STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS OF WATER-USE EFFICIENCY: A RESOURCE-BASED VIEW OF THAI INDUSTRIAL FACTORIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/aamr.2026.21Keywords:
Water Use Efficiency, Business Characteristics, Industrial Factories, Resource-Based View, Eco-efficiencyAbstract
As water scarcity increasingly threatens operational continuity, evaluating how organizational resources shape sustainable conservation efforts is critical. Grounded in the Resource-Based View framework, this study investigates the impact of structural business characteristics on overall water-use efficiency among industrial factories located within Thailand's central and northeastern river basins. Employing a rigorous quantitative census-based approach, empirical data were systematically collected from 120 factories via surveys administered to senior water management executives. The analysis utilized one-way ANOVA and independent-samples t-tests to evaluate efficiency disparities across diverse firm profiles. The robust findings conclusively demonstrate that overall water-use efficiency is significantly determined by registered capital, workforce size, and industrial sector type. At the same time, operational age, ownership nationality, and location exhibit no significant effects. Furthermore, post-hoc LSD comparisons reveal a distinct resource threshold effect, indicating that small-scale factories perform significantly lower than their medium- and large-scale counterparts. Ultimately, this research confirms that firm scale and sectoral context structurally constrain environmental performance. The study offers targeted strategic guidelines and policy implications, strongly emphasizing the need for tailored financial incentives and digital inclusion to enhance the eco-efficiency of resource-constrained factories.
Downloads
References
Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120.
Duo, H., Wang, N., Qiao, Y., Li, Z., Yang, G., Liu, H., ... & Li, F. (2025). Industrial water consumption efficiency and driving factors based on the super-efficient SBM and Tobit approach. Scientific Reports, 15, 12461.
Farrell, M. (1957). The Measurement of Productive Efficiency. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (General), 120(3), 253-290.
Gadanakis, Y., Bennett, R., Park, J., & Areal, F. (2015). Improving productivity and water use efficiency: A case study of farms in England. Agricultural Water Management, 160, 22-32.
Ghisellini, P., Cialani, C., & Ulgiati, S. (2016). A review on circular economy: the expected transition to a balanced interplay of environmental and economic systems. Journal of Cleaner Production, 114, 11-32.
Griffiths, O., O'Byrne, J., Torrente-Murciano, L., Jones, M., Mattia, D., & McManus, M. (2013). Identifying the largest environmental life cycle impacts during carbon nanotube synthesis via chemical vapour deposition. Journal of Cleaner Production, 42, 180-189.
Hu, J., Wang, S., & Yeh, F. (2006). Total-factor water efficiency of regions in China. Resources Policy, 31(4), 217-230.
Janrungautai, J., Jarujittipant, P., & Siriwong, P. (2025). Building Resilient Green Value Chain: A Hierarchical Model for Thai Food Industry Sustainable Transformation. Journal of Community Development Research (Humanities and Social Sciences), 18(3), 22-37.
Jiang, H., Zhao, S., Wang, X., & Bi, Z. (2013). Applying electromagnetic field theory to study the synergistic relationships between technology standardization and technology development. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 30, 272-286.
Karkou, E., Teo, C., Savvakis, N., Poinapen, J., & Arampatzis, G. (2024). Industrial circular water use practices through the application of a conceptual water efficiency framework in the process industry. Journal of Environmental Management, 370, 122596.
Muhammad, N., Scrimgeour, F., Reddy, K., & Abidin, S. (2015). The relationship between environmental performance and financial performance in periods of growth and contraction: evidence from Australian publicly listed companies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 102, 324-332.
Munaro, M., Tavares, S., & Bragança, L. (2020). Towards circular and more sustainable buildings: A systematic literature review on the circular economy in the built environment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 260, 121134.
Na Pattalung, N., Jarujittipant, P., & Verayannon, K. (2025). Strategic water use management affected the water use efficiency of the industrial factories located in Thailand’s river basins of the central and northeastern regions. Procedia of Multidisciplinary Research, 3(11), Article 28.
Office of the National Water Resources. (2021). Annual Report 2021. Retrieved from https://online.flipbuilder.com/bhde/xoyj/.
Panichakarn, B., Jarujittipant, P., & Siriwong, P. (2025). Operationalizing the Bio-Circular-Green Model: The “BCG 3V Strategy” for Sustainable Competitiveness in the Thai Cosmetics Industry. Asian Interdisciplinary and Sustainability Review, 14(2), Article 31.
Petersen, E., & Plowman, E. (1953). Business organization and management (3rd ed.). Illinois: R.D. Irwin.
Pushkar, S. (2019). Modeling the substitution of natural materials with industrial byproducts in green roofs using life cycle assessments. Journal of Cleaner Production, 227, 652-661.
Sachidananda, M., Webb, D., & Rahimifard, S. (2016). A concept of water usage efficiency to support water reduction in manufacturing industry. Sustainability, 8(12), 1222.
Thepprasit, C., Sukrakanchana, B., & Sa-nguanduan, N. (2025). Assessing water use efficiency and stress in Thailand’s river basins: Trends, challenges, and policy strategies. Sustainability, 17(10), 4477.
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. (2009). Eco-efficiency indicators: Measuring resource-use efficiency and the impact of economic activities on the environment. Retrieved from https://repository.unescap.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a20af7c1-ea24-4476-9f99-07c6a35c34ab/content.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nitipun NA PATTALUNG, Pisamai JARUJITTIPANT, Kietchai VERAYANNON

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.





