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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Human resource planning (HRP) is important during workforce supply to help organizations appoint the right people in the right job. However, few studies have considered the role of HRP practices for local workforce supply in the Malaysian construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to identify the implementation of HRP and framework development of HRP influencing factors for local workforce supply in the Malaysian construction industry.

A mixed method was adopted to interpret the data of semi‐structured interviews and questionnaire survey. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with ten interviewees from government and non‐government organizations. Questionnaires were distributed to a random selection of contractors in the urban areas of Malaysia. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and the Matrix Table.

The findings revealed that economic changes were dominant HRP influencing factors. Only organization strategy; nature of work; economic changes; and demographic (social) changes are significant HRP influencing factors for local workforce supply in the Malaysian construction industry.

Future research should try to adapt the HRP framework in the suitable HRP model to explain the HRP practices in construction organization.

The paper offers insight into HRP implementation in construction firms and HRP influencing factors for local workforce supply, focusing on the construction industry in Malaysia.

The construction industry is a very important part of the Malaysian economy. The government's aim is to make the industry more productive, efficient and safe. Small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the core of the Malaysian construction industry and account for about 90 per cent of companies undertaking construction work. One of the main challenges faced by the Malaysian construction industry is the ability to absorb new knowledge and technology and to implement it in the construction phase. The purpose of this paper is to consider absorptive capacity in Malaysian construction SMEs in rural areas.

The research was conducted in three stages: first, understanding the Malaysian construction industry; second, a literature review on the issues related to absorptive capacity and discussions with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB); and third, multiple case studies in five construction SMEs operating in a rural area to validate the factors influencing absorptive capacity.

Nine key factors were identified influencing absorptive capacity in Malaysian construction SMEs operating in rural areas. These factors involved: cost and affordability; availability and supply; demand; infrastructure; policies and regulations; labour readiness; workforce attitude and motivation; communication and sources of new knowledge and; culture.

The key factors influencing absorptive capacity presented in this paper are based on validation from the case studies in five construction SMEs in Malaysia. The research focuses on how they operate in rural areas; however, the research results have wider application than just Malaysia. The key factors identified as influencing absorptive capacity can serve as a basis for considering knowledge absorption in the wider context by SMEs in other developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to identify mechanisms and approaches involved in the local construction industry to enhance environmental concerns and the adoption of capacity development model to manage the environment and up keeping of the quality in Malaysian construction industry.

This paper describes an innovative approach to understanding the role of internal and external influence through LEGO® concept. This approach builds on the theory of change management, in which includes learning about the domain of enabling environment, organisation, individual and knowledge management process. New ideas, practices or technologies occur through integration of efforts particularly from the above mentioned domains. The approach also analyses the challenges faced by construction stakeholders. It draws on findings from different studies including some other countries of sustainability in which the engagement of previous research has been incorporated to further enhance the construction and environmental quality in the Malaysian construction industry.

Environmental sustainable development construction requires a holistic thinking and decision making and more innovative solutions that enhance sustainability and result in mutually benefited outcomes for all stakeholders. A dedicated effort especially government and government link company is in strong demand. A valid reason for capacity development to develop in organisations and individuals to perform functions needed to keep green management operating and evolving to meet new challenges. The construction sector will benefit from learning advances in capacity development which are designed to improve and enhance construction and environmental quality governance. The coverage of LEGO® conceptual framework at which capacity development operates was identified in each domain of change management.

A limitation of the study was the relatively little literature information provided and thus affects the expounding and reliability of data. For this reason, these findings cannot be generalised to the other countries based on this study alone. The access to information is limited as public and private organisations hesitate to share information on their strategic planning and tactics.

Development of capacity development model will contribute to the understanding of environmental sustainability through identifying gaps in the understanding and pursuit of construction and environmental quality in the Malaysian construction industry. This paper suggests the future prospect that integrates several dimensions towards green management practice in Malaysia.

The main parties in construction projects are the engineers, clients, architects, contractors, material suppliers, and consultants such as the project managers. They play the most important roles in implementing construction projects, and their activities have a significant impact on their risk attitudes during the execution of projects. Because each participant has their particular interests, by proprietary information, each participant is driven to achieve maximum benefit, which can result in improper behaviour concerning each other. The risk in this situation is that there would be a moral hazard and adverse selection based on information asymmetry among principal construction participants especially contractors; this outcome is called risk attitudes. Behaviour is affected by various risk factors and the successful implementation of construction projects depends on effective management of the key risk factors part of which is a personal factor. The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical factors affecting contractors’ risk attitudes among Malaysian construction companies with the moderating role of government policy. Organizational control theory and expected utility theory were used to develop the theoretical framework. The study investigated G7 contractors in the Malaysian construction industry. Data were collected through the use of a questionnaire.

The research analysis was based on structural equation modelling (SEM), and the research model was ascertained through the Smart PLS 3.0 software (Ringle et al., 2012). Partial least square-SEM is an appropriate analysis that was used to assess the results in the current research because its algorithm permits the unrestricted computation of cause-effect relationship models that use both reflective and formative measurement models. This study uses the quantitative method to identify the individual factors influencing contractors’ risk attitude and the moderating role of government policy among construction companies in Malaysia. This study also focussed on the G7 contractors operating in the Malaysia construction industry that specializes in building, bridge and road construction projects. The duration of the data collection was between two and three weeks. The questionnaire was prepared both in Malay and English languages to allow the respondents to respond most conveniently. Before the copies of the questionnaire were distributed, the selected contractors’ committees were duly informed about the details of the survey procedures. The adopted Likert scale was originally a five-point scale that ranges from “very low” to “very high” with “low or high” in between.

The result of this study moderately supports the hypothesized relationships proposed in the theoretical model. In particular, the results recommended that personal factors that affect risk attitudes (working experience, emotional intelligence, professional competence and physical health) have a significant relation with contractors’ risk attitudes in the construction companies in Malaysia. Also, it has been found that government policy (rules and regulations) are important determinants of risk attitudes.

The study focussed on individual factors affecting contractors’ risk attitudes in the construction company’s in Malaysia. Therefore, the dimensions of factors affecting risk attitudes can be used in another aspect of construction projects such as management factors, economic factors and technical factors. Therefore, further research might investigate other grades of Malaysian construction companies apart from Grade 7 contractors to know if there is a similarity in the results; other grades of the contractors might have potential positive contributions to the construction industry as well.

With consider to the practical, the current research findings have several contributions for the contractors and project managers. The research results demonstrate that government policy plays an important role in the construction industry and organizational support will also help contractors to control their attitudes in working place. Individual factor has a direct relationship with contractor risk attitudes (CRA), project managers must ensure that the government policy has an impact in all their workers and offered is competitive, fair and by their employees’ contribution. Apart from that managers should also focus on organizational goals especially in managing professional and skilled contractors in the companies. Employees who perceived their employers as uncaring or not supporting their needs and well-being may not be happy working with the organization and the tendency for them to change their attitudes towards risk will be high.

This study also contributes knowledge by lending empirical support to the organizational control theory and expected utility theory system’s effect on CRA and confirming that changing one individual attitude will change the whole equilibrium. This is useful to aid in further synthesis of organizational control theory and expected utility theory in construction companies.

This study is the first attempt at evaluating the direct and moderating effect relationships among individual factor affecting risk attitudes, government policy and CRA in Malaysian construction companies. These findings also prop up the applicability of the organizational control theory and expected utility theory within the context of construction companies in Malaysia. Also, this study contributed to the literature on psychology by subjective (psychological) measures of individuals’ behaviour and decisions. In the CRA literature, there has been much discussion on personal characteristics to understand behaviours such as attitudes of a contractor towards risk and morals.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the production processes utilized by the Malaysian construction industry (MCI).

The paper follows an earlier work published in this journal in which the authors analyze the global construction industry focusing on the evolution of lean production systems.

The future of construction is exciting. International markets, innovations in technology, and techniques of construction project management, new relationships across disciplines are all avenues of development. To make the best use of their opportunities, the MCI must invest in research and development (R&D), undertake public education about the field and develop new methodologies to improve operational performance in construction.

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the MCI, it's impact on the economy, key success factors, struggles and problems that the industry currently faces. Analysis of key functional areas like operations management, R&D, and occupational safety and health administration provide insights into improvement.

This paper aims to investigate the motivational drivers for knowledge sharing (KS) through the application of mobile social networking (MSN) and their influence on employee productivity in the Malaysian construction industry.

The data was collected by distributing a self-administered questionnaire among employees working in the construction industry. A total of 250 questionnaires were collected and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. This study used a variety of analysis methodologies including correlation analysis, reliability and validity testing, as well as a structural model in evaluating the relationships between KS, motivational factors and influence on productivity.

The empirical results of this study reveal that utilitarian motivation is positively related to internal and external KS. Similarly, internal and external KS have a positive influence on productivity, while internal and external hedonic motivation does not show any significant relationship with productivity.

Considering the paucity of evidence regarding the determinants of KS motivational drives on employee productivity in the Malaysian construction industry, this study enriches the social cognitive theory-based literature on KS.

This study provides some insights to the players in the construction industry in implementing the most appropriate KS promotion strategies that could potentially influence employee productivity. Organisations in the construction industry that place great emphasis on utilitarian motivation including competency, reward and incentives are more likely to have a better influence on KS and, in turn, positively impact employee productivity.

This study meaningfully contributes to enhancing the understanding of the motivational drivers for sharing knowledge on MSN and its influence on productivity. The findings of this study potentially assist construction practitioners in developing a holistic blueprint for managing their KS towards improving the overall productivity of their employees.

Economically, Malaysia has one of the fastest growing construction industries in the world; however, the necessary balance between socio-economic and ecological systems – to avoid further environmental damage – has not yet been reached by the industry. This paper aims to explore the extent of sustainable development practices (socially, environmentally and economically) in the Malaysian construction industry, focusing on the office building sector.

Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 stakeholders from various backgrounds of the Malaysian construction industry are used to explore their challenges and motivations for pursuing sustainable outcomes.

The study finds that economic issues are the first priorities among stakeholders in any decision-makings for building projects and cost becomes one of the major reasons for the slow progress in implementing sustainable practices in building projects. Socially, there is still a wide gap of knowledge and awareness on sustainability issues among stakeholders, explaining the lack of commitment in achieving sustainability.

The sample size is only adequate to enable internal generalisation; hence, further research is required to test the generalisability of the findings in this research.

This paper informs the government and regulatory stakeholders, research and education sector, private sector, and clients of the building industry, where the authors currently are and the gaps that the authors have to bridge in order to make sustainability more socially acceptable and integral in the local construction industry.

There have been very limited studies on exploring the views from various groups of stakeholders regarding all the three components of sustainable development in the Malaysian construction industry.

COVID-19 pandemic has unprecedentedly shattered the entire world economy and development. Without exclusion, the construction industry has undergone very extreme disruption. Many projects have been suspended, many employees lost their jobs and many construction companies bankrupted. This study aims to explore the possible business continuity plans, a roadmap to recovery and strategies to revive the construction industry after COVID-19.

Mix mode method approach was used to address the research problem, and that includes interviews with 16 selected construction experts who have been working in the Malaysian industry for more than 10 years and a questionnaire with 187 construction practitioners. The aim of conducting the interviews is to get an insight into the current impact of the pandemic on the construction industry, and the questionnaire aims to statistically rank the importance of revival strategies using a Likert-type scale. Further, the data were analysed using a univariate approach by calculating the relative importance index to assess the importance of each strategy.

The findings showed that the pandemic has severely affected the Malaysian construction industry in many aspects and effective restoration strategies are necessary to cope with the changes. The strategies were categorized into four different aspects includes health and practice, technology, operational, legal and governmental strategies. The finding shows that the topmost ranked strategy in terms of importance is introducing COVID-compliant operating procedures and protocols on-site by adjusting current working procedures, urgent government stimuli (loan, financial aid to the affected firms) and other financial incentives, leveraging digital and online technology for virtual meeting and communication, comprehensive and revision study of the health guidelines to suit construction activities and digital transformation of work. The study suggests a more in-depth study to evaluate the impact and assess the success of strategies for the betterment of the future of the Malaysian construction industry.

The study presented a better understanding of the possible business continuity strategies for construction industry revival, which are important for decision makers and the government to reconsider for the revival of the industry. The findings also are of interest to the construction stakeholders.

There have been many research addressing the impact of the pandemic on the construction industry, but less are available on the possible strategies for continual and revival of construction industry amid and after the pandemic. It is, therefore, crucial to address this topic, especially the assessment of these strategies based on their importance.