The applications of the risk management & quality function deployment in the Malaysian Construction Industry: A critical perspective

Abstract

One of the most important tools through which undesirable and uncertain events and risks can be predicted is risk management, which is applied during the project period and before it also during the design and planning phase. One of the most important reasons for the failure of projects in Malaysia is the failure to implement risk management or its poor implementation that does not adopt modern methods and tools, and this situation may eventually lead to the failure of the project in terms of cost overruns, delays in the schedule and poor performance. The aim of this study is to review the level of application of risk management in the Malaysian construction industry and its success, and what is the relationship between risk management and Quality function deployment (QFD), as well as the extent to which QFD is applied in the construction industry in Malaysia. In the project risk assessment process, the traditional tools used fail to provide a complete presentation of the risks. This requires a kind of modernization of these tools or their integration with other systems to enhance their effectiveness, and the deployment of the quality function is one of the appropriate options as it focuses on paying attention to the voice of customers and improving quality.By reviewing the previous recent literature, the results revealed that there is still a large gap between the management of construction projects in Malaysia and the use of well-known methods of risk management, which means that there is a clear and significant lack and weakness in the application of risk management systems in the construction industry. These results require a full awareness of how to adopt and apply risk management systems and the awareness of specialists in them (such as consultants, designers, project owners, contractors, and engineers) and obligate them to implement the risk management system. The enactment of governmental laws and regulations related to risk management will have a major role in their implementation and obligating all project departments with them, which will reflect positively on the outputs of this industry.