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Junga, W J (1981) The building cycle, shorter cycles of residential construction and federal housing programs: An empirical and theoretical analysis, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Connecticut.
Raman, S (1996) Construction exports from semi-industrialized countries: The case of India, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Connecticut.
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: competitive advantage; market; skills; tacit knowledge; construction firms; construction project; export; government; India; case studies
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: https://www.proquest.com/docview/304286835
- Abstract:
The appearance of construction firms from semi-industrialized countries (SICs) among the largest international contractors, beginning in the late 1970s, pointed to a new phenomenon. In the highly competitive multinational construction industry, "late-comer" firms from SICs carved out a space for themselves. Buffeted by a series of exogenous and endogenous factors that affected their performance, these firms fared more or less well over time. Exactly why some firms made it while others did not is a fascinating but little-researched question. This study sheds light on this question by examining the experience of Indian construction exporting firms. After reviewing general trends in the international construction industry, and the domestic factors which motivated and shaped Indian construction project exports, the study undertakes a detailed examination of the experience of three public and three private Indian construction firms. Based on these case studies, an eclectic theory is developed which explains why some firms were able to sustain their presence in the international construction industry while others were not. Three themes emerge from an examination of the factors determining the firm's ability to evolve and sustain an international presence, namely: competitive advantage, core competencies and threshold conditions. The idea of threshold conditions encompasses the concepts of "excess capacity", routinization and tacit knowledge. Indian construction firms that had established a competitive advantage in the domestic market routinized their activities and thereby developed widely dispersed tacit knowledge. This allowed them to cross the threshold into the international construction market. By strategically channeling their technical and managerial capabilities, Indian firms strengthened their inter-firm cooperative skills, heightened their adaptability, and thereby were able to sustain their presence. The Indian firms were not merely labor exporters or beneficiaries of government support. On the contrary, their distinctive "core competencies" can be identified as the primary sources of competitive advantage.