Description
The past 50 years has seen a steady increase in the number of construction businesses operating on a global basis. However, in recent years, there has been a total transformation of the international business market into more of an integrated holistic community and this transformation can be put down to three key developments:

• The first and most dramatic has been the improvement of communication systems, including satellite technology and the development of computer information technology.
• The second is the manner in which international trade has developed since the Second World War. The establishment of the United Nations and associated bodies (such as the World Health Organisation) was the first step in encouraging nations to work together to solve world problems. Since then, governments have set up a number of organizations to help develop and regulate the world economy and international trade.
• The third and most recent development has been the realization that most of the world’s resources are finite and will not support current rates of economic and industrial growth indefinitely.

Strategic Management Applied to International Construction has been specifically written to provide a broad coverage of the knowledge required to address strategic issues relating to the business of construction on a global scale. Unlike previous books in this area, it is not biased towards practice in any particular country. Instead, it provides knowledge that is universally applicable and this knowledge is supported by a series of case studies of leading consultants, contractors and suppliers of products, materials and construction equipment to highlight current best practice by organizations in America, Japan and Europe. Supporting the text are numerous diagrams, charts and tables to help visualize the key issues.

Strategic management applied to international construction will be an excellent reference work for practitioners across all construction related disciplines who are seeking to supplement their strategic business knowledge and expertise in the broad spectrum of international construction. The book will also be essential reading for postgraduate students studying construction management and for undergraduates who are studying specialist options, or who have selected subjects related to international construction as a final year dissertation topic.

Contents

• Introduction
• Preparation for entry into international construction
  – provides an introduction to the subject from its inception by providing a framework, which identifies the factors that should be considered and evaluated to test the strategy for entry into a new international market.
• International trade and the nature of international construction
  – an overview of world economic performance and trade is provided in this chapter. The principles of international trade are outlined and these are related to activities of world trade bodies. Also discussed are the reasons why national governments have implemented trade barriers and tariffs.
• Corporate strategy
  – examines the factors that contribute to the success of a strategy aimed at profitability and growth derived from operating internationally and globally. Explained and applied are Porter’s seminal work, concerning industrial and national competitiveness and The Boston Consulting Group model, an alternative approach to the determination of the business portfolio.
• Marketing, competitive advantage and procurement
  – sets out to provide a framework for the development of a sound marketing strategy that will exploit corporate strengths in the face of competition, while minimizing risk.
• International construction finance
  – details the sources of finance for international construction and provides and explanation of the cost of capital. The international financial system is outlined and the method of calculating the key economic indicator of gross national product (GNP) is described. This chapter also includes a section devoted to the financial evaluation of mergers and acquisitions.
• International management culture
  – examined in this chapter are the prospects for intercultural management and the means of profiling and identifying the nature of cultures. Also explained is the need to build a cultural map and a brief appraisal of working cultures.
• International human resource management
  – seeks to establish the importance of the interaction between the management of human resources and corporate strategies and decision-making. Detailed within the chapter are health and safety policies, basic functions of international human resources management and models of human resource management are proposed.
• Organization structure and management systems
  – explains the principles and influencing factors that determine the selection and evolution of organisation structures. Project organization structures are analysed and the advantages of matrix project management structures are discussed.
• Communications
  – presents the basic components of the communication process and discusses the implications on international and global organizations with respect to the influences of different languages and cultures.
• Project management
  – this chapter is concerned with the efficient management of the design and construction of construction projects and seeks to identify and describe the decisions, actions and arrangements that are required to realize projects within budget, on time and to the quality standards specified.
• Future horizons
  – this final chapter attempts to address the prime movers for change and makes a prognostication about the future shape and development of the global construction industry.