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The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented huge losses for construction companies in terms of capital, labor, and project construction, highlighting a significant lack of organizational resilience (OR) within the construction industry. How to improve the OR of construction companies has become the key to resolve the crisis. However, there is a lack of systematic insights into the structure and dimensions of OR, as well as a gap in empirical evidence to explain how construction firms systematically construct OR. Therefore, this paper systematically identifies 19 resilience topics and their language descriptions by mining the resilience-related information in 1572 annual reports and expert interview data of listed companies in the Chinese construction industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a combination of the topic model and language model. Following the basic concept of OR, a framework of OR dimensions in the construction firms that integrates actions, resources, and capabilities is developed to uncover the complex resilience characteristics of construction firms. The results show that OR sought by listed companies in the construction industry consists of resilient actions, resilience resources, and resilience capabilities. Resilient actions stem from motivating, restraining, protecting, and exploring actions. The resilience resources include the resource reserves of organization, technology, and knowledge, while the resilience capabilities are dynamic capabilities that integrate prevention, response, adaptation, monitoring, perception, and recovery. The findings not only deconstruct the OR framework for construction companies to cope with crises, but also provide new paths for construction managers to cultivate the OR of companies in practice. • The organizational resilience of construction firms is systematically deconstructed. • Text mining was applied to explore resilience information of listed construction firms. • The language model is embedded in the topic model to identify resilient topics. • Primary dimensions are resilient actions, resilient resources, and resilient capabilities. • Organizational resilience of construction firms is composed of 18 sub-dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Construction management scholars, institutional investors, and construction practitioners are strongly emphasizing firms' needs to respond adequately to the harmful effects of construction on human societies and the environment. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the environmental dimension of the triple bottom line of sustainability within the construction industry by considering regulatory framework and a set of organizational capabilities (organizational culture, flexible design, quality orientation, product diversity, and customer loyalty) that have been highlighted to aid firms' achievement of ecological sustainability. Using survey data of Malaysian large construction firms, structural equation modelling was used to confirm the mediating role of organizational capabilities in the regulatory framework and ecological sustainability relationship. The findings of this study established how proactive firm core competencies can strengthen construction businesses in developing nations to discover new avenues of performing environmentally sound construction businesses. It also demonstrated how a favourable regulation targeted at the unique configuration of large construction firms in Malaysian context could contribute to their environmental sustainability performance. The limitations and future research directions are also discussed. Highlights • Regulations explain why some firms perform better in their strategic capabilities. • Firms can address sustainability and be competitive using their unique capabilities. • Firm capabilities is crucial to improve environmental sustainability in large firms. • Mediating role of capabilities in regulations/sustainability relationship is key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Construction is high-hazard industry, and continually ranks among those with the highest workers' compensation (WC) claim rates in Washington State (WA). However, not all construction firms are at equal risk. We tested the ability to identify those construction firms most at risk for future claims using only administrative WC and unemployment insurance data. Methods: We collected information on construction firms with 10–50 average full time equivalent (FTE) employees from the WA unemployment insurance and WC data systems (n = 1228). Negative binomial regression was used to test the ability of firm characteristics measured during 2011–2013 to predict time-loss claim rates in the following year, 2014. Results: Claim rates in 2014 varied by construction industry groups, ranging from 0.7 (Land Subdivision) to 4.6 (Foundation, Structure, and Building Construction) claims per 100 FTE. Construction firms with higher average WC premium rates, a history of WC claims, increasing number of quarterly FTE, and lower average wage rates during 2011–2013 were predicted to have higher WC claim rates in 2014. Conclusions: We demonstrate the ability to leverage administrative data to identify construction firms predicted to have future WC claims. This study should be repeated to determine if these results are applicable to other high-hazard industries. Practical Applications: This study identified characteristics that may be used to further refine targeted outreach and prevention to construction firms at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction industries have significant impacts on the economy, society and environment. To transform construction industry towards sustainability, construction enterprises' perceptions and performance on sustainability needs to be understood and evaluated, which has not be fully explored by existing studies. This paper holistically examines the Chinese construction enterprises’ attitude towards and performance on various aspects of sustainability (e.g. the economic, social and environmental aspects) in order to identify those aspects the firms perceive to be the most and least important and those aspects the firms perform best and worst on. The associations among the sustainability attitude, sustainability performance, and firm size are also explored. The findings show that quality management and customer service are perceived as the most important as well as the best-performed aspects by the firms while supporting community development is the least important and worst-performed aspect. Sustainability attitude is positively correlated with performance, and larger firms tend to have better sustainability performance than that of small ones. However, larger construction firms do not necessarily perceive sustainability more important. This study provides a useful reference for policy makers and researchers to understand how sustainability is perceived and implemented by the Chinese construction firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction activities produce an enormous quantity of waste and consume massive amounts of energy. These activities have considerable environmental effects and have resulted in mounting demand to implement environmental practices (EP) at all levels in the construction industry. The present study investigates the determinants of EP implementation in construction projects and the impacts of such practices on the environmental and economic performance of construction firms. Data were gathered from a survey of 210 firms that were part of project teams in the Malaysian construction industry, and these data were analysed using the partial least squares technique. The results indicate that organizational support, customer pressure, and regulatory pressure have a positive impact on implementing EP in construction projects and that implementing EP has a positive effect on the environmental and economic performance of construction firms. The research results provide valuable information for understanding the determinants and outcomes of EP and are particularly critical for improved assessments of the effectiveness of EP investments to reduce the negative environmental impacts of construction activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contributions of the construction industry to the Greenhouse gas emissions due to non-renewable resource consumption have been generating discussions among stakeholders lately. Although the industry has been supporting lives both in urban spaces as well as in the suburban regions, the construction firms’ resource consumption is detrimental to a sustained human environment. This paper empirically explores the organisational innovativeness factors and market orientation culture that could influence environmental sustainability adoption by Malaysian large construction firms. Both mail and personally-administered close-ended structured copies of questionnaire survey were employed to collect data from these construction firms. Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to analyse 172 responses. The results indicated that market orientation and firm process innovativeness are capable of influencing the construction firms’ environmental sustainability adoption. This implies that this study’s model is a robust tool to predict the adoption of environmental sustainability by the construction companies. Although the findings of this study can be used to develop strategies to increase the rate of environmental sustainability adoption among the construction companies, it did not consider other relevant factors that could possibly and significantly explain the variance in environmental sustainability. Implications for research and practice and future recommendations were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing demand by construction stakeholders for ecologically viable construction is pushing the construction firms to adopt social sustainability practices while executing construction projects. While there are several studies establishing how external factors and organizational innovativeness have been influencing social sustainability performance of construction firms, social sustainability performance of Malaysian construction firms is still relatively low. This study therefore proposed that market orientation culture is a significant mediator through which government support can favourably influence firm's social sustainability performance. Empirical support for the argument was derived from the data collected from 172 large construction firms in the Malaysian construction industry. The results suggest that construction firms require managerial initiatives to comply with government regulations and leverage it to facilitate market orientation cultures so as to improve their social sustainability performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regardless of the increased number of studies on risk management (RM) in various firms, limited studies have strived to reveal the components driving and obstructing Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) implementation in construction firms. These firms are constantly exposed to business risks, thus requiring an integrated, focused RM approach to managing risks on an enterprise basis defined as ERM. Hence, this study aims to investigate the drivers for and obstacles to ERM implementation in construction firms. The work methodology included a literature search relating to ERM. The review spanned a decade and lustrum between January 2000 and December 2015 and was based on a combination keyword search in three databases namely; Science Direct, Taylor and Francis Online, and Emerald. Fifteen drivers and thirty-four obstacles were identified. The study revealed that proper ERM requires the board and senior management to ensure that all potential threats to ERM are taken into account. They should also check the efficiency of the measures adopted at the enterprise level, document on the outcomes and review the assessment regularly to keep it updated. Construction firms can use the drivers and obstacles revealed in this treatise to prepare their customized list of drivers and obstacles. This study contributes to global knowledge relating to ERM and allows management to overcome the challenges posed by the significant obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion that the construction industry can contribute to environmental sustainability has increased the demand for environmental sustainability in the sector. Research has shown that environmental quality is associated with human behaviour. Therefore, minimising waste generation and energy consumption in construction projects is important. This study investigates the influence of the environmental practice of construction firms on practitioners' environmental behaviour during project implementation. Data for the study are obtained from a sample of 375 architectural, engineering, and contracting firms in Malaysia. The partial least squares technique is used for data analysis. The results indicate that firms' energy efficiency and waste management practices have a positive effect on the environmental behaviour of practitioners during project implementation. The results imply that when construction firms are engaged in energy efficiency or waste management activities, an increase in environmental behaviour will occur in the projects in which these practitioners are involved. This study is one of first attempts to investigate the relationship between the environmental practices of construction firms and the environmental behaviour of professionals during project implementation within the construction industry. The findings are useful for construction practitioners in terms of exerting environmental behaviour in project implementation, which is essential for facilitating environmental sustainability in the construction sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims at studying the empirical evidence of the impacts of human resource management (HRM) on knowledge management (KM) and on non-financial OP of infrastructure construction firms in Thailand. We used structural equation modeling (SEM), a hybrid of factor analysis and path analysis, to investigate the relationship among these three construct. Once a conceptual model was developed, we then employed confirmatory factor analysis to verify the factor structure of a set of observed variables. Then, SEM was used to test the three proposed hypotheses. Results supported the theorized model, indicating that a positive and direct relationship exists between HRM and KM; between knowledge and non-financial OP; and between HRM and non-financial OP in Thai infrastructure construction firms. Additionally, KM was found to be a mediator between HRM and non-financial OP. This study provides additional empirical evidence of the importance of improving non-financial OP through people and their valuable knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Drawing upon the integrated stakeholder theory and the contingency resource-based view of firms, a CSR resource collaboration network of construction firms was developed; • The key CSR practices and the perceived benefits of CSR are identified based on the results of the centrality analysis; • The CSR practice-perceived benefit network presents a core-periphery structure, with 26 practices and five perceived benefits situate in the core positions and have intensive relationships. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been touted as an important agenda among construction practitioners. Hitherto, the nexus between CSR and organizational performance is still a lack of investigation in the CSR in construction knowledge. This study explores the capabilities of various CSR practices toward achieving productive business benefits among construction firms. Firstly, a two-stage variable formulation procedure results in a list of practices and the perceived benefits of CSR. Then, we collected data from ninety extra-grade construction firms through an online questionnaire survey and analyzed data using a two-mode social network analysis approach. The results of the centrality analysis show that, with the highest centrality scores in the network, (i) the most influential CSR practices include such as "implement safety production management system" and "constrain consumption of materials and reduce material waste"; and (ii) the top key perceived benefits of CSR include such as "local and overseas business opportunities," "brand, image, and reputation," and "reduction of supply risk of building materials." The developed CSR practice-perceived benefit network presents a core-periphery structure, with 26 practices and five perceived benefits situate in the core positions and have intensive relationships. Drawing upon the integrated stakeholder theory and the contingency resource-based view of firms, the demystified novel CSR resource collaboration network enriches the theoretical discourses of CSR by recognizing stakeholder salience and the need for relationship management. Practically, the findings of this study provide a helpful reference for practitioners to collaborate corporate resources, optimize their current CSR strategies, and improve business performance for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper emphasizes on supporting international entry decisions for construction firms in a three-phase analysis process. Phase I identified significant factors as two categories, namely country and project factor levels. Phase II stuck on identifying a risk of a country market for construction firms with fuzzy preference relations (FPR) and country factors. Of which, FPR helped elicit factor relative weights. Phase III devoted to figuring out which project or projects had the best prospects of success and profitability for assisting decisions of decision makers. Within phase III, project factors were used for project prospects, FPR for project success probability, and cumulative prospect theory (CPT) for decision maker prospects. This paper integrates FPR and CPT to select country markets and identify project prospects for decision makers of construction firms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Large amounts of information are being accumulated nowadays due to the use of information systems in construction firms. Among them, the reusable legacy information can be referred to as ‘information resources’ and two approaches have been adopted to utilize them, i.e. to utilize them by using general-purpose software such as Microsoft Office, or by using specialized software such as BI (Business Intelligence) software. Identifying and representing the information resources is the essential step in both approaches. This research identified decision activities and information resource items through literature reviews and two expert workshops: an evaluation workshop and a verification workshop. The reusability of information resource items was evaluated in the evaluation workshop and validated in the verification workshop. A way to represent information resources by using IFC was formulated and an extension of IFC was developed and validated based on the analysis of information resources. This research will benefit construction firms in utilizing the information resources more effectively and efficiently to support decision-making in their project and enterprise management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Construction firms all over the world are increasingly seeking to obtain ISO 14001. The rapid growth in the number of ISO 14001 applications in Turkey and the share from the construction sector in this number, as a leading sector, is rather striking. This paper, using a structured questionnaire survey, investigates whether there is any dependence or relation between construction firms characteristics and having ISO 14001 certification and any difference in the perceptions related to ISO 14001 by considering both firm characteristics and two different groups as certified and non-certified firms. Additionally, it examines the perceived benefits of having ISO 14001 for certified construction firms. According to the results of analysis, although there is not any difference in perceptions on ISO 14001 certification in terms of firm characteristics and being as certified and non-certified and their both positive opinions about ISO 14001 certification. There is a relation between firms characteristics and having ISO 14001 certification. ISO 14001 certification contributes to construction firms not only in terms of environmental benefits but also with corporate management and marketing effects, thus verifying that the ISO 14001 has a positive impact on the Turkish construction sector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]