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Knowledge management (KM) is crucial to ensure construction organisations effectively take advantage of existing expertise, engendering faster and more effective decision-making. Most importantly, it helps organisations to learn from past experiences. Despite its increasing academic attention, the implementation of KM is still relatively slow across the construction industry. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to gain a renewed understanding of the extent of KM practices in construction.

Quantitative approach using a questionnaire survey was used to prioritise the 15 critical factors and 9 enables of knowledge creation. Finally, an exploratory factor analysis is used to determine the principal elements of successful KM implementation in construction.

KM in a construction organisation is significantly influenced by knowledge sharing, collaboration, learning from mistakes, employee training and knowledge strategy. On the other hand, knowledge is created mostly through project mistakes, individual constant self-improvement, challenging barrier, review session and brainstorming discussion. With factor analysis technique, three underlying factors impacting KM practices are capacity and capability improvement, long-term commitment and innovation and synergetic working culture.

Questionnaire survey was used as the single data collection instrument. The findings of the current study shed light on the salient issues affecting KM practices in construction but may not generalise to organisations operating in other industries.

These findings can support first-order KM implementation decision-making and enable the exploitation of existing knowledge assets towards achieving sustainable development and competitive advantage.

Effective KM practices are about finding the best ways to deliver the right knowledge to the right person at the right time, enabling informed decision-making and improving operational efficiencies. The contribution of this study is built upon the examination of the underlying factors of KM implementation; the findings provide insights into the core aspects of KM practices, facilitating managers in prioritising KM strategies that are really going to make a difference.

Corruption continues to be a pervasive stain on the construction industry in developing countries worldwide, jeopardising project performance and with wide-ranging negative implications for all facets of society. As such, this study aims to identify and analyse the causes of corruption in the construction sector of an emerging economy such as Malaysia, as it is crucial to uncover the specific facilitating factors involved to devise effective counter strategies.

Following a detailed literature review, 18 causes of corruption are identified. The results of an opinion survey within the Malaysian construction industry are further reported to rank and analyse the causes. The factor analysis technique is then applied to uncover the principal factors involved.

The results indicate that all the considered causes are perceived to be significant, with the most critical causes being avarice, relationships between parties, lack of ethical standards, an intense competitive nature and the involvement of a large amount of money. A factor analysis reveals four major causal dimensions of these causes, comprising the unique nature of the construction industry and the extensive competition involved; unscrupulous leadership, culture and corruption perception; a flawed legal system and lack of accountability; and ineffective enforcement and an inefficient official bureaucracy.

The study presents the Malaysian construction industry’s view of the causes of corruption. Therefore, the arguments made in the study are influenced by the social, economic and cultural settings of Malaysia, which may limit generalisation of the findings.

This paper helps stakeholders understand the root causes and underlying dimensions of corruption in the construction industry, especially in Malaysia. Recommendations for changing cultures that may be conducive to corrupt practices, and anti-corruption measures, are suggested based on the findings of the research.

These findings can guide practitioners and researchers in addressing the impediments that give rise to the vulnerability of the construction industry to corrupt practices and understanding the “red flags” in project delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the significance of branding management by property developers in the Malaysian housing market and to examine the pivotal brand identity traits of property developers.

An explanatory sequential mixed-methods research approach was adopted. The quantitative data from the questionnaire survey were subjected to descriptive statistics, and the ranking with category of significance of the hypothesised branding traits was determined using relative importance index technique. The findings were further validated through semi-structured interviews with five experienced industry practitioners.

Results showed that the extremely significant (ES) branding identities are value for future investment and location, while the very significant (VS) traits are quality assurance, near to supporting infrastructure, reliability, professionalism, experience, warranties and technical ability. Industry experts affirmed the prospect of exploiting branding in enticing property buyers.

It is reasonable to infer that good branding positively stimulates buyer’s decision-making on purchasing residential property. This study attempts to discover the critical brand identity traits for property developers apt in the context of Malaysian housing market.

Apart from the archetypal locational and financial factors, the findings suggested that top developers should emphasise innovative family-oriented design with an acceptable level of quality score for brand differentiation to further enhance the future value of their end products.

The efficacy of brand management in the housing market has not yet been fully explored in research. This paper is expected to offer more profound insights into the strategic brand management towards “branded” property developers in the context of Malaysia and perhaps other countries with comparable backgrounds.

Managerial shortfalls can considerably undermine the delivery performance of construction projects. This paper appraises the project management essentials (PMEs) for successful construction project delivery.

Following a detailed literature review, a questionnaire survey was developed encompassing 20 PMEs that were identified. An opinion questionnaire survey was used to facilitate data collection from key construction stakeholders in the Malaysian construction industry. The survey data were subjected to descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis.

Findings indicated that the leading PMEs are competency of the project team, competency of project manager, good leadership, effective planning and control and realistic cost and time estimate. Spearman’s rank correlation tests affirmed a good agreement on the ranking of PMEs across stakeholder groups. The present study found that PMEs for construction have a total of four dimensions, namely: scope, communication and competence management; stakeholder commitment and collaborative engagement; construction time–cost planning and control; and environment, health, safety and quality management.

The findings could potentially contribute to the development of appropriate project management best practices to address managerial shortfalls in Malaysia and other developing countries.

This paper bridges the identified knowledge gap about critical managerial dimensions for successful project management in construction. The present study adds to the existing body of knowledge around this under-explored area in the construction management literature.

This study aims to investigate technology-based health and safety (H&S) management to control the spread of disease on construction sites using a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach.

An extensive literature review is conducted to develop a conceptual framework. The variables identified from the literature review are included in a cross-sectional survey which gathered a total of 203 valid feedback. The variables for challenges are grouped under their relevant construct using exploratory factor analysis. Then, a hypothesized model is developed for PLS-SEM analysis using Smart PLS software. Later, the outcome of the model is further validated by nine construction experts using a semi-structured questionnaire survey.

The results rationalized the relationships between the COVID-19 H&S measures, challenges in implementing COVID-19 H&S measures on construction sites and the innovative technologies in transforming construction H&S management during the COVID-19 pandemic. The possible challenges that obstruct the implementation of H&S measures are highlighted. The potential technologies which can significantly transform H&S management by reducing the impact of challenges are presented.

The findings benefited the industry practitioners who are suffering disruption in construction operations due to the pneumonic plague.

By developing a conceptual model, this study reveals the contribution of technology-based H&S management for construction projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, which remains under-studied, especially in the context of the developing world.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the major challenges faced by Chinese international contractors (CICs) in the Malaysian construction industry.

An exploratory sequential mixed-methods research approach was adopted where following a detailed literature review and semi-structured interviews with local professionals, 20 prevalent challenges experienced by CICs are identified. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was used to elicit the views of 100 construction practitioners. Descriptive statistics were used to prioritise the challenges, while exploratory factor analysis was conducted to uncover the underlying factors.

The five most crucial challenges identified relate to: changes of regulation, cost control, contract clauses, language barrier and quality control. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four major underlying dimensions of these challenges, in connection to financial and government policy management, organisational performance management, supplier relationship management and cross-cultural management.

The challenges are considered primarily involving CICs in the context of Malaysia; further work can be extended to Western or other East Asian, such as Japanese and Korean, international contractors undertaking construction projects in Malaysia or selected developing countries around the region.

This study will benefit professionals involved with China-backed construction projects in countries sharing demographics and socio-economic characteristics akin to Malaysia. The outcome of the study is expected to facilitate project managers to devise proactive risk-mitigation measures to reduce the impact of these challenges and to improve project delivery.

The paper examined the challenges faced by CICs in the Malaysian context. This is a timely study, as China’s Belt and Road Initiative will provide considerable opportunities for Chinese companies in Malaysia.

Legions of projects fail to attain their time and cost objectives due to ineffective coordination. This is often due to a lack of essential learning from projects because of insufficient communication and working experience. One of the key reasons why this occurs is that managers are unaware of what knowledge needs to be retained. In contrast with knowledge management research, which mostly focuses on the systems and processes for capturing, storing, and retrieval of knowledge, this paper investigates the nature of project communication and learning and their role on project time and cost control.

A stratified proportional purposive sampling approach was adopted in choosing the interview participants for the study. They are experienced industry practitioners working on building construction projects in Malaysia. Content analysis was then performed on the interview data. The identified variables were further validated by 11 industry experts from the three primary construction stakeholders.

The results of a series of 12 in-depth interviews with industry practitioners are provided to reveal the effective communication tools for sharing and learning in a project-based environment, the learning inducing situations involved, and the use of reusable project experiences to improve project time and cost control.

A possible limitation of the study is its focus on a small group of Malaysian practitioners delimits the generalizability of the findings.

A two-phase model with three-step project management process of input, tools, and output is developed from the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide as an aid for more effective knowledge reuse in project time and cost control in the future.

Teamwork in the construction industry has attracted much attention from both academic and industrial circles. Most importantly, improving team effectiveness will increase the likelihood of successful project delivery. Recognising the factors influencing team dynamics is important for enhanced team performance.

Based on a detailed literature review, a survey questionnaire containing 10 aspects and 25 attributes of teamwork relevant to construction is used to collect feedback from Malaysian construction practitioners from client, consultant and contractor organisations to prioritise these hypothesised variables. The data are then subjected to reliability analysis, descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and frequencies), a one-sample t-test, the Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA and exploratory factor analysis.

The significance of these aspects and attributes is then presented. The three most crucial aspects are “project performance”, “decision-making capability” and “problem-solving ability”. The most influential attributes are “effective communication between project team members”, “efficient team leadership”, “well-defined team responsibilities and roles”, “clear team goals and objectives” and “good collaboration between all project leaders”. The Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA reveals five attributes having statistically significant differences with respect to company size, namely “clear team goals and objectives”, “commitment to the project”, “adequate resources”, “team or task processes” and “creativity and innovation”. Six underlying dimensions are found, comprising (1) participative engagement and task commitment; (2) team responsibility structure and accountability; (3) culture of trust and respect; (4) leader's skills and abilities; (5) top management support; and (6) synergic working environment.

The identification of these dimensions for team effectiveness provides rigorous basis for formulating useful team-building strategies for integrating a collaborative environment among project stakeholders and consequently improving project performance.

This paper bridges the identified knowledge gap concerning the dimensionality of teamwork attributes in construction-based setting and adds to existing knowledge of how team effectiveness can be leveraged to improve project performance in the construction management literature.

Poor project knowledge and inadequate experience are frequently linked to construction time-cost overruns. This paper aims to expound on the criticality of project knowledge and experience in the successful delivery of projects in the construction industry.

Following a detailed literature review, a quantitative positivist approach with a questionnaire survey involving industry professionals is used to appraise the 30 prevalent causes of time-cost overruns according to frequency, effectiveness and importance indices. The data are then subjected to Spearman’s rank correlation tests and exploratory factor analysis.

Using the importance index, which assimilates both frequency and effectiveness indices, the criticality of knowledge and experience in the overall context is seen as fundamental for addressing the contractor’s faulty planning and scheduling, construction mistakes and defective work, site management and supervision, delayed/slow decision-making, incomplete drawings and design documents and change/variation orders. Spearman’s rank correlation tests indicate a good consensus of perceptions among the key parties involved. Next, an exploratory factor analysis uncovers six underlying knowledge-based factors affecting construction performance, relating to inaccurate resource estimates, design changes, resource shortages, lack of experience, incompetence and mistakes and defects.

The study draws out the repercussions of the hitherto limited research into the deficiencies in knowledge and experience in undertaking construction projects to enhance performance using knowledge management functions.

This study aims to investigate Feng Shui elements that can influence housing selection and property pricing in the Malaysian housing market.

A structured questionnaire encompassing 26 Feng Shui elements, which were shortlisted based on relevant previous studies, was distributed to prospective homebuyers in the Klang Valley region. The elements were inferred and ranked according to frequency, significance and importance scores. Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA tests were used to assess the ratings provided by the different respondent groups, while Spearman's rank correlation tests were utilised to measure the degree of agreement or disagreement among each pair of the ethnic group.

The results obtained indicate the following as the five most influential elements: orientation, main entrance, street location, house number and living room. Despite a multiethnic and multicultural society in Malaysia, Spearman's rank correlation tests showed that there are no differences in the prioritisation of Feng Shui elements between three distinct ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese and Indian). However, the distribution scores are statistically different between the groups. Comparing income level with Feng Shui inclinations, the three most frequently considered elements across the three income groups consistently include orientation, main entrance and street location.

The findings of this study are expected to provide guidance to property stakeholders (developers, real estate agencies, architects, local authorities) in their future development projects. For homebuyers, this study serves as a property Feng Shui checklist for home selection and investment.

This study explored the association of Feng Shui principles to housing selection and property pricing based on cultural and income factors. These findings provide useful insights for designing and positioning of residential properties in both primary and secondary housing markets in Malaysia and beyond.