Impact of value management critical success factors on overall sustainability success in Australian steel sector Open Access

The daily growth of steel demand in Australia is driven by expanding infrastructure development but hindered by skilled labour shortages along with low production volume and high operational costs for materials and utilities (Infrastructure Australia, 2024). The steel production process poses challenges in meeting environmental sustainability which can be achieved by maximizing recycling and focusing on greenhouse emissions (Conejo et al., 2020). Most of the environmental issues are resulted from steel industry as the sector accounts for 5–7% of the world’s GHG emission due to fossil fuel utilisation (Ahmad et al., 2023; Alwaer and Clements-Croome, 2010). The Steel industry has highest energy consumption with contribution of 5% according to International Energy agency (Ahmad et al., 2023; Conejo et al., 2020). Since the industrial revolution, steel industry has influenced daily aspects of life. As per Serafim Silva et al. (2024) sustainable performance of an organization require significant efforts including technological initiative, internal and external environmental factors. Hence, manufacturing industries are required to adopt practices and operations creating a sustainable (Yassin et al., 2022) societal goals. Social sustainability is one of the manufacturing industry objectives responsible for manufacturing business influences on human lives, including citizens, employees, consumers and other stakeholders in the manufacturing value system (de Moura and Saroli, 2021). According to organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2024) several challenges like novel technologies, market exploration, financial contributions and available resources are key challenges in meeting decarbonization goals in Australia. Meanwhile, Australia is also facing challenge with anti-dumping processes. Oversupply of steel products in Australia from countries like China has created a competition for Australian steel producers (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2024). Hence, the surplus of steel is causing challenge for Australian steel industry to cater global market dynamics. Another recent challenge is enforcing tariffs and trade policies of major economies like USA which will directly affect the import strategy of Austrian steel sector (University of New South Wales, 2025). Experienced workforce and skill shortage is another major challenges faced by Australian steel industry which is linked with national security as steel is an essential commodity in defence systems.

Sustainability is now linked with value management (VM) due to organizational concerns about unlocking the sustainability practice (AL-Saleh, 2009). The infusion of VM conceptual pillars provides a roadmap to realize resource optimization (Serafim Silva et al., 2024), stakeholder engagement and project results delivery with less negative environmental impacts (Yang et al., 2017). VM is a process that systematically identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes key critical success factors (CSFs) to maximize project or organizational performance. In this research, VM is used to analyse the CSFs for achieving sustainability results in the Australian steel industry. (Yassin et al., 2022). Consequently, VM offers a structured approach towards these objectives diligently by advocating the attainment of maximum value from available resources, innovation and reduction of costs (Oke et al., 2022). VM adoption is impacted by several success factors such as management support, active stakeholder engagement, appropriate training, tools and techniques. Moreover, the gap between the planned outcomes of VM implementation (Yassin et al., 2023) and the existing practices shows the need to raise awareness of and commitment to the VM principles. Overall sustainability success (OSS) is defined as the comprehensive attainment of sustainability goals, including environmental, social and economic aspects. In this research, OSS is the dependent variable measuring the performance of the Australian steel industry in terms of sustainability. The extensive literature review has identified CSFs which influence the effective implementation of VM and overall sustainable success. However, there is limited research conducted in the context of VM in the steel industry. The majority of VM-CSF research is conducted within the building and construction sector with minimal attention given to heavy industry, such as steel. This study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the effects of VM CSFs on sustainability performance in the Australian steel sector. Therefore, to bridge the gap between VM strategic and tactical plans (Othman et al., 2020), this research uses CSFs (Oke et al., 2022) and sustainable practices to offer organizations an effective way of boosting value, and reducing cost while maximizing operational worth (Gunduz and Almuajebh, 2020). This study aims to handle following research questions based on the knowledge gap described above:

• Which CSFs most significantly influence the implementation of VM in the steel sector?

• Identify the Sustainable Success Indicators in VM implementation.

• What is impact of identified VM implementation CSFs on OSS?

Citizen facing facilities all over Australia continue to be impacted by challenges relating to sustainability, social pressures and complexities. The VM tool aligned with a CSFs approach to improve current performance in these and related areas. The CSFs based approach allows organizations to focus on the most important performance areas, with VM as the tool able to successfully manage competing stakeholder expectations to focus and align these varied goals. When aligned to VM, CSFs can provide industry specific components to manage complexities more sustainably. Hence, PLS-SEM tool is used along with systematic literature review to acquire list of VM implementation CSFs (Kineber et al., 2024a, 2024b; Gunduz and Almuajebh, 2020). The subsequent section of this article is divided into three subsections after explaining research problems and objectives. Section 2 elaborate literature review including VM implementation CSFs, OSS categories (Kineber et al., 2023a, 2023b) and relationship between VM implementation CSFs and OSS. Section 3 explains the research method used in this research, while research results are described in Section 4. Section 5 provides discussion and Section 6 summarises the conclusion of the study with theoretical research contribution.

Research during the past twenty years has released many findings about achieving sustainability (Oke and Aghimien, 2018). A balance between the social sustainability component and the environmental and economic components is required by a sector to identify ways (Oke et al., 2022). The implementation of VM in businesses is responsible for pushing the extensive adoption of VM procedures. The procedure was designed to methodically produce maximum monetary value. The least expensive methods must be implemented for necessary project targets alongside efficiency and sustainability criteria (Khesal et al., 2019). VM is necessary when stating, explaining and proving client requirements. Processes have this idea at their centre and the link between VM and the project briefing process is apparent, as the latter is the orthodox practice. The professional application of this meaning is ambiguous to industry operatives. The construction community deploys VM in building projects according to Oke and Aghimien (2018). The VM exercise depends on professional workshop sessions which run for lengths between half a day through five-day meetings (Spellacy et al., 2021). The adjustment of VM session days demonstrates through considerations, such as the complexity of the VM and the number of phases/phases of the VM (Othman and Abdelrahim, 2020). The evaluation method involves three stages which proceed from pre-study to value study and post-study. The SAVE organization defines four main steps in their VM approach which include information phase followed by function analysis phase and creative phase and finally evaluation phase and development phase and presentation phase (Yong and Mustaffa, 2017).

Over the last three decades a significant body of VM research has developed across a range of sectors. However, there is no study that assesses and compares existing VM CSFs and the application of VM by stakeholders operating in the steel industry. The experience of stakeholders operating in the Australian steel industry together with their application of VM has been limited. Research about this topic remains scarce in all aspects but particularly concerning the Australian steel industry. This current research investigates this recognized shortcoming. This paper proposes a model for assessing the important CSFs that will influence the application of VM in the Australian steel industry. Research on different VM CSFs has been carried out in the context of Hong Kong and in the USA and the UK (Malinić, 2021). The research identified only a small number of recognized vital elements for VM according to Aghimien et al. (2018). The government shows specific interest while implementing VM and supporting planning along with customer interaction and public awareness of VM benefits comprise additional CSFs (Tanko et al., 2018). The planning components implementation as well as customer participation and public awareness programs are associated with the VM benefits. The research project focuses on developing both an VM method together with infrastructure to support a value-added community initiative. Oke and Aghimien (2018) prove through their research in the Nigerian construction industry. The delivery of VM training by an adequate level achieves two different goals by helping Nigerian general contractors and reaching out to a wide audience of VM. The implementation of VM in construction has got different continuous efforts to materialize. The Malaysian government actively supports the implementation of VM according to Yassin et al. (2023). Yu et al. (2018) listed 23 crucial success factors needed to implement VM in Hong Kong.

There are many gaps identified based on the extensive literature review process. First gap is limited studies available in identifying CSFs for VM implementation in steel sector context. Hence, this gap necessitate need for a comprehensive study to identify CSFs and their impact on OSS in steel sector to enhance. Effective strategies can be developed by policy makers and decision makers after investigating VM CSFs through this study. Moreover, there is lack of study conducted identifying subcategories of CSFs and their impact on OSS. Specific solutions can be developed after examining underlying factors included in subcategories of CSFs. Moreover, the direct linkage between VM CSFs and OSS in the Steel sector is another lacuna. The benefits and drawbacks of the OSS implementation in steel domains can be perceived by the decision-makers after the analysis of the linkage. Therefore, a holistic analysis of CSFs, subdimensions, their relevance, and effects on OSS can be generated by addressing these research lacunae through a mixed methodological procedure PLS-SEM modelling, and exhaustive literature scrutiny. Sustainability and optimum efficiency can be warranted by effective implementation of the VM CSFs derived through evidence base strategy and breaching the knowledge lacuna of this study. Considering these knowledge gaps, VM CSFs were identified through extensive literature review which are summarized in Table 1 (Source: Kineber et al., 2024a, 2024b).

The VM CSFs, which include stakeholder emancipation, prompt engagement, specific goals, backing from top leadership, functional assessments and team collaboration (Gudiene et al., 2013), have broad applicability across international settings, despite the fact that this study is based in the Australian project and construction context. VM CSFs are relevant in a range of geographic and industry contexts as they are based on fundamental concepts of project management and people-focused decision making. The research took place in Australia, however, the sustainability characteristics have shown international comparability for VM CSFs, so the research can be viewed as a valuable addition to value-focused decision making, sustainable planning and project management practices in an international context.

A widely used approach, VM finds applicability in the manufacturing, services, engineering and construction sectors (Alsolami, 2022). International VM and sustainability literature constantly emphasizes foundational project success enablers, which are reflected in the CSFs discovered in this study. For example, whether in affluent economies like the UK, the USA and Canada (Dora et al., 2013), or in fast emerging countries like Southeast Asia and the Middle East, multidisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder involvement are universally essential for integrating project outcomes with overall sustainability goals. The three pillars of sustainability – economic, social and environmental – are the subject matter of this study, which is pertinent worldwide, especially as nations match their development objectives and infrastructure with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN (Chen et al., 2010).

Applying sustainability within VM using identified CSFs results in a replicable and agile process which is applicable to an international context. In the context of supporting citizens as the focus of urban facility management, performance towards sustainability is a potential success metric. The fundamental principles of the VM CSFs, such as cooperation, communication and methodical analysis, are culturally flexible, despite the fact that market, legislative, and cultural circumstances (Gunasekera and Chong, 2018) vary from nation to nation. Stakeholder cooperation, for instance, may be more formal and technical in Germany and consensus-driven in Japan, yet both countries require input from stakeholders and coherence. This study offers a versatile theoretical framework that preserves fundamental VM concepts while allowing practitioners and academics to adjust it to local norms and practices. By providing a point of reference for investigating how VM CSFs affect sustainability in diverse economic, environmental and regulatory contexts, this study establishes the framework for cross-country comparison studies. To find context-specific adjustments or improvements, future studies may, for example, evaluate the framework in nations with varying levels of economic development, governance systems or climate policy philosophies. Integrating VM with sustainability is more important than ever in a time of globalized project management, international consumers and worldwide sustainability reporting standards – GRI, ISO 14001 and ESG frameworks (Ramoa et al., 2019). By helping project managers include sustainable development throughout early-stage decision-making processes, this study advances the development of globally aware solutions that can be duplicated or modified for various regulatory contexts and industrial sectors.

The purpose of this study is to give insight into some practical recommendations for improved sustainability in steel industry through the identification of VM CSFs. To reach the aim of the study, a literature review was carried out, using an exploratory study approach. The data for the study was collected in various phases from steel industry in Australia. The research hypothesis is designed as per the study aim, which is then followed by PLS-SEM model development for the hypothesis validation (Dobrucali et al., 2024). Development of measurement model, structural model, evaluating and validating these models are key steps. Hence, the research methodology consists of four main phases including Systematic Literature Review; Survey Questionnaire development; Data Collection Procedure; PLS-SEM Development and Analysis of independent and dependent construct as indicated in Figure 1.

A comprehensive literature review requires rigorous and methodical approach through systematic literature review to evaluate research objectives. The structured literature review adopts transparent and inclusive procedure unlike conventional literature review narratives. The primary base of systematic literature review is evaluating research objectives and questions followed by exclusion and inclusion criteria (Yong and Mustaffa, 2013). The literature database engines – Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, IEE Explore (Kineber et al., 2023a, 2023b) offer a detailed and flexible search function with the help of certain keywords and Boolean operators – OR, AND. The electronic database selection is followed by search scope and topic analysis (Gunduz and Almuajebh, 2020). While other databases were considered, Scopus was used as it is known to provide the broadest coverage of peer reviewed journals of engineering, construction and sustainability research, has consistent indexing, and is efficient in filtering high quality and relevant literature for the Australian steel sector (Yong and Mustaffa, 2013) . The search is initiated with title, and abstract selection in Scopus database. PRISMA checklist is followed to develop inclusion and exclusion criteria which include scoping, eligibility, exclusion and inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria include literature about VM phases, CSFs, sustainable success factors and application in different sectors, whereas exclusion criteria includes literature without VM application OR CSFs. There is very limited research available regarding Australian steel sector and its challenges. That’s why Australian steel statistics are collected from different online sources like “The Australian”, “News.com.au”, Infrastructure Australia”, “UNSW sites”, “The Australian steel Institute report” and “World Steel website”.

Qualitative and quantitative data is collected from a specific population with the help of a structured approach – survey questionnaire (Rea et al., 2022). There are different ways to administer survey questionnaire like paper based, online aiming to collect research related data. The questionnaire includes multiple choice questions and response collected using Likert scale (1 = Very low/none, 2 = Low, 3 = Average, 4 = High, 5 = Very high). The survey questionnaire is structured in sequential sections to follow logical flow (Tony et al., 2013). The survey questionnaire in this study starts with general information section including general demographic information – experience, profession, position, education, VM awareness, VM perception, VM training and VM workshop. Subsequent questionnaire survey section aimed at collecting information regarding CSFs and OSS. Moreover, ethical considerations are adopted in administering surveys including consent requirements, confidentiality and anonymity.

The sample population selected for this research are working in different domains of Australian steel sector including engineering and technology, logistics, production, warehouse, transportation, IT, human resource, sales and marketing, procurement (Acharyulu et al., 2015). One hundred and twenty professionals working in steel sector were contacted to respond on the survey questionnaire. The response is received from 81 participants leading to 67.5% response rate. The response has provided critical information regarding VM aspects in steel manufacturing industry. The respondent’s characteristics and profiling are analysed through response received in first section of the survey. The variables to understand demographic profiling of respondent included gender, experience, profession, current position, qualification, organisation function, awareness level, VM perception, knowledge, training and participation in workshop or study. All the respondents belong to manufacturing/client sector. 42% respondents are moderately familiar with VM following by 30.9% familiar, 16% not familiar and 11.1% are not familiar with VM. 54.3% respondents consider VM a concept whereas, 44.4% a technique and 1.2% a profession. Highest level of knowledge is fair (39.5%) and lowest is good (3.7%), whereas no responded received a formal VM training. However, 21% participated in VM study/workshop.

Multiple regression analysis (Villalva, 2023) and factor analysis are combined through a multivariate regression tool known as SEM – structured equation modelling. The effect on OSS due to implementing VM CSFs is investigated with the help of SEM (Sari, 2017). Reflective and formative constructs are part of SEM modelling with three main components CMV analysis, measurement model and structural model (Olanrewaju et al., 2022). Even though the literature provides useful reviews of the theories on VM and CSFs in the construction and manufacturing industries, a few studies have addressed their use and application in the steel industry and how it relates to its sustainability goals. The current studies only focus on VM principles or sustainable steel practices separately and only a few have empirically tested the constructs using strong analytical methods like PLS-SEM. These trends identify the need for a validated and complete framework of CSFs for effective VM in sustainable steel projects to fill the gap and offer theoretical as well as practical insights to industry decision-makers. The study has following hypothesis.

A single factor analysis is conducted to assess the common method bias in this study (Thneibat and Al-Shattarat, 2023). The total variance outcome is 27.174% using principle component analysis as extraction method. A total variance of less than 50% means common method bias does not impact the validity of the research outcomes (Liu et al., 2018). The low value represents the absence of systematic errors resulted from desirability bias, social bias or any other bias. This indicates that there is strong relationship between the variables and the outcome of this study based on credible information rather than biased artefacts.

Configuration and rationality of measurement variables from same construct is estimated through measurement model assessment (Antony et al., 2023). Measurement model assess the validity of the construct which is measured through following indicators in PLS-SEM: composite reliability, Cronbach’s alpha and average variance extracted (Othman et al., 2020). Cronbach’s alpha more than 0.6 and composite reliability value of > 0.6 is acceptable (Othman et al., 2020) as indicated in Table 2. The AVE values higher than 0.4 is accepted if composite reliability is greater than 0.6 (Rahman, 2018) which means at least 50% variance is absorbed by the measurement variables (Kineber et al., 2023a, 2023b).

Table 2 indicates the AVE values of this study which is more than 40% proving convergent and internal stability of the findings. According to Hair et al. (2017) outer loading of 0.4 is acceptable under condition of keeping valuable information in exploratory study. This indicates that each component of the construct is assessed accurately and no other component is quantifying from this construct. Table 1 and Figure 2 indicate the initial model loadings. All loadings are acceptable other than SFVM.SK8, SFVM.SK9, SFVM.WD1, SFVM.WD2, SFVM.WD3, SFVM.WD11 which are removed for initial model due to loading less than 0.4 (Hair et al., 2017). Hence, Table 1 and Figure 3 indicate the updated measurement model assessment.

Discriminant validity is a critical step in PLS-SEM predicting originality and distinction of the construct (Dobrucali et al., 2024). This research evaluates discriminant validity through three different approaches; Fornell–Larcker Criteria; Heterotrait–monotrait ratio HTMT Criteria; Cross loadings Criteria (Olanrewaju et al., 2022). Discriminant validity is proved for CSFs and OSS construct with square root values of AVE exceed the association between constructs. However some researcher proposed Heterotrait–monotrait ratio – HTMT Criteria – to evaluate discriminate validity instead of Fornell–Larcker Criteria (Hartmann et al., 2012; Olanrewaju et al., 2022). SEM models based on variance are evaluated by novel technique (HTMT criteria) which provide exact correlation between two constructs to confirm if reliability exist without error. To prove if two construct are separate, the value should be less than 0.85 and 0.90 (Ojo and Ogunsemi, 2019). HTMT values where a value less than 0.85 represent construct model are different theoretically and values than 0.90 represent construct model are theoretically similar (Oke et al., 2022). Cross loading criteria on the other hand compare the indicator loading of a particular latent variable with all other variables. The value should be higher than the other variables compared row wise (Oke et al., 2022). The cross loading of a specific variable is higher than all the other loadings proving discriminatory validity.

VM CSFs made a formative construct in this study where increase correlation between formative construct is unexpected. Table 3 mentions VIF values for formative construct which is below 3.5 indicating CSFs subcategories support these factors with substantial path coefficients (β) for CSFs categories, “Stakeholder and Knowledge”, “Culture and Environment”, “Workshop Dynamics” and “standardization”.

Proposed research hypothesis is an important milestone in this research analysis which is achieved through bootstrap analysis (Oke et al., 2022) Path coefficient value indicate the impact of one variable on another. Bootstrap Method with 5,000 sample data is conducted through SmartPLS 4.0 software (Olanrewaju et al., 2022). Schematic testing is calculated through t-statistics (Ojo and Ogunsemi, 2019). The pathway turnout to be positive and statistically significant (β = 0.5, p = 0.000). Table 4 indicates reflective construct analysis for structural model.

The explanatory value of a structure model is evaluated through examining the variance in dependent variables (Olanrewaju et al., 2022). R² values for OSS is 0.250 which means CSFs (exogenous latent variable) explain 25.0% of the overall sustainable success.

“There is a significant correlation between CSFs to VM implementation and OSS” was the main premise (Hypothesis: H1) of the study. PLS-SEM model is used to examine association between VM implementation CSFs and OSS. The results show that Stakeholder and Knowledge are the most crucial in terms of defining the VM CSFs (path coefficient = 0.289). The most important factor is End-user participation (SFVM.SK10) with an outer loading of 0.793, followed by Participant personality and ability (SFVM.SK11) and Strong working relationships and cooperation between agencies and stakeholders (SFVM.SK12) with outer loadings of 0.793 and 0.751, respectively. Other main important factors are Adaptability to new ideas and modifications (SFVM.SK8) and Clear definition and scope of different professionals (SFVM.SK9) with outer loadings of 0.677. The least important factor is Expertise and background in the participant’s relevant fields (SFVM.SK7) with an outer loading of 0.415. Overall, facilitation seems to play an important role in VM workshops to assure the active involvement of different stakeholders, which will also be supportive for the citizen-centric management of urban facilities. Kineber et al. (2024a, 2024b) indicated that effective facilitators can lead the flow of discourse, control the dynamics within a group and create an atmosphere that is conducive to creativity.

Culture and Environment has least significantly positive impact on CSFs (β = 0.145). VM’s central principle requires clear statement through objectives and activity definitions. Kineber et al. (2022a, 2022b) express that clarification of scope matches up stakeholder assumptions, by singling out what is needed and can open value-adding alternatives in an organization. In the current study, the most salient factor was SFVM.CE3 – Establishing and defining the value system (outer loading 0.933), followed by SFVM.CE1 – Participants’ clear and defined goals for the VM workshop (β = 0.937) and SFVM.CE2 – Decision-making ability granted to participants by their organizations (β = 0.888). The least was SFVM.CE4 – Encouraging the VM team to generate VM outputs (outer loading 0.844). Objective and scope definition in clear terms is found to be important for a VM workshop that is highly effective in citizen-centric urban facility management.

The research conducted by Kineber et al. (2023a, 2023b) established that engagement of stakeholders in the VM workshops enhances better solution innovation and general acceptance of decisions made in the course of the VM. Workshop Dynamics category has highest impact among four CSFs categories (β = 0.500). SFVM.WD2 “Analysis of value chain elements and functions” and SFVM.WD6 “Promptness of the VM workshop” are turn out to be first and second most critical factors (β = 0.844 and 0.809), whereas, SFVM.WD1 “Proactive, creative and structured approach”, SFVM.WD10 “Utilising modern technology to accelerate evaluation and creativity” and SFVM.WD7 “Background information collected” are third, fourth and fifth most important factors with outer loadings of 0.670, 0.626 and 0.620. Similarly, least important factors with outer loadings of 0.583, 0.547, 0.480 are SFVM.WD8 “Orientation meeting”, SFVM.WD2 “Analysis of value chain elements and functions” and SFVM.WD5 “Stakeholder input is adequate” respectively.

There is merit in reinforcing feedback procedures after the implementation of VMs to provide an appraisal of their outcomes and to encourage organizational learning. Standardisation category has ranked as second most significant impact on CSFs (β = 0.303). First most critical factor for this category is SFVM.S3 “Decision-maker’s consistent presence” with outer loading of 0.939, whereas, SFVM.S2 “Input from the local authorities and pertinent government ministries”, SFVM.S1 “Support and active participation of all stakeholders”, SFVM.S4 “Implementation strategy for the VM study plan” and SFVM.S5 “Government commitment to implement VM” having outer loading factors of 0.857, 0.830, 0.798 and 0.741. SFVM.S6 “Organization’s ability to communicate requirements and needs to the stakeholders” is least significant factor with outer loading of 0.501. Following the VM activities, Kineber et al. (2023a, 2023b) also argue that organizations should incorporate mechanisms for displaying the results of VM activities and gathering feedback from participants.

Ecological themes quantify the ability of projects and organizations to reduce the environmental costs that are associated with their activities (Dobrucali et al., 2024). Measuring the emission of greenhouse gases (Wong and Fan, 2013) linked to operations and products gives a clear picture of the impact of an organization on the environment. Environmental category has second highest impact among these three categories of OSS with β value of 0.896. SSI.EnI2 “Track resource efficiency, such as water usage, energy consumption and waste generation” is most significant factor with outer loading of 0.906. Whereas, SSI.EnI1 “Measure its carbon footprint, and strategies are in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”, SSI.EnI3 “Measure biodiversity impact to mitigate negative effects on ecosystems” and SSI.EnI5 “Approach to managing waste, and progress in waste reduction and recycling measured” are second, third and fourth ranked factors. SSI.EnI4 “Specific goals related to the use of renewable energy” is least impactful factor with loading of 0.802.

Economic performance measures assess the economic performance as well as the efficiency of an organization in making profits while executing sustainable processes (Alwaer and Clements-Croome, 2010). Economic category has first most significant impact on OSS (β = 0.941, p = 0.000). SSI.EcI.1 “Balance financial performance with sustainability, and indicators measure this balance” is most significant factor with outer loading of 0.9 followed by SSI.EcI3 “Measure resilience to economic risks” and SSI.EcI2 “Track the economic viability of sustainability initiatives, such as cost savings from energy efficiency or revenue from sustainable products”. However, SSI.EcI4 “Assess the long-term financial benefits” is least impactful with loading factor of 0.870. Social measures deal with these social effects of the projects and organizations under consideration and in turn look at factors such as community health, staff and people (Chen et al., 2022; Hartmann et al., 2012). Social is third most important category in OSS (β = 0.867, p = 0.000). SSI.SoI1 “Measure impact on community development and social well-being” has the highest outer loading of 0.898 whereas, SSI.SoI2 “Assess labour practices, including employee health and safety, diversity and fair wages”, SSI.SoI6 “Contribution to education, healthcare or other social services in the communities” and SSI.SoI5 “Human rights considerations integrated into the organization’s value chain” are the second, third and fourth most important factors with loadings 0.894, 0.859 and 0.801 respectively. Least important outer loading factors are SSI.SoI4 “Gather and respond to feedback from employees, customers and the community” outer loading 0.773 followed by SSI.SoI3 “Measure stakeholder engagement” with outer loading of 0.682.

The findings indicate positive and significant relation between CSFs and OSS (β = 0.5, p = 0.000). While the direction of theoretical relationship aligns with the hypothesis indicating the application and context of CSFs have huge impact on Sustainable Success Indicators. These factors can moderate the impacts of CSFs on SSI. According to Kineber et al. (2023a, 2023b) defining stakeholders in the implementation of VM is one of the primary difficulties that should be addressed. Moreover, selection of CSFs should align with the organizational strategies and goal to achieve significant impact on OSS. The outcome would be insignificant for CSFs if there are insufficient regulatory requirements or less stakeholders engagement in the industry specific to research context. While considering economic success, environmental and social factors can be overlooked by the industry specific respondents. Moreover, certain other factors like leadership commitment, innovation and external factors plays vital role in effectiveness of CSFs in leading OSS. organizations possessing strong capabilities gain more leverage in obtaining OSS (Hart and Dowell, 2011). CSFs impacts may be reduced if the organization has no well-defined priorities or capabilities. Although the present study is consistent with existing literature, it can be improved by investigating and critically analysing the differences, showing how the results extend, modify or negate previous findings and demonstrating the unique contribution of the study to the citizen-centric management of urban facilities.

The study presents important and mixed results for the relationship between OSS and CSFs. Although, CSFs have ability to affect OSS but the ability is influenced by contextual, operational and organizational factors as indicated by positive and significant effect of CSFs on OSS. Longitudinal studies, a comprehensive measurement model and an industry specific approach could be applied by future researchers to examine this relationship in greater details. However, such techniques were not implemented in the steel industry previously. In Australia, a questionnaire survey based on the extensive literature was used as tool for the research. Professionals from Steel industry participated in the study and PLS-SEM was used for the development and validation of study model. The research outcomes offer the steel and manufacturing industries knowledge about the VM CSFs which affect OSS to enhance performance with respect to economic, social and environmental aspects. The study’s findings can be generalised to other manufacturing industries in Australia with the lack of VM implementation as well as can be replicated in citizen-centric urban facility management.

While earlier studies have shown VM’s contributions in creating project value and stakeholder satisfaction, the relationship between VM CSFs and environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability has remained largely unexplored. To fill this gap in the literature, this study offers a strategic, integrated framework which links the three pillars of sustainability with core VM principles. It empirically assesses the interconnections between VM CSFs and sustainability performance, rather than looking at them as separate constructs, thus offering a comprehensive, sustainability-oriented perspective which positions VM as a strategic enabler of sustainable development, beyond a narrow cost-focused lens, and offers guidance for future researchers and practitioners seeking to harness VM for citizen-centric urban facility management. The paper makes significant theoretical contributions in the following areas:

• By suggesting that the effectiveness of VM is evaluated not just by cost savings or functional value but also by its ability to improve long-term sustainability results, the study unifies the fragmented discussion between VM and sustainability in the literature.

• The success metrics of time, assets and quality are emphasized in traditional VM theories. By including sustainability as a crucial component of VM success, this study broadens that theoretical framework and redefines the standards for successful value outcomes.

• The practical implications may be enhanced by offering direct advice for managers and decision-makers, such as focusing on stakeholder engagement, incorporating VM into sustainability KPIs and creating a training framework to institutionalise VM practices.

• The framework created in this study can be used as a foundation for creating administrative paradigms and policies that explicitly include sustainability into the VM procedure. This addresses contemporary theoretical demands in the literature on project management and the built environment for integrated approaches to sustainability.

The current study presents significant value for both practice and theory with direct relevance for the Australian steel sector. It provides useful and timely empirical evidence to inform practitioners on operationalizing the VM CSFs for citizen-centric management of urban facilities. The data collection was constrained by a limited sample and the availability of the respondents. However, the respondents were well-informed and are representative of the sector. The survey-based data collection was likely to have introduced subjectivity, which could be further embedded with the use of predetermined answers and expert scoring; however, efforts were made to ensure the survey design did not bias responses. The focus on a single sector could limit the generalizability of the findings. However, the implications and the framework developed for the VM CSFs can be transferred to other industries and organizations with similar operational needs and that are driving new sustainability initiatives, which directly affect urban facilities and local citizen outcomes. The use of PLS-SEM to model the underlying statistical relationships might have obscured certain qualitative factors and nuances that could be critical to specific instances of stakeholder and customer interaction and citizen-focused infrastructure planning. Despite the acknowledged contextual and methodological limitations, this research has attempted to present a rigorous, relevant, and applicable set of results.