SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

BACHELOR OF QUANTITY SURVEYING (HONOURS)

MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
GROUP ASSIGNMENT

GROUP MEMBERS

NAME STUDENT ID
YONG MAY SIA 0327724
CHOOK KAI ERN 0327697
CAROLYN LOW SING YEE 0327652
THE WAN XIN 0326553
YAP YUEN THONG 0326557
LOW YI MENG 0330506

 
1
 Table Of Content 
1.0 Company Profile
a. Company Background
b. Our Vision
c. Our Mission
d. Our Goals
e. Organization Chart
f. Value Statement
g. Strategic Planning
h. Organization Culture
i. SWOT analysis

2.0 Management Trainee Programme

a. About
b. Management Trainee Recruitment
c. Selection Criteria
d. Training and Development Plan
e. Interview Activities
f. Pre-Screening Interview
g. Individual Interviews
h. Interview Tests
i. Group Assessment

2
3.0 Technologies
a. Information Technology and Information Management Skills
b. Information Technology
c. How Our Company Utilize Information Technology
d. Competitive Advantage of Information Technology
e. Information Management Skills
f. How Our Company Utilize Information Management Skills
g. Competitive Advantage of Information Management Skills
h. Information Management Challenges
i. Principles
j. Company Competitive Advantages
k. Sustainable Competitive Advantage

4.0 References

3
 Company Profile
Company Background 
YMS Company is a company that was set up in the year of 2018 by five Quantity 
Surveyors. Each individual had already worked in the construction industry for at least 
ten years, therefore, are experienced in the field of quantity surveying with an excellent 
track record. YMS Company is a Malaysian company that specialized in cost 
management and quantity surveying services on a vast range of construction projects, 
including buildings, civil engineering, industrial, infrastructure and major highways 
projects. YMS Company assures the consumers are content by using modern 
technology for an efficient and accurate calculation. Currently, YMS Company has a 
total of 22 diligent staffs. 

Our Vision 
The description of the ultimate goal that our company wants to achieve through the 
long term. It will evoke emotional feelings in our company staff. It is a goal that should 
use longer time to achieve. 

Our company vision statement is, we want to become an international company that 
received project from the others country. Next, we want to become the top 5 QS 
Company in Malaysia. 

Our Mission 
A short-term statement; it is the description of our company current status it provides 
direction for the employees, to let them know what they should do for the company. 

Our company mission statement is to be more efficient, so that we can pass our job to 
the client before the deadline given. To be efficient, we should save time and be more 
discipline by start our work on time and don’t do others things that are not relevant to 
our responsibility of our work in our working time. 

4
Our Goals 
Long term goal 
Long term goal is a goal that takes longer time to achieve (e.g. 10 years). 
The long-term goal in our company is to become an international company that 
receiving project from the others country and become top 5 QS Company in the 
Southeast Asia. 
Mid term goal 
Midterm goal is a goal that needs few years to achieve (e.g. 3 to 5 years). 
The mid-term goal in our company is to become a bigger company with more staff and 
bigger space. Next, we have more capital to purchase on the better QS software that 
can improve the speed of our work to shorten the time used for the project. 
Short term goal 
Short term goal is the goal that used short time to achieve. The short-term goal in our 
company is to become more efficient by finish the project that we received, two weeks 
before the deadline given by the clients. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

5
Organization Chart 

Director 
● Started the company and lead the staff of the company to do their works. 
● Lead the staffs to achieve the goal that set by director. 
● Approve the good plan that made by the staff. 
● Reject the plan that is not good or impossible. 
 
Deputy Director 
● Support the director in the development and implementation of the Foundation’s 
strategic plans and policies. 
● Provide some advices about the direction of the goal of our company to all the staff in 
our company. 
● Communicate with the staff and the director. 
● The middle man of the staff and the director. 

6
Project Coordinator 
● Responsible to communicate with our own company project manager and the clients 
that giving us the project. 
● Project coordinator makes sure that our company cooperates with the client in a good 
condition and reached the level that the clients required. 
● Make sure the project we received is done before deadline given by client. 
 
Project Manager 
● Divide the task of the project and distribute the task to the staff. 
● Make sure that the staff manage to finish their task before the deadline given by project 
coordinator. 
● Make sure that our company can submit the job for the clients before the deadline given 
by the clients. 
 
Senior Quantity Surveyor (special project division) 
● Give advices about the calculation of the project to the quantity surveyor. 
● Proof read the calculation of the quantity surveyor to make sure that there is no error for 
the calculation and then submit it to the project manager. 
 
Quantity Surveyor (special project division) 
● In charge of finishing the task that assigned by the project manager. 
● Reading the drawings that given by the client to do calculation for the project. 
● Go to the project site to know more about the process of the project. 
 
Assistant quantity surveyor (special project division) 
● Help the quantity surveyor by helping them to read the drawing and find out the query 
for the drawing of the project. 
 
Quantity Surveyor (consultancy division) 
● Consult the client by giving cost suggestion about the material used for the clients. 
● Giving information of the project to the client. 
● Answer the question about the project that asked by the clients. 

7
Assistant quantity surveyor (consultancy division) 
● Help to find out the most suitable building materials with the price required by client for 
the quantity surveyor to introduce it to the client. 
● Help to find out the answer of the question and give it to quantity surveyor. 
● The technician in our company is responsible to repair our software when the software 
broke down. 
 
Chief technician 
● In charge of observing the way of using better technique to repair the software. 
● Trained the senior technician in the company to help to repair the software. 
 
Senior technician 
● In charge of the major problem of the software. 
● Trained the junior technician to repair the major problem of the software. 
● Learned from the chief technician. 
 
Junior technician 
● In charge of the minor problem of the software that occurs when the quantity surveyors 
are doing their calculation of the project. 
● Learn from the senior technician. 
 
Accountant 
● To count the salary of the staff in the company. 
● In charge of the profit and loss of the company. 
● Prepares account (liabilities, capital, assets) to count the profit or loss of the company. 
● Collecting and releasing the money of the company. 
 
Accountant Clerk 
● To record down the expenses used in the company. 
● To record down the cost of the things used in the company. 
 
 

8
Human Resources 
● In charge of recruiting more staff into the company when there is too much job but lack 
of staff. 
● To make sure that company have enough staff to run the project given by the client. 
● In charge of the annual leave or any other leave that take by the staff. 
● Approval of taking leave by the staff. 
● Determine the need of the staff. 
● Provide training to the employees. 
● Motivate the employees of the company. 
● Provides opportunities for the staff in the company to perform their strength. 
  
Human Resources Clerk 
● Assist the human resources department. 
● Communicate with the staff in the company to know more about their needs to tell the 
human resource department. 
● The policy training company is provided by them to the employees of the company. 
● Record the leaves that take by the staff. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

9
Value statement 
The value statement is a statement that used to tell the clients and the staff of our 
company about our company top priorities. Our company value status is, we are 
responsible to submit the work in time, in best condition; we are efficient and we work 
effectively to finished the project one-week before the deadline given by the client. 
 

Strategic planning 
We plan to take project from the development company first, due to our company is still 
a company, we do not have the power to tender the bigger project from the 
development company due to experience problem and the market cost of the building 
materials. 
 
We will start to research the building materials company that provide good quality and 
cheaper building material, so that we can lower our project cost usage. By this way, we 
can easily tender more project from the development company. 
 

Organization Culture 
We always finished our work in time without any delaying. Our employees have good 
self-discipline that they do not late for work and able to arrange their schedule to finish 
their task on time. 
We work effectively and we perform high efficiency in our job to finish our things in 
shorter time. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

10
SWOT analysis 
The strength of our company 
● High experience​: We have ten years' experience in the construction industry. 
● High efficiency​: We are efficient, we manage to finish the project before the deadline 
given by the client. 
● Accurate calculation​: We manage to provide a good quality calculation by using the 
skills that we learned for the past few years in the company. 
 
The weakness of our company 
● Number of employees​: We have too few employees in our company for now. 
● Status of the company:​ We are a small company with less staff so that we are 
unavailable to handle big project. 
● Limited Resources:​ We just started our company, we have limited resources for 
everything we want to do in the process of doing the project. 
 
The opportunity of our company 
● More capability to faces changes:​ We are a new company in the quantity surveying 
firm market, so that we can easily change our form of working to become more effective 
in doing the project compared to the big companies that in the market for many years 
they cannot change their form easily, it is harder for them to become more effective by 
using the traditional way they used for long time ago. 
  
The threat of our company 
● Stronger competitors in the field: ​We are a new company and there are a lot of 
well-known quantity surveying firm in the construction market. 
● Things provided to client is lesser: ​We cannot provide better things than the 
well-known company in the field for now. Due to our limited resources for everything. 
 
 
 
 

11
 Management Trainee Programme
About
The Management Trainee Programme is designed for the graduates to undergo training 
and receive guidance for their career path. This is to develop their skills and potential in 
becoming a manager or leader in an organization. The trainees will be provided with 
the opportunities and enable the trainees to experience the aspects of the business and 
roles. It will also provide the basic knowledge of the roles in the company. 
 
As a start of the company and the Management Trainee Programme, we wish to recruit 
three (3) different management trainees into the company. 
 
 

Management Trainee Recruitment 

These are the following management trainees that we would wish to recruit, and their 
responsibilities: 
 
1. Quantity Surveyor 
● Calculate project cost and prepare tender documents 
● Monitor total work progress 
● Submission of work progress to claim payment 
● Undertaking cost analysis for repair and maintenance project work 
● Assisting in establishing client’s requirements and undertake feasibility studies 
● Performing risk, value management and cost control 
● Advising on procurement strategy 
● Provide advice on contractual claims 
 
2. Project Manager 
● Plan and implement projects 
● Help define project scope, goals and deliverables 
● Define tasks and required resources 

12
 ● Manage budget 
● Allocate project resources 
● Create schedule and project timeline 
● Monitor and report on project progress 
● Present to stakeholders reports on progress as well as problems and solutions 
● Implement and manage change when necessary to meet project outputs 
● Evaluate and assess result of project 
 
3. Accountant 
● Prepare asset, liability, and capital account entries by compiling and analyzing 
account information 
● Documents financial transactions by entering account information 
● Summarizes current financial status by collecting information; preparing balance 
sheet, profit and loss statement, and other reports 
● Substantiates financial transactions by auditing documents 
● Maintains accounting controls by preparing and recommending policies and 
procedures 
● Reconciles financial discrepancies by collecting and analyzing account 
information 
● Secures financial information by completing database backups 
● Prepare payments by verifying documentation, and requesting disbursements 
● Prepares special financial reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing 
information and trends 
● Maintains customer confidence and protects operations by keeping financial 
information confidential 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

13
Selection Criteria 
● Candidates must have Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university with a 
minimum of CGPA 3.0 or equivalent. 
● Fresh graduates are welcome. 
● Proficient in spoken and written English and Bahasa Malaysia languages. Ability 
to communicate in other languages is an added advantage. 
● Demonstrate good interpersonal and communication skills to build working 
connection with all parties involved in the project. 
● Ability to work well independently as well as in group setting. 
● Positive attitude towards work. 
● Demonstrate strong leadership skills. 
● Demonstrate time management skills. 
● Computer literate in Microsoft Applications. (For example: Excel, Word, etc.) 
Ability to use any other useful software is an added benefit. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

14
Development Plan 
The Development Plan is a two (2) years comprehensive programme that prepare 
high-performing talent and develop the management skills for becoming the future 
leaders of our business. This plan will consist of three (3) phases where the trainees will 
have to show us that they share our values and have their own distinctive strengths. 
 

1st month  2nd to 6th month  7th to 24th month 

 
Interacting Phase  Advancing Phase 
 
(18 months) 
Induction Phase 
Continuous monitoring of trainee’s performance and 
development 

 
1st Month 
● Full- in-house training to expose trainees about the basic information of the company 
and our principles, values and business conducts. 
● Introduction to terms and conditions of company. (For example: holiday entitlement, 
expense claims, etc.) 
● Any regulatory requirements. (For example: certain forms to be completed) 
● Introduction to key members of staff. 
 
2nd to 6th Month 
● Learning of the works need to be done in the specific position 
● Deeper exposure to the roles of our operation 
 
7th to 24th Month 
● Undertake 2 positions, which is from specific departments of the company. 
● Provide direct coaching by a senior management to increase the understanding of the 
company businesses and operation. 
● Participate in internal staff training sessions. 

15
Interview Activities 
It  is  increasingly  common  procedure  for  the  employment  of  a  company  to  undertake  a 
variety  of  assessments  and  activities  during  the  job  interview  process.  An  interview  is 
formal  meetings  between  two  people  which  are  the  interviewer  and  the  interviewee 
where  questions  are  asked  by the interviewer to obtain information, qualities, attitudes, 
wishes  and  so  forth  form  the  interviewee.  Interview  is  one  of  the  most  essential  step 
during  employment  because  it  connects  both  the  employers  as  well  as  job  seekers.  It 
assists  employers  in  selecting  a  right person for a right job. Hiring the right employee is 
a  challenging  process  so  the  selection of candidates during an interview is important to 
ensure  that  the  applicant  has  the  right  attitude,  personality  and  skills  required  in  the 
company.  An  interview  could  also  act as a platform for the applicants and the company 
to  exchange  information.  Interviewers  use  interviews  to  judge  a  potential  candidate's 
demeanor,  professionalism  and  communications  skills.  The  interviewer  can  also  ask 
specific  questions  that  pertain  to  the  position  or  give  the  applicant  a  chance  to  gather 
information  about  the  company  or  job  by  asking  additional  questions.  Throughout  an 
interview  can  help  to  eliminate  bad  candidates  and  narrow  down  the  selection  to  few 
potential candidates. 
 

Pre-Screening Interview 
Phone Interview 
This  is  the  first  stage  in  an  interview  where  candidates  are  screened  to  ensure  they 
meet  the  requirements  for  the  available  position  in  the  company.  Phone  Interview  is  a 
useful  method  of  pre-selecting  or  screening  a  number  of  candidates for a potential job. 
We  decide  to  use  this  type  of  interview  as  the  number  of  applications  for  a  particular 
position  may  be  too  much  in  order  to  reduce  stress  and  screen  out  unqualified 
applicants.  Opting  for  phone  interview  can  help  reduce  the  number  of  candidates  that 
do  not  meet  requirements,  thus  it  can  help  save  the  cost  of  transportation  if  the 
organization is hiring internationally. 

16
Though,  pre-screening  process  can  include questions about diverse topics but the ones 
most likely to be asked are: 
Question  1:  Which  part  about  this  company  or  this  role  that  particularly  interests 
you? 
Candidate’s  Answer:  ​The  first  thing  that  gained  my  attention  when  I  reviewed  the  job 
application  was  consultant  quantity  surveyor.  This  was  especially  attractive  to  me  because  it 
gives  me  the  chance  to  skills  and  experience  with  the  expertise  quantity  surveyors  to  work 
with. I have been looking to move to a company which offers me the opportunity to work. 
 
Question 2: Why did you leave your previous job? 
Candidate’s  Answer:  ​I  found  myself  bored  with  the  work  and  looking  for  more  challenges.  I 
am  an  excellent  employee,  and  I  didn't  want  my  unhappiness  to  have  any  impact  on  the  job  I 
was doing for my employer. 
 
Question 3: What type of work environment do you prefer? 
Candidate’s  Answer:  ​I enjoy working in an environment where the members of the team have 
a  strong  sense  of  camaraderie  and  a  good  work  ethic.  I  like  working  with  competent,  kind, 
funny  people  who  like  to  get  things  done.  It’s  important  to  me  to  feel  that  I  can  trust  my  team 
members to always do their best, because I do. 
 

Individual Interviews 
Individual  interviews  as  known  as  1-0n-1  interviews  which are the traditional one candidate at 
a  time  approach  to  hiring,  where  questions  can  be  more direct and more information about the 
candidate  can  be  shared.  In  this  format,  it  is  much  easier  for  the  interviewer  to  ask  additional 
questions  to  better  understand  responses  and  to  gauge  the  accuracy  of  the  answer. Individual 
interviews  allow  you  to  probe  their  attitudes,  beliefs,  desires,  and  experiences  to  get  a  deeper 
understanding  of  the  candidates  who  come  to apply job. Interviewers can also ask them to rate 
or rank choices for site content. Lastly, we decided to carry out face-to-face interview. 
 
 
 

17
Face to Face Interview 
We  will  carry  out  face-to-face  (F2F)  interview  as  known  as  in-person  interview,  is 
probably  the  most  widely  used  and  oldest  methods  of  conducting  primary  research. 
This  is  the  interview  that  most  are  familiar  with  and  typically  takes  place  after a phone 
screening  interview. It is typically established that candidates have the requirements for 
the  position  from  the  resume  and  screening  interview.  The  interviewer  wants  to  see 
how  the  candidates  will  fit  into  the  company  and  will  ask  questions  to  test  listed  skills 
and  experience.  This  interview  will  take  about  20  to  30  minutes  for  an  interviewee  to 
answer  a  few  questions  given  by  the  interviewer  to  test  their  ability  on  the 
conservation, concentration, emotion and behaviour. 
 
Question 1: Why should we hire you? 
Candidate’s  answer:  ​I  am  young,  eager  to  learn,  and  motivated  to  work  hard.  I  have  the 
passion  for  numbers,  and  I  would  really  enjoy  having this job. Of course I haven’t met the other 
applicants  for  the  job,  and  they  are  likely  also  motivated  and  ready  to work hard, but I believe I 
would be a good choice for this position. 
 
Question 2: What characterize a good boss or colleague from your point of view? 
Candidate’s answer: ​Ideal boss doesn’t exist, and it doesn’t even matter to me. I want to focus 
on  my  job,  and  my  duties,  and  I  try  to  avoid  any  conflicts  with  other  employees.  Everyone  is 
different,  and  I  respect  the  individuality  of  each person. But I do not try to think much about my 
colleagues,  what  they  should  do  better,  how  they  should  act.  I  simply  prefer  to  focus  on  my 
own duties, and on my good attitude to other people. That is the only thing I can control. 
 
Question 3: What are your salary expectations? 
Candidate’s  answer:  ​This  is  my  first  job application, and I am motivated to learn. I understand 
it  is  an  entry  level  position,  so  the  salary  offer  won’t  be  great.  At  the  same  time,  however,  the 
possibilities  of  promotion  are  almost  endless,  so  I  would  accept  your  standard  salary  offer  for 
entry  level  jobs.  I  am  sure  that  once  I  prove  myself  worthy  of  promotion  or  a  raise,  you  won’t 
hesitate offering it to me. 
 

18
Interview Tests 
When  preparing  an  interview,  it  is  essential  to  establish  exactly  what  information 
interviewers  need  to  obtain  from the interviewee. Some job vacancies require a specific 
level  of  skill  or  intelligence  and  this  may  be  difficult  to  ascertain  by  simply  asking  the 
standard  interview  questions  to  the  candidate.  It  is  therefore  useful  to  consider  one  of 
the  following  tests  that  can  be  given  to  candidates  at  interview  stage  to  evaluate  their 
suitability  to  the  role  on  a  more  qualitative  and  quantitative level so we will be carrying 
out  a  few  test  during  the  interview.  We  will describe to the candidates, the type of test 
given,  its  structure  and  the  criteria  assessed.  The  below  tests  are  some  of  the  most 
frequently used by interviewers. 
 
Personality tests 
Personality  tests  assess  the  degree  to  which  a  person  has  certain  traits or dispositions 
or  predict  the  likelihood  that  a  person  will  engage  in  certain  conduct.  Ideally,  the 
objective  is  to  determine  if  a  candidate  will  be  a  good  fit  for  the  job  and  the  company. 
Personality  tests  are  usually  written  in  such  a  way  as  to  reveal  any  attempt  at 
dishonesty.  The  goal  of  employment  personality  testing  is  to  hire  people  who  fit  the 
profile of the ideal employee the organization is seeking. Knowledge and experience are 
important  in  the  hiring  process,  but  screening  for  the  right  personality  traits  helps 
interviewer  to  ensure  potential  hires  perform  well  under  stressful  circumstances  and 
collaborate with their coworkers. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

19
Situational tests 
If  interviewers  want  to  observe  how  a  candidate  will  perform  in  a  real  job  related 
situation,  they  can  introduce  situational  tests  to  the  interview.  This  is  where  a  work 
situation  is  simulated  and  the  candidate  is  required  to  act  in  a way that they would if it 
was  a  real  situation. This type of test enables us to decide between short list of suitable 
candidates  as  to  which  one  will  perform  best  in the role. By simulating work situations, 
interviewers  can  observe  how  each  candidate  reacts  and  uses  their  initiative  to  assess 
their overall suitability for the job. 
 
Aptitude tests 
Aptitude  test  are  among  the  most  popular  interview  tests  given  to  candidates  as  they 
help  to  identify  and  effectively  measure  a  candidates reading, writing, verbal reasoning 
and  numerical  ability  skills.  These  forms  of  tests,  like  many  others,  can  be  tailored  to 
suit  company  requirements,  or  can  be  purchased  in a standard format. One of the main 
advantages  of  using  aptitude  tests  as  part  of  hiring  strategy  is  that  is  reflects  an 
accurate  account  of  an  individual’s  skills  and  can  help  interviewers  to  filter  a  short  list 
quickly. 
 
Job Knowledge Tests 
Job  knowledge  tests  typically  use  multiple  choice  questions  or  essay  type  items  to 
evaluate  technical  or  professional  expertise  and  knowledge required for specific jobs or 
professions  in  a  particular  field.  For  instance,  a  quantity  surveyor  may  be  asked  about 
basic  measurement  principles.  These  kinds of tests are most useful for jobs that require 
specialized knowledge or high levels of expertise. 
 
 
 
 
 

20
Group Assessment 
After  passing  the  previous  interviews,  a  group  assessment  is  carry  out  which  is  an  assessed 
discussion  exercise  that  involves  a  small  group  of  candidates  which  is  usually  8  to  10  people 
which  takes  around  45  minutes,  following  a  question  posed  by interviewer. Group assessment 
is  very  similar  in  nature  to  a  ​panel  interview.  Candidates  are  usually  given  some  information 
relating  to  a  business  scenario  before  the  group  exercise  begins,  with  a  short  amount  of  time 
available  to  read  this  and  make  notes.  Candidates  will  then  be  asked  to  join  the  other 
candidates  and  will  all  be  briefed to discuss the information provided and reach a conclusion. A 
common  variation  is  for  each  person  in  the  group  to  be  assigned  an  individual  role  and  given 
some  extra  information  only  he  or  she  sees,  in  addition  to  the  common  information.  Group 
assessment  with  multiple  candidates  are  very  efficient as they allow the interviewer to conduct 
multiple interviews at the same time, saving a lot of time.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

21
 Technologies
Information Technology and Information Management skills 
Information Technology and Information Management skills are widely used nowadays 
all over the world as the development of the technology increased rapidly. There are 
many advantages can be found in using these information systems when they had 
been utilized efficiently. It will also bring a lot of opportunities to the companies 
because through the information systems, all the works can be done efficiently and the 
productivity of the works also can be maximized. In our company, these information 
systems allow faster and easier communication, electric storage of the documents and 
also the protection of the records. Hence, utilizing information technology and 
information management skills can help in creating competitive advantages to the 
companies. 
  

Information Technology 
Information Technology (IT) is the use of computers to store, retrieve, transmit and 
manipulate data or information, often in the context of a business or other enterprise. IT 
is also considered as a subset of information and communications technology (ICT). The 
main role of IT is to monitor process and circulate data to assist in managing, checking 
and building determinations for the governing body. Besides that, IT is a very important 
requirement for improving the way of managing and running an organization.   
   

How our company utilise Information Technology 

Our company are using the software, network and computing technology to make the 
process of working faster and easier. We are using the software like BIM (Building 
Information Modelling), AutoCAD, Glodon or Cubicost and many others. 
  
 
 

22
Building Information Modelling (BIM) 
BIM technology plays a very important role in our company, it also has become 
increasingly well-known among construction industry. BIM is an intelligent 3D 
model-based process that gives architect, engineering, and construction (AEC) 
professionals the insight and tools to more efficiently plan, design, construct, and 
manage buildings and infrastructure. It contributes in the preparation of construction 
cost estimates, and also determines the project costs. BIM also improve the cost 
estimating reliability, including early schedule information, quicker predictions of cost 
impact of design changes and also better understanding through improved 
visualisation. Hence, it brings a lot of advantages to our company in terms of make the 
projects can be done faster and save a lot of time. Besides that, BIM also creates 
information integration with a seamless flow of information from the initial phase to the 
final stage of life cycle. 
  
Example of categories of BIM capabilities in our company 

Categories  BIM capabilities 

Data visualisation  ● 5D life cycle costing analysis 

● BQ preparation with 3D views 
● Project conceptualisation, design planning  
● Simulation, cost control, value engineering, 
estimating, tendering 
● Drawing interpretation, data extraction 

Reliable database  ● Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) view for BQ 

● Quantity take-off, cost estimating  
● Estimating, tendering 
● Post construction cost management 
● Design changes identification 

Data coordination  ● Virtual models, estimating 

● Communication, access to information 

  

23
Glodon or Cubicost 
Glodon take off for architectural and structural also known as TAS, it is a suite of 
quantity take-off software based on the Building Information Modelling (BIM) 
technology for architecture and structure, which is embedded with ground breaking 
3-dimensional measurement and calculation rules. It can take-off the quantity from 
electronic drawings or images with immediate 3D visualization effect and shows 
accurate results for each component in real time. It also works with Cubicost TRB. 
Furthermore, it also increase the detail given such as room specifications with items like 
finishes, skirting, flooring, ceiling and column cladding applied with a single click to a 
room. Hence, it saves a lot of time in using this software and it is also very easy to use. 
 
For Cubicost take off rebar which also known as TRB, it is a software for calculating 
and measure the length, weight, quantity and shape of reinforcement bar used in the 
structural of the project. In addition, Cubicost take off for mechanical and electrical 
which also known as TME is a BIM-based quantity software take off for mechanical and 
electrical components. It helps to calculate and measure the types, quantities, 
measurement of the components and hence it easy the measuring time. 
 
Lastly, Cubicost TBQ is an innovative, efficient cost estimating software. It helps to take 
off bill of quantity and process the full bill of quantity. It also works with TAS, TME and 
TRB to produce the full bill of quantity.  
  

Competitive Advantages of Information Technology 

● Increase the productivity of the works 
● It saves a lot of time, hence faster completion of the works 
● Improves data storage and file management 
● Improves financial management 
● Saves cost of operation   

24
Information Management Skills 
A process of collecting, storing, managing and maintaining information in all its forms. It 
is a term that include policies and procedures for managing and share out the 
information among different individuals, organisations, cooperation and information 
systems throughout the information life cycle. Information management is normally an 
firm information system concept, where an organisation creates, owns and achieve a 
suite of information. The information can be in the form of physical data such as papers, 
documents and books, or even digital data assets. Information management is achieved 
through purposely built information management systems and by supporting business 
processes and guidelines. Moreover, information management also focuses on how that 
information is being shared and delivered to various recipients.  
Information management skills include the general concepts of management, which 
includes planning, organising, structuring, processing, controlling, evaluation and 
reporting of information activities which is required for those with organisational 
responsibility or purpose that depend on information. It resembles and overlaps with 
the management of technologies, systems, datas, processes. 
 

How Our Company Utilise Information Management Skill 

In terms of technology, our company encompasses systems such as: 
 
Content management system (CMS) 
Content management systems support the creation, management, distribution, 
publishing, and discovery of corporate information. Also known as the web content 
management and these systems typically focus on online content targeted at either a 
corporate website or internet. 
 
 
 
 

25
Document management system (DMS) 
A document management system is a system used to track, manage and store 
documents and reduce paper. Most are capable of keeping a record of the various 
versions created and modified by different users. The term has some overlap with the 
concepts of content management systems. It is often viewed as a component of 
enterprise content management systems and related to digital asset management, 
document imaging, workflow systems and records management systems. 
 
Records management system (RMS) 
Records Management system is the management of records for an organisation all 
through the records-life cycle.  
The activities in this management include the structured and productive control of the 
establishment, preservation and destruction of the records along with the business 
transactions associated with them. Considered a key component of operative 
productivity, record management adds more benefit to organisation’s information 
assets. 
 
Digital asset management (DAM) system 
Digital asset management system offers an effective solution for a firm to store, 
organise, find, restore and share digital files. Quick to deploy and easy-to-use, a 
centralised digital library provides peers, employees, clients, contractors and any other 
key stakeholders controlled access to digital assets including images, photos, creative 
files, video, audio, presentations, documents and more. 
 
Learning management system (LMS) 
Learning management systems automate the management of training and other 
learning. This consists of registering students, managing training resources, recording 
results, and general course administration. Learning management systems are 
designed to meet the entire needs of professional trainers and other educators. 

26
Learning content management system (LCMS​) 
A Learning Content Management System is a tool or software that gives an 
organisation or a company to create and publish learning content and to publish it in 
prints and web forms. A Good Learning Content Management Systems will also have 
analytics to see the data on how learners are interacting with your content, and some 
offer a single-source input, which allows you to create the content once then select 
which format you’d like to publish it in HTML, PowerPoint, PDF, etc. 
 
 

Competitive Advantages of Information Management Skills 

Improved innovation In addition, the advantages of information management skills 
implement in our company are :  
 
● Enhance the quality of works by supplying relevant information for good 
decision making. 
● It gathers, process, stores, restores, asses and distributes the information.  
● It has combination of specialised activities by making sure that different 
departments are aware of the problem and requirements of another 
departments. 
● It could change from a massive amount of data into a summarised form and able 
to avoids the uncertainty which may occur when managers are piled with 
detailed facts.  
● It enhance the ability of management to assess and improve the performance. 
Also the used computers has magnify the data procedure and storage capacity 
and have reduced the cost .  
 
 
 
 
 

27
Information Management Challenges 
Organisations are come face to face with many information management problems and 
issues. 
Common information management problems include: 
● Massive amount of different information management systems. 
● Small-scale integration or coordination between information systems. 
● Vary of legacy systems requiring upgrading or replacement. 
● Direct competition between information management systems. 
● Limited and irregular adoption of existing information systems by staff. 
● Substandard quality of information, including lack of consistency, duplication, 
and outdated information. 
● Very little recognition and support of information management by senior 
management. 
● Limited resources for utilising, managing or improving information systems. 
● Huge amount of various business needs and issues to be addressed. 
● Lack of clarity around broader organisational strategies and directions. 
● Complications in changing working practices and processes of staff. 
 

Principles 
To ensure that information management activities are effective and successful there are 
ten key principles: 
1. Identify (and manage) problems 
● There are a lot of challenges that need to be overcome when planning and 
implementing information management projects. 
 
2. Focus on adoption 
● Information management systems are only successful if they are actually used by staff, 
and it is not enough to simply focus on installing the software. In practice, information 
management systems need the active participation of staff throughout the organisation. 
 

28
3. Deliver clear & visible benefits 
● This allows significant measurement of the effect of the projects on the operation of the 
organisation. 
 
4. Emphasise according to business needs 
● In this way, information management projects are targeted at the most critical business 
needs or issues. These in turn are originated from the overall business strategy and 
direction for the organisation as a whole. 
 
5. Take a ‘journey of a thousand steps’ 
● This approach will be able acknowledge that there are often plenty of small changes 
that are required to improve the information management practices across an 
organisation. 
 
6. Provide a strong leadership 
● At first is to create a clear vision of the desired result of the information management 
strategy. This will describe how the organisation will operate than just explaining how 
the information systems will work. 
● Effort must then be put into bringing a plenty amount of sense of urgency to drive the 
deployment and adoption of new systems and processes. 
 
7. Mitigate risks 
● At the beginning of planning an information management strategy, the risks should be 
clearly identified. An approach must then be identified for each risk, either avoiding or 
mitigating the risk. 
 
8. Communicate extensively 
● Communication is to ensures that staff have a clear understanding of the project, and 
the benefits it will deliver. 
 
 
 

29
9. Aim to deliver a smooth user experience 
● Delivering a single intranet that gives access to all information and tools. 
● Ensuring a consistent look-and-feel across all applications, including standard 
navigation and page layouts. 
● Providing ‘single sign-on’ to all applications. 
 
10. Choose the first project very carefully 
● The first project must be chosen according to its ability to act as a ‘catalyst’ for further 
organisational and cultural changes. In practice, this often involves starting with one 
problem or one area of the business that the organisation as a whole would be 
interested in, and cares about. 
 
 

Company Competitive Advantages 

Our company competitive advantage is the high experiences of the founder of the 
company. We have more than 10 years of working experience in the construction 
industry which will lead our company to attract more clients. Therefore, our company 
also will get more clients’ attention and trust with our working experience and more 
jobs will be got. 
 
Besides that, our company also focuses on cost leadership strategy. With the cost 
leadership strategy, we focus on the reduction of cost in productivity or administration 
to offer a lower price to our client. We focus the entire organisation’s resources to 
achieve this objective by forming a low cost culture and working constantly to reduce 
any overhead costs. Moreover, we also observe constantly to the cost positions of our 
opponents in order to keep our record of providing the lowest price to our client. 
 
 
 
 

30
Sustainable Competitive Advantage 
Sustainable competitive advantages are company assets, attributes, or abilities that are 
difficult to duplicate or exceed; and provide a superior or favourable long term position 
over competitors. In order to continue in the construction industry, our company have 
some benefits that can help our company to continue in this industry.  
 
With the help of information technology and information management skills, there are 
advantages that are able to help the company. Our company is known to have 
outstanding management. Our management make the right decisions at the right time 
most of the time. Our managers in some ways motivate and get the most out of their 
employees, especially when facing challenges. Our management has been successful 
throughout the years is a competitive advantage. Moreover, our company could help in 
terms of saving in cost and time, with a greater accuracy in estimation, and the 
prevention of error, amount of adjustment and rework due to information loss.  
 
Besides, technology have been improving, updating and evolving now in this era which 
can help the our company and developers to understand and analysis the design detail 
with high accuracy. A good quality product can build customers loyalty and will less 
likely to lose market share to a competitor than an advantage based on cost. 
Furthermore, our company cooperate with a lot of big companies and had built many 
relationships. In addition, many other companies will give us chances in bigger project 
from the trust that our company have built. 
 
Other than that, our company is strict on discipline and work. Therefore, our company 
has the capacity to produce in high volume and great quality of work; then it can gain a 
sustainable competitive advantage by reducing its profit. This will help us by accepting 
different kind of projects. This will be helping in the growth of our company in the 
future. 
 

31
 References

● Nestle Management Trainee 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2018, from

https://www.nestle.co.id/ina/Karir/Documents/Nestle%20Management%20Trainee%2020
15.pdf
● Jason Westland (Dec 19, 2017). Project Manager Job Description (with free copy+paste
examples!). Retrieved 9 June 2018, from
https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-manager-job-description
● Alison Doyle (April 04, 2018). Group Interview Questions and Interviewing Tips.
Retrieved 10 June 2018, from
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/group-interview-questions-and-interviewing-tips-206
1157
● Michael Cheary. Group interview tasks and activities. Retrieved 12 June 2018, from
https://www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/group-interview-tasks-and-activities/
● (June 07, 2013). Types of Tests to Use at Interview Stage. Retrieved 12 June 2018, from
https://www.careeraddict.com/types-of-tests-to-use-at-interview-stage
● A review of BIM Capabilities for Quantity Surveying Practice. Retrieved 13 June 2018,
from
https://www.matec-conferences.org/articles/matecconf/pdf/2016/29/matecconf_ibcc2016_00042.p
df
● Competitive Strategy and Performance of Quantity Surveying Firms in Malaysia.
Retrieved 14 June 2018, from
http://web.usm.my/jcdc/vol19_2_2014/JCDC%2019(2)%202014-Art.%202%20(15-32).pd
f
● Laura Stanley (June 2016). Job Profile of Quantity Surveyor. Retrieved 14 June 2018,
from ​https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/quantity-surveyor
● James Robertson​ (November 2005). ​10 principles of effective information management​.
Retrieved 16 June 2018, from ​https://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_effectiveim/

32