Goel, A; Ganesh, L S and Kaur, A (2020) Social sustainability considerations in construction project feasibility study: A stakeholder salience perspective. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 27(7), pp. 1429-1459. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: Past research recommends integration of social sustainability (SS) considerations in construction project feasibility study for benefitting a larger group of project stakeholders. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to this effect, especially from the developing economies. The purpose of this study is to address this knowledge gap through a SS-centric analysis of feasibility study reports using a stakeholder salience perspective. Design/methodology/approach: Feasibility study reports for 61 projects were obtained from various government organizations in India. The SS considerations were identified in the reports using a combination of quantitative and qualitative assessments. The former was based on content analysis and the latter was conducted using “VOSviewer” text analysis software. Findings: SS considerations related to occupational health and safety, workers' employment practices and proactive involvement of communities and end-users were found to be inadequately addressed in the reports. Based on occurrences of the SS considerations, project-affected community was found to be the most salient stakeholder, followed by the end-users and the construction workers. Statistical analysis revealed significant relationship between the SS considerations and the type of project as well as the type of project delivery system. Originality/value: This study contributes to better understanding of integrating SS considerations in feasibility study of construction projects. Its results provide useful inputs to decision-makers for orienting construction projects, right from the early phases, towards benefitting the disadvantaged and weaker stakeholders irrespective of their salience attributes. In developing economies, such interventions may improve quality of lives of a large number of project stakeholders and also cultivate a positive societal image of the construction industry as a respectful, ethical and employee friendly industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; project feasibility study; social sustainability; stakeholder management; stakeholder salience |
| Index terms: | project feasibility, employment, statistical analysis, social sustainability, construction industry, India, construction worker, project delivery, feasibility study, occupational health and safety, content analysis, text analysis, developing economy, methodology, integration, construction project, project stakeholder, evidence, stakeholder management |
| Subjects: | production management, Geography, research methods, management, economic development, communities and social development, industry analysis, sociology, organizational analysis, occupational health and safety management, practitioner, value management, evaluation and assessment methods, analytical methods, project delivery, data science, participation process, data analysis and analytics, design stages |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Design Practice, Human Resources, International Construction, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Procurement, Health and Safety, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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