Akmam Syed Zakaria, S and Amtered El-Abidi, K M (2021) Economic effects of migrant labor on industrialized building system (IBS) adoption in the Malaysian construction industry. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 17(1-2), pp. 50-66. ISSN 1745-2007
Abstract
The Malaysian government has been encouraging industrialized building system (IBS) adoption as a modern method of construction to improve the precision of material and workmanship. However, the migration of foreign labor to Malaysia from its neighboring countries that offer comparatively lower income has affected IBS adoption in construction projects. In this study, economic perspectives were explored in conjunction with migrant labor, as this is vital to evaluate their influences on IBS adoption. Interview surveys were conducted to gather inputs on the real scenario of IBS implementation in the Malaysian construction industry, with the utilization of a qualitative narrative analysis technique. QSR NVivo Version 12.0 software was used to aid the organization and analysis of the data from the taped and transcribed interviews. Qualitative results show that the most significant economic factor related to migrant labor that influenced IBS adoption is labor cost, followed by project price, labor availability and project competition. These factors can be considered in the development of manpower guidelines which then can be used to assist the construction stakeholders in the decision-making of IBS adoption in construction projects.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | economy; industrialized building systems; labor market |
| Index terms: | construction industry, implementation, economic factor, migrant labour, foreign labour, workmanship, decision-making, labour cost, income, narrative, construction project, labour market, competition, migration, industrialized building system, survey, Malaysia, interview |
| Subjects: | economic concepts, production management, qualitative and interpretive research, contractual condition, Geography, economics, industry analysis, cost management, demography, market analysis, building construction, decision analysis, data collection methods, business, contractual arrangements, economic analysis |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Geographical Context, Project Management, Research Practice, Risk Management, Procurement, Construction Technology, Urban Studies, International Construction, Supply Chain Management, Contract Administration |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here