A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH FOR ASSESSING THE OVERSEAS BUSINESS CAPABILITIES OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

Although global construction spending has experienced slow growth due to consecutive economic crises, global contractors have consistently attempted to expand their overseas market share, leading to more intense competition among contractors in the international construction market. In this market environment, owners, clients and financial institutions require reasonable and systematic criteria to effectively assess the business capabilities of international construction firms. However, the existing evaluation methods for construction firms rarely consider overseas-focused business capabilities. To address this problem, this study proposes a quantitative approach to assessing the overseas business capabilities of international construction firms. The limitations of existing approaches are reviewed, and the capabilities required to perform overseas businesses are analyzed through expert interviews. Finally, 18 evaluation indices are suggested in four categories: technology resources, project management, experience and performance, and sustainability. The relative weight of each index is determined according to the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, and a preliminary investigation of 11 Korean construction firms is conducted. The proposed method is expected that it will provide the rational criteria for international owners, clients, and financial institutions for decision-making and for evaluating international contractors.