Issue Focus

● This study examines how ESG management, which has recently emerged as a new management paradigm, can generate future results at the level of construction companies and the construction industry. ● As a result of analyzing previous studies, the promotion of ESG management by construction companies is expected to have a positive impact on corporate performance in the long term through the path of enhancing corporate sustainability and improving financial performance. ● First, ESG management's path to enhancing corporate sustainability is divided into a path to reduce sustainability threats from stakeholders and a path to respond to ESG-related market transitions and stranded assets in the future. ● Second, the financial performance improvement path of a company is divided into the cost reduction path of a company and the output increase path of a company. - The cost reduction path is divided into direct cost reduction such as energy/resource cost and regulatory violation cost, and indirect cost reduction such as financing cost, civil complaint management and dispute cost. - The performance improvement path is divided into the performance of preoccupying new markets related to ESG management, such as green construction and renewable energy plants, and the improvement of transaction/collaboration performance with stakeholders. Examples of improving transaction/collaboration performance include increasing follow-up orders by improving the reliability of the client, improving productivity by improving employee immersion/loyalty, and improving the performance of pre-sale/rental projects by improving reputation. ● The performance improvement from the promotion of ESG management can be seen not only at the individual construction company level but also at the construction industry level. - Expanding ESG management to the construction industry means that all participants, including comprehensive and professional construction companies, material manufacturers, orderers, and licensing agencies, practice ESG management and establish the value of ESG management in the industry. ● If all participants in the construction industry, including construction companies, practice ESG management, structural problems such as the culture of A, corruption practices, and excessive safety accidents, which have been negatively affected by the rebirth of the construction industry, can be improved. ● To create ESG management performance at the construction industry unit, we first extract core values of ESG management and apply them to the four structural problems of the construction industry to derive improvement directions and action tasks to improve problems from the ESG management perspective. - As a result of extracting core values of ESG management, responsibility for the environment and society, stakeholder consideration, win-win and public, compliance and ethics, long-term performance pursuit, and financial/non-financial performance balance were extracted. - Directions for improving the four structural problems of the construction industry through the application of core value factors: ① Conflict/conflict structure between participants under the original contract structure → Win-win cooperation based on fairness and trust and long-term mutual benefit maximization ② We are vulnerable to corruption due to the nature of the industry dependent on orders and licenses → Spread sound business practices based on fairness/ethics ③ Vulnerable safety accidents due to outdoor production and continuous on-site changes → Establishment of safety-first practices and cultures ④ Damage to the natural environment and characteristics of pollutants/carbon emissions of construction activities → Conservation of the natural environment and securing a preemptive response system to climate change