Contractors in Cyclical Economic Environments
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 112, Issue 3
Abstract
This study investigated how the performance of construction firms during different extremes in the business cycle was impacted by a variety of the firms' characteristics. A performance index for a firm's relative market performance was devised and used with a step‐wise regression technique to model the relationships between operational variables and the performance index. Ten interviews wifh senior construction executives were conducted to guide the development of the model. The results show that a firm's relative market performance can be influenced by: Efforts in planning and control; control at firm level; effectiveness of project planning and control; efforts in marketing; effectiveness of marketing; subcontracting; long‐range planning; safety; geographic diversification; technological competence; and union/open‐shop construction. Significance varied with cycle point and size. Recommendations are made on how to improve a contractor's performance in cyclical business environments.
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References
1.
Business Roundtable (1982). “Improving construction safety performance.” Construction Industry Cost Effectiveness Project Report A3.
2.
Grebler, L., and Burns, L. S. (1982). “Construction cycles in the United States since World War II.” AUREUEA Journal, Vol. 10, pp. 123–151.
3.
Rosen, K. T. (1979). “Cyclical fluctuations in residential construction and financing.” The Construction Industry: Balance Wheel of the Economy, Julian Lange and Daniel Mills, Eds., Lexington: Heath, p. 145.
4.
Wong, T. K. (1984). “The effects of cyclical construction demand on the performance and operation of construction firms.” thesis presented to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge, Mass., in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 112 • Issue 3 • September 1986
Pages: 310 - 325
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 ASCE.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1986
Published in print: Sep 1986
Authors
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