Afzal, Fatima (2019) A framework to improve sustainability performance of construction organisations. PhD thesis, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract
With the growing awareness about sustainability, there is an enormous pressure on construction organisations to improve their sustainability performance. However, the concept of sustainability performance is not yet fully explored in the context of the construction industry. Little is known about how construction organisations can improve their sustainability performance. To address this gap, this study used the contingent resource base view of organisational sustainability to develop a framework to improve sustainability performance of construction organisations. Organisational sustainability has been addressed from a triple bottom line view in this researchThe aim of this research is to investigate the sustainability performance of construction organisations in Australia. Under this aim, the specific objectives are to: (i) identify the key determinants of organisational sustainability performance in construction organisations; (ii) examine the inter-relationship of these key determinants; (iii) examine the effect of key determinants and sustainability performance on competitive advantage and; (iv) examine the impact of external influence on the relationship between key determinants and sustainability performance. It is hypothesised that construction organisations sustainability performance is collectively influenced by their: organisational culture (OC); organisational structure (OS); supply chain capabilities (SC); technological capabilities (TC); employees skills and attitudes (ESA); and business strategies (BS). It is also hypothesised that improved sustainability performance would help organisations to gain competitive advantage. The research adopted a survey research design and data was collected via online questionnaire from 42 senior managers of large and medium sized construction organisations in Australia. The findings reveal that, among the six key determinants, business strategies, technological capabilities and organisational culture are found to have significant positive impact on construction organisations environmental sustainability performance. Also, it is found that the organisations social sustainability performance is positively influenced by their business strategies. Overall, one of the most salient findings is that construction firms organisational culture, business strategies, environmental sustainability and social sustainability performance are key sources for competitive advantages.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Lim, B and Prasad, D |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | culture; organisational culture; skills; sustainability; construction firms; Australia; organisational structure; competitive advantage; employee |
| Index terms: | competitive advantage, construction organization, research design, sustainability performance, Australia, social sustainability, determinant, construction industry, manager, organizational structure, business strategy, survey, construction firm, technological capability, questionnaire, environmental sustainability, organizational culture |
| Subjects: | practitioner, organization, innovation and technology management, health safety and environment, Geography, sustainability assessment, communities and social development, market analysis, data collection methods, risk assessment, business, research design and methodology, industry analysis, sociology |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Health and Safety, Sustainability, Risk Management |
| 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