Determining the relationship between conflict factors and performance of international construction projects", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 21 Iss 4 pp. 369 -382 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Conflict was recognized as a major cause of inefficiency and limited performance of construction projects. Factors pertaining to conflict in construction are vast; however, there have been less recognition of these factors in international construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to provide in-depth understanding of conflict in this context and analyze how it influences project performance. Design/methodology/approach -A questionnaire survey was used to collect data from 161 professionals working in Malaysian companies, which are undertaking construction projects overseas. Findings -Analyzing the data using factor analysis revealed six new factors of conflict: external, internal, control-related, knowledge-related, mismanagement, and social conflicts. Further analysis of the data using partial least squares-path modeling (PLS-PM) affirmed a significant relationship between project performance and two factors of conflict only: internal and social. The results also showed that conflict contributes to about 27 percent of the variance in project performance. Originality/value -This paper provided a clear picture for project managers and team members about specific aspects of conflict and how to mitigate them to attain better performance of international construction projects.

Purpose -The purpose of this study is to focus on identifying building elements with design defects and established the relationship between design defects and difficulties in carrying out maintenance works. Design/methodology/approach -A total of four cases have been selected covering primary-and secondary-level for both National and National-type schools (commonly known as vernacular schools). Interviews with school management were carried out throughout the study to assess the common design defects in the buildings. Findings -A list of the design defects that have caused high maintenance cost was tabulated. It could be concluded that the most common design defects are building fac¸ade and missing slot underneath the floor slab which led to more defects. Research limitations/implications -Only four schools in Penang, Malaysia were involved in this study. Data were gathered from the school management and maintenance personnel. No data have been obtained from the designers because difficulties in tracing the designers record since the school age are more than 20 years. Practical implications -The study recommended that expert maintenance personnel shall be employed in the design stage to minimize design defects in school projects which in turn minimize the cost of building maintenance. Social Implications -Safety and health of the students could be affected if there is no accurate measures being adopted to overcome the issue. Originality/value -A very limited study has been carried out with regards to design maintenance for school buildings in Malaysia.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish the impacts of good maintenance work for heritage buildings in Malaysia. This purpose is achieved through identifying factors that lead to the lack of maintenance of heritage buildings, establishing strategies to overcome the lack of maintenance of heritage buildings and analyzing the impact of good maintenance work on heritage buildings in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative method was employed for this study to identify the variables that most influence the maintenance of heritage buildings in Malaysia. The respondents were the owners of the heritage buildings in Peninsular Malaysia. There were 65 owners of heritage buildings identified from the official website of the Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia. Simple random sampling was used to obtain the sample size of the targeted respondent. A total of 56 questionnaire surveys were distributed to the owners of heritage buildings. In total, 37 respondents returned the completed questionnaires, resulting in a response rate of 66 percent. The data were analyzed by Descriptive Statistics using Statistical Package for the Social Science software version 20. Findings Results show that the factors that lead to the lack of maintenance of heritage buildings are limited finance, the absence of maintenance guideline and ill-defined maintenance policy. The strategies to overcome the problem include providing a financial budget by the respective authorities, establishing a standard maintenance guideline and revising the existing policy. Research limitations/implications The paper is limited to the identification of factors that lead to a lack of maintenance and strategies to overcome the problem for the heritage buildings in Malaysia. The respondents are the owners of heritage buildings in Malaysia. The focus is given to them due to the fact that it will help them in understanding the importance of managing and operating for their buildings. Practical implications The results offer value-added information to building managers who are responsible for maintaining heritage buildings. Findings show that good maintenance work on heritage buildings can enhance the value and safety of the building as well as preventing heritage buildings from deteriorating. Social implications The quality of maintenance could be enhanced by focusing on the important variables that affect the quality of maintenance works of heritage buildings. Originality/value Limited studies had been carried out in the context of the maintenance of heritage buildings, especially in Malaysia.

Heritage buildings are deteriorating due to time, lack of care, high maintenance cost and lack of comprehensive guidelines and understanding on the management practices. Conservation is the only process that can protect heritage buildings from deterioration. Integrated teams of highly qualified professionals have to be involved in conservation of heritage buildings. As one of the main players in heritage conservation projects, quantity surveyors should develop an in-depth knowledge of heritage buildings, conservation process, specifications and requirements by local and international authority. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to establish relationship of heritage conservation and quantity surveyor competency. This aim is achieved through the following objectives; to identify the features of heritage buildings, to identify the competency of quantity surveyors in heritage building conservation projects and to establish relationships between heritage conservation projects and quantity surveyors' competency. Quantitative method was chosen for this study. The respondents were from the quantity surveyors who are registered with Board of Surveyors Malaysia and has experienced in building conservation project. SPSS (Descriptive Statistic) and PLS were used to analyze the data. Result showed that there is strong relationship between features of heritage building and quantity surveyors' competency.

Abstract. The aim of this research is to identify suitable approaches in order to create awareness of the house buyers on how to prevent economic loss due to latent defects. Semi-structured interviews with fifteen respondents had been conducted. Findings showed that there are three suitable approaches namely Collateral Warranty, Latent Defect Insurance and Contract Act (Rights of Third Parties) that can be applied. However, the applications of these approaches are significantly low or none exist in Malaysia. Steps that should be taken include create awareness among house buyers regarding their rights and expose them to the benefits of the recommended approaches.