Website Adoption: Overview of Malaysian Cost Engineering Firms

Zarina Syuhaida Shaarani and Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz
Additional contact information
Zarina Syuhaida Shaarani: Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz: Universiti Sains Malaysia

from ToKnowPress

Abstract: Purpose: Website is a powerful tool in business today and its advantages have been well established in the research field of e-commerce, IT, ICT and SME. In construction-related professional sector, website could be a platform for greener, effective communication and collaboration among team members as well as a tool for marketing. However, the current scenario of website adoption in construction professional is unknown due to the lack of research. Therefore, this paper is intended to provide an overview of website adoption in Malaysian cost engineering firms in terms of adoption rate, the profiles of adopters and non-adopters, determinants and inhibitions of the adoption. Design/Methodology/Approach: 319 sets of questionnaire had been posted to all cost engineering firms throughout Malaysia, and then complemented by online survey. 58 firms out of 319 firms responded to the survey resulting in 18.1% response rate. Findings: Website adoption rate in Malaysian cost engineering firms is 27.6%, 11.9% are developing own website and 69.0% plan to develop own website. Majority of the adopters are matured firms with more employees and higher average commission, compared to non-adopters. Meanwhile, adopters’ projects predominantly from private and public sectors and mostly involved with overseas project. Furthermore, firm size, average commission and involvement with overseas project influenced the propensity to adopt this initiative. Finally, the slowness of adoption is associated with perceived ‘not lead to more efficiency or lower cost’, ‘not lead to more commission’ and ‘lack of time’. Research Limitations/ Implications: Low response rate jeopardised the credibility of the findings. However, it could be useful to indicate the current website adoption scenario in Malaysian cost engineering firms. Practical Implications: Website could be utilised to help in firms’ growth. The adoption could be a kick-start to grow and expand beyond local boundaries. Originality/ Value: The scarcity of information regarding the adoption of website among construction-related professionals indicates that only few research have been done in this area.

Keywords: website adoption; cost engineering firm; profile; determinants; inhibitions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.toknowpress.net/ISBN/978-961-6914-07-9/papers/S3_297-309.pdf full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tkp:tiim13:s3_297-309

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Diversity, Technology, and Innovation for Operational Competitiveness: Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Technology Innovation and Industrial Management from ToKnowPress
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Maks Jezovnik ().