Operational excellence through lean manufacturing: Considerations for productivity management in Malaysia’s construction industry

Abstract

The construction industry’s work process can lead to the generation of waste which does not add value to the operational performance. The purpose of this research is to study the operational performance of the Malaysian construction industry. Based on the analysis of 296 responses from Grade 7 construction organizations, the data revealed that these construction organizations have applied some lean manufacturing principles in their day-to-day operations. This study revealed that there is a correlation between lean manufacturing concepts and operational performance (OP), thus making a useful contribution to the industry, academia, and society. The future agenda is to improve construction industry performance, which requires joint initiatives between governments, educators, university administration, and industry leaders.

Keywords:

• Construction
• learn manufacturing systems (LPS)
• Malaysia
• operational performance

Disclosure statement

The authors acknowledge that there is no conflict of interest arising from this research and no financial benefits have been received from this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abdul Razak Ibrahim

Prof. Dr. Abdul Razak Ibrahim joined KPTM in April 2015. Before KPTM, Prof. Razak holds many key positions in the academia. He pioneered a graduate school at UNITAR International University, from July 2013 to March 2015. Also, Prof. Razak teach at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia from 2010 to 2013. He engage in teaching and consultation with firm such as ARAMCO and SABIC in the field of transportation and logistics. Prof. Razak is also a Deputy Dean at University of Malaya, from 2003 to 2010 (8 years). Prof. Razak’s received his doctorate in November 2002 from University of Strathclyde, Glagow in Management Science. He earned his MBA from Governors State University, Illinois in August 1990 and BBA from Northern Illinois University in December 1988.

Ghaffar Imtiaz

Dr. Ghaffar Imtiaz earned his Ph.D, in Operations Management from the Faculty of Business and Accountancy at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Dr. Ghaffar also is a practicing professional in the area of project management in Malaysia.

Bahaudin Mujtaba

Dr. Bahaudin G. Mujtaba is Professor of Management at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship of Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. During the past twenty-five years he has had the pleasure of working with human resource professionals in the United States, Brazil, Bahamas, Afghanistan, Pakistan, St. Lucia, Grenada, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, China, India, Thailand, and Jamaica. This diverse exposure has provided him many insights in ethics, culture, and management from the perspectives of different firms, people groups, and countries. He can be reached at: [email protected]

Xuan Vinh Vo

Professor Xuan Vinh Vo is the Dean of the Institute of Business Research at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City. He also various positions, including the Director for the Ph.D. Program, program manager of the Master in Banking and Finance, the Director of the Research Centre for International Management Research at CFVG Vietnam.

Zafar U. Ahmed

Prof. Dr. Zafar U. Ahmed is currently serving Institute of Business Research, University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as a Professor of Marketing. He earned his BBA in International Business from the University of the State of New York’s Regents College at Albany (USA), an MBA in International Business from the Texas A&M International University (USA), and a Ph.D., in a Business Related Field (with specialization in Branding) from the Utah State University (USA) in 1988. He has well over 10-year industry experience earned across Africa as a global entrepreneur, and 30 years academic experience accumulated at six different American universities. He has published over 200 scholarly papers in Scopus and ISI indexed journals. He has a Google Scholar Citation Index of over 5,800, an “h-index of 34”, and “i-10 index of 81” to his credit.