Suppliers play an important role in the success of construction projects as they are the ones who carry out the actual construction work and complete the project by supplying their skills and knowledge (i.e. service) or material. Therefore, getting the right supplier for the right job is critical towards the success of any construction project. To achieve this, however, entails efficient information and communication technology (ICT) aided information system for managing the performance of the suppliers. Most of the local construction companies are found to be unaware of the benefits brought about by such systems and still resort to handle majority of the tasks manually. This research was aimed at the development of a Web-based system that can help to better manage suppliers‟ performance to assist in the selection of suppliers and to facilitate the leveraging of suppliers' knowledge for the benefit of the on-going projects. Literature on the importance of managing suppliers‟ performance, criteria for supplier selection, existing practice for supplier selection, importance of knowledge sharing and reward of knowledge sharing were reviewed. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with the practitioners in the industry to explore the current approaches for supplier selection, the way of managing suppliers‟ performance, and also to identify the end-users‟ requirements on the methodology for managing suppliers‟ performance and knowledge sharing. The case studies revealed that the custom-designed computer applications used by the case study companies for the selection and management of suppliers‟ performance are not comprehensive in terms of the features. The systems do not capture the historical data on the performance of the suppliers for the selection purpose. This information is critical to reveal the reliability of the suppliers and also to allow them to improve their performance. In addition, the systems require the user to scan and then upload the written documents to the system. This is not only time consuming but also inconvenient. The system developed consists of a Web-based database to store the relevant information with modules for managing the criteria for supplier selection, knowledge capture and evaluation, and managing suppliers‟ performance across projects. In order to improve the functionality of the system, the system was tested and evaluated by the participants from the construction companies interviewed before. Positive feedbacks were received with an overall score of 3.8 out of 5.0. Simply put, the system can facilitate the informed decision making on the selection of the most suitable suppliers based on the records captured in the system. It allows the continuous improvement to the project at different stages by allowing suppliers to share their knowledge as to how improvements can be made. Further studies may involve the development of an improved version of this prototype application where it caters for the need to select and manage the performance of different types of suppliers with different sets of criteria. 

11 Background 1

12 Rationale for the Research 3

13 Aim and Objectives 5

14 Research Methodology 6

15 Scope and Limitations 8

16 Report Layout and Contents 9

21 Defining Supplier 12

22 Importance of Managing Suppliers‟ Performance 15

221 Cost Reduction 15

222 Decreased Production Development Lead Time 16

223 Reduction of Risk 17

224 Better End Product Quality and Customer

Satisfaction 17

225 Preventing the Deterioration of Supply Chain 18

226 To Enjoy Mutual Benefits Brought About 18

227 Improved Company Competitiveness 19

23 Criteria for Supplier Selection 20

231 Cost / Price 23

232 Performance 24

233 Time / Delivery 25

234 Supplier‟s Profile 26

24 Current Practice 31

241 Web-Based Sub-Contractor Evaluation System

(WEBSES) 32

242 e-Reporting System 33

243 Mathematical Programming (MP) 33

244 Multi-Attribute Decision Making/Multi-Criteria

Decision Making (MADM/ MCDM) 37

245 Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) 41

246 Fuzzy Set Theory (FST) 43

25 Shortcomings of Current Practice 44

26 Summary 47

31 Defining Knowledge 48

3 2 Types of Knowledge 50

33 Knowledge Management Processes 52

34 Knowledge Sharing 54

35 Importance of Knowledge Sharing 55

351 Facilitating the Access and Sharing of

Knowledge across Projects 56

352 Reduction in Construction Project Costs 57

353 Faster Completion of Construction Project 57

354 Improvement of Firms‟ Innovation Capability 58

355 Risk Minimisation 59

356 Gaining Competitive Advantage 59

36 Rewards for Knowledge Sharing 60

361 Encouraging Knowledge Sharing Among

Project Participants 61

362 Recognising Team Member‟s Contribution 62

37 Summary 63

41 The Meaning of Research 64

42 Research Strategy 66

421 Quantitative Research 66

422 Qualitative Research 67

423 Triangulation or Combined Approach 69

43 Research Design 71

44 Summary 75

51 Background of Case Studies Company 76

52 Findings from the Case Studies 77

521 Company E 78

522 Company H 82

523 Company K 84

524 Other Companies 88

53 Discussion 89

531 Shortcomings of Current Approach for the

Selection of Suppliers and the Management

of Their Performance 94

532 Requirements for the Development of the

System 95

54 Methodology for Managing Suppliers‟ Performance

and Knowledge Sharing 99

541 Block A: System Administrators to Register

Users 101

542 Block A1: Contribution of Knowledge by

Suppliers 101

543 Block A2: Knowledge Validation by Experts 102

544 Block A3: Dissemination of Knowledge 102

545 Block B1: Supplier Selection 103

546 Block B2: Evaluation of Suppliers' Performance 103

547 Block B3: Communication of the Performance

with the Suppliers 104

55 Summary 105

61 System Architecture of Prototype Application 106

62 Selection of Development Environment 108

63 User Interface and Program Codes Development 109

631 Supplier Selection 109

632 Evaluate Suppliers‟ Performance 112

633 Validate Knowledge 114

634 Suppliers to Comment on Their Own

Performance Score 117

635 Project Administrators‟ Response to Comment 117

64 Database Design 118

65 Operation of the Prototype Application 119

651 Logging In 119

652 Browsing the Home Page 121

653 Edit Company‟s Profile 122

654 To View Supplier Company‟s Current Projects 124

655 Past Subcontracting Works‟ Score 127

656 My Company‟s Knowledge Contributed 130

657 Contribute New Knowledge 131

658 Latest Knowledge Contributed 133

66 Roles Assigned to the Users 134

661 Ordinary Users 134

662 Experts 134

663 Project Administrators 135

664 System Administrators 135

67 Testing and Evaluation of the System 136

671 Prototype Testing 138

672 Statement Test 138

673 Prototype Evaluation 143

674 Evaluation Results 145

675 Suggestions for Improvement 149

68 Summary 151

71 Summary 153

72 Conclusion 161

73 Further Work 167

74 Limitation of the Research 169

75 Concluding Remarks 170