Opoku, A and Fortune, C (2011) The implementation of sustainable practices through leadership in construction organizations. In: Egbu, C and Lou, E C W (eds.) Proceedings of 27th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2011, Bristol, UK.
Abstract
Effective leadership is essential and key to the adoption of sustainability in every organization. The construction industry therefore needs leaders that can develop a culture that supports, promotes and rewards organisational strategy towards sustainability. Leaders should embed sustainability in their organizational activities and make sustainable development part of their overall business strategy. This research examines the role of organizational leadership in promoting sustainable practices in construction contractor organizations in the United Kingdom. The paper explores leadership roles, drivers and challenges facing leadership when integrating sustainability in their organizations. This issue is a strand of work within an ongoing PhD study on the topic, Promoting sustainable practices in construction organizations through leadership . A preliminary qualitative study with seven (7) leaders in UK construction organizations, including sustainability directors, managers and consultants is presented. The analysis of the collected qualitative data revealed that, the leadership role in promoting sustainability in construction organizations include the development of strategies and the formulation of policies. A major driver for construction organizations to pursue sustainability is to win more contracts to stay in business. Surprisingly, increased capital cost or the perceived cost associated with sustainability is still a major challenge to the adoption of sustainability. Another major barrier according to the interview findings is lack of client demand for sustainability due to the wrong perception that sustainability costs more. Such results underline the need for and the potential benefits of committed leadership in the promotion of sustainable practices in construction organizations.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction organizations; leadership; sustainable practices |
| Index terms: | implementation, construction industry, construction contractor, leadership role, sustainable development, United Kingdom, strategy, qualitative study, business strategy, organizational strategy, manager, construction organization, interview, sustainable practice, promotion, capital cost |
| Subjects: | accounting and finance, management, health safety and environment, Geography, sustainable practices, leadership, industry analysis, business, organization, research design and methodology, data collection methods, practitioner, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Geographical Context, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Sustainability, Procurement, Roles and Professions, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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