Stakeholder Engagement: Achieving Sustainability in the Construction Sector

Achieving sustainability-related targets in construction projects is increasingly becoming a key performance driver. Yet sustainability is a complex concept in projects and there are many diverse stakeholders. Some stakeholders are generally recognized as important, i.e., the client and main contractor, yet there are others not always perceived as such and whose absence from the decision-making processes may result in a failure to address sustainability issues. Hence there is a need for a systematic approach to engage with stakeholders with high salience in relation to sustainability. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study involving interviews with construction project practitioners that are involved in sustainability in some way. Data were collected from the practitioners in terms of the processes for engaging with stakeholders to deliver sustainability. The data suggests six steps to a stakeholder engagement process: (i) identification; (ii) relating stakeholders to different sustainability-related targets; (iii) prioritization; (iv) managing; (v) measuring performance; and (vi) putting targets into action. The results suggest that understanding the different sustainability agendas of stakeholders and measuring their performance using key performance indicators are important stages to be emphasized in any stakeholder engagement process to achieve sustainability-related goals

A virtual collaborative platform to support building information modeling implementation for energy efficiency

There is increased interest in complying with the new regulations and policies associated with the climate change. In particular industries such as the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) industry seek to find new strategies and practices for facilitating sustainability but also new regulations to improve efficiency at the building level. Institutions and industrial bodies are now in the process of alignment with new legislative stipulations regarding carbon emissions with wider reflection into environment, social and economic models. At building level such strategies refer to decarbonisation and energy efficiency supported with data driven techniques enriched with virtual collaboration and optimization methods. The increased interest of the research community in Building Information Modeling (BIM) has facilitated numerous solutions ranging from digital products, information retrieval, and optimization techniques all aiming at addressing energy optimization and performance gap reduction. In this paper we present how a virtual collaborative system can be efficiently used for implementing BIM based energy optimization for controlling, monitoring buildings and running energy optimization, greatly contributing to creating a BIM construction community with energy practices. The solution described, known as energy-bim.com platform, disseminates energy efficient practices and community engagement and provides support for building managers in implementing energy efficient optimization plans

A measurement model for lean construction maturity

Question: How can you differentiate between an organization relatively immature in Lean Construction and one relatively more mature in Lean Construction (LC). Research Method: Collection of qualitative data using mixed methods of interviews and focus group Findings: A validated model for LC maturity is presented comprising of 11 key attributes and 60 behaviors, goals and practices that enable a distinction between levels of maturity to be made. Limitations: Given the small sample no claims of wider generalizability of the model can be made without further research. Implications: The model provides a means of delineating organizations in terms of the level of LC maturity. Value for authors: The model can be used by practitioners to guide their decision-making and support their strategic choices when implementing LC

A systematic literature review of modern slavery through benchmarking global supply chain

Purpose: The globalisation of supply chains has contributed to modern slavery by degrading labour standards and work practices. The inherent difficulties involved in monitoring extremely fragmented production processes also render workers in and from developing countries vulnerable to labour exploitation. This research adopts a benchmark methodology that will help examine the inherent modern slavery challenges. Design/methodology/approach: This study examines how the benchmark model, including governance, risk assessment, purchasing practice, recruitment and remedy of victims, addresses supply chain modern slavery challenges. The proposed hypotheses are tested based on the reoccurring issues of modern slavery in global supply chains. Findings: Estimations suggest that modern slavery is a growing and increasingly prominent international problem, indicating that it is the second largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise worldwide except for narcotics trafficking. These social issues in global supply chains have drawn attention to the importance of verifying, monitoring and mapping supply chains, especially in lengthy and complex supply chains. However, the advent of digital technologies and benchmarking methodologies has become one of the existing key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring the effectiveness of modern slavery initiatives in supply chains. Originality/value: This review provides an understanding of the current situation of global supply chains concerning the growing social issue of modern slavery. However, this includes various individual specialities relating to global supply chains, modern slavery, socially sustainable supply chain management (SCM), logistic social responsibility, corporate social responsibility and digitalisation. Furthermore, the review provided important implications for researchers examining the activities on benchmarking the effectiveness of the existing initiatives to prevent modern slavery in the supply chains

Leaders, conflict, and team coordination: a relational leadership approach in temporary organisations

Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 8: Decent work and economic growthSupplemental material is available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09537287.2024.2313518#supplemental-material-section .This study explores how the level of relational leadership of team leaders influences team members’ conflict-handling style and team coordination in temporary organisations (TOs). Leaning upon Socio-Psychological and relational leadership theories, the research also evaluates how the cultural background of leaders moderates the nature of the association between relational leadership and project team performance. This contribution is unique by engaging with three moderating cultural groups while drawing on data from 126 teams in TOs using PLS path modelling. The results explain that relational leadership influences team members’ cooperative and conflict-avoiding styles, which are, in turn, positively associated with team coordination and team performance. The judicious and considered use of conflict-avoiding should be recognised as a thoughtful style in multicultural team contexts and as a consequence of relational leadership. Team coordination and performance, however, are related more to relational leadership with the sample of leaders from a specific within-nationality cultural background.Universiti Sains Malaysia for providing the RUI Grant [No. 1001/PPBGN/816283]

Achieving competitive advantage through technology-driven proactive supply chain risk management: an empirical study

Whilst there has been previous work focused on the role of technologies in enhancing supply chain risk management and, through such an enhancement, increased competitive advantage, there is a research gap in terms of understanding the links between external institution pressures and internal adoption factors. We use institutional theory (IT) and the resource based view (RBV) of the firm to address this gap, developing a framework showing how a proactive technology-driven approach to supply chain risk management, combining both external with internal factors, can result in competitive advantage. We validate the framework through analysis of quantitative data collected via a survey of 218 firms in the manufacturing and logistics industry sectors in India. We specifically focus on the technologies of track-and-trace (T&T) and big data analytics (BDA). Our findings show that firms investing in T&T/BDA technologies can gain operational benefits in terms of uninterrupted information processing, reduced time disruptions and uninterrupted supply, which in turn gives them competitive advantage. We add further novelty to our study by demonstrating the moderating influences of organisational culture and flexibility on the relationship between the technological capabilities and the operational benefits

Leveraging digital technology capability for circular economy innovation in the food products supply chain: a mixed-method study

Our study aims to enhance the understanding of how digital technologies function as a dynamic capability in order to improve digital circular economy (CE) innovation and food products supply chain (FSC) performance. In particular, we examine the moderating effect of absorptive capacity (AC), which remains under-studied in the sustainable operations management literature. We followed an explanatory sequential mixed-method design in this study with two main phases. In the first phase, we developed a model based on a review of the extant literature review, which was grounded in the Dynamic Capability View. We then statistically analyzed the model, using data collected from 623 respondents working in the food products and allied industries industry sector. In the second phase, primary data were collected from interviews with 10 practitioners working in 5 companies in that industry sector and secondary data from the company documents. This qualitative data was used to test the relevance and practical applicability of the model developed in the first phase. Using Structural Equation Modelling, our developed model provides empirical evidence to show that digital technology capability in the FSC positively influences digital CE innovation. We further show that AC moderates the relationship between digital technology capability in FSC and digital CE innovation. Thematic analysis of the interview data confirms digital technology capability as a higher-order capability, comprising of digital sensing, digital seizing, and digital transformation capabilities, and that digital technology knowledge absorption is a technically focused AC. The analysis further confirms the relationships between digital technology capability, digital CE innovation, and enhanced FSC performance. Managerial relevance statement: Our findings offer practical guidance to supply chain managers in configuring appropriate resources to build dynamic (digital technology) capabilities, which would help them to “sense, seize, and transform” organizational resources and improve performance. Further, managers of business operations in the FSC should concentrate on improving their organization’s AC in order to acquire and digest external data. Our study adds to the literature by shedding light on the nuanced relationships between digital technology capability in the FSC, AC, digital CE innovation, and FSC performance