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In spite of the active role of continuous learning on improving organisational performance, the construction industry generally and architectural design firms (ADFs) in particular are criticised for their inability to use organisational knowledge to foster learning culture towards enhancing their performance. This paper aims to develop a framework based on knowledge management (KM) to enhance the learning culture in ADFs in developing countries.

To achieve the abovementioned aim, a research methodology consisted of data collection, data analysis and action required is designed to achieve four objectives. First, to examine the nature of the construction industry in developing countries, learning culture in ADFs, as well as knowledge and KM; second, to present three case studies to investigate the effectiveness of KM in enhancing the learning culture in ADFs; third, to investigate the perception and application of KM towards enhancing the learning culture in ADFs in Egypt, finally to develop a KM based framework to enhance the learning culture in ADFs in developing countries.

Through literature review, the research highlighted the fragmented nature of the architectural design process, which led to the loss of valuable information and made the process of capturing and sharing knowledge a hard task. In addition, it identified the barriers of implementing KM and the building blocks of learning culture in ADFs. Results of data analysis showed that “lack of organisational culture” and “low involvement of top management” were ranked the highest barriers for implementing KM in ADFs. Moreover, respondents mentioned that they do not share openly their information with other employees to maintain their uniqueness and that the strict working environment of their ADFs is not encouraging creativity or enhancing learning culture. Furthermore, “continuous learning and enhancement” and “experimentation, feedback and reflection” were ranked by respondents as the highest building blocks of a learning organisation.

This research focussed on ADFs in developing countries.

Implementing KM strategies will facilitate the enhancement of learning culture within ADFs in developing countries. This will impact positively on improving the performance and increasing the competitiveness and market share of ADFS.

The research identified the barriers of KM implementation in ADFs and the building blocks of creating a learning organisations. It focusses on improving the performance of ADFs through using the capabilities of KM towards building learning culture in ADFs. The proposed framework which was designed to facilitate the implementation of KM for enhancing the learning culture in ADFs in developing countries represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.

This paper aims to develop a framework based on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a novel approach for marketing architectural design firms (ADFs) in developing countries.

To achieve this aim, a research strategy consists of literature review and survey questionnaire is designed to accomplish four objectives: first, to examine the concepts of marketing and CSR in construction; second, to investigate the perception and application of CSR as a marketing tool for ADFs in developing countries; third, to develop a framework based on CSR as an approach for marketing ADFs in developing countries; and finally, to outline research conclusions and recommendations useful to government, ADFs and future research.

The research highlighted the inefficiency of current marketing strategies in developing countries due to lack of considering community needs, using incomprehensible technical language in communication with clients and misrepresenting the calibers of ADFs. ADFs believe that CSR can play a role in increasing their marketability. This requires governmental involvement and overcoming the barriers of adopting CSR.

This paper proposed a framework based on CSR as a novel approach for marketing ADFs in developing countries. This ideology has received scant attention in construction literature. The proposed framework represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the original body of knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.

This research aims to develop a talent management (TM) based framework to achieve a sustainable quality of work life (QWL) in architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt.

A research methodology consisted of literature review, case studies and a survey questionnaire, was designed to achieve the abovementioned aim. Firstly, the literature review was used to investigate the work environment's demotivating factors in ADFs, TM strategies and process to depict the relationship between developing sustainable QWL and TM and finally explore how TM can assist in achieving Egypt's vision 2030. Secondly, three case studies of ADFs from Denmark, Norway and Singapore were analysed to investigate the role of TM in developing sustainable QWL. Thirdly, a survey questionnaire was carried out with a representative sample of ADFs in Egypt to examine their perception and application of TM towards developing sustainable QWL. Based on the results of the above, the research developed and validated a framework to facilitate the implementation of TM as an approach for developing sustainable QWL in ADFs in Egypt.

Through literature review, the research identified the highest 28 demotivating factors that affect the QWL in ADFs and grouped them into seven categories. In addition, TM strategies for sustainable business are identified and quantified. Results of the case studies confirmed the most common demotivating factors and highlighted the TM strategies adopted to develop sustainable QWL. Findings of data analysis showed that the highest-ranked demotivating factors that encounter ADFs were “poor organizational culture”, “negative leadership behaviour” and “project induced stress”. Furthermore, the TM strategies that have the highest rank were “performance recognition”, “helping employees objectively assess their skills, strengths and weaknesses”, “creating a family-friendly work environment” and “proper reward system”. These findings informed the research findings and helped in the development of the proposed framework.

This research presents a practical framework to facilitate the development of sustainable QWL in ADFs in Egypt. It was based on the findings of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire. The framework explained in a workable way the objectives of the framework functions; required activities; tools and techniques; involved personnel and needed resources and output. The framework was validated by representative sample of ADFs in Egypt to ensure its practicability and viability for implementation. Moreover, strategies to facilitate the framework implementation were suggested.

The research identified, categorised and analysed the architects' demotivating factors and defined the TM strategies and characteristics of sustainable QWL in ADFs. In addition, real life case studies validated the identified factors and investigated the most effective TM strategies in ADFs. The research tackled a topic that received scant attention in construction literature especially in Egypt. In addition, this paper developed and validated a TM based framework to achieve a sustainable QWL in ADFs in Egypt. It represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.

This research aims to develop and validate a framework for eradicating women’s discrimination in architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt and propose strategies for prospective adoption in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to increase the transformational impact of women on the architectural and urban developments of the Gulf region.

A combined qualitative and quantitative research approach was designed to accomplish four objectives. Firstly, to investigate the nature of business in ADFs, women’s discrimination and policies for gender equity (PGE) in architecture. Secondly, to analyse three case studies to validate the identified causes and impacts of women’s discrimination and examine the role of PGE towards eradicating women’s discrimination in ADFs. Thirdly, to conduct a survey questionnaire with a representative sample of ADFs to investigate their perception of women’s discrimination and the correlation between PGE towards eradicating women’s discrimination in ADFs. Based on the above, the research developed and validated a framework to eradicate women’s discrimination in ADFs in Egypt and suggested strategies for potential application in the GCC countries to increase the transformational role of women in the architectural and urban developments of the Gulf region.

Through literature review and case studies, the research identified and validated the causes and impacts of women’s discrimination as well as PGE in Architecture. The findings of data analysis showed that the highest-ranked causes of women discrimination in ADFs were “customs and beliefs” followed by “Underestimating women’s work” and “Recruiting males more than females”. Moreover, the highest-ranked impacts of women’s discrimination were “career shift and leaving the profession” followed by “decrease in creativity and innovation” and “decrease in economic growth”. Furthermore, the Spearman correlation test showed that while some PGE were correlated, others were not. These findings helped in the development of the proposed framework and proposed strategies.

This research presents a practical framework to eliminate women’s discrimination in ADFs in Egypt based on the findings of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire. The framework explained in a workable way the objectives of the framework functions; activities; tools and techniques; involved personnel and needed resources as well as enforcing mechanisms. It was validated by a representative sample of ADFs in Egypt to ensure its practicability and viability and suggested strategies for implementation in the GCC countries to increase women’s role in architectural and urban development.

The research identified and validated the causes and impacts of women’s discrimination as well as PGE in Architecture. Moreover, the research investigated the perception of women’s discrimination and the correlation between PGE through conducting a survey questionnaire with a representative of ADFs in Egypt. The research tackled a topic that received scant attention in construction literature, especially in Egypt and the GCC countries. The research developed and validated a framework to eradicate women’s discrimination in ADFs in Egypt. It represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred. The research suggested several strategies for the prospective implementation of the framework in the GCC countries as an approach to enhancing the transformational role of women in the architectural and urban developments of the Gulf region.

Architecture is classified as one of the creative industries worldwide. However, it is plagued with a number of problems that confine its creativity towards developing innovative solutions that fulfil society needs. One of these pressing problems is the lack of creativity due to the non-utilisation of talented architects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of lean talent management (LTM) as a novel approach to increase creativity in architectural design firms (ADFs).

In order to achieve the above-mentioned aim, a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology is designed to accomplish three objectives. First, reviewing literature to investigate the concepts of creative industries, motivation, demotivation, talent management (TM), talents utilisation (TU), lean thinking (LT) and lean innovation (LI). Second, presenting and analysing five case studies to explore the integration between TM, LT and LI in real-life context to overcome barriers of creativity. Finally, analysing the results of a survey questionnaire conducted with a representative sample of Egyptian ADFs to evaluate their perception and application of TM as a facilitator for creativity.

The five barriers of creativity encompassed lack of motivation in ADFs and demotivation and lack of TU in ADFs and Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. TM facilitated motivation and eliminated six demotivating factors. The seventh factor was eliminated through LT. In AEC industry, TU was achieved through LI with five considerations. In ADFs, TU can be achieved through LTM. However, two additional barriers have been identified for further investigation. Egyptian ADFs failed increasing creativity with TM solely. Hence, a LTM framework is required.

Although the study focussed on architecture as a case for creative industries and targeted Egyptian ADFs, the application of LTM is to be applied at any industry that is talent-based although barriers related to the design process could vary.

This paper presents an innovative approach through discussing the integration of lean concepts into TM towards increasing creativity in ADFs. This ideology has received scant attention in construction literature and is the first of its kind in the architectural field. The proposed ideas represent a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.

This paper aims to develop an innovation management framework for achieving sustainability by managing risks associated with innovative solutions during the design process.

To achieve the abovementioned aim, a research methodology was designed to achieve four objectives. Firstly, a literature review was conducted to investigate the concepts of sustainability, innovation, innovation management and innovation and the design process. Secondly, three case studies were selected and analysed to validate the identified risks of innovation and to investigate the role of innovation management towards managing risks of innovation during the design process. Thirdly, a survey questionnaire was carried out with a representative sample of architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt to examine their perception and application of innovation management as an approach to managing risks of innovative solutions during the design process. Finally, developing an innovation management framework to achieve sustainability through managing risks associated with innovative solutions during the design process.

The literature review revealed that innovation plays a significant role towards achieving sustainability objectives, but integrating innovative solutions during the design process is frequently associated with risks. During the course of this research, 30 risks of innovation were identified and classified into four categories of product, process, person and press. Case studies showed that ADFs that applied innovation management approaches were successful in managing the risks associated with innovative solutions, whereas others that failed to use such approaches failed to meet sustainability objectives. Results of the survey questionnaire revealed that ADFs not only recognised the importance of innovative solutions in developing sustainable projects but also showed a gap between theory and practice. “Project delivery” is the most important type of innovation for ADFs in Egypt, followed by “building technologies” and “organisational culture”. Moreover, there is a misalignment between ADFs’ perceptions and the strategies used to deliver successful innovations. The highest risks of innovation are “unanticipated cost of innovation”, “manufacturing technologies and development issues” and “failing to meet technical criteria”.

Because of the conceptual nature of the developed framework, it has to be tested and validated to ensure its capability to achieve sustainability through managing the risks of innovative solutions during the design process which, in this research, adopted the Royal Institute of British Architects plan of work stages. Moreover, the lack of data availability directed this study to present and analyse only three case studies.

This research presents a practical solution to achieve sustainability through managing risks of innovation during the design process. It is a structured tool that can be used by ADFs in Egypt towards facilitating the shift in the direction of a more economically viable, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable built environment.

Although innovative design solutions are needed in developing sustainable buildings, a practical and systematic framework to manage associated risks during the design process is still lacking. In addition, current studies are business-oriented and need to be reinterpreted to fit with the architectural, engineering and construction disciplines. Thus, this research developed an innovation management framework to achieve sustainability through managing the risks associated with innovative solutions during the design process, which represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not been previously explored.

Despite the active role of continuous learning on improving organizational performance, the construction industry generally and architectural design firms (ADFs) in particular are criticized for their inability to properly use learning to improve their performance. This paper aims to develop a business improvement framework based on post occupancy evaluation (POE) as a learning tool for improving the performance of ADFs.

To achieve the above-mentioned aim, a twofold research strategy, namely, theoretical and practical, is used to achieve four objectives. The theoretical approach is used to conduct thorough literature review to investigate three main topics: building performance, organizational performance and learning organization. The practical approach is used to present and synthesize two relevant field studies to examine the role of POE toward improving the performance of ADFs and evaluate the perception and application of ADFs in Egypt toward improving their performance through POE. Based on the results gleaned from the objectives, the research developed a framework to facilitate the adoption and application of POE as a learning tool for improving the performance of ADFs. Finally, research conclusions and recommendations useful to ADFs and future research are outlined.

The construction industry is a fragmented business that is characterized by low performance compared to other industries. This is because the separation between design, construction and end-users results in missing the opportunity to provide designers with learned lessons, feedback and suggestions for design improvement that ultimately obstructs the performance of ADFs. POE is an effective tool adopted to measure building performance and provide learning environment to improve the performance of new projects and ADFs. The research realized that there is a need to fill the gap in construction literature concerning improving ADFs’ performance through POE and to develop a framework to facilitate the adoption and application of POE as a learning tool for improving the performance of ADFs.

The research focused on improving the performance of ADFs only.

The framework developed by this research establishes organized procedures to enable AFDs to implement POE and use its benefits toward improving their performance.

This paper presents a business improvement framework integrating POE as learning tool for improving the performance of ADFs. This ideology has received scant attention in construction literature. The developed framework represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.

The purpose of this research is to expand a better understanding of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives affect climate for innovation and opportunism within architectural design firms (ADFs).

The literature review and discussions with industry practitioners identified an initial list of variables. A questionnaire survey was developed, validated and delivered to employees working in ADFs. 226 valid responses were collected. Then, the structural equation modeling (SEM) method was employed to empirically investigate the relationships between CSR performance, climate for innovation and opportunism in a single integrative model.

The results empirically support that CSR performance has a positive effect on climate for innovation and a negative effect on opportunism. In addition, climate for innovation shows a negative effect on opportunism.

This research highlights that CSR performance is essential for ADFs to better achieve sustainable development. By doing CSR activities, climate for innovation in ADFs is expected to be improved, and a sense of opportunism is mitigated. The findings of this paper are explicitly delivered in the context of Vietnamese ADFs and could not be straightforwardly generalized or translated to the construction industry or other sectors in different research contexts.

The findings show that a climate for innovation is crucial in ADFs. Business managers are encouraged to employ CSR initiatives to foster an innovation climate and reduce a sense of opportunism within ADFs.

This study is one of the first attempts to investigate the relationships between CSR performance, climate for innovation, and opportunism within ADFs. While the findings highlight the critical role of CSR performance, the study argues that CSR should be carefully implemented because there are no “one-size-fits-all” CSR strategies for different business contexts.

This paper aims to investigate the role of lean talent management (LTM) as a novel approach for optimising creativity in architectural design firms (ADFs) towards achieving divergent heritage sustainability (DHS).

To achieve the abovementioned aim, a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology is designed to accomplish three objectives. First, investigating the relationship between heritage and urban development; types of heritage and the role of LTM in enhancing creativity in ADFs. Second, presenting and analysing six heritage-related case studies to assess the need for creative solutions based on extent of deterioration in three different places in Egypt. Third, outlining the results of a survey questionnaire conducted with a representative sample of ADFs in Egypt to investigate the role of LTM towards optimising creativity in ADFs for achieving DHS.

The extent of deterioration increased for modern heritage than old heritage. Conventional approaches adopted by ADFs failed to develop built environments that can bridge the gap between the diverse identities. Creativity was not optimised when talent management (TM) was integrated solely and architects failed to develop appropriate solutions. LTM use architects to allow expression of arts towards heritage sustainability through the built environment, in which they feel associated with physical heritage. Consequently, individuals’ intangible heritage is preserved in which they will less deteriorate the physical heritage. Hence, LTM is a paradigm shift that has a great potential for DHS.

The survey questionnaire and case studies focused on the Egyptian context because the region is in critical need for effective creative solutions and for such research that is unprecedented in investigating this gap. However, findings are absolute and could be used at any country sharing the Egyptian context and wishing to achieve a DHS approach.

The research work presented in this paper is novel in approach as it integrates two divergent fields and highlights the concept of DHS with its threefold approach. In addition, the concept of LTM is proposed as a novel paradigm shift in which it has received scant attention especially relating to heritage sustainability. The proposed ideas represent a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds to the existing body of knowledge for future research in LTM and DHS.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to facilitate early supplier involvement (ESI) as an approach for reducing construction waste (CW) generated during the design process.

A research methodology consists of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire was designed to achieve the abovementioned aim. First, the literature review was used to investigate CW, CW generated during the design process, the design process and ESI. Second, two construction projects were analysed to investigate the role of ESI towards reducing CW generated during the design waste. Third, a survey questionnaire was carried out with a representative sample of architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt to examine their perception and application of ESI towards reducing CW generated during the design process. Based on the results of the above, the research developed a framework to facilitate ESI during the design process to reduce CW.

Through literature review, the research highlighted the causes of CW generated during the design process and identified the benefits and challenges that encounter ESI in ADFs. Results of data analysis showed that “last-minute changes due to client requirements” was ranked the highest challenges of ESI in ADFs in Egypt followed by “lack of design experience”. Moreover, “providing technical information about materials and equipment and their capabilities” was ranked by respondents as the highest contributions of suppliers during the design process which leads to waste reduction followed by “better estimation of materials and costs”. Finally, respondents stated that “resistance of ADFs to include suppliers in the design phase” was ranked the highest challenge of ESI in the design process followed by “no clear guidelines or policies that organise ESI”.

Because of the conceptual nature of the proposed framework, it has to be tested and validated to ensure its capability to overcome the challenges of ESI as an approach for reducing CW generated during the design process.

This research presents a practical solution to the problem of CW generated during the design process through ESI.

The research discussed the causes of CW originated from the design process and the benefits and challenges of ESI in ADFs. It investigated the perception and application of ESI in ADFs in Egypt. The proposed framework which was designed to facilitate the integration of suppliers in the early stages of the project life cycle represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.