Mills, A; Smith, J and Love, P (2002) Barriers to the development of SMEs in the Australian construction industry. Construction Economics and Building, 2(2), pp. 71-79. ISSN 2204-9029
Abstract
Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) operating in the construction industry in regional areas of Australia often struggle to compete against city-based companies for construction work. This paper identifies the barriers that confront SMEs in areas outside major cities, specifically in regional areas of Victoria (Australia) where local firms often compete unsuccessfully against large Melbourne-based organisations. The authors also look at the possibility of using e-commerce solutions to give regional SMEs greater competitiveness as well as considering possible policy initiatives that may assist these companies to be more successful in tendering against city-based competition.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | small and medium contractors; Australia; competitiveness; e-commerce |
| Index terms: | construction industry, Victoria, e-commerce, Australia, construction work, competition, competitiveness |
| Subjects: | market analysis, operations management, digital commerce, industry analysis, regions and continents, Geography |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Project Management, Geographical Context, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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