Chapter 1: Competency of Quantity Surveyors in a Hyper-competitive

8/18/2019 Chapter 1: Competency of Quantity Surveyors in a Hyper-competitive

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Chapter 1

1.0Research Background

The rapid growth of construction industry in Malaysia has inadvertently changed the

dynamics of what was a stable competitive market. s of now! the construction industry

in Malaysia is ever"changing! volatile and unpredictable. #udden changes in the

construction industry has made a need for a more agile and fle$ible companies! firms and

its workers.

This in return has created changes in the demands of the market of both %uantity

surveying firms and %uantity surveying undergraduates. “The challenges faced by the

quantity surveyors of the current turn of century as stated in Yvonne Simpson’s “Twenty

first century challenges for the professional quantity surveyor” faces not only demands

of the services expected the client’s needs based on their type and expectation but the

global positioning of themselves individually and of themselves as a company as a

whole”.

&ndividually! 'vonne #impson has highlighted challenges of the (1st century

professional %uantity surveyor in which she highlighted ) ma*or challenges due to a

bigger window of accessing and gaining knowledge in the form of the &nternet! client

expectations that are even higher than of the previous generations of customers and

clients with an increase amount of !now"how and clients with experiences gained in

previous pro#ects. These phenomenon has increased competition amongst peers in the

profession! struggling to be relevant in the market both locally and globally.

“These stimuli of challenges opens up challenges that many of the current crop of

professional quantity surveyors and the future graduates of the noble professional course

are currently and will face. $onstraints placed on the professionals in delivering sound


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advice and professionally #udging are made faced with the increase advancement of the

information made by the %orld %ide %eb unrealistic and highly taxing expectations

from clients made in a global competition”.

The very demanding and volatile environment has constructed a facade of tumultuous

and gruelling competition amongst professionals either in the form of inter"competition

amongst the same profession or intra"competition where other professions compete with

our profession in order to get the best deal in the pro*ect. These symphony of volatility!

highly demanding and rapid uncertainty paints the picture of one of the terms that was

commonly inferred to as hyper"competition.

+yper"competition is ,characterised by an intense and rapid competitive moves! in

which competitors must move %uickly to build -new advantages and erode the

advantages of their rivals/. The term made popular by Richard aveni is a new term

coined relatively new and was widespread much later in the late 1230s. &ts been

characterised as a ,high velocity competition/ in -Brown 4 5isenhardt! 1223 further

depicting hyper"competition as a form of competition where temporary advantages in a

highly advanced technological shift in the market are the norm in the environment.

&n the local construction industry however! the term hyper"competition is relatively a

new profound area of interest among researchers and competitors in the construction

industry alike with the term being relatively unknown with an almost 6ero territory of

findings. +owever! the recipe for making hyper"competition does co"e$ist in normal

competition in the construction industry. +yper"competition is characterised as a

competition but at a faster tempo! at a higher risk! at a shorter period of time in

advantages and still mainly consists of know"how! client demands and the backing up of

deep pockets.


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1.1 Research 7roblem and Research 8uestion

1.0 re there any hyper"competition e$isting in the construction industry in Malaysia and are

they aware of what hyper"competition is9

(.0 :hat are the common traits of the individual %uantity surveyor in a hypercompetitive

market9

;.0 re the current %uantity surveyors well adept to the current global competition and what

are the characteristics making them well adept in the current trend of competition and

hyper"competition9


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1.( Research im

The aim of this research is to provide an outlook on the presence of hyper"competition

in the construction industry and the characteristics of competent %uantity surveyors

associated with the current hyper"competitive market.


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1.; Research #cope

The scope of this research are based on current %uantity surveyors and their

perception on the hyper"competitive market. The flow of research would see different or

shared perspectives made of such firms in understanding the current trend and issue in

Malaysia in terms of competition! hyper"competition and the readiness of the %uantity

surveyors in handling the current trends.


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1.) Research


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1.A 8uantity #urveying what it is and how it started

:hat is %uantity surveying9

ccording to -Board of 8uantity #urveyors Malaysia! a quantity surveyor &'S( is a

professional wor!ing within the construction industry concerned with building costs.

'uantity surveyors are the cost professionals who measure and estimate cost of

resources for construction pro#ects -The ew Dealand &nstitute of 8uantity #urveyors. :hat

they do is they mainly aim for pro*ects to be on budget among many other roles.

8uantity surveyors bear many names amongst them are construction economist or

cost manager. &n the construction team! our main ob*ectives are to estimate and monitor

construction costs in a progressive state from the feasible stage of the construction to the end

of construction where we hand off the finished item to the owner of the building. :e are

involved in the whole lifecycle of the building even after construction where a %uantity

surveyor may perform ta$ depreciation schedules! replacement cost estimation for insurance

purposes and if necessary! mediation and arbitration. -&8#

“'uantity surveyors get their name from the )ill of 'uantities a document which itemises

the quantities of materials and labour in a construction pro#ect. This is measured from design

drawings to be used by the contractors for tendering and for progress payments for

variations and changes and ultimately for statistics taxation and valuation.” -&8#

Typical 8uantity #urveying practice

%uantity surveyor typically gives out this services that are mainly cost related to the

building either before! during or after construction. These services include=

• 7reparing tender and contract documents which includes bills of %uantities with the

architect@client• Endertaking cost analysis for repair@maintenance pro*ect work


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• ssisting in establishing a clients re%uirements and undertaking feasibility studies

• 7erforming risk! value management and cost control

• dvising on procurement strategy

• &dentifying! analysing and developing responses to commercial risks

•

7reparing and analysing costings for tenders• llocating work to sub"contractors

• 7roviding advice for contractual claims

• nalysing outcomes and writing detailed progress reports

• Faluing completed work and arranging payments

• Maintaining awareness of the different building contracts in current use

• Enderstanding the implications of health and safety regulations

-7rospects! (01)


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Figure 1: The Sphinx

ncient 5gyptian assigned scribes that were instructed to learn the ways of

mathematics and surveying among other things. &n ancient 5gypt! they had developed their

own set of measuring systems.

unit name

mh cubit

Gst palm -of hand

db digits -fingers

kht rod -100 cubits

-7aulson! (00>

The 5gyptian phrase for a surveyor was rope stretcher and surveying at that time was

better known as stretching a rope -7aulson! (00>. The roles of the ancient 5gyptian

surveyors were important and plentiful as surveyors of that time! the scribes were not mere

rope stretchers but men who were involved in the legal aspects of land ownership! ta$


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valuation! orientation and levelling of buildings and recording information with regards of the

land itself. -#almon! (00;

The Modern 8uantity #urveying

The current %uantity surveying profession could be traced back to the early 1H th

century when the Ireat ?ire in 1AAA had consumed many national building assets in the

Enited Jingdom. 7re"1AAA basic labourers! masons! carpenters and other craftsmen were

paid at a daily basis but due to the tolling amount of reconstruction needed! the craftsmen

were paid by %uantity of work rather than on a daily basis. -igerian &nstitute of 8uantity

#urveyors! (01>

Figure 2: aftermath of the Great Fire of London

The profession however was develop during the 12th century from the earlier

KmeasurerK! a specialist tradesman -often a guild member! who prepared standardised

schedules for a building pro*ect in which all of the construction materials! labour activities

and the like were %uantified! and against which competing builders could submit priced

tenders. Because all tenders were based on the same schedule of information! they could be

easily compared so as to identify the best one. -Board of 8uantity #urveyors Malaysia


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&n those early days the %uantity surveyor acted for the master tradesmen! measuring

the work after completion and fre%uently submitting partisan ?inal ccounts to the building

owner. s a direct result of these activities it increasingly became the practice of building

owners to have work e$ecuted under contract and to call for tenders before any work was

undertaken. procedure therefore developed whereby building owners would approach an

architect to design a building. rawings and specifications were distributed to selected master

builders! who would then submit tenders for the total price rather than a collection of prices

from master tradesmen. -ssociation of #outh frican 8uantity #urveyors! (01>

The foundations of the current organisation of Royal &nstitute of Chartered #urveyor

were started when (0 surveyors met at the :estminster 7alace +otel. Ender the chairmanship

of Lohn Clutton! they appointed a sub"committee to draw up resolutions! bye"laws and

regulations. This was done in order to establish a professional association to represent

surveyors and the growing property profession thus starting a prolific association dedicated to

the welfare of the %uantity surveyor. -R&C#! (01A


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1.H 5conomic Competition! +yper"Competition and Relevant Theories

5conomic competition is define as the ,effort of two or more parties acting

independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favourable terms/

-Merriam":ebster! n.d.

Competition is a situation in which two or more people or groups are trying to get

something which not everyone can have. -Collins! n.d. The activity or condition of striving

to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others -. #ubstitute

competitors however are competitors that satisfies the customers need but at an alternative

way. -Center ?or dvantage! n.d.. #ubstitute competition are synonymise with replacement

competition! the more relevant the competitor of that nature is the more likely itll replace or

substitute the services or products that you provide. -eopard #olutions! (01)


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+yper"competition is postulated by Richard aveni in 122) as a market that is gives

competitors small temporary advantages over other competitors with its intense! rapid

competitive moves. &t is also depicted as a high velocity competition. The competition was

observed at first during late 1230s -Thomas! 122A and throughout the 1220s where

technology and the rise of :orld :ide :eb usages is rapidly e$panding. Thus many writers

attributed hyper"competition as not only catalysts to not only intense rivalries and changes in

technologies used but the rise of substitute products! business models! globalisation and the

modern client"educated! demanding and individualistic tastes and opinions. This lead to the

disruption of industries! industry leaders and ending up destroying the oligopolistic nature of

the 1230s and 1220s -Bettis 4 +itt! 122> -Brown 4 5isenhardt! 1223 -Christensen! 122H

-Naveni! +ypercompetition! 122) -Naveni! +ypercompetitive Rivalries! 122> -+amel!

(000 -8uinn! &ntelligent 5nterprise! 122( -8uinn! #trategies for Change= ogical

&ncrementalism ! 1230 -#lywot6ky! 122A

&n a nutshell! hyper"competition is characterised as an unpredictable! fast changing

competitive nature of the environment where it is fuelled by the rapid morph"changing of

technology! temporary limited advantages against other competitors and the insatiable desires

and demands of the new age clients whom are well"e%uipped with e$periences and

information.


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1.3 Relevant Management Theories relating to competition and hyper"

competition

1. 7erformance Management by Marcus Buckingham and shley Ioodall(. Thriving in Encertainty 10O theory by Lim Collins and Morten T +ansen

7erformance Management

Before we delve into what performance management is according to the perspective of

Marcus Buckingham and shley Ioodall! first well e$plain what performance management

is in a broad perspective.

“*erformance management is an ongoing process of communication between a supervisor

and an employee that occurs throughout the year in support of accomplishing the strategic

ob#ectives of the organi+ation. The communication process includes clarifying expectations

setting ob#ectives identifying goals providing feedbac! and reviewing results.” -Eniversity

of California! Berkeley! n.d.

“,t its best performance management is a holistic process that ensures employees’

performance contributes to business ob#ectives. -t brings together many of elements of good

people management practice including learning and development measurement of

performance and organisational development” -C&7! (01>

7erformance management is at its best is a litmus test on how a person is valued in a

corporation with regards to what the company is doing albeit it being from selling products or

providing services.

shley Ioodall! Chief earning


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are less likely biased as the fre%uency of the performance is at a constant basis which could

change the perspective of an individuals performance.

eloitte proposed a simple measure of performance individual inde$ with these factors in

consideration.

Criteria The %uestions were made to assess the

e$tremes of situations with clarity and

transparency using simple relatable words

that raters could understand without any


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confusion

Rater Team leaders are to assess ratings as theyre

the closest to the tammates and still

provides an authoritative point of view

-7


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FanaticDisciplin

e

Productive

Paranoia

Level 5

Ambition

EmpiricalCreativit

y

This in return is similar to the demands and characteristics of hyper"competition

whereby competency of an individual is based on how well he@she adapts to the hedonistic

environment of unsustainable advantages and rapid changes in the industry. n individual

that is regularly good in their performance snapshot shows more effectiveness in hyper"

competitive situations.

Thriving in Encertainty 10O theory -Collins 4 +ansen! (011

Figure 3: Characteristics of a 10X person

10X theory in a brief

10O theory as discussed by Lim Collins and Morten T +ansen discusses in the book!

Ireat By Choice are the characteristics of companies that has prevailed in the most

tumultuous of times in economy! thriving and asserting themselves as companies that are

e$emplary cases of being relevant and competent throughout all the times in crisis and in

safer times. The book discusses of what drives the companies commander"in"chief and their

strategies in ensuring that they stay relevant at all times. &t is relevant in this study to


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showcase how competency has a simple and similar algorithm although individuals may take

different methods or means to achieve it.

The book emphasises on three practices that these individuals aptly named 10Oers

practice and preach religiously. (0 Mile March! Bullets to Cannonballs! eading above the

eath ine and the #MaC Recipe. These methods of implementation showcases the identity

of what a 10O does in his@her life and work which runs parallel with the diagram above.

10Oers e$treme persistence! high level of ambition! a high level of productivity along

with workable creativity is hypothesise to create the strategies that was mentioned in earlier

paragraphs. The writers opined that 10Oers are players that arent the ones who changed the

game radically but the ones who remain to its rhythm and maintain its productivity regardless

of the situation either good or terrible. This philosophy or style of thinking is called the (0

Mile March. “-t’s about having concrete clear intelligent and rigorously pursued

performance mechanisms that !eep you on trac!. -t creates 4 self"imposed discomfort5 a

discomfort of unwavering commitment to high performance in difficult conditions and

holding bac! during good conditions.” -'uoted from 6reat by $hoice! -Collins 4 +ansen!

(011

The Bullets to Cannonballs refers to a method that implements low risk! low cost! low

distraction test or e$periment. The Pbullets that are fired are used by 10Oers to evaluate

empirical validation of a certain work. The bullets are fired to ensure that risks are reduced

before firing a ,calibrated cannonball/. The aforementioned cannonball is a metaphor of a

full scale plan that capitalises on the Pbullet that was fired. n uncalibrated cannonball per

say! results in calamitous results that could harm the individual@company very badly.


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its retail store until he got it right. fter several iterations! reiterations and redesign! pple

launched its first two retail stores in Firginia and os ngeles -firing bullets.


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individual to develop and change the #MaC from time to time! it needs fanatic discipline to

adhere to it and the productive paranoia of changing the #MaC from time to time.

Rationale of the 10O

The 10O rationalises on creating and developing a mind"set that could be well

e%uipped to face any adversity regardless of its predictability. &t is necessary for the current

crop of %uantity surveyors to adhere and develop their characters mirroring the 10O methods

and behaviours as discussed earlier. -Collins 4 +ansen! (011

The book highlights the very nature of what an individual is supposed to embody in a

hyper"competitive market. The changes! the vast uncertainty and the intense competition may

leave individuals wrong"footed unless they were to be trained in a manner that makes them a

rock in any uncertainty. The ability to adapt and adept symbolises the competency that an

individual should have and be able to retain throughout their careers and lives. s Bruce ee

once said! donNt get set into one form! adapt it and build your own! and let it grow! be like

water. 5mpty your mind! be formless! shapeless Q like water. ow you put water in a cup! it

becomes the cup you put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle you put it in a teapot it

becomes the teapot. ow water can flow or it can crash. Be water! my friend. -ee 4 ittle!

(000

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Documents

Chapter 1: Competency of Quantity Surveyors in a Hyper-competitive