Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensionality of the environmental concern scale (NEP) and to understand the environmental worldviews of Malaysian project managers. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey was conducted among developer organisations registere...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Emerald Group Publishing
2016
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53189/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53189/1/Understanding%20the%20environment%20worldviews%20of%20Malaysian%20project%20managers.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848852221514481664 |
|---|---|
| author | Leby Lau, Jasmine Hashim, Ahmad Hariza Abu Samah, Asnarulkhadi Salim Syed Salim, Azizah |
| author_facet | Leby Lau, Jasmine Hashim, Ahmad Hariza Abu Samah, Asnarulkhadi Salim Syed Salim, Azizah |
| author_sort | Leby Lau, Jasmine |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensionality of the environmental concern scale (NEP) and to understand the environmental worldviews of Malaysian project
managers.
Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey was conducted among developer organisations registered with Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia in Klang
Valley. Response was obtained from project managers and the final sample collected was 87 cases,representing a response rate of 24.5 per cent. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted to investigate the underlying structure of the NEP items while frequency distribution
for the data set was used to gauge the environmental worldviews of the respondents. In addition,face-to-face interviews were carried out to gather more information to complements the findings of quantitative analyses.
Findings – Five factors were extracted but due to heavy cross-loadings, two items from the original scale were dropped, reducing it to be a 13-item scale. The four factors retained explained 61.6 per cent of the variance and were duly named Human over nature, ecocrisis, rights of nature and
limits of growth. High scores on both pro-NEP and pro-dominant social paradigm items revealed the co-existence of both ecological and utilitarian view of the environment among project managers.Similar outcome was obtained from interviews with project managers where they indicated efforts in finding compatibility between protecting the environment and exploiting natural resources for development.
Research limitations/implications – The sample was restricted to housing developers in Klang Valley, thus the findings cannot be generalised to all developer organisations or other construction occupational groups.
Practical implications – This research supported the multidimensionality claim of the environmental scale (NEP) where four distinctive dimensions were identified. The usage of
individual subscales in understanding environmental beliefs may reveal interesting patterns in that each dimension could have positive and negative connotations on human behaviours. In addition, the co-existence of both an ecological and a utilitarian view of the environment revealed that these
worldviews align well with sustainable development principles.
Originality/value – This study is one of the few local studies that attempt to understand the environmental worldviews of project managers. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T10:34:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-53189 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T10:34:38Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Emerald Group Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-531892017-10-27T07:45:23Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53189/ Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers Leby Lau, Jasmine Hashim, Ahmad Hariza Abu Samah, Asnarulkhadi Salim Syed Salim, Azizah Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensionality of the environmental concern scale (NEP) and to understand the environmental worldviews of Malaysian project managers. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey was conducted among developer organisations registered with Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia in Klang Valley. Response was obtained from project managers and the final sample collected was 87 cases,representing a response rate of 24.5 per cent. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted to investigate the underlying structure of the NEP items while frequency distribution for the data set was used to gauge the environmental worldviews of the respondents. In addition,face-to-face interviews were carried out to gather more information to complements the findings of quantitative analyses. Findings – Five factors were extracted but due to heavy cross-loadings, two items from the original scale were dropped, reducing it to be a 13-item scale. The four factors retained explained 61.6 per cent of the variance and were duly named Human over nature, ecocrisis, rights of nature and limits of growth. High scores on both pro-NEP and pro-dominant social paradigm items revealed the co-existence of both ecological and utilitarian view of the environment among project managers.Similar outcome was obtained from interviews with project managers where they indicated efforts in finding compatibility between protecting the environment and exploiting natural resources for development. Research limitations/implications – The sample was restricted to housing developers in Klang Valley, thus the findings cannot be generalised to all developer organisations or other construction occupational groups. Practical implications – This research supported the multidimensionality claim of the environmental scale (NEP) where four distinctive dimensions were identified. The usage of individual subscales in understanding environmental beliefs may reveal interesting patterns in that each dimension could have positive and negative connotations on human behaviours. In addition, the co-existence of both an ecological and a utilitarian view of the environment revealed that these worldviews align well with sustainable development principles. Originality/value – This study is one of the few local studies that attempt to understand the environmental worldviews of project managers. Emerald Group Publishing 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53189/1/Understanding%20the%20environment%20worldviews%20of%20Malaysian%20project%20managers.pdf Leby Lau, Jasmine and Hashim, Ahmad Hariza and Abu Samah, Asnarulkhadi and Salim Syed Salim, Azizah (2016) Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 5 (4). pp. 307-324. ISSN 2046-6099 10.1108/SASBE-06-2016-0012 |
| spellingShingle | Leby Lau, Jasmine Hashim, Ahmad Hariza Abu Samah, Asnarulkhadi Salim Syed Salim, Azizah Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers |
| title | Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers |
| title_full | Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers |
| title_fullStr | Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers |
| title_short | Understanding the environment worldviews of Malaysian project managers |
| title_sort | understanding the environment worldviews of malaysian project managers |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53189/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53189/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53189/1/Understanding%20the%20environment%20worldviews%20of%20Malaysian%20project%20managers.pdf |