The Economics of the Modern Construction Firm

Gruneberg, Stephen; Ive, Graham J.

doi:10.1057/9780230510432

Cited by 60 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…personnel on site (Clarke 1992, 46-60;Gruneberg and Ive 2000). For the German contractors on our case study projects this remains the case; these still have large production departments.…”

Section: Cost and Production Divisions In British And German Firmsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Cost vs. production: disparities in social housing construction in Britain and Germany

Clarke¹,

Herrmann

2004

Construction Management and Economics

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This paper is about the qualitatively different nature of the labour process in the British construction industry compared with that in Germany. The rationale of the British system is based on controlling costs through overseeing contract relations, themselves circumscribing a range of narrow, clearly defined and priced tasks.The production process has become secondary and production expertise restricted.In contrast, in Germany cost aspects are incorporated into, rather than separated from, the production system, built on the interaction of capital and labour and on a high level of production expertise. Employment relations rather than contract relations predominate and circumscribe a set of skills drawn from the potential of the labour force and dependent on broad-based vocational education.The paper is based on a detailed investigation of social housebuilding projects in Britain and Germany. It is the first of two papers concerned with the overriding cost rationale of the British construction process at the expense of considerations of production. The effects of this is examined here in terms of the structure of expertise and skills within firms, the nature of the subcontracting and the 2 composition of the construction team. The paper shows the need for more and a qualitatively different constellation of skills, professional and operative, in Britain. It thus contributes to the debate on achieving a higher skills equilibrium (Crouch et al. 1999;Brown et al. 2001), expands transnational sector comparisons (Stewart 1994)

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“…personnel on site (Clarke 1992, 46-60;Gruneberg and Ive 2000). For the German contractors on our case study projects this remains the case; these still have large production departments.…”

Section: Cost and Production Divisions In British And German Firmsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Cost vs. production: disparities in social housing construction in Britain and Germany

Clarke¹,

Herrmann

2004

Construction Management and Economics

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“…This invokes the attribution problem, which is necessary to assess the strategic benefits of differentiation and competitive advantage (cf. Gruneberg and Ive, 2000). Rust et al (2004) propose a broader conception to include return on quality, advertising, loyalty, and corporate citizenship.…”

Section: The Level Of the Project Businessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cova and Salle, 2011). On the output side, margins are of limited use in most project markets (Gruneberg and Ive, 2000), for example the percentage mark up on projects is low and sometimes negative for survival reasons during economic downturns (Skitmore and Smyth, 2007). Final accounts and gross margins are subject to long time lags.…”

Section: The Qualitative Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in decision-making criteria towards the return on marketing investment: A project business perspective

Smyth

Lecoeuvre

2015

International Journal of Project Management

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Assessing the value of marketing to a business remains a thorny issue in theory and practice. Decision-making at the finance-marketing interface is under-researched, particularly for project businesses. Confronted by demands of accountability concerning the allocation of resources to meet competitive pressures, the paper examines the quality and extent of dialogue in investment decision-making. The return on investment (ROI) and marketing-specific investment (ROMI) are important factors at the marketing-finance interface. ROMI/ROI is examined from quantitative and qualitative viewpoints. The empirical evidence shows that short-term financial criteria dominate and are misaligned to long-term performance of project businesses and business units. Marketing investment in relation to project markets poses a particularly challenging environment. Client lifetime value and programme data sets for ROMI coupled with qualitative decision-making offer ways forward with constructive dialogue at the finance-marketing interface. The paper concludes with detailed recommendations for research and practice.

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“…Consequently, the decision to 'buy' from market is largely based on purchasing situations where commercial exchange is uncomplicated and asset specificity is typically very low (Gruneberg and Ive, 2000).…”

Section: Building On a Foundation Of Organizational Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsidiaries of large construction conglomerates providing specialized products (for example, off-site production methods) or demonstrating a unique and expert service provision (for example, BIM) disclose an immediate economic advantage. Industry competitors would need to incorporate the full cost of specialist acquisition, complete with associated operational risks within the project tender price (Gruneberg and Ive, 2000).…”

Section: Supply Chain Management In Construction: Hierarchiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theory to practice: A typology of supply chain management in construction

Tennant

Fernie

2014

International Journal of Construction Management

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Supply chain management in construction continues to attract considerable academic and industry interest. With its origin in manufacturing, successful implementation of supply chain management is argued to enhance customer value whilst simultaneously reducing business costs. In the UK construction industry, supply chain management strategies remain largely synonymous with best practice initiatives such as construction partnering, strategic alliances and more recently construction framework agreements. In contrast to this arguably misleading and impoverished viewpoint, the purpose of this research is to develop fresh perspectives and present a contextually sympathetic typology of supply chain management in construction.Drawing on new organizational institutionalism, economic governance and transactional cost economics (TCE), the utility and performance of supply chain management in construction is portrayed as rational choice among multiple strategies, instrumentally bound by contract and context. This contextually sensitive interpretation of supply chain management captures complex, diverse and often unique characteristics of construction practice. Challenging mainstream assessment of supply chain management can clearly help construction stakeholders focus attention on discrete supply chain strategies that best suit their organizational and project needs.

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The Economics of the Modern Construction Firm

Cited by 60 publications

References 1 publication

Cost vs. production: disparities in social housing construction in Britain and Germany

Cost vs. production: disparities in social housing construction in Britain and Germany

Differences in decision-making criteria towards the return on marketing investment: A project business perspective

Theory to practice: A typology of supply chain management in construction

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