Murray, M and Zagaretos, P (2001) The influence of cultural differences on the performance of international contractors. In: Akintoye, A (ed.) Proceedings of 17th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2001, Salford, UK.
Abstract
Sooner or later most contractors which achieve success in their domestic markets opt, or are forced, to seek work outside their country borders. Adaptation to international competition and new cultures may entail a learning curve of from two to five years and corresponding investment. The alien country cultures affect the contractor's key expatriate staff and requires the contractor to address new ways of working with local clients, staff, labour, suppliers and subcontractors. Practical examples are given of this. Attempts are then made to measure the effects of alien cultures on the international contractor's productivity and a table is presented indicating approximate productivity correction factors which could be adopted for various countries around the world.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cultural influences; international contractors; productivity |
| Index terms: | cultural difference, productivity, adaptation, markets, subcontractor, competition |
| Subjects: | management, market analysis, cross-cultural studies, practitioner, user focus, economic analysis |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Business Strategy, International Construction, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here