| Author: | Long, Chi Wai |
| Title: | An exploratory study of the critical success factors of electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in the construction industry in Hong Kong |
| Advisors: | Cheng, T. C. Edwin (LMS) Choy, Petrus (LMS) |
| Degree: | D.B.A. |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Subject: | Construction industry -- China -- Hong Kong -- Management Mechanical engineering -- China -- Hong Kong Electrical engineering -- China -- Hong Kong Industrial management Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Business |
| Pages: | xvi, 328 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Being one of the four pillar industries in Hong Kong, the construction industry in Hong Kong has been playing a key and major role in driving the economy and employment of the city's development and growth at all material time. However, due to the complex and dynamic nature of construction market, the industry has experienced different challenges from different perspectives in recent years that severely hinders its productivity and long-term development now and in the near future. Henceforth, the stakeholders in the construction industry should adequately recognize and realize the crucial and important issues, as well as deploy and develop the most appropriate business strategies and tactics in order to explore and formulate feasible solutions to sustain business survival and to cope with the prevailing and future challenges. Apart from the fact that electrical and mechanical engineering works represent one of the major segments in the construction market in Hong Kong, the roles of electrical and mechanical engineering services companies are ever increasingly becoming important and crucial as they are named as the key contributor to the advent of smart city and green building developments initiated by the 2017 Policy Address announced by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In response to the latest development and trend of the construction industry in Hong Kong, this study, therefore, focuses on exploring and identifying the critical success factors of electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in the construction industry in Hong Kong and their organizational performance implications. This study conducted an extensive literature review, together with the most relevant theoretical supports, to identify and develop nine initial constructs of the critical success factors containing 54 corresponding measurement indicators and six initial constructs of organizational performance measures with 36 corresponding measurement indicators pertinent to electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in the construction industry in Hong Kong for further analyses. For the research methodology, this study adopted structured survey questionnaire at organizational level to collect data from the targeted respondent firms drawn from electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in Hong Kong. The survey design of this study referred to the survey questions in the survey instrument adopted from the measurement indicators under respective initial constructs of the critical success factors and organizational performance measures derived from the extensive literature review of previous and extant studies on one hand and in accordance with the real business contexts on the other. A total of 483 survey questionnaires were sent to the targeted respondent firms and 176 valid responses were received. Based on the primary data collected from the respondent firms, this study conducted (1) exploratory factor analysis to define and determine the factors-model of a new set of constructs of critical success factors applicable to electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in the construction industry in Hong Kong and organizational performance measures pertinent to electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in the construction industry in Hong Kong, and (2) multiple regression analysis to examine and predict the relationships between the critical success factors and organizational performance measures pertinent to electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in the construction industry in Hong Kong in order to identify the critical success factors of electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in the construction industry in Hong Kong and their organizational performance implications. Six critical success factors, namely (i) Environmental, Health and Safety Management, (ii) Knowledge Management, (iii) Technology and Innovation, (iv) Leadership and Top Management, (v) Client Relationship Management and (vi) Engineering Operations Management; and five organizational performance measures, namely (i) Corporate Social and Sustainability Performance, (ii) Engineering and Project Personnel Performance, (iii) Financial Performance, (iv) Project Performance and (v) Client Satisfaction Performance, were identified by this study. The six critical success factors are statistically associated with the five organizational performance measures of electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in the construction industry in Hong Kong at different degrees and levels of significance. It was found that Knowledge Management and Engineering Operations Management are the most prominent and crucial critical success factors due to their significant associations with four organizational performance measures. From practical application perspective, two case studies were conducted on two leading electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in Hong Kong, namely Jardine Engineering Corporation and ATAL Engineering Group, to validate and triangulate the statistical findings from quantitative analyses by examining, observing and comparing their business and operational practices that match with the critical success factors as identified by this study and how these critical success factors help them attain superior organizational performances. From the findings of this study, the contributions of this study serve both academic studies and practical applications. From academic perspective, this study enriches the body of theoretical knowledge and academic studies focusing on critical success factors, as well as reveal their relationships with organizational performances of a particular industry and in a specific geographical location. It also arouses future research interests to conduct further studies on exploring other critical success factors and organizational performances of other industries, geographical locations and any causal relationships among them; and possibly considering and incorporating relevant moderating and/or mediating variables to examine the causal relationships. From practical application perspective, this study provides practical insights to the industry practitioners of the construction industry, and especially electrical and mechanical engineering services companies in Hong Kong construction industry, by utilizing their unique and specific critical success factors as the guidelines for the senior management to formulate and nurture their sustainable competitive strategies through effectively and efficiently prioritizing and allocating the resources to yield the desirable organizational performances on one hand and to cope with existing and future challenges to seize the future opportunities and prospects in the construction market. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5460.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.98 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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