The development of corporate social responsibility in the Australian construction industry

In the Australian construction industry, large companies develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to maintain an image of being a good corporate citizen. CSR relevant to the construction industry is defined including the following activities: moral obligation to be a good citizen; sustainability; reputation; relationship with employees and unions; relationship with suppliers and community representatives; and commitment to reporting on CSR. CSR is then examined through 85 interviews conducted with members of boards of directors, suppliers, employees, customers and community representatives of 17 large corporations. In order to be recognized as a socially responsible business, the corporations should: apply a corporate governance structure that takes into consideration working environment concerns; improve their sustainability, occupational health and safety measures, relationships with suppliers and commitment to local community protection and engagement.     

Mapping corporate social responsibility strategies in the construction and engineering industry

Interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) is growing in response to societal and regulatory demands that construction businesses contribute positively to the environments and communities in which they build. While, CSR research in the construction and engineering industry is progressing there has been little research into whether and how firms in this industry operationalize CSR, how they incorporate CSR into their business vision, leadership and mission and strategies and what forms these strategies take. In addressing these gaps in knowledge, a survey of 104 firms from across the construction and engineering industry and its supply chain in Australia and New Zealand was undertaken. The results indicate that CSR in construction and engineering firms is largely informal, unsophisticated, compliance driven and in its early stages of development. There is little strategic focus in CSR initiatives and the potential social capital derived from better strategic relationships with communities appears to be largely wasted. Conceptually, it is concluded that there is a need to adapt current models of CSR practice, developed in a permanent business context, to reflect the transitional, nomadic and project-based nature of construction. Current models of CSR are inadequate at explaining how firms operating in the construction industry need to practically adjust and adapt their CSR strategies to fit with the constantly changing political, social, cultural, environmental and economic profiles of local communities and the requirements of clients and local governments.     

The social procurement practices of tier-one construction contractors in Australia

Social procurement is becoming an increasingly important requirement in the delivery of private- and public- sector construction projects across the world, yet there is relatively little research done in this area. Mobilising Furneaux and Barraket’s social procurement typology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers from eight tier-one contractors in the Australian construction industry to explore and classify the types of social procurement strategies used in projects, the types of social value created and the barriers to implementation. Documentary data were collected in the form of company policies and contract requirements. Results demonstrate the conceptual merit of Furneaux and Barraket’s typology in a construction industry context by highlighting different constraints on social value creation for each type of social procurement. These results also indicate that approaches to social procurement in the Australian construction industry are generally driven by a philosophy of risk mitigation rather than opportunity maximisation, and are confined to low-value and low-risk construction activities and are constrained by a lack of existing and new supply chain social-value creation capacity. Construction industry social value chains are fragile in Australia, and it is concluded that in building the sector’s significant untapped capacity to deliver social value to the communities in which it builds, priority should be given to three main strategies: third sector capacity building; barrier-to-entry reduction and skills development in managing new cross-sector collaborations among public, private and third sector organisations.     

Linking corporate social responsibility and organizational performance in the construction industry

In the construction industry, the subject of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly important as communities, employees and socially conscious clients expect firms to demonstrate they are good corporate citizens. However, while CSR research in construction has accelerated in recent years, it remains fragmented and unconceptualized and there is little understanding of the relationship between CSR and organizational performance, the types of CSR strategies employed and the strategic motivations behind them. To address this deficiency in current CSR knowledge and drawing upon contemporary CSR theory, a survey of 104 professionals from across the construction supply chain in Australia and New Zealand was undertaken. The results show that CSR initiatives in the construction sector are integrative, isolated, narrowly focussed (mainly on environmental activities), immature, compliance-based and operational rather than strategic. The link between CSR and economic performance increasingly espoused (and assumed) in much of the CSR literature does not appear to be accepted in practice with the main benefits being seen as relational in building corporate loyalty, brand and engagement with both internal and external stakeholders. By empirically showing that CSR in construction takes place within an integrative conceptual framework, our findings highlight the potential value of theoretical concepts such as stakeholder salience in moving this field of research forward. These approaches recognize the power that stakeholders (both internal and external) have over a business and the need to manage those relationships carefully in order to secure a licence to operate.     

Corporate volunteering in the construction industry: motivations,costs and benefits

Corporate volunteering is a growing global phenomenon. Despite the size and significance of the construction industry, there has been no research into corporate volunteering in this sector which presents special challenges around its highly transitionary, temporary, regulated and project-based culture. To address this gap in knowledge and to answer the need for more scholarship and sector-specific insights in this field, the motives, benefits and costs of corporate volunteering for construction businesses and the volunteers that work for them are explored. Through an in-depth single case study of one of the UK’s largest construction industry corporate volunteering programmes, it is shown that at an individual level, it is not always altruism that motives people to volunteer. Volunteers in construction are also motivated by other factors such as loyalty to their organization, profession and industry, relational/networking opportunities and the reinforcement of technical skills and personal satisfaction derived from helping others which is not normally afforded in work. At a business level the main benefits of volunteering are reputational advantage, recruitment and new skills and access to new knowledge and capabilities. Conceptually, the results indicate that systems theory, empowerment theory, life span theory and social exchange theory would be useful theoretical lenses to take research in this new area of corporate social responsibility forward. It is concluded that further research is needed into different types of volunteering programmes and whether individual benefits experienced by volunteers translate into commercial benefits for the organizations involved.     

工程项目社会影响评估和社会成本分析

社会影响是指某种产品或行为,通过改变人群的生活、工作、休闲、社交和组织方式,对个人或公共机构造成的不利影响.工程结构的建造、维护、翻新、修复或拆除往往会在施工期间对周围人群或环境产生影响,尤其是对交通运输或居住环境影响较大的工程项目,其不利社会影响所带来的社会成本可能远大于工程的实际成本.社会影响评估作为可持续性评估领...     

Co-creating social value through cross-sector collaboration between social enterprises and the construction industry

Emerging social procurement imperatives are driving new forms of cross-sector collaboration between private, public and social enterprise sectors in the construction industry. Yet there is little understanding of how and why social enterprises and private construction firms collaborate in meeting new social procurement imperatives and of the institutional and organizational factors shape these practices. Drawing on theoretical insights from governance, management and policy studies and three case studies of major organizations from across the construction social value chain, the organizational and institutional factors that drive cross-sector collaborations are explored. Documentary analysis of social procurement strategy and policy, non-participant observation of social procurement initiatives in action and in-depth interviews with senior social procurement champions suggest that existing processes of social value co-creation through supply chain relationships more closely reflect a cooperative than a collaborative model, are largely driven by commercial concerns and influenced by industry norms and institutional imperatives. It is concluded that there are significant differences in experience and opportunity for collaboration based on supply chain position and organizational scale and that these have notable effects on the co-creation of social value and the legitimacy of different social benefit providers in the construction industry.     

The impact of Chinese economic reforms upon the construction industry

The increase in economic activity in China has generated and will continue to generate a heavy demand upon the construction sector. The author studies the impact of the economic reforms upon the construction industry and the consequences of fulfilling an overheating demand. The new types of construction companies and ventures in China are identified and analysed. Both local and international private sector construction companies are needed to tackle the burgeoning demand. L'essor des activites economiques en Chine a suscite et continuera a susciter une forte demande dans le secteur du batiment. L'auteur etudie l'impact des reformes economiques dans le secteur du batiment et les consequences d'une reponse a une demande animee. Les nouveaux types de societe de construction et d'association en participation en Chine sont identifies et analyses. Des societes de construction du secteur prive, tant locales qu'internationales, sont necessaires pour repondre a une demande bourgeonnante.     

A dynamic sustainability Balanced Scorecard methodology as a navigator for exploring the dynamics and complexity of corporate sustainability strategy

The majority of recent empirical research regarding corporate environmental literature seeks to identify the potential relationships between environmental management practices and the financial performance of the firms. In addition, another major part of the research concerns the effect of corporate social responsibility practices on corporate financial performance. The majority of these studies focus on the effect of either social or environmental aspects on firms’ economic performance through various statistical techniques in an ex post and static base (at the end of year – annually). To contribute to this literature, this article aims at developing a dynamic sustainability Balance Scorecard methodology to investigate the evolutionary trends of the relationships among environmental, social, and economic performance of firms. The main contribution is the development of an integrated mental model in order to improve managers’ and scholars’ comprehension of corporate sustainability performance. The proposed methodology is mainly based on the corporate environmental and social management literature, system thinking, system dynamics, and Stella software. Some computational examples are also presented based on three scenarios.     

Impact of social safety investments on social costs of construction accidents

Most contractors' financial losses associated with accidents, but not all, are also social costs. Some social costs are not incurred by contractors, but by society. Social costs of construction accidents have been gathered for years 1999–2001. The safety investments made by both contractors and society are also identified based on data assembled for these three years. These social costs and safety investments were identified from 119 construction projects involving 1414 accidents and from 18 government departments in Hong Kong. The data shows that there was an increasing trend in social safety investments and a decreasing trend in social costs of construction accidents from 1999 to 2001. During this period, for every extra $1 of social safety investments made, a reduction of $2.27 of social costs on construction accidents was achieved in Hong Kong.     

城市建设项目交通影响评价若干问题研究

阐述了交通影响评价是从微观上协调交通和土地利用的有力工具,是目前我国解决城市土地开发与交通系统之间矛盾的最有效途径之一,针对交通影响评价工作较突出的阈值和实施阶段问题进行了分析,并提出了具体的解决方法与建议,从而完善交通影响评价工作。     

建筑企业如何加强对员工的社会责任

针对建筑企业的实际情况,并与SA8000标准及《劳动法》相结合,从加强企业对员工社会责任建设和加强培养员工社会责任意识两方面入手,探讨了如何加强建筑企业的社会责任,指出建筑企业对员工责任的构建对建筑企业的生存、发展具有重要意义。     

The evolution of the Chinese construction industry

The evolution of the governance of China's construction industry is examined. The reasons for uncertainty in governmental management along with its impact on industry performance are considered. Recent changes arising after the 9th National People's Congress, including a series of restructuring of government bodies and changes in responsibilities are discussed. Government intervention is being simplified and reduced, leading to increased stability for the construction industry.     

Shaping the discourse of worker health in the UK construction industry

The UK construction industry is in poor health, statistics show rates of occupational illness significantly higher than for workers in any other industry. Recently, the scope of occupational health management on large sites has increased as public health has become included within the organizational remit. Concerns have been raised around the consequences of this development, its close relationships to Corporate Social Responsibility, and how this is now shaping the wider discourse. To explore this phenomenon, a critical discourse analysis of UK “construction worker health” has been carried out, using the public-facing data of ten large UK contractors. Findings show that “public” has now overtaken “occupational”, the latter restricted to legal compliance presented as corporate citizenship, the former championed as evidence of benevolent organizational values. Yet public health concerns are limited to those of lifestyle and individual responsibility, whilst more complex issues around the social determinants of health as associated with work are missing from the discourse, separating organizations from the impacts of their work on their workers. A contemporary mapping of “construction worker health” is developed for consideration by industry and academics to support future health initiatives and research.     

高速公路基层所站文化建设管理研究

通过对高速公路企业文化现状进行分析,基于提高服务质量角度对高速公路基层所站的企业文化建设进行了探讨,从物质文化、行为文化、制度文化和精神文化等方面提出相应对策,以指导基层所站的文化建设,提高高速公路企业的市场竞争力。     

冲击碾压在路基施工中的应用

以冲击碾压的压实机理为出发点,结合具体工程实例,就冲击碾压技术的施工准备、施工方案作了归纳,并对路基沉降量、压实度、孔隙比及湿陷系数进行了分析,从而提高黄土路基压实质量。     

国际评估对工程管理专业建设与发展的影响探讨

为保障工程管理教育质量水平,与国际接轨,中国实行工程管理专业评估,并与英国皇家特许建造师学会(CIOB)和美国建设教育协会(ACCE)签订了评估结果互认协议。为完善专业教学体系、提升人才培养质量,重庆大学工程管理专业在通过国内评估的基础上,还申请通过了英国皇家特许测量师学会(RICS)的专业评估。文章通过对比分析学校工程管理专业评估前后培养目标和课程设置的变化,探讨国际评估对中国工程管理专业建设与发展的影响。     

The need for technical auditing in the Zambian construction industry

As economic crimes such as fraud, bid-rigging, bribery, collusion, coercion and extortion in the construction industry have increased worldwide, so has the fight against them taken centre stage. To uphold the high ethical standards required in the industry, stakeholders need to introduce and promote proactive strategies such as technical auditing to minimise or prevent unethical practices in the construction industry. This paper outlines the need and benefits of technical auditing in the Zambian construction industry. It presents results of a self-administered questionnaire survey in the construction industry in Zambia. The study established that the pre-contract stage was more susceptible to unethical crimes than the post-contract stage, making the appointment of technical auditors at planning stage more appropriate. The highest ranked benefit of technical auditing was found to be client confidence, followed by enhanced accountability, reduced project costs and disputes in that order of significance. It is hoped that the results of the study may be useful in raising awareness about unethical practices and required prevention strategies, and assist in the development of necessary policies and guidelines for the introduction of mandatory technical auditing on publicly funded construction projects in Zambia and elsewhere.     

The impact of contractors’ attributes on construction project success: A post construction evaluation

The success of construction projects is a fundamental issue for most governments, users and communities. In the literature that deals with construction project success and causes of time and cost overruns in the construction industry, there is some literature that highlights the role of the contractors in project success. While most studies rank contractors’ success attribute from tendering, prequalification, and a long term historical perception perspective, this paper aims to study the impact of contractors’ attributes on project success from a post construction evaluation perspective to identify what critical success factors (CSFs) that greatly impact the success of project. In an attempt to understand and investigate this impact, a questionnaire survey is used to establish construction professionals’ perception of CSFs of contractors that greatly impact on the success of construction projects. Factor analysis reveals nine underlying clusters namely :(i) safety and quality; (ii) past performance; (iii) environment; (iv) management and technical aspects; (v) resource; (vi) organisation; (vii) experience; (viii) size/type of pervious projects; and (ix) finance. Logistic regression techniques were used to develop models that predict the probability of project success. Factors such as turnover history, quality policy, adequacy of labour and plant resources, waste disposal, size of past projects completed, and company image are the most significant factors affecting projects success. Assuming that project success is repeatable, these findings provide clear understanding of contractors’ performance and could potentially enhance existing knowledge of construction project success.     

从业务素质与社会责任到综合创新——建筑教育中无障碍设计意识的调查与培养模式初探

无障碍设计是建筑学专业学生必备的业务素质和社会责任。国际上无障碍设计已发展到通用设计、包容性设计,可概括为广义的无障碍设计。课题组通过调查本科三年级学生无障碍设计意识,分析总结了建筑教育中无障碍设计认知的现状与问题,结合教育创新的时代要求,提出了培养学生广义无障碍意识的理念,即设计课中的潜移默化、专业理论课的开设、作为设计理念的创新点以及寓科研实践与理论教学为一体的教育模式。