs will now find their business zakah fund readily available to finance their social projects aimed at ensuring well-being of the impoverished.
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Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, William Mark Adolwine (ESQ.) and Iddrisu Danlard
To analyze the challenges and intricacies involved in managing the physical and administrative aspects of central mosques, with a specific focus on the Kumasi Central Mosque in…
Abstract
Purpose
To analyze the challenges and intricacies involved in managing the physical and administrative aspects of central mosques, with a specific focus on the Kumasi Central Mosque in Ghana. Through this case study, the paper aims to provide insights into the unique estate management practices and design a conceptual framework that incorporates efficient estate management practices for Ghana’s central mosques.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a mixed-methods approach. Structured questionnaires were used to gather the data administered to the head of the development office, maintenance workers and mosque users. The data were analyzed using descriptive methods.
Findings
The overall findings of the study indicate that the estate management practices of the mosque are having difficulties financing maintenance. Other difficulties include the type of maintenance regime, the period of planned maintenance, the lack of an asset register, the absence of insurance policies and the causes of emergency maintenance.
Practical implications
The research provides valuable insights into the management of central mosques in Ghana and offers scalable practical recommendations such as adopting a planned maintenance regime, insuring mosque facilities and implementing comprehensive recording-keeping guidelines guided by policies.
Originality/value
The paper will assist stakeholders in comprehending the most practical approach to mosque estate management practices.
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Safwan Kamal, Nanda Safarida and Erne Suzila Kassim
The purpose of this study is to develop and assess the effects of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT 2) constructs – effort expectancy (EE), social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop and assess the effects of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT 2) constructs – effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI) and hedonic motivation (HM) – on behavioural intention (BI), as well as the impact of innovation resistance theory (IRT) constructs – usage barrier (UB) and tradition barrier (TB) – on innovation resistance (IR) behavior in the context of digital zakat payment in Aceh. In addition, this study also examines how knowledge of fiqh zakat influences both BI and IR.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a quantitative study including 350 Acehnese persons who paid zakat online. This research used a Likert scale, and the sampling technique was purposive sampling applied for the Acehnese people. The research respondents were civil servants, private employees, BUMN employees (employees of State-Owned Enterprises), merchants, restaurant owners, professionals and other occupations who had paid professional zakat through a digital system mechanism. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.
Findings
This research found that the constructs built through the theory of UTAUT 2 explained the position of the EE variable, which had a significant effect on BI. On the other hand, the variable of SI and HM did not significantly affect BI in digital zakat payment. This finding demonstrated that BI significantly influenced actual usage (AU). UB and TB had no impact on IR, according to the theoretical framework developed by IRT. Yet, the knowledge about the fiqh zakat (KFZ) significantly affected the AU. In terms of the moderation role, the KFZ variable moderated the relationship between BI and AU. However, the KFZ variable did not moderate the relationship between IR and AU.
Research limitations/implications
This research had limitations and could still be investigated further by involving a larger sample. This study does not include all UTAUT 2 and IRT constructs, but only involves UTAUT 2 and IRT constructs based on the phenomenon of digital zakat paying behavior in the people of Aceh.
Practical implications
This research had a managerial contribution and an evaluation of the use of digital zakat collection services in Aceh and zakat management institutions in various countries. The existence of significant EE should be a reference for zakat institutions to produce continuous payment applications with a higher level of convenience in the future. In addition, the government should encourage more organised fiqh zakat education in society to plan a more optimal zakat collection. The reason for this is that KFZ has been shown to moderate zakat intentions towards actual digital zakat payment behaviour.
Social implications
The results of this study were then accommodated by the government to design a digital zakat collection system so that it resulted in optimising the collected zakat funds. The greater the zakat funds collected, the greater the economic impact and social resilience of the community was in the midst of the post-covid and global crisis.
Originality/value
This research provided an essential value in the aspect of collecting zakat funds, especially in the study of the behaviour of paying zakat digitally. The theory of planned behaviour predominated in earlier studies that investigated zakat-paying behaviour. Yet, this research was even more focused as it used the constructs of UTAUT 2 and IRT theory and applied the involvement of a moderator variable like fiqh zakat knowledge that was barely discussed.