Thompson, D; Chileshe, N; Coggins, J and Stevels, A (2023) Strategic management practices and opportunities for adapting SMEs to construction industry conditions: Towards a qualitative grounded conceptual framework. In: Tutesigensi, A and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 39th Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2023, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up most of the construction industry in Australia. The recent COVID-19 crisis emphasised the challenges of strategically managing labour, materials, interdependencies, customers, and financial solvency/viability. While existing studies have provided insights into strategic responses taken by construction firms generally, there is a lack of research regarding how and why construction SMEs implement such responses. This paper introduces a novel conceptual framework for analysing strategic management practices and identifying opportunities for adapting to industry conditions. The framework incorporates 10 key strategic response measures identified from extant literature and has been qualitatively tested through 30 semi-structured interviews of employees in the South Australian construction industry. Responses were thematically analysed following general theories of resource allocation and stakeholder management. All 10 measures were verified as pertinent. Four additional strategies were identified as being especially important to SMEs during times of crisis: collaborative culture, promoting corporate values/objectives, succession planning and human resource management. This framework will assist practitioners and policymakers in ensuring a more robust future for construction SMEs.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | SMEs; conceptual framework; strategic management; resource-based theory; stakeholder management theory |
| Index terms: | interview, resource allocation, COVID-19, succession planning, strategy, human resource management, resource-based theory, construction firm, Australia, strategic management, practitioner, stakeholder management, conceptual framework, construction industry |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, organization, practitioner, participation process, resource management, management, health risk and incident analysis, theoretical framing, Geography, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Site Management, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management |
| 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