Strategic management for construction contractors

This paper describes on-going research into strategic planning practices within British construction companies. The study focuses on the internal activities that contractors undertake to establish their corporate strategies. Previous studies of construction strategic planning have generally focused on either the analysis of industries trends, or corporate strategies as viewed from outside the construction organisation. The results of a preliminary survey and an extensive literature search have revealed that most construction contractors take an informal approach to planning in the long-term. A more systematic and formalised approach for undertaking such a planning exercise should bring about unity of purpose in the strategies, and also ensure improved monitoring of deviations and appropriate early actions. The research method combines both the primary methods of case studies, interviews and questionnaire surveys, with the secondary methods of academic and industry literary reviews; together with the analysis of specific corporate records to elicit information on the activities, participants and issues addressed in formulating strategic plans. An initial simple case study provides the background to the more robust interview surveys.