Abstracts – Browse Results
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Adams, F K (2004) The management of risks in international infrastructural projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Business Studies, University of Edinburgh.
Ahiaga-Dagbui, D D (2014) Rethinking construction cost overruns: an artificial neural network approach to construction cost estimation, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Al-Remal, A M (2013) Risk-based design of structures for fire, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Alsedairy, F S (2019) Dynamics of mega infrastructure decision-making in Saudi Arabia, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Baker, A J (2019) ‘Suitable and sufficient’? UK regulation of post-construction fire safety, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Social & Political Science, University of Edinburgh.
Baker, H (2021) A multimethod approach to learning from text-based construction failure data, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Bartlett, A I (2018) Auto-extinction of engineered timber, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Campbell, J M (2008) Safety hazard and risk identification and management in infrastructure management, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Dunlop, P G (2005) Investigation, modelling and planning of stochastic concrete placing operations, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Eid, M E M (2004) Rethinking relationships in the construction industry: integrating sustainable development into project management processes, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Edinburgh.
French, T R (2012) Evolutionary optimisation of network flow plans for emergency movement in the built environment, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Furber, A (2013) The social and cultural context of rural water and sanitation projects: case studies from Ghana, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Glendinning, M (1991) 'Give the people homes!': Britain's multi-storey housing drive, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh.
Graham, D (2005) Stochastic modelling and analysis of construction processes, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Hashim, R (2018) Green innovation adoption in the construction sector : the role of absorptive capacity and the effect of environmental requirements, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Business School, University of Edinburgh.
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: absorbtive capacity; green; innovation; interview; questionnaire survey; sustainability;
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/33255/Hashim2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- Abstract:
This study has investigated and attempted to enhance understanding of the role of absorptive capacity in influencing a firm to adopt green innovation. Absorptive capacity which has been argued by previous study as an important factor to facilitate the adoption of innovation, may require some degree of pressure from regulators and customers, to be exerted on particular firms, to influence them to become involved in green innovation. Therefore, this study has also attempted to evaluate the extent of the moderating effect of regulatory and customer requirements on the relationship between a firm’s absorptive capacity and its adoption of green innovation. A research framework was developed and three research questions were posited. An electronic questionnaire survey was created and distributed to general building firms from the construction industry in Scotland. Subsequent semi-structured interviews were conducted with a subset of participants from the survey as well as with a number of construction industry experts, to investigate further the results of the survey. A total of 84 respondents participated in the survey, while 13 respondents contributed invaluable input from the interview sessions. The findings suggest that, on the whole, the level of green innovation adoption by most of the general building firms in Scotland can be considered as relatively low. Their engagement in green-related activities, however, was focusing more on the technical and process side, which was directly influenced by firms; high levels of existing knowledge and efforts to build new knowledge through employee training. The green administrative practices, on the other hand, had not really been given attention by the building firms as it is a voluntary-based act, which does not demonstrate tangible, financial benefit to them. The evidence from the study also shows that neither environmental requirements from regulators nor customers could encourage the building firms to adopt green practices even when they have high levels of absorptive capacity. The low levels of compliance, as well as poor environmental demand from the customers indicate the number one concern within the industry, that is, cost, which hinders the building firms from becoming "greener". Additionally, this study provided insights and further understanding regarding knowledge-based factors that could facilitate the adoption of green innovation. This study has also made a methodological contribution by providing evidence and support for the use of mixed method approach to enhance understanding of the construction industry, which has tended to be the focus of quantitative studies. The findings of this study also have a number of implications, especially for policy-makers, to explore strategy and stringent regulations that could encourage more firms in the construction sector, which are operating in one of the industries that contributes most to environmental problems, to seek to reduce their impact on the natural environment. As the government takes a leadership role in this regard, participation from the other stakeholders within the industry is of importance to prompt a wider adoption of green practices. Here, architects, in particular, are in a potentially useful position to have a very strong influence in encouraging building firms to become involved in green practices. Besides, both individuals within the organisations (e.g. the top management and decision makers) and the society outside the organisations (e.g. customers and users of construction outputs) need to be educated to motivate them to make better environmental choices in order to contribute to environmental protection or sustainability.
Hellowell, M S (2012) Fair return for risk? An examination of structure, competition and profitability in the market for private finance in the National Health Service, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh.
Hsiao, C C (2000) Constructing a sustainable impact assessment methodology : an evaluation of Taiwanese EIA of high-rise building, Unpublished PhD Thesis, College of Art, University of Edinburgh.
Jackson, D J (2020) Addressing the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the construction industry: a multi-perspective approach, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Business School, University of Edinburgh.
Jiménez-Moreno, P (2020) Mass customisation for zero energy housing: the potential of Japanese manufacturing practices in the context of sustainable housebuilding in the United Kingdom, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Kanellopoulos, G (2022) External fire spread from timber lined compartments, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Kim, S (1998) Sustainable building practices: minimising the life-cycle environmental impact of high-rise apartments in Korea, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Edinburgh.
Knebel, V (2006) Preserve and rebuild: the built environment, status transformations and identity construction in eastern Germany after reunification, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Edinburgh.
Koutsomarkos, V (2023) Developing a fire robustness index for the built environment, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Marquardt, G (2017) Economic analysis of contract choice, feelings of entitlement and contract enforcement in relationships governed by incomplete contracts, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
McArthur, J (2023) Enrolment, technical mediation, and the obligatory passage point: a socio-technical examination of the Canada Green Building Council, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
McMeel, D (2009) The artistry of construction: an investigation into construction as a creative process and the influence of mobile phones within domestic scale construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Edinburgh.
Oliver, A K (2020) Perceptions of sustainability and their influence in the design and delivery of Scottish housing, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Oswald, D (2016) Investigating unsafe acts on a large multinational construction project, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Raman, P G (1977) Information and architectural design: A study of certain theoretical aspects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Rodger, R G (1976) Scottish urban housebuilding, 1870-1914, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Ronzani, M (2019) Designing for complexity: Data visualizations in megaproject management, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Saoud, E A B (1996) Expert systems for management training in the construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Sidwell, N C (1957) A critical examination of new constructional techniques and their influence on productivity in the building industry with special reference to housing in south-east Scotland, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Smith, S D (1994) Production estimation of earthmoving operations using a discrete-event simulation model, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Civil Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Yang, S-A (1995) Kics: Representation of regulatory information and the use of case-based reasoning to support the relaxation process, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.