Loading...
A Decision Support Tool for Enhancing Social Sustainability within the UAE Construction Sector
Saboor, Sara
Saboor, Sara
Files
Description
A Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation in Engineering Systems Management by Sara Saboor entitled, “A Decision Support Tool for Enhancing Social Sustainability within the UAE Construction Sector”, submitted in May 2022. Dissertation advisor is Dr. Vian Ahmed. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).
Abstract
The construction sector is considered to be one of the most significant sectors globally as it aids in creating jobs across different sectors such as transportation, real estate, manufacturing, trade, warehousing, wholesale, and leasing services. In addition, it alone employs about one-quarter of the world’s workforce. However, despite the importance and prominence of the sector, grave issues of mental health and social sustainability have been reported. Although the literature reports on several studies and reliable scales over the years that have linked the concept of employee mental health and wellbeing with job satisfaction, productivity, absenteeism, and low turnover rates, however, they tend to work in isolation and focus only on certain aspects of mental health. Moreover, little or no research has been conducted to support an organization in decision-making to facilitate enhancing the social sustainability and mental health of employees in the construction sector, thus indicating a research gap. Therefore, this study adopts a mixed-method approach by adopting semi-structured interviews, surveys, and case studies to identify and validate the list of underpinning criteria that define employees’ social sustainability. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is adopted that aids the study in determining the significant criteria that have an impact on employees’ social sustainability. Moreover, the decision criteria identified from the literature and structural equation modeling are integrated to develop the Decision Support Tool (DST) based on Hybrid Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Multi-Objective Optimization based on Ratio Analysis (F - MOORA) method. The DST presents the optimal solution to the organization to ensure the social sustainability of employees. The present study has proposed a conceptual framework for monitoring social sustainability as a complementary approach to address the non-dynamic nature of DST based on Blockchain and IoT Social Sustainability Management (BOTSSM). Finally, to validate the DST and BOTSSM framework, the study conducted a focus group with experts from the construction sector and WakeCap Technologies as experts in IoT and Blockchain.