Nor’Aini Yusof

Enablers and challenges of a sustainable housing industry in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the enablers of creating a viable environment for a sustainable housing industry and investigate the barriers limiting this progress.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is carried out to explore the four‐angle enablers (technological, institutional, internal action and market influence) which are crucial to create an industry which is prone towards sustainable construction. Based on the interviews and surveys conducted on Malaysian developers, the findings point to various challenges for each enabler.Findings – The paper highlighted that the governments lack of incentive programmes and the slow progress in revising related regulations are major hindrances for institutional enablers. For technological aspects, the problem lies in the cost of importing products because of the lack of locally‐produced green technology. The cost factor and lack of “urgency” are the core problems in encouraging internal action, while the low demand by the potenti...

Factors Affecting Housing Developers' Readiness to Adopt Innovative Systems

To tackle the problem of abandoned housing projects and improve the quality of housing, the Malaysian Government has proposed a new housing delivery system known as Build Then Sell (BTS). To encourage BTS, the government has introduced a fast-track planning approval process, a waiver of a deposit for a developers license and an exemption for low-cost houses. However, many developers are reluctant to implement BTS. This study aims to identify factors that influence housing developers’ readiness to implement BTS. Readiness theory has been used to construct a housing developer BTS readiness model. A questionnaire-based survey was carried out with developers in the major cities of Malaysia. Statistical analyses such as descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings here revealed that external support and market readiness are the two most important factors influencing Malaysian developers’ readiness to implement BTS. This implies that reassessing government incentives, educating home buyers about BTS and improving the role of finance institutions will help to facilitate the implementation of BTS in Malaysia.

Are Innovations Being Created or Adopted in the Construction Industry? Exploring Innovation in the Construction Industry

The recent debate on innovation within an organizational setting has shifted focus toward discussing whether innovation is being adopted or being created. This shift is due to the failure of many innovation efforts and the fact that for each innovation creation or innovation adoption, different skills, resources, and cultures are needed to encourage each innovation. The objective of this article is to explore the type of innovation implemented by the construction participants. A conceptual model of innovation creation and innovation adoption was developed using four criteria: by justification of new ideas, by purposes, by activities involved, and by nature. Face-to-face questionnaires were conducted with developers, consulting firms, and contractors in Penang, Malaysia. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Factor analysis was used to classify the innovation creation and innovation adoption. The results show that the construction participants in Malaysia are categorized as an innovation adopter. This result provides better understanding about the type of innovation implemented by the construction participants, in particular the contractors and the consulting firms. The results could also be used as a foundation for conducting future research to identify appropriate skills, knowledge, culture, and resources for such innovations.

Measuring the Quality of Ecotourism Services: Case Study-Based Model Validation

Ecotourism forms the pillar of the country’s tourism industry. Ecotourists make up more than 10% of international tourists in Malaysia. When service quality is thought of as an important factor to the success of tourism service providers, the importance of estimating service quality provided to tourists becomes apparent. Estimating service quality provides tourism service providers with the necessary information needed to manage their marketing operations appropriately. Therefore, this estimation should be performed with the right measurement scales. Despite the high volume of research on service quality (SERVQUAL) models in recent years, limited effort has been directed toward improving the tool for measuring service quality, particularly to apply to the ecotourism sector in developing countries. This article aims to improve a SERVQUAL model that is suitable for ecotourism areas in developing countries using five dimensions of the original model and one additional sustainability dimension. Based on a survey of 127 tourists in Tasik Kenyir, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to discover the underlying dimension of ecotourism services and test for reliability and validity. Using EFA resulted in seven factors totaling 27 items. These factors are labeled as follows: tangible sustainability, sustainable practices, tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The results reveal that when SERVQUAL is applied within the ecotourism context, new dimensions of tangible sustainability and sustainable practices may emerge. The result implies the need to refine the SERVQUAL model when used in different contexts.

The organizational performance of housing developers in Peninsular Malaysia

Purpose – In Malaysia, the rapid urbanization that has been taking place since 1970s has made the housing development sector a key factor in the growth of Malaysias economic prosperity. This paper aims to shed light on the performance of housing developers in Peninsular Malaysia by looking into the financial and non‐financial measures.Design/methodology/approach – The organizational performance of 57 housing developers was studied by measuring their financial and non‐financial performance in the period 2006‐2008 using the Business Performance Composite Index.Findings – The results of the study revealed that the performance of housing developers in the period 2006‐2008 has been growing in terms of profit margin, financial growth, and number of employees. Small and big housing developers were better than medium‐sized housing developers in terms of profitability.Originality/value – This paper is unique because it looks into the financial ratios of return on investment, return on assets, and return on sales,...

Innovation Creation, Innovation Adoption, and Firm Characteristics in the Construction Industry

Purpose – This study aims to assess the construction firm’s innovation orientation and to investigate its relationship with firm characteristics.Design/methodology/approach – A structured survey was conducted among 105 firms in the Malaysian construction industry. The results of the factor analysis revealed two underlying dimensions of innovation, namely, innovation creation and innovation adoption. For the cluster analysis, the firms were segmented into four subgroups according to four dimensions, namely, non-innovative, innovation-creator, imitator and innovative firms.Findings – Firm’s business scale and age significantly affected the innovation orientation of construction firms.Originality/value – This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by adding a new firm characteristic, business scale, as a potential predictor of firms’ innovativeness. This study is the first to explore the effect of firm characteristics on the innovation orientation of firms.

External factors influencing the readiness for implementing public-private partnerships among public and private organizations in Yemen

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the external factors that influence the implementation of the new concept of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Yemen. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to Yemeni organizations. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, with appropriate tests of reliability, consistency, correlation and multiple regression analysis. Findings – The findings indicate that implementation of PPPs are affected through the government policies, market readiness and environmental uncertainty. The empirical evidence also suggests that government policies are the main predictor to PPPs implementation in Yemen. The proposed conceptual framework can be useful in developing PPPs implementation. Originality/value – This study contributes to the existing literature on PPPs by providing empirical evidence to identify the external factors that influence the readiness to implement PPPs. Furthermore, the study adds value through its co...

Organizational culture of the architectural firm: a case in a developing country

The construction industry has been reported to experience problems in efforts to be innovative due to its complex nature. One of the factors that contributes to the problem is culture. Despite their perceived innovations, architectural firms have a limited understanding of their organizational culture in relation to innovation. This paper examines the organizational culture within the architectural firm in Malaysia, in response to the wider need for more organizational studies in the construction industry, especially in developing countries in Asia. A postal survey was employed and 151 architectural firms responded. The exploratory factor analysis revealed four cultural dimensions, namely (1) innovation-supportive behaviours, (2) freedom, (3) collectivism/teamwork and (4) individualism. The findings indicate that innovation-supportive behaviours and collectivism/teamwork were dominant in these architectural firms. The findings also revealed a lack of freedom and individualism within the architectural firms of Malaysia. Therefore future strategy should focus on encouraging more freedom and individualism within architectural firms as a way of fostering innovation, particularly in the context of developing countries.

Occupants housing satisfaction: does age really matter?

Scholars from diverse disciplines have established how objective and subjective housing attributes influence occupants’ housing satisfaction. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of age grouping on overall housing satisfaction with respect to private housing development in Abuja, Nigeria. Samples of 112 structured questionnaires were systematically administered to the occupants of Prince and Princes Housing Estate. Sixty-six were subsequently retrieved for analysis representing 74% response rate. Descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance was conducted, and the result indicates that there was a statistically significant difference for total housing satisfaction between age groups. A Tukey’s post hoc test revealed that housing satisfaction was statistically significantly higher in the 61 and above age group in the sample. The result implies that there is a need to incorporate specific demographic changes such as in age groups in residential housing development and policy plan especially in developing countries. The study also contributes to further our understanding on the relationship between resident’s socio-demographic characteristics and housing satisfaction. This paper represents first housing satisfaction studies that examines age factor to determine level of variation in housing satisfaction between various age groups in private housing development in the Nigerian context.

Are Housing Developers Ready For Innovation? The Case For A New Housing Delivery System In Malaysia

This paper investigates the readiness level of housing developers in Malaysia to adopt a new housing system known as the Build-Then-Sell (BTS) system. We examine whether a firms characteristics influence its readiness to adopt. We constructed a BTS readiness index, which comprises innovativeness, optimism, discomfort, and insecurity dimensions. We carried out a face-to-face survey with 246 developers in Malaysias major cities and received a 48.8% response. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, factor analysis and correlation analysis. We found that housing developers are partially ready to implement the BTS system, with a slightly high level of optimism and a high level of insecurity. However, there was a very weak relationship between BTS readiness (e.g. optimism and insecurity) and a firms characteristics (e.g. type of ownership, firm size, age, and land bank). The paper ends by providing some explanations for the results.