STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR SINGAPORE CONTRACTORS FORMING JOINT VENTURES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Given the intense competition and slowdown in domestic demands, there is greater pressure on Singapore contractors to seek overseas markets for revenue and growth. This impetus, coupled with emerging economic reforms in the regional developing countries, has invariably created numerous opportunities for Singapore contractors. However, mixed results were reported on their overseas performance so far. Consequently, this paper aims to formulate a framework that would assist Singapore contractors to successfully export their services into developing countries. The proposed framework comprises ten critical success factors (CSFs), which are identified from in-depth interviews with eight Singapore contractors. These ten success factors are subsequently classified under three different stages, namely initial, entry and operational stages. Preliminary results show that Singapore contractors are most focused on the entry stage, with the highest number of CSFs.