Gleeson, M P and Thomson, C (2012) Investigating a suitable learning environment to advance sustainable practices among micro construction enterprises. In: Smith, S D (ed.) Proceedings of 28th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2012, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
Sustainability in the construction industry is increasingly at the forefront of current debate and government policy. The majority of sustainable strategies and research has focused on large contracting organizations with little attention given to Micro Construction Enterprises (McE’s). With McE’s comprising of 98% of all UK construction firms they clearly contribute significantly to the delivery of sustainability. There is little understanding of the unique challenges McE’s face in learning and knowledge acquisition to advance sustainable practices. McE’s are a diverse group of professional practices, specialist trades and general builders and it is doubtful they are well equipped to support the learning culture necessary to appreciate the current myriad of sustainability issues. This research explores the requirements for a suitable learning environment for McE’s to advance sustainable practices. Through semi-structured interviews with eight owner/associates of different types of McE’s in Glasgow, the research explored their preferences for learning in order to establish the basis for a suitable learning environment. Formal methods of learning like seminars and CPD events entail prohibitive cost and resource barriers, but analysis suggested that these constraints could be appeased by facilitating voluntary informal learning pathways in order to progress the agenda. Since the majority of the study participants were members of some trade or professional association it is recommended that these bodies are best placed to deliver contextually relevant resources in a suitable narrative for McE’s. The paper attempts to differentiate between formal and informal learning styles to promote sustainable practices among McE’s.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | knowledge; learning; micro construction enterprise; practice; sustainable construction |
| Index terms: | builder, construction firm, face, strategy, owner, sustainable practice, sustainable construction, interview, informal learning, professional practice, contracting organization, construction industry, preference, knowledge acquisition, government policy, narrative |
| Subjects: | organization, data collection methods, learning methods, practitioner, public policy, psychology, decision-making and reasoning, management, sustainable construction, professional development, qualitative and interpretive research, sociology, sustainable practices, student development, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Research Practice, Information Management, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Governance, Sustainability, Organizational Design, Education |
| 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