Abstract

The construction sector continues to experience significant challenges brought by new techniques and technologies. There is a dire need for construction companies to address critical issues concerning changing environmental conditions, construction innovations, market globalization and many other aspects, thereby enhancing their competitiveness edge. The existing literature shows that competitiveness approaches do not address current challenges. Thus, the primary goal for this research is to develop an evaluation model that would consider all essential factors in determining the competitiveness index of construction companies and so aid in their growth and development.

In this research three new pillars (3P) for competitiveness are introduced: (1) Non-Financial Internal Pillar; (2) Non-Financial External Pillar; and (3) Financial Pillar. This concept can help construction companies manage short-term and long-term strategic plans and goals. The 3P includes 6 categories and 26 factors incorporated and defined by the assessment model for measuring competitiveness. This research also rests upon a questionnaire that was sent globally to generate two sets of information which are the factors affiliated thresholds and the weights for the identified factors using the Fuzzy Analytical Network Process (FANP) which was required to reduce the uncertainty inherited from the judgment of the respondents and the factors affiliated thresholds. Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) technique was implemented using the weight of factors and their associated thresholds as an input. PROMETHEE was then used as a ranking technique to rank any given construction company by determining its competitiveness index.
The proposed evaluation model was validated through five cases studies that reveal its potential of illustrating detailed analysis with respect to the competitiveness ability of construction companies. A graphical user interface was developed for providing a competitiveness index for any construction company and rank companies relative to one another. It is anticipated that the proposed evaluation model can be used in decision making process by all parties involved in construction projects. Contractors can use the evaluation model in making better decisions regarding the markup values. Employers can also use the same model in the evaluation process of contractors.