Tang, L C M; Atkinson, B and Zou, R R (2012) An entropy-based SWOT evaluation process of critical success factors for international market entry: A case study of a medium-sized consulting company. Construction Management and Economics, 30(10), pp. 821-834. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
In the UK, construction companies are striving for survival and stable business growth during the economic recession, with many companies exploring the expansion of international business. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) in relation to international business are well understood; however, in existing literature little emphasis has been placed on the associated critical success factors (CSFs) and their evaluation. The aim is to identify relevant CSFs that can potentially influence the success of international projects. A questionnaire was undertaken to investigate 11 pre-identified common CSFs categories, and 25 SWOT individual factors relevant to a leading international medium-sized consultancy company in the UK. The data were evaluated by using the quantitative method of entropy ranking and SWOT qualitative analysis. Political, physical and corruption factors were found to be the most significant factors to the success of international projects. The findings examine a measure of entropy-based SWOT method to remove uncertainty between respondents (multi-objectives) during the evaluation of CSFs, which is supportive of an accurate, reliable and reasonable basis for the decision-making process. Substantial evidence is also provided regarding the identification and evaluation of CSFs that potentially affect the success of international projects for a medium-sized UK consulting company, when deciding about expansion into the international market.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | consulting company; critical success factors; entropy; international project; swot analysis |
| Index terms: | survival, international market, decision-making process, international business, recession, business growth, case study, international project, critical success factor, consultancy, qualitative analysis, questionnaire, quantitative method, evidence, corruption, construction company, entropy |
| Subjects: | organization, research design and methodology, data collection methods, evaluation and assessment methods, strategic management, control systems, economic analysis, environmental science, data analysis and analytics, development economics, decision analysis, thermal systems, professional ethics |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, International Construction, Legal Issues, Sustainability, Risk Management, Research Practice, Project Management, 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