Critical review of the success factors of strategic alliances in the UK construction industry

Hameed, W; Abbott, C

Abstract

With an increasingly competitive environment in the world and in the UK particularly, industries that are operating today face many complex technological challenges with regards to both hard and soft systems. Consequently, skills and knowledge are required, that are better accessed by firms through strategic alliances, which allow individual firms to jointly leverage their comparative advantages to gain an edge. This has now become a fundamental business strategy in several industries, where individual firms that are less competitive are forming strategic alliances to compete. In other industries, the resource-based and transaction cost theories show that strategic alliances are insufficient; when assets and capabilities are acquired and where internal contracts and investment are not efficient. Due to the lack of empirical data in this field particularly regarding strategic alliances in the UK, this paper provides a critical literature review that discusses the nature of strategic alliances in general and aims to identify the theoretical factors that influence alliance success in construction. These factors are divided into five categories: trust, commitment, knowledge sharing, communication & IT technology and dependency. This research, therefore, identifies the fundamental success factors of strategic alliances, through a systemic examination of a strategic alliance literature review. It is intended to further test these factors in a range of case studies.

Citation

Hameed, W., & Abbott, C. (2017, September). Critical review of the success factors of strategic alliances in the UK construction industry. Presented at 13th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC), University of Salford, UK

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: 13th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC)
• Conference Location: University of Salford, UK
• Start Date: Sep 14, 2017
• End Date: Sep 15, 2017
• Publication Date: Sep 15, 2017
• Deposit Date: Oct 9, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 9, 2017
• Publisher URL: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/43913/
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference