The environmental and economic benefits of green business models (GBMs) are considerable if current barriers can be identified and ways of overcoming them developed. In this study, barriers to GBMs are identified by conducting a qualitative study. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected UK construction sector experts from academia and industry and the results were obtained by applying thematic analysis. Five major categories of barriers emerged: government constraints; financial constraints; sector constraints; company constraints; and lack of demand. To understand the collective impact of these barriers, the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) method was used. The ISM-based model showed that government constraints are driving the rest of the barriers followed by financial and construction sector constraints equally then the by company constraints. Surprisingly, lack of demand appeared to have the least significance in hindering GBM transformation compared to the rest of the barriers. The results present a clear picture of the green construction market relevant to multinational enterprises (MNEs) intending to enter the UK. MNEs are therefore influenced by the government on strategic planning and capability building for GBMs. Effective engagement with the government will generate institutional advantages resulting in legitimacy and trust for MNEs in the UK markets
Globally, higher education institutions (HEIs) have continued to record varied sustainable development (SD) implementation performances. This variance has been attributed to the presence of certain organisational factors. Whereas previous studies have successfully identified the factors influencing SD implementation performance in HEIs, few studies have attempted to explore the relationship between these factors and the influence of such a relationship on the management of SD implementation in HEIs. This is the objective of this study. Understandably, knowledge of such relationships will facilitate the development of appropriate frameworks for managing SD implementation in HEIs. Relying on a case study of a South African University of Technology (SAUoT), this study elicits data through a focus group discussion session. An interpretative structural modelling (ISM) focus group protocol indicating extant pair-wise relationships between identified organisational factor categories was extensively discussed. The emergent data was recorded, transcribed verbatim and subsequently analysed. The findings suggest that communication was critical to the prevalence of other factors, hence indicating its centrality to the effective management of SD implementation in HEIs. These findings will guide implementing agents in HEIs towards developing appropriate mechanisms for communicating SD implementation strategies.
Purpose-Green business models (GBMs) in the construction sector represent the logic of green value creation and capture. Hence, the call to examine GBMs is growing ever louder. The aim is to identify benefits of GBMs by adopting five essential elements of the GBM from the literature: green value proposition (GVP); target group (TG); key activities (KA); key resources (KR); and financial logic (FL). Design/methodology/approach Nineteen semi-structured interviews are conducted with construction sector practitioners and academics in the UK. Thematic analysis is used to obtain benefits of GBMs. Further, the Interpretive Ranking Process (IRP) is used to examine which elements of the GBM have a dominant role in providing benefits to construction businesses. Findings-The benefits are grouped into three themes: credibility/reputation benefits; financial benefits; and long-term viability benefits. The IRP model shows that the element of KR is the most important when evaluated against these three benefit themes. Implications-Linking GBM elements and benefits will help companies in the construction sector to analyse the business case of embracing environmental sustainability. Originality/value-This research is one of the few empirical academic works investigating the benefits of GBMs in the construction sector. The IRP method is a novel contribution to GBMs and construction research.
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