Eilers, H I (2015) Impact of sustainable business practices on strategic performance for commercial building contractors. PhD thesis, University of Kansas, USA.
Abstract
The existing commercial building construction industry is not sustainable and sustainability is not a prominent matter in construction. The construction industry has made strides in sustainability efforts over the past couple decades, but there remains a long pathway to improving stewardship of the environment, people, and resources. This study reviews existing conditions in the construction industry through specialty and general contractor survey questionnaires. Interview investigation of three Midwest commercial building contractors examines the impact of embracing sustainable business practices. A case study offers a project level investigation of the research question to expand and support the study. Embracing sustainable business practices has a positive impact on strategic firm performance for commercial building contractors through employee satisfaction, project opportunities, and market advantage. Sustainable business practices are beneficial for construction businesses.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Tran, D |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | market; sustainability; building contract; commercial building; building contractor; employee; case study; interview |
| Index terms: | firm performance, building contractor, building contract, satisfaction, case study, construction industry, commercial building construction, investigation, general contractor, survey, interview, commercial building, questionnaire |
| Subjects: | practitioner, construction type, contract type, building construction, business analysis, project delivery, data collection methods, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Project Management, Procurement, Design Practice, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here