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Due to land resource scarcity, sustainable urban development in high-density cities has long been challenging. As such, many cities are formulating plans to “dig deep”, resulting in more citizens working and/or staying underground for longer periods of time. However, owing to the particularities of underground space, the factors involved in the creation of a healthy environment are different from those involved in aboveground developments. This study thus aims to investigate the influences of various underground environment factors on users' health through a holistic approach.

To achieve this aim, 12 underground sites and 12 corresponding aboveground sites are selected for a large-scale questionnaire survey, resulting in 651 survey samples. The survey covers post-occupancy evaluation of health (physical and psychosocial), underground environmental quality (visual, thermal, acoustic comfort, indoor air quality and ventilation), space design and greenery. Independent-sample T-test, Pearson correlation, multiple regression modelling and structural equation modelling are used to investigate whether significant differences exist between health of underground and aboveground users, and to develop an underground environment-health model for unveiling the significant associations between underground environment factors and users' health. To cross validate the results, an objective field measurement study is further conducted on six underground sites. The objective measurement results are used to cross validate the survey results.

The questionnaire results provide the following evidence: (1) health of underground users is significantly poorer than that of their aboveground counterparts; (2) underground development users' health is significantly affected by space design, greenery and environmental quality in terms of thermal comfort, indoor air quality, ventilation and acoustic comfort but not visual comfort; and (3) amongst the various identified factors, space design has the strongest predicting effects on human health. The field study echoes the survey findings and further unveils the relationships between different environmental factors and human health.

The results shed light on the importance of distinguishing between underground developments and aboveground ones in various guidelines and standards, especially those related to space management.

Coping behaviors are a popular area of research in relation to construction professionals, who are often compelled to face a great deal of stress while striving for good performance in a dynamic and demanding industry. The effectiveness of various coping behaviors on stress and performance of construction professionals have long been identified. However, factors associating with individual adoption of various coping behaviors are still uncertain. People from different cultural environments have different values and hence different preferences for coping strategies, which have different effects on construction professionals. Hence, the papers’ primary contribution to the overall body of knowledge is the establishment of statistical evidence that desired cultural values of construction professionals can influence their adoption of coping behaviors. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A questionnaire survey was designed and conducted to investigate the relationships between cultural values and coping behaviors of construction professionals in Hong Kong (HK). Surveys were distributed to 500 HK construction professionals by fax, e-mail, or personal contact. Of these, 139 were returned, giving a response rate of 28.0 percent. Based on the data collected, a series of systematic statistical analyses, including factor analyses, regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM), were conducted using SPSS 15.0 and Lisrel 8.5.

Based on the results of factor analyses and regression analysis, a SEM was developed which reveals the following: first, interpersonal integration triggers planful problem solving; second, a disciplined work ethos triggers positive reappraisal and alleviates emotional discharge; and third, interpersonal integration triggers a disciplined work ethos. A series of personal-, interpersonal-, task-, and organizational-level recommendations are given on how to encourage construction stakeholders to adopt adaptive coping behaviors through cultivating their cultural values.

The current study adopted a series of systematic analysis approaches to provide empirical support of how Chinese values of construction professionals predict their adoption of various coping behaviors in the dynamic and stressful industry. Since different coping behaviors have different impact on performance of construction professionals, the findings provide indications for future studies on enhancing performance through the cultivation of various cultural values and the coping behaviors they thereby adopt.

This paper aims to report findings from the first year of the Vanguard Laundry evaluation study, which explores the impacts of a work integration social enterprise (WISE) on health.

Drawing on social determinants of health (SDH) conceptual framework, a mixed-methods longitudinal case study is used to evaluate the health impacts of a WISE employing people with lived experience of mental illness. In stage one of this study, 31 participants including staff and managers completed semi-structured interviews, validated health and well-being measures and a questionnaire based on the organisation’s theory of change. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, and qualitative data are analysed thematically.

Data provided further evidence of the conceptualised WISE pathways for impact on SDH through employment, social integration, increased income, improved social position and living conditions. While social enterprise (SE) beneficiary staff had lower well-being scores than other staff members and management, the majority reported improved health, increased social supports and enhanced well-being through improved material conditions and increased sense of purpose, confidence and social connection.

Stage one of this study relied on self-reported data. Future stages will incorporate income support and health data extracted from government agencies with participant consent.

This paper responds to calls for longitudinal studies that include a range of participants and use health outcome measures to further explore how a WISE impacts health through acting on SDH.

Despite the strong focus on virtues in firms, humility is little recognized in the management literature and, more particularly in the literature about knowledge sharing (KS). Despite efforts to foster KS among employees in firms, the effectiveness of this process narrows down to the dyadic relationship between the knowledge seeker and provider within firm. This paper aims to investigate the role of humility in the KS process in dyadic activity.

The authors undertake an exploratory investigation to fill some of the gaps found in the literature. The paper draws insights from psychology, history, religion, current events and management literature.

The authors identify several individual propensities that help predict humility towards sharing knowledge from seeker (humble knowledge-inquiry) and provider perspectives (humble response). They propose a new conceptual process model of KS with humility as an important variable to consider. This work highlights several promising directions for future research.

As per the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the role of humility in knowledge sharing from dyadic perspective. The authors also introduce concepts of humble knowledge inquiry and humble response in a dyadic context for effective knowledge sharing process.

Green building (GB) has been actively promoted in many countries, but it has not become the mainstream in Chinese construction industry due to various reasons. This paper aims to investigate the major driving factors for the development of GB with reference of the Chinese construction market. Twenty-one factors influencing the development of GB were identified through a literature review, questionnaire survey, and face-to-face interview with professionals in the construction industry. Structural equation model was established to identify the critical driving path and three critical factors hierarchies. The result of model analysis also verifies the theoretical hypotheses that government body is the biggest motivation for the development of GB, and the path coefficient is high. The results demonstrate the necessity for the formulation of incentive policies and power of GB propaganda. We identify distinct government and market effects and then induce a government-led GB development path. These findings provide a valuable reference for government body aiming at promoting GB in the construction industry to put forward relevant policies and incentives and for the market body to understand the major driving factors and path when making decisions.

Construction is a competitive, ever‐changing, and challenging industry. Therefore, it is not surprising that the majority of construction professionals suffer from stress, especially construction project managers (C‐PMs), who are often driven by the time pressures, uncertainties, crisis‐ridden environment, and dynamic social structures that are intrinsic to every construction project. Extensive literature has indicated that stress can be categorized into: job stress, burnout, and physiological stress. This study aims to investigate the impact of stress on the performance of C‐PMs.

To investigate the relationships between stress and performance among C‐PMs, a questionnaire was designed based on the extensive literature, and was sent to 500 C‐PMs who had amassed at least five years' direct working experience in the construction industry. A total of 108 completed questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 21.6 percent. Based on the data collected, an integrated structural equation model of the stresses and performances of C‐PMs was developed using Lisrel 8.0.

The results of structural equation modelling reveal the following: job stress is the antecedent of burnout, while burnout can further predict physiological stress for C‐PMs; job stress is negatively related only to their task performance; both burnout and physiological stress are negatively related to their organizational performance; and task performance leads positively to their interpersonal performance. Recommendations are given based on the findings to enhance their stress and performance levels.

This study provides a comprehensive investigation into the impact of various types of stress on the performances of C‐PMs. The result constitutes a significant step towards the stress management of C‐PMs in the dynamic and stressful construction industry.

Green building is a megatrend in corporate real estate management. This paper aims to document the prevalence of green building reporting in public firms, assess how well firms apply good practices of green building and show which firms, countries and industry sectors are particularly advanced in the application of green building technologies.

The study uses data on green building reporting, green building scores and firm characteristics of 1,281 publicly traded firms from different industries in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries over a 5-year period. Regression analysis is used to relate the adoption of green building reporting and excellence in green building to firm characteristics.

The results indicate that there is a huge variation in green building activities and reporting in corporate real estate management across countries and industries. The study finds that firms in the financial and health-care sectors are leading in green building reporting. Environmental, social and corporate governance-oriented, profitable and large firms receive the highest green building scores.

The results in this paper rely on the reported but not inevitably monitored green building activities. There may also be companies that use green building technologies but do not report on them. The conclusions are largely based on correlations and do not allow for causal statements (endogenous variables).

The results in this paper are crucial for practitioners in corporate real estate to benchmark their green building activities and reporting. Additionally, the paper sheds light on how information on green building is propagated in the financial market.

The paper looks at the drivers and barriers of green building for 25 countries and across all industry sectors (1,281 firms). In contrast to that most of the existing literature focuses on single countries and limits the analysis to companies in the real estate and construction industry. Additionally, the paper has a joint focus on publicly available green building reporting and green building scores.

Previous studies have looked at how socio‐economic and political factors play a role in consumers' ethical positions, but few have considered the role of religion which is a major driver of ethics. This paper seeks to address this.

From a survey of over 700 consumers this paper explores the similarities and differences between consumers' ethical positions in three different religions namely; Christian (from three countries), Islam, and Buddhism.

It was found that a reduced item scale measuring the two factors of Forsyth's idealism and relativism was applicable in all five religions, but variations were seen because of religious teachings. In particular, Austrian Christians were significantly less idealistic and relativistic than all other religions, even other Christians from the United States and Britain.

The results have implications for measuring ethical positions internationally and for developing ethically based marketing messages and products.

The paper shows for the first time how ethical positions are affected by religions and should be of interest to marketers involved in ethics research and ethical marketing.

Given the aging population and resulting increase in the demand for residential care and attention (C & A) homes in Hong Kong, the government has allotted funds to provide better care services for the elderly. However, such appropriation seems to have focused on creating additional places, rather than improving the quality of services. The elderly may face risks if they are not provided with proper facilities to assist with activities of daily living (ADL), while those suffering from various diseases may be at even greater risk. In order to mitigate such risk and hence enhance the quality of facility management (FM), this paper aims to identify the major components of FM in C & A homes and investigate the relationships between these components and the risks and diseases facing elderly residents.

In total, 81 questionnaires were completed by elderly residents of C & A homes, evaluating their perceived comfort level with FM components, their disease status and the frequency of occurrence of various specified risks. Relationships between these variables were then established by Pearson correlation and partial correlation analyses.

In total, 13 FM components were identified, of which only four (space planning, noise, signage and catering) had significant relationships with the identified risks. Some of these relationships were moderated by specific diseases.

The relatively small sample size, with 81 respondents from seven homes, may limit the generalisability of the results. However, the study establishes a platform for conducting further large-scale surveys of elderly residents in different types of C & A homes. On the other hand, further investigation of the specific FM requirements of elderly residents suffering from various diseases is also encouraged.

This paper confirms that close relationships exist between various FM components, risks and diseases relevant to elderly residents in C & A homes. The results indicate that the FM components of space planning, noise, signage and catering should be addressed in order to reduce the risks such residents face.