Momaya, K S (1996) International competitiveness of the Canadian construction industry: A comparison with Japan and the United States. PhD thesis, University of Toronto, Canada.
Abstract
The Canadian construction industry is a key contributor to the national economy and to the excellent quality of life. It has remarkable achievements in constructing infrastructure, as well as in labour productivity and cost performance. Contrary to growth expectations, the domestic construction market has stagnated in the '90s and the industry has experienced very difficult times. Despite many achievements, the industry has not been as successful internationally as its counterparts in Japan and the U. S. The problem can be traced to the neglect of international competitiveness and strategic management. An objective evaluation of the competitiveness of the industry is a prerequisite for improvement. A comprehensive model is developed for this purpose. The Canadian industry compared with its counterparts in Japan and the U. S. with the focus on factors affecting international competitiveness. Factors such as human resources, technology, cost performance and productivity are considered. The model hierarchically organizes 95 criteria to factors, and factors into three facets of competitiveness: assets, processes and performance. Three scoring methods are used to give different views of competitiveness and its facets. Recognizing the significance of strategic management for competitiveness a uified framework is developed to assess industry performance. The framework is applied to the construction industries in North America and Japan to evaluate the effectiveness of their management processes. Various techniques such as questionnaire surveys, interviews and content analysis are used to complement statistical data. The quantitative results are supplemented by a qualitative analysis. The evaluation found that the competitive performance of the Canadian industry is negated by weaknesses in processes and assets. The Japanese industry has successfully leveraged advantages of a stable and protected domestic market with process-based differentiation. The utility of pro-active strategic management to enhance competitiveness is confirmed. The Canadian industry needs a coherent strategy to improve the industry structure and key processes such as project delivery, human resources development, R&D and technology transfer.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Selby, K A |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Japan; United States; competitiveness; content analysis; differentiation; domestic construction; industry performance; labour productivity; market; productivity; project delivery; qualitative analysis; strategic management; technology transfer |
| Index terms: | technology transfer, differentiation, cost performance, strategic management, human resource, qualitative analysis, questionnaire, strategy, content analysis, quality of life, survey, Japan, United States, interview, industry performance, construction industry, project delivery, effectiveness, labour productivity, competitiveness, national economy, productivity, domestic construction |
| Subjects: | management, public and environmental health, economics, performance management, industry analysis, data collection methods, research design and methodology, data analysis and analytics, project delivery, Geography, market analysis, financial analysis, construction type, organization, knowledge management, economic analysis |
| Topics: | Procurement, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Quality Management, Construction Technology, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Site Management, Organizational Design, Human Resources |
| 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