Title: Sustainable strategies in a declining housing market: a comparative study

Authors: Zahra Ahmadi; Hans Lind

Addresses: Department of Business & Economic Studies, Faculty of Education and Economics, University of Gävle, Kungsbäcksvägen 47, 80176 Gävle, Sweden ' School of Architecture and the Built Environment, KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: The purpose of this study is first to examine and compare sustainable strategies within public and private housing companies in declining markets in central Sweden. Then, the study evaluates the impact of new legislation that requires public housing companies to act in a 'businesslike' way, in the same way as a long-term private company. A quantitative study was conducted based on a survey sent to 72 housing companies. The results show that public housing companies are more strategy oriented than private housing companies. The results can be viewed as an on-going interaction process, where a company's strategies affect its profit. The study aims to increase the understanding of activities within housing companies in a declining market that engage the companies in sustainable strategies to improve their market knowledge and profit.

Keywords: sustainable strategy; declining market; construction; renovation; demolition; social corporate responsibility.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMP.2018.095169

International Journal of Management Practice, 2018 Vol.11 No.4, pp.400 - 421

Received: 21 Apr 2017
Accepted: 22 Mar 2018

Published online: 01 Oct 2018 *

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