CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE COMPETITIVE CAPABILITY OF THAI REAL ESTATE COMPANIES BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES (UN SDG 11)

This study aims to examine the causal relationships among the total quality management (TQM), learning organization (LO), corporate governance (CG), and competitive capability (CC) of Thai real estate companies on the basis of the concept of sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11). The sample comprised 200 executives and project managers employed in real estate development firms operating across residential, commercial, and mixed-use segments in Thailand. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to validate the multidimensional measurement models of all latent constructs. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to determine the causal relationships among the latent variables. The overall measurement and structural models demonstrated excellent goodness-of-fit indices (χ² = 124.386, df = 118, p = 0.324, χ²/df =1.054, GFI = 0.956, NFI = 0.925, TLI = 0.991, CFI = 0.993, RMSEA = 0.018, and RMR = 0.026). The SEM results revealed that total quality management exerted significant positive effects on corporate governance (β = 0.681, p < 0.001) and competitive capability (β = 0.291, p < 0.01). Learning organization also had significant positive effects on corporate governance (β = 0.623, p < 0.001) and competitive capability (β = 0.415, p < 0.001), whereas corporate governance directly enhanced competitive capability (β = 0.362, p < 0.001). The results of the mediation analysis further demonstrated that corporate governance mediates the relationships between total quality management and competitive capability (β = 0.247, p < 0.001) and between learning organization and competitive capability (β = 0.226, p < 0.001). These findings extend existing theories by empirically integrating quality management, organizational learning, and corporate governance into a unified explanatory model of competitive capability in Thai real estate companies.