Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the benefits that client organisations expect from building information modelling (BIM) investment in Malaysia. Furthermore, this paper investigates the outcomes that, from the stakeholders’ point of view, the BIM approach needs to present. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this aim, this research employed a series of structured interviews which were conducted with representatives from client construction organisations in Malaysia. A structured questionnaire, containing 34 items, was used to collect data from respondents. Findings: This research’s findings indicated that increased project revenue is one of the most expected benefits of BIM investment. In addition, it has been revealed that the Malaysian construction industry has implemented the BIM approach to project management. Furthermore, the great deal of acceptance among industrial players has been significantly positive, and thereby it can be concluded that the implementation of BIM in Malaysia has lots of potential. Originality/value: This paper’s finding offers great knowledge, policy, and academic contribution, acknowledging the development of BIM’s implementation within the Malaysian construction industry.

In order to mitigate the anticipated oversupply of office space, it is necessary to gauge the preference of office occupiers, namely tenants of purpose built office buildings, since these tenants form the indicator of demand for space. In this study, a multi-criteria decision making method (MCDM) – the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) procedure was employed to analyse the relative importance of the main factors chosen by the main sectors of tenants at top grade office buildings in Kuala Lumpur city centre. This study had identified the elicitation of experts’ opinion and tenants’ selection comprises twenty-six important factors for office occupation in Kuala Lumpur city centre, grouped under four main categories: Location, Lease, Building and Financial/Cost. This study then employed AHP to assess the relative importance placed on each category, revealing the varying patterns of preferences when tested on tenants from three main business sectors occupying top grade office buildings. The findings showed that, between the three sectors (Finance/Banking, ICT & Media and Oil & Gas), differences in preference were only slight for most factors but were significant for a few. The findings from this study are insightful in informing decisions on future office provision, particularly in the context of working towards satisfying office tenants’ requirements.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the important property specific criteria for office occupation decision making by tenants of purpose built office buildings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It attempts to provide more definitive information on office space occupation to prospective property marketers, managers, owners and investors. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted to identify the important criteria which were earlier selected by expert panels. The outcome was then analysed through the principal component analysis and importance factor index adopted from an earlier study. The findings from the survey can then be used to examine the relative importance of the identified criteria through the use of a multi criteria decision making (MCDM) technique. Findings – Four main criteria could be identified under the property specific criteria. Six of the “building features, services and management” attributes have higher rankings than the attributes under the “financial” considerations, mainly rent. the high rank attributes under the main criteria of “location” relate to the prestige and accessibility of the building while the high rank criteria under the main “lease” criteria relate to the monetary considerations of the lease arrangement. The high rank criteria under the main criteria of “building features, services and management” relate to the management and building services rather than the design/space provision. Research limitations/implications – The study area is confined to Kuala Lumpur city centre commercial area and covers prime office buildings. Originality/value – Office occupation studies have been established in developed countries but are very limited in Malaysia. This study attempts to relate to the current office market developments and to seek the preferences of the various categories of tenants at a later stage.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the sustainability levels in terms of sustainability practices amongst public-listed property companies in Southeast Asia. Design/methodology/approach: The websites and annual reports for each company were assessed to determine the level of sustainability practices amongst property companies in Southeast Asia. Their sustainability strategies were then rigorously assessed by using a scorecard which assesses sustainability levels based on related issues. Findings: The results show that green or sustainable property development in Southeast Asian countries remains at a moderate level. There is still much room for improvement to enhance the level of green attributes in property development. Research limitations/implications: This paper only assesses property development companies in five Southeast Asian countries; namely, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Originality/value: Given the increasingly significant sustainability issues – especially amongst international property development players, this paper attempts to deliver better informed investment and decision-making ideas for sustainable property developments.

Purpose: This purpose of this paper is to investigate the current level of transparency based on the customised transparency matrix (TM) amongst the top listed property companies in Malaysia, based on capital market value. Furthermore, this paper discusses the concept of transparency from the perspective of Malaysian property markets.Design/methodology/approach: Data for this research were collected from the top 30 property companies in Malaysia through their annual reports and corporate websites. The indicator of transparency was developed based on various literature surveys and other research findings. Using the developed indicators, the study analysed the transparency attributes from TM of the top 30 listed property companies in Malaysia.Findings: In terms of transparency levels and widely implemented transparency elements, the findings revealed that Malaysian property companies were within a “good level” range.Research limitations: The research is based on a study of the top 30 listed property companies in Malaysia based on market capital values as at 30th June 2010.Originality/value: This paper examines the transparency level of property companies in Malaysia based on each company's current annual report. The findings provide some insights and guidelines for the industry as well as academics on the transparency level particularly in Malaysian property business.