TY - JOUR
T1 - Sustainability transition of the Chinese construction industry
T2 - Practices and behaviors of the leading construction firms
AU - Chang, Rui Dong
AU - Zuo, Jian
AU - Soebarto, Veronica
AU - Zhao, Zhen Yu
AU - Zillante, George
AU - Gan, Xiao Long
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - Because of various economic, social, and environmental challenges, the Chinese construction industry is under tremendous pressure to transition to a sustainability orientation. Existing studies have extensively explored the technological innovations of environmental sustainability within the Chinese construction industry. In contrast, very little attention has been paid to a holistic exploration of the economic and social dimensions related to sustainability, or to the sustainability strategies and behaviors of construction firms in China. From the perspective of sustainability transition, this paper analyzes the sustainability practices and strategic sustainability behaviors of three leading construction firms in China based on three case study firms. Twenty-nine aspects of sustainability practice implemented by the studied firms are identified. The evolution of the strategic sustainability behaviors exhibited by the three firms and the strengths and weaknesses of their sustainability practices are also critically analyzed. The results reveal that the studied firms present different strategic sustainability behaviors, and that practices toward environmental sustainability are weak compared with practices toward economic and social sustainability. Potential measures to facilitate sustainability transition of the Chinese construction industry are also discussed. This study helps industry practitioners to gain a better understanding of sustainability practices and behaviors of leading construction firms in China.
AB - Because of various economic, social, and environmental challenges, the Chinese construction industry is under tremendous pressure to transition to a sustainability orientation. Existing studies have extensively explored the technological innovations of environmental sustainability within the Chinese construction industry. In contrast, very little attention has been paid to a holistic exploration of the economic and social dimensions related to sustainability, or to the sustainability strategies and behaviors of construction firms in China. From the perspective of sustainability transition, this paper analyzes the sustainability practices and strategic sustainability behaviors of three leading construction firms in China based on three case study firms. Twenty-nine aspects of sustainability practice implemented by the studied firms are identified. The evolution of the strategic sustainability behaviors exhibited by the three firms and the strengths and weaknesses of their sustainability practices are also critically analyzed. The results reveal that the studied firms present different strategic sustainability behaviors, and that practices toward environmental sustainability are weak compared with practices toward economic and social sustainability. Potential measures to facilitate sustainability transition of the Chinese construction industry are also discussed. This study helps industry practitioners to gain a better understanding of sustainability practices and behaviors of leading construction firms in China.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84975230056&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000439
DO - 10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000439
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84975230056
SN - 0742-597X
VL - 32
JO - Journal of Management in Engineering
JF - Journal of Management in Engineering
IS - 4
M1 - 04016006
ER -