Opoku, A; Cruickshank, H and Ahmed, V (2015) Organizational leadership role in the delivery of sustainable construction projects in UK. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 5(2), pp. 154-169. ISSN 2044-124X
Abstract
Purpose - Sustainable construction project delivery should be supported by committed and inspirational leadership, with a clear understanding of the sustainability challenge. Construction organizations need intra-organizational leadership that provides the collective vision, strategy and direction towards the shared common goal of a sustainable future. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of intra-organizational leadership within UK construction organizations charged with the promotion of sustainability practices. Design/methodology/approach - The study adopts a mixed method approach with qualitative data 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 analysis of the data revealed that, the most important role of intra-organizational leadership in promoting sustainable construction practices is to formulate policies, implement procedures and disseminate best practices throughout the organization . Originality/value - Nothing has been written on intra-organizational leadership role in promoting sustainability practices in the construction industry. Although leadership and sustainability has been widely covered as separate issues this study provides the empirical evidence of the link between leadership and sustainability in construction.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | UK; sustainability; leadership; construction organizations; leadership role |
| Index terms: | sustainable construction practice, mixed method, promotion, construction organization, interview, sustainability challenge, survey, sustainable construction project, strategy, evidence, methodology, best practice, leadership role, construction industry |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, leadership, management, research methods, sustainable construction, data collection methods, evaluation and assessment methods, organization, business, environmental issues |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Sustainability, Research Practice, Business Strategy |
| 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