Market and Project Selection Decisions of Construction Companies: Evidence from Turkish Contractors

Abstract

Globalization of the world economy has made borders between the countries lessimportant and thereby brought about unified markets. Construction industry is not differentfrom other industries when it comes to the globalization and unification of markets. Enteringinto new markets and undertaking international projects promise several benefits such asincrease in the business volume, profits, market share, etc. Turkish contractors have also beenactively operating in international markets since the 1970s. They have completed more than5,100 projects with a total value of USD 155 billion in 81 different countries until now.Undoubtedly, this success is highly subject to the extent to which they make sound decisionson market and project selection. This study aims to investigate the main attributes that mayaffect Turkish contractors' decisions on market and project selection. Review of the literature indicated that there are 57 attributes that may likely affect market and project selection decisions of contractors. These attributes were categorized into 4 main groups, namely;contractor-related attributes, country-related attributes, project-related attributes, and owner related attributes. A questionnaire consisting of 62 questions was designed and conducted among 71 Turkish contractors in order to identify the most contributing attributes. Reliability analysis was carried out to test the internal consistency of the questionnaire and factor analysis was conducted to identify the most contributing factors. Reliability analysis resultsindicated that seven attributes should be deleted to increase the internal consistency of thequestionnaire and factor analysis results revealed that the remaining 50 attributes could be described by 11 factors.