Considerations for Decision-Making in Quality Among the Main Contractor in The Construction Industry: A Case Study of The MRT2 Elevated Project Klang Valley

Authors

  • Nurulhayati Md Zin School of Real Estate and Building Surveying, College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nurul Nadiah Zainol School of Real Estate and Building Surveying, College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Emma Marinie Ahmad Zawawi School of Construction and Quantity Surveying, College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Mohd Khairul Afzan Mohd Lazi Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Anwar Mohd Ismail Siemens Mobility Malaysia Sdn Bhd, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24191/bej.v22i2.1255

Keywords:

Decision-Making, Quality, Construction Industry, Main Contractor, MRT2 Elevated Project

Abstract

Decision-making is essential for maintaining quality in large infrastructure projects like the MRT2 Elevated Project in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Decision-making involves gathering information, evaluating options, and making choices that affect time, cost, and quality. This research examines challenges faced by main contractors in decision-making related to quality and suggests solutions for better project outcomes. A mixed-method approach was used, including a survey of executive-level contractors and interviews analysed with Atlas.Ti. The research identified twelve key issues under three (3) categories: Top Management, Customer Satisfaction, and Strategic Management Process. It also highlighted eight (8) important factors for effective decision-making: strategic management, clear guidelines, quality assurance and control, regular meetings, effective communication, managing constraints, skilled decision-makers, and continuous training. These findings provide practical solutions to improve quality management, helping.

Author Biographies

  • Nurulhayati Md Zin, School of Real Estate and Building Surveying, College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    Nurulhayati Md Zin, a PhD student at the Institute of Graduate Studies, College of Built Environment at Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. Her main research areas are the Developing a Decision-making model for Facilities Management (FM) contractor in Mass Rapid Transit Project in Malaysia. She can be contacted by email at nurulhayatimdzin@gmail.com

  • Nurul Nadiah Zainol, School of Real Estate and Building Surveying, College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    Nurul Nadiah Zainol is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Real Estate and Building Surveying, College of Built Environment at Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. She obtained her PhD in Facilities Management at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She has co-authored several scientific publications. She can be reached at nadiahzainol@uitm.edu.my

  • Emma Marinie Ahmad Zawawi , School of Construction and Quantity Surveying, College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    Emma Marinie Ahmad Zawawi is the Assistant Vice Canselor, College of Built Environment at Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. She obtained her PhD from University of Manchester, and she is a professor in Construction Management. She has co-authored several scientific publications. She can be reached through emmamarinie@uitm.edu.my

  • Mohd Khairul Afzan Mohd Lazi, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

    Mohd Khairul Afzan Mohd Lazi is a Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Civil Engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. He graduated with Bachelor Degree and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering, and a PhD from Universiti Teknologi MARA. He has co-authored several scientific publications. He can be reached at mohdkhairulafzan@utm.my

  • Anwar Mohd Ismail, Siemens Mobility Malaysia Sdn Bhd, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Anwar Mohd Ismail is a Senior Planning Engineer. He graduated with Bachelor Degree and a Master of Integrated Project Management from Universiti Teknologi MARA. He can be reached through anwarmohdismail59@gmail.com

References

Aaltonen, K., & Kujala, J. (2010). A project lifecycle perspective on stakeholder influence strategies in global projects. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 26(4), 381–397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2010.09.001

Abu Oda, M. M. A., Tayeh, B. A., Alhammadi, S. A., & Abu Aisheh, Y. I. (2022). Key indicators for evaluating the performance of construction companies from the perspective of owners and consultants. Results in Engineering, 15(May), 100596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2022.100596

Govindan, K., Madan Shankar, K., & Kannan, D. (2016). Sustainable material selection for construction industry - A hybrid multi criteria decision making approach. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 55, 1274–1288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.100

Hu, W., Dong, J., Hwang, B. G., Ren, R., & Chen, Z. (2022). Is mass rapid transit applicable for deep integration of freight-passenger transport? A multi-perspective analysis from urban China. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 165(October), 490–510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2022.10.001

Huzaifah, A., & Haslinda, N. (2021). The Practices of Occupational Safety and Health Management in Construction Industry : Case Studies of High Rise Building Projects. 1, 10–17. https://doi.org/10.30880/jsmbe.2021.01.01.002

Jaapar, A., Zawawi, M., Bari, N. A. A., & Ahmad, N. (2012). Value Management in the Malaysian Construction Industry: Addressing a Theory and Practice Gap. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 35(December 2011), 757–763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.02.146

Juhari, M. L., & Arifin, K. (2020). Validating measurement structure of materials and equipment factors model in the MRT construction industry using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Safety Science, 131(June), 104905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104905

Khoshnava, S. M., Rostami, R., Zin, R. M., Mishra, A. R., Rani, P., Mardani, A., & Alrasheedi, M. (2020). Assessing the impact of construction industry stakeholders on workers’ unsafe behaviours using extended decision making approach. Automation in Construction, 118(February), 103162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103162

Kineber, A. F., Othman, I., Oke, A. E., Chileshe, N., & Zayed, T. (2021). Exploring the value management critical success factors for sustainable residential building – A structural equation modelling approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 293, 126115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126115

Kwan, S. C., Tainio, M., Woodcock, J., Sutan, R., & Hashim, J. H. (2017). The carbon savings and health co-benefits from the introduction of mass rapid transit system in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Journal of Transport and Health, 6(January), 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.06.006

Lei, Z., Tang, W., Duffield, C., Zhang, L., & Hui, F. K. P. (2017). The impact of technical standards on international project performance: Chinese contractors’ experience. International Journal of Project Management, 35(8), 1597–1607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.09.002

Manzolli, J. A., Trovão, J. P., & Henggeler Antunes, C. (2021). Scenario-Based Multi-criteria decision analysis for rapid transit systems implementation in an urban context. ETransportation, 7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etran.2020.100101

Martin, L., & Benson, L. (2021). Relationship quality in construction projects: A subcontractor perspective of principal contractor relationships. International Journal of Project Management, 39(6), 633–645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2021.05.002

Masrom, M. A. N., Rahim, M. H. I. A., Mohamed, S., Chen, G. K., & Yunus, R. (2015). Successful criteria for large infrastructure projects in Malaysia. Procedia Engineering, 125, 143–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.11.021

Mohsen Alawag, A., Salah Alaloul, W., Liew, M. S., Ali Musarat, M., Baarimah, A. O., Saad, S., & Ammad, S. (2022). Total quality management in industrialised building system: Implementation and benefits in construction projects. Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 14(2), 101877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2022.101877

Moshood, T. D., Adeleke, A. Q., Nawanir, G., & Mahmud, F. (2020). Ranking of human factors affecting contractors’ risk attitudes in the Malaysian construction industry. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2(1), 100064. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2020.100064

Mu, S., Cheng, H., Chohr, M., & Peng, W. (2014). Assessing risk management capability of contractors in subway projects in mainland China. International Journal of Project Management, 32(3), 452–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2013.08.007

Nguyen, D. T., Le-Hoai, L., Basenda Tarigan, P., & Tran, D. H. (2022). Tradeoff time cost quality in repetitive construction project using fuzzy logic approach and symbiotic organism search algorithm. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 61(2), 1499–1518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2021.06.058

Pamucar, D., Macura, D., Tavana, M., Božanić, D., & Knežević, N. (2022). An integrated rough group multicriteria decision-making model for the ex-ante prioritisation of infrastructure projects: The Serbian Railways case. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 79(October 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101098

Paton, S., & Andrew, B. (2019). The role of the Project Management Office (PMO) in product lifecycle management: A case study in the defence industry. International Journal of Production Economics, 208(November 2018), 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2018.11.002

Riaz, H., Iqbal Ahmad Khan, K., Ullah, F., Bilal Tahir, M., Alqurashi, M., & Badr Alsulami, T. (2022). Key factors for implementation of total quality management in construction Sector: A system dynamics approach. Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 14(3), 101903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2022.101903

Rivera, F. M. La, Hermosilla, P., Delgadillo, J., & Echeverría, D. (2020). The sustainable development goals (SDGs) as a basis for innovation skills for engineers in the industry 4.0 context. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(16). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166622

Talbi, A., & Souad, S. B. (2022). Industry 4.0 in construction organisation of a mega projects: a bibliometric analysis. Procedia Computer Science, 204, 524–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2022.08.064

Wang, T. K., Wu, Z., & Luo, C. (2021). Multi-participant construction waste demolition and transportation decision-making system. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 170(March), 105575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105575

Yang, L., Eom, S., & Suzuki, T. (2021). Measuring railway network performance considering accessibility levels in cities worldwide. Journal of Transport Geography, 96(January). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103211

Yap, J. B. H., Goay, P. L., Woon, Y. B., & Skitmore, M. (2021). Revisiting critical delay factors for construction: Analysing projects in Malaysia. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 60(1), 1717–1729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2020.11.021

Zhong, S., Elhegazy, H., & Elzarka, H. (2022). Key factors affecting the decision-making process for buildings projects in Egypt. Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 13(3), 101597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2021.09.024

Zong, C., Margesin, M., Staudt, J., Deghim, F., & Lang, W. (2022). Decision-making under uncertainty in the early phase of building façade design based on multi-objective stochastic optimisation. Building and Environment, 226(August), 109729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109729

Downloads

Published

01-07-2025

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 2 (2025): Built Environment Journal

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Nurulhayati Md Zin, Nurul Nadiah Zainol, Emma Marinie Ahmad Zawawi , Mohd Khairul Afzan Mohd Lazi, Anwar Mohd Ismail

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

 

How to Cite

Considerations for Decision-Making in Quality Among the Main Contractor in The Construction Industry: A Case Study of The MRT2 Elevated Project Klang Valley. (2025). Built Environment Journal, 22(2). https://doi.org/10.24191/bej.v22i2.1255

Similar Articles

11-20 of 134

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.