Opoku, A; Ahmed, V and Cruickshank, H (2015) Leadership style of sustainability professionals in the UK construction industry. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 5(2), pp. 184-201. ISSN 2044-124X
Abstract
Purpose - Leadership is a significant success factor in promoting sustainability practices in the construction industry. Sustainability is an integral part of the construction industry and affects all aspects of construction business operations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if there is any particular leadership style associated with intra-organizational leaders within UK construction organizations charged with the promotion of sustainability practices. The paper therefore examines the effective leadership style of sustainability professionals responsible for developing sustainable construction strategies. Design/methodology/approach - Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interview with 15 leaders, followed by an industry-wide survey of 200 intra-organizational leaders in contractor and consultant organizations in the UK construction industry. Findings - The results showed that while there is no one best leadership style for all situation, most leaders charged with the role of promoting sustainable construction are strategic in their style or behaviour. Originality/value - Although leadership and sustainability has been widely covered as separate issues, little rigorous research has been done on the link between leadership and sustainability in construction management research. The findings could guide organizational leaders with the responsibility of promoting sustainability practices.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | UK; leadership style; sustainability; leadership; construction organizations |
| Index terms: | promotion, sustainable construction, management research, interview, construction organization, leadership style, survey, success factor, strategy, methodology, construction industry |
| Subjects: | organization, research design and methodology, data collection methods, health monitoring assessment and metrics, sustainable construction, research methods, management, industry analysis, leadership |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Sustainability |
| 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