Abdul-Aziz, A R and Wong, S S (2010) Competitive assets of Malaysian international contractors. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, 15(2), pp. 176-189. ISSN 1366-4387
Abstract
Purpose – The paper aims to identify firm-related competitive assets (FRCA) and home country-related competitive assets of Malaysian international contractors. Design/methodology/approach – Rather than applying any one of the extant models on the internationalisation of businesses singly, the study combined several relevant models, thereby providing a rich theoretical basis. Data were collected using a postal questionnaire survey and follow-up face-to-face interviews. Past empirical observations of international construction companies were referred to when designing the questionnaire. All of the known Malaysian contractors with international operations were approached. Findings – While there was broad concurrence between the sampled Malaysian contractors' FRCA with past studies, the participating firms attributed low competitive value to country-related competitive assets. Even so, they were not keen to establish their export bases in more supportive countries because of top management's personal affinity to Malaysia as a home country. Research limitations/implications – The surveyed population is relatively small with low response rate. Originality/value – The findings do not support the eclectic paradigm and diamond model on the aspect of home country features as providing competitiveness to international construction firms.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | assets; competitive strategy; contracts; international business; Malaysia |
| Index terms: | survey, face, eclectic paradigm, interview, competitive strategy, questionnaire, methodology, top management, competitive asset, population, internationalization, international business, Malaysia, competitiveness, international construction, export |
| Subjects: | strategic management, data collection methods, psychology, economic analysis, management, research methods, Geography, market analysis, demography, asset management, economic theory |
| Topics: | International Construction, Urban Studies, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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