An ISM Approach for the Barrier Analysis in Implementing Green Campus Operations: Towards Higher Education Sustainability

Hamed Gholami, Mohamad Faizal Bachok, Muhamad Zameri Mat Saman, Dalia Streimikiene, Safian Sharif and Norhayati Zakuan
Additional contact information
Hamed Gholami: Department of Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor 81310, Malaysia
Mohamad Faizal Bachok: Department of Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor 81310, Malaysia
Muhamad Zameri Mat Saman: Department of Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor 81310, Malaysia
Dalia Streimikiene: Institute of Sport Science and Innovations, Lithuanian Sports University, Sporto str. 6, 44221 Kaunas, Lithuania
Safian Sharif: Department of Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor 81310, Malaysia
Norhayati Zakuan: Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor 81310, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Although various initiatives have been undertaken by the universities worldwide to ensure that their campus operates sustainably, there are emergent barriers that pose serious challenges to the practitioners and subsequently hinder the successful implementation. The research for this paper was built upon the discussion concerning ‘campus operations’, which is one of the dominant sustainability elements in the university systems. It analyzes the barriers for green campus operations implementation through a methodological approach, which was implemented in two tiers. For identification of the barriers, a comprehensive review of the literature was performed and consulted with academic experts who have been involved in greening campus operations in the university. Next, interpretive structural modeling was used to analyze and develop a model of interactions, mutual influence, and relationship among barriers. The results revealed an eighteen-barrier interpretive structural model with eight levels. The analysis indicated that ‘lack of awareness’, ‘lack of knowledge’, ‘resistance to change’, and ‘inefficient communication’ are the dominant barriers with high driving and low dependence powers. The research findings highlighted the importance of this structural model for universities to facilitate the implementation of campus operations by removing the dominant barriers.

Keywords: campus operations; green campus; higher education sustainability; barriers; interpretive structural modelling (ISM) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/1/363/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/1/363/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:363-:d:304444

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().