Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz

Entrepreneurship education in developing country

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the entrepreneurship module offered in the Masters Degree in Project Management by the School of Housing Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the scenario of the construction industry to demonstrate the necessity of entrepreneurship education in the Universitys construction programme.Findings – The findings are discussed in relation to the important role played by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in supporting the national growth. The existence of high number of SMEs in the construction industry indicates the significant role of entrepreneurship education in the courses related to construction management. The importance of entrepreneurship education in Malaysia is in line with Malaysias quest to achieve developed status by 2020, as many business opportunities across all economic sectors will be created. This also applies to the construction industry, owing to its significant contribution to...

Marketing practices of professional engineering consulting firms: Implement or not to implement?

Abstract This article explores the necessity of applying marketing practices by engineering consulting firms that serve the construction industry. Most construction professionals perceive marketing as an unimportant management function. The present study provides support to similar previous studies conducted in other countries which found marketing is more ‘trappings’ rather than ‘substance’. Stiff competition drives civil and structural engineering (C&S) firms in Malaysia to suit their marketing practices in ensuring survival. In relation to this, company profile or characteristics such as firm organization, operational structure and nature of environment help providing an explanation on the readiness of these firms to fully implement marketing practices. The results also suggest that these firms use minimal marketing with the professional image projected by the directors or principals as playing an important role.

Competitive resources of private housing developers: the Malaysian perspective

The resource‐based view (RBV) has been used on various industry studies. To examine the resources required to thrive in the private housing development sector in Malaysia, the RBV was similarly utilised. Using a combination of mailed questionnaires and face‐to‐face interviews, the study identified and ranked fourteen resources by virtue of their ability to exploit opportunities and/or neutralise threats, or in short, value. While the ranking of some of the resources echoe similar past industry studies, others interestingly did not, perhaps due to the unique characteristics of the industry, or even country. New players to the industry can take stock of the findings to maximise their chances of success. The paper ends by recommending that the study be repeated in Malaysia, this time with many more respondent, to confirm the findings. It also proposes that similar studies be conducted in other countries to enable cross‐country comparisons to be made.

Tourism Marketing: An Overview of Small and Medium Budget Hotels (SMBHs)

The tourism boom in East Peninsular Malaysia began in the late 1970s. The development of the tourism and hospitality industry has paved the way for the proliferation of many small and medium budget hotels (SMBHs) in this region. This study focuses on the marketing aspects of SMBHs in three urban cities in East Peninsular Malaysia. Marketing has then become a crucial dimension that the industry should explore further given the importance of customers in boosting the tourism sector. The uniqueness of each city is also a useful tourism product that can be maximized to attract tourists. This paper, based on a study of 48 SMBHs operating in East Peninsular Malaysia, concludes that the majority of the visitors of SMBHs are local tourists. The visitors are mostly groups of family, business people, teenagers, and those who are on family vacations. The purposes of the visit are mainly for day trips, short-term vacations, visiting friends and relatives, and business travel. These small-sized hotels usually receive assistance from the Tourism Ministry or the Tourism State Action Council. The website is the most popular technology used, whereas word-of-mouth, sign boards, and brochures are the most common advertisement methods adopted. These three cities are popular mainly for shopping and business activities, whereas the state of Terengganu is the most visited place for its cultural and historical landmarks.

Effect of the global financial crisis on the financial performance of public listed construction companies in Malaysia

Purpose – The aim of this case study is to characterize the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis on the financial performance of public listed construction companies. Design/methodology/approach – Financial analysis was conducted on 32 public listed construction companies in Malaysia. Twelve financial ratios were examined to determine the profitability, liquidity, activity, leverage and solvency of these companies over the period between 2005 and 2010. This was complemented by a distress analysis using Altman’s Z-index. The study also used a content analysis of the Chairman’s or Managing Director’s statement to shareholders to uncover the responses and strategic initiatives undertaken by the management in response to the financial crisis. Findings – The only direct impact of the financial crisis was a reduction in profitability. Total revenues and total assets of these companies continue to grow due to increased demand for construction from year 2007 following two large capital investment programs i...

Coping behaviors to deal with stress and stressor consequences among construction professionals: A case study at the Gaza Strip, Palestine

Construction experts face several types of stresses at construction sites. The purpose of this study is to recognize and investigate dominant coping behaviors to overcome stress among construction professionals at the Gaza Strip.,For the purpose of this paper, a survey which used self-administrative questionnaires was conducted. A total of 320 questionnaires were distributed randomly to construction professionals working at the Gaza Strip. From the total questionnaires that were distributed, 183 were returned. This shows a 51 per cent response rate. Relative importance index and principal component analysis were applied to examine the responses. This study explored two central coping behaviors, namely, problem-focused and emotion-focused behaviors.,In relation to the problem-focused behaviors, a factor analysis revealed three underlying factors, namely, planned and constructive review problem-solving, need for social contributory support and confronted coping mechanism. As for emotion-focused coping behavior strategy, three principal factors were identified and named in order of their significance. These three principal factors include accepting responsibility, avoidance and seeking emotional support.,There is limited attention from researchers with regard to coping behaviors so as to deal with stress and stressors in the Palestinian construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap for stress-related issues in the construction sector of Palestine. The outcomes of this study will be valuable for construction companies which pursue improvements in human resources, productivity and future strategy.

Root causes occurrence of low BIM adoption in Malaysia: System dynamics modelling approach

The global implementation of BIM in the construction field is increasing worldwide. Due to the advantages offered by BIM, its implementation is considered important in the construction projects. Nevertheless, the Construction Industry Transformation Plan has reported that the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Malaysia is still low and it is estimated at only 10 percent adoption amongst construction stake players. The barriers influencing the occurrence of low adoption BIM in Malaysia have been studied by some researchers. However, these researchers did not investigate the root causes which might lead to the recurring of the barriers to BIM adoption. Root causes that immediately occurrence of barriers, also known as precipitants or trigger causes. This conceptual paper developed the causal loop diagram (CLD) which presents the relationship between the perceived variables using system dynamic modelling approach. The findings revealed a novelty validated diagrams that design the holistic dynamic relationship on the root causes occurrence of low BIM adoption. Nonetheless, the diagram subject to more empirical testing for its practicability and further refinement upon more results expected to emerge as the research progresses.The global implementation of BIM in the construction field is increasing worldwide. Due to the advantages offered by BIM, its implementation is considered important in the construction projects. Nevertheless, the Construction Industry Transformation Plan has reported that the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Malaysia is still low and it is estimated at only 10 percent adoption amongst construction stake players. The barriers influencing the occurrence of low adoption BIM in Malaysia have been studied by some researchers. However, these researchers did not investigate the root causes which might lead to the recurring of the barriers to BIM adoption. Root causes that immediately occurrence of barriers, also known as precipitants or trigger causes. This conceptual paper developed the causal loop diagram (CLD) which presents the relationship between the perceived variables using system dynamic modelling approach. The findings revealed a novelty validated diagrams that design the holistic dy...

The Influence of Quench Tempering and Carburazing Treatment towards Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Medium Carbon Steel for Automotive Application

Gear is one of the machine components that is widely used in industrial and automotive fields. In machinery process, gear has a very important function to forward speed, power, or torque from one engine component to other components as a mechanical drive. Today a lot of development to obtain a good quality of gear, due to many gears were damage, worn out, and broken because they were not strong enough to resist friction and pressure. In addition, broken gears due to pressure and friction make them did not last long. To increase the hardness value of gear, then it needs though material that can be used when the gear reach optimum rotation. The material that is widely used for gear application is medium carbon steel. The medium carbon steel is a metal material that has carbon composition ranging from 0.30 to 0.59%. This medium carbon steel has hardness value of 174.501 HVN without treatment. The process of quench tempering and carburizing are conducted to increase hardness and toughness value of the material. The hardness value of gear is 140 HVN. The result of the research showed the hardness value at various temperature 780°C, 810°C, and 840°C. The optimum hardness values is 165.355 HVN at the temperature of 840°C. Medium carbon steel is expected to be an alternative to produce steel material with certain mechanical properties. This research also conducted heat treatment in austenite area and then detained with holding time of 20, 40, and 60 minutes. Furthermore, quench tempering was conducted and followed by carburizing to obtain a ferrite phase and coarse pearlite and to increase hardness value after quech tempering. It is expected that after quech tempering and carburizing process, steel with better mechanical properties can be produced. This research obtained the increase of hardness value and the number of pearlite and ferrite.

The Effect Rust and Over-Protection Voltage of Impressed Current Cathodic Protection towards LR Grade a Steel Disbondment

Corrosion at the bilge due to direct contact with the seawater is an issue which is necessary to be taken into account. The problem can be solved by giving combined protection such as coating and cathodic protection impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP). For broader range, there is occasionally a possibility of over-protection at certain area especially that is close to anodes. It can trigger cathodic disbondment to occur. Cathodic disbondment is a situation when the coating loses its adhesion to the steel due to the voltage originated from cathodic protection. This trial was conducted by using several samples of LR Grade A plate coated by primer coat epoxy and top coat polyurethane. The plate was then given artificial defect with the size of R2, R3 and R4 accoring to ISO 4628-3 or is equal to 0,5% ; 1% and 8% of the plate surface width. Futhermore, impressed current cathodic protection was conducted with the steel anode, Ag/AgCl reference electrode and over-protection voltage were-1,5 ; -2,0 ; -2,5 ; -3,0 ; -3,5 and-4,0 volt. Electrolyte media employed was seawater. Furthermore, the disbondment taken place was measured after 6 hours and analyzed the corrosion product produced. In the research, it could be seen that the broader the defect was, the smaller the disbondment area was. The width of disbondment area was depending on current density. The smaller the voltage (volt) was, the broader the disbondment in accordance with the increase of disbondment width taking place on the plate surface. The corrosion product produced was Fe3O4 (Magnetite).

The Influence of Austenisation Temperature and Holding Time on Mechanical Properties, Scale Thickness, and Microstructure in Alloy Steel

The application of steel products have been widely used and various research have been developed to find a good and appropriate quality of steel and can be produced in the country without have to be imported, for example alloy steels. One of the alloy steels that have been constantly developed is Ni-Cr-Mo alloy steel with additional nickel, chromium and molybdenum which can increase hardness, tensile strength, ductility and toughness. The effect during the production process is at the heating process that causes the formation of iron oxide layer (scale) and the loss of steel weight. Therefore, the selection of heat treatment methods and techniques are required to increase the mechanical properties of steel, such as hardness, tensile strength, and toughness, with the scale is about <5% of steel weight. In this research, the heat treatment was carried out at austenisation temperature of 800°, 850°, 900°C and at holding time of 20, 40, 60 minutes, then followed by a rapid cooling (quenching) to improve the mechanical properties of hardness. This research also tested the mechanical properties of steel that consist of hardness test and impact test, and metallographic observation that consist of micro structure observation and scale thickness observation. The micro structure from heat treatment process is martensite, it is due to a rapid cooling (quenching) that rapidly change the austenite phase into martensite. The data showed the highest hardness is 588.35 HVN at 850°C of temperature and 60 minutes of holding time, 8.5 Joules of impact energy, and 91.5 μm of scale thickness. While the lowest hardness is 539.34 HVN at 800°C of temperature, 5 Joules of impact energy, and 47.81 μm of scale thickness.