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Dr Florence Phua

Dr Florence Phua, Associate Professor in the School of Construction Management and Engineering
  • School Director of Postgraduate Research Studies
  • REF2029 Sub-panel member for Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Office

121

Building location

Chancellor's Building

Areas of interest

1) Organisational Behaviour in Construction
Investigating how individual and group-level dynamics influence project outcomes and performance within construction organisations.

2) Human Resource Practices and Effectiveness
Exploring how construction-specific and organisational factors affect HR strategies, especially in relation to workforce diversity and inclusion.

3) Corporate Social Strategy and Competitiveness
Examining the business and management implications of social responsibility initiatives in enhancing competitiveness in the construction sector.

4) Cross-Cultural Communication and Identity in Construction
Studying informal language practices and lived experiences  of underrepresented groups (e.g. women owner-managers, migrant workers) through social identity frameworks to inform policy and practice on safety, integration, and productivity.

5) Higher education pedagogy, student well-being, satisfaction and attainment
Researching student experience and institutional performance,  improving postgraduate education by identifying actionable factors that influence doctoral outcomes.

Postgraduate supervision

Morwenna Fellows  - Migrant workers as informal interpreters on construction sites (completed)

Mohamed Alzarouni – Learning in the community energy sector in England and the role of networks in its facilitation (completed)

Anna Pina – Women owner-managers of small construction firms: a social identity approach

Xiaoxiao Lyu - Social value in the social housing sector: a neo-institutional perspective.

Charles Chidom – Onsite work culture affecting H&S outcomes 

Ozan Serez, Using AI and machine learning for Quantity Surveying Practice to improve early-stage cost certainty for oil & gas projects in Middle East.

Teaching

Convenorship: CE3HRS– Human Resource Management (UG); CEM610 – Principles of Sustainable Construction (MSc)

Contributing to: CEM690 Advanced Project Management 

Research centres and groups

University of Reading Organisations, People and Technology Group

Background

Dr Florence Phua is a leading researcher in construction management, specialising in organisational behaviour and cross-cultural dynamics within the construction industry. Her work investigates how micro-level interdependencies shape project outcomes and their broader contexts, with a focus on applied and academic challenges in construction organisations.
She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Construction Management and Economics, one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals in the field, and has been appointed to the REF 2029 sub-panel for Architecture, Built Environment and Planning, reflecting her national and international leadership in research excellence.
A Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Building and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Dr Phua’s research spans corporate social strategy, human resource practices, and the strategic implications of diversity and inclusion. Her work continues to shape policy and practice in construction management, particularly in areas of safety, communication, and workforce integration.

Academic qualifications

PhD Construction and Organization Management 2002 (University of Hong Kong)

MSc Project Management 1998 (University of Hong Kong)

BSc(Hons) in Quantity Surveying 1996 (University of Greenwich)

Professional bodies/affiliations

Fellow Chartered Institute of Building (FCIOB)

Fellow Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS)

Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Publications

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