Fields, S (2022) Strategies for competitive advantage in small construction businesses. PhD thesis, Walden University, USA.
Abstract
Small and medium enterprises' failure to maintain competitive advantage has the potential for adverse business outcomes. Small business owners are concerned with failure to maintain a competitive advantage, as 50% of SMEs do not survive for a full 5 years. Grounded in the strategic planning process framework, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies that some small construction business owners use to gain a competitive advantage. The participants were nine small construction business owners in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who implemented successful strategies to gain a competitive advantage. Data were collected using semi structured interviews and a review of company documents. Through thematic analysis, four themes were identified: (a) strategies to gain competitive advantage, (b) measuring business strategy effectiveness, (c) barriers to implementing strategies, and (d) modifying strategies to maintain competitive advantage. A key recommendation is for small construction business owners to understand their competition and customer needs to improve services and business strategy development. The implications for positive social change include the potential to benefit local communities by creating more jobs, decreasing unemployment, and enabling citizens to provide for themselves and their families.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Lavelle, M |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | competition; competitive advantage; effectiveness; failure; small business; SMEs; business strategy; employment; strategic planning; owner; thematic analysis; case study; interview |
| Index terms: | employment, owner, case study, competitive advantage, effectiveness, strategic planning, business strategy, strategy, interview, unemployment, competition, thematic analysis, documents, small business |
| Subjects: | market analysis, economic analysis, organization, sociology, professional development, methods and analysis, performance management, management, business, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Human Resources, Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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