Charles Y.J. Cheah and David A.S. Chew
To provide a structured and integrated framework of corporate strategy in order to help practitioners and researchers identify critical issues related to the Chinese construction…
Abstract
Purpose
To provide a structured and integrated framework of corporate strategy in order to help practitioners and researchers identify critical issues related to the Chinese construction industry and analyze its dynamics from a holistic viewpoint.
Design/methodology/approach
A brief review of the major themes of strategy mostly developed by western researchers is first presented. This is then supplemented by a review of the pertinent characteristics of the construction industry in general, and those related to China's context in specific, which affect management decision‐making. Two case studies are used to illustrate the concepts implied by the proposed framework.
Findings
The cases of Guangsha and the Shanghai Construction Group demonstrate that there is no hard and fast rule in developing a coherent strategy. This is even truer considering the fact that China's circumstances are still evolving.
Practical implications
The critical elements identified in the proposed framework serve as a good starting point for individual firms to further develop a more detailed execution plan.
Originality/value
This paper bridges a management gap that exists between mainstream management researchers, who have few precedence of studying the construction industry, and traditional construction management researchers, who tend to focus on project‐level issues rather than corporate‐level issues.
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Jian Kang, Charles Y.J. Cheah, David A.S. Chew and Guozhi Liu
The purpose of this paper is to examine a series of environmental factors and industrial conditions governing the construction industry in China. The outcome of this part of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine a series of environmental factors and industrial conditions governing the construction industry in China. The outcome of this part of the analysis sheds light on the development of appropriate competitive strategies and important resources and competencies (IRCs) to establish long‐term competitive advantages.
Design/methodology/approach
The overarching conceptual framework consists of both external and internal analyses. Since, the scope of work is very broad, the materials presented in this paper is limited to external analysis of environmental factors. The study is primarily derived from a literature review and synthesis of data gathered from various public sources. Certain parts of the analysis utilize frameworks developed by other researchers and selective statistical methods.
Findings
Some environmental factors, such as government intervention and legal and regulatory systems require the development of Guanxi (relationships) to cope with. Other factors including market structure, project procurement systems, horizontal market segments related to construction, regional characteristics and upstream and downstream functions within the construction value chain are suggestive of five potential types of competitive strategies: cost leadership, differentiation, market/product diversification, geographical diversification, and vertical/functional integration.
Research limitations/implications
The research study as a whole is targeted at large construction firms in China that belong to the First class qualification category. Therefore, the proposed competitive strategies and IRCs may not be applicable to small and medium construction enterprises.
Originality/value
Application of strategic management theories and empirical findings related to the Chinese construction industry is lacking. This research fills this gap and builds a foundation for future studies related to this industry.
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David A.S. Chew, Shigang Yan and Charles Y.J. Cheah
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between a number of variables pertaining to core capability, competitive strategy and performance of construction small to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between a number of variables pertaining to core capability, competitive strategy and performance of construction small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) in China.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper consists of a quantitative survey. It involves mainly the development of instrument and testing of the hypotheses.
Findings
Core capability and competitive strategy are found to influence construction SMEs' performance. Moreover, there are positive relationships between core capability and competitive strategy. This suggests a need to align core capability and competitive strategy as a precondition for superior performance.
Research limitations/implications
The paper has limitations as a result of data collection. A somewhat larger sample would obviously permit firmer conclusions to be drawn from the results of the statistical analysis.
Originality/value
This paper will contribute to the literature on SMEs, strategic management and resource‐based theory. This integration of scope is particularly new to the context of the Chinese construction industry. Similarly, this research will have implications for practice. The research findings help SMEs' managers to understand the impact of the unique resources of their enterprises and competitive strategy.
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Government appointed and sponsored committees of every description—select, ad hoc, advisory, inquiry—such a prominent feature of the public scene since the last War, are…
Abstract
Government appointed and sponsored committees of every description—select, ad hoc, advisory, inquiry—such a prominent feature of the public scene since the last War, are understandable, even acceptable, reflect the urgency of the times in which we live. In the gathering gloom of more recent twilight years, they have flourished inordinately, especially in the socio‐political field, where most of their researches have been conducted. Usually embellished with the name of the figure‐head chairman, almost always expensively financed, they have one thing in common—an enormous output of words, telling us much of what we already know. So much of it seems dull, meaningless jargon, reflecting attitudes rather than sound, general principles.
Some months ago a national organisation established to keep a watchful eye on the Nation's diet expressed concern over the eating trends of people in what to them appeared to be…
Abstract
Some months ago a national organisation established to keep a watchful eye on the Nation's diet expressed concern over the eating trends of people in what to them appeared to be developing inbalances of necessary nutrient factors and the inadeuacy not so much of calories and energy values but in the nature and quality of main food factors. It was recommended that the national diet should be improved, but the authorities pointed to the National Food Survey results to show that the diet was not deficient; that the average daily intake of protein, vitamins, minerals and overall energy requirements were satisfied; all of which is true for the not‐too‐generous levels set. Even the pensioner households included in the Survey sample appear well‐fed. What causes concern is the year‐by‐year decrease in staple foods consumed—milk, red meat, bread, fresh vegetables—and the heavy reliance on refined, processed foods. In its annual reports on NFS reviews, the BFJ has almost monotonously referred to this downward trend. Individual NFS Reports do not reveal any serious deficiencies, as yet, but in the trend over the years—and herein lies the real value of the Survey and its data—few if any of the changes have been for the better; movements in food groups have tended to be downwards. If these trends continue, the time must surely come when there will be real deficiencies; that substitution within a food group cannot make good essential foods severely rationed by high prices.
David V. Power and Rebekah J. Pratt
This paper's aim is to describe the health experiences of a recently arrived group of refugees, the Karen from Burma, in an American midwestern city.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper's aim is to describe the health experiences of a recently arrived group of refugees, the Karen from Burma, in an American midwestern city.
Design/methodology/approach
Four focus groups were conducted in their native language with 40 Karen refugees: one group of ten Sgaw Karen speaking men and one of women, one of East Pwo Karen speaking men and one of women. The focus groups and two additional individual interviews were coded using NVivo‐9.
Findings
The findings emphasize the significant communication barriers experienced by the Karen. The data provide rich insights into the struggles being experienced by these new Americans in their own words and highlight some of their differences from previous Asian refugees.
Research limitations/implications
These data are derived from focus groups with refugees in one city in the USA with few available demographic details. Their experiences and observations may not apply to other Burmese refugee groups in other cities and countries.
Practical implications
The data emphasize the complexity of language of this group of Burmese refugees which acts as a significant barrier to accessing health care. Poor or improper interpretation has increased obstacles. Data indicate that many struggle with simple health care tasks that are likely taken for granted by most providers. There appears to be more alcohol and tobacco usage amongst both genders than in other recently arrived Asian groups.
Originality/value
This is original research, which supplements a prior chart review and overview paper by the first author and supplements the otherwise scant literature on this group outside Asia.
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Those who move among the people with their eyes open will not doubt that the number of non‐smokers is increasing, but mostly among older adults. Sales of cigarettes, despite the…
Abstract
Those who move among the people with their eyes open will not doubt that the number of non‐smokers is increasing, but mostly among older adults. Sales of cigarettes, despite the ban on advertising and the grim warning printed on packets, do not reflect this however, which can only mean that those who still smoke are the heavy smokers. This is a bad sign; as is the fact that youngsters, including a high percentage of those at school, openly flaunt the habit. The offence of using tobacco or any other smoking mixture or snuff while handling food or in any food room in which there is open food (Reg. 10(e)), remains one of the common causes of prosecutions under the Food Hygiene Regulations; it has not diminished over the years. The commonest offenders are men and especially those in the butchery trade, fishmongers and stall‐holders, but, here again, to those who move around, the habit seems fairely widespread. Parts of cigarettes continue to be a common finding especially in bread and flour confectionery, but also in fresh meat, indicating that an offence has been committed, and only a few of the offenders end up in court. Our purpose in returning to the subject of smoking, however, is not to relate it to food hygiene but to discuss measures of control being suggested by the Government now that advertising bans and printed health warnings have patently failed to achieve their object.
At the Royal Society of Health annual conference, no less a person than the editor of the B.M.A.'s “Family Doctor” publications, speaking of the failure of the anti‐smoking…
Abstract
At the Royal Society of Health annual conference, no less a person than the editor of the B.M.A.'s “Family Doctor” publications, speaking of the failure of the anti‐smoking campaign, said we “had to accept that health education did not work”; viewing the difficulties in food hygiene, there are many enthusiasts in public health who must be thinking the same thing. Dr Trevor Weston said people read and believed what the health educationists propounded, but this did not make them change their behaviour. In the early days of its conception, too much was undoubtedly expected from health education. It was one of those plans and schemes, part of the bright, new world which emerged in the heady period which followed the carnage of the Great War; perhaps one form of expressing relief that at long last it was all over. It was a time for rebuilding—housing, nutritional and living standards; as the politicians of the day were saying, you cannot build democracy—hadn't the world just been made “safe for democracy?”—on an empty belly and life in a hovel. People knew little or nothing about health or how to safeguard it; health education seemed right and proper at this time. There were few such conceptions in France which had suffered appalling losses; the poilu who had survived wanted only to return to his fields and womenfolk, satisfied that Marianne would take revenge and exact massive retribution from the Boche!
The growing range of EEC Directives and Regulations for food products, some of which have never been subject to statutory control in this country, with compositional standards…
Abstract
The growing range of EEC Directives and Regulations for food products, some of which have never been subject to statutory control in this country, with compositional standards, and in particular, prescribed methods of analysis — something which has not featured in the food legislative policies here — must be causing enforcement authorities and food processors to think seriously, if as yet not furiously. Some of the prescribed methods of analysis are likely to be less adaptable to modern processing methods of foods and as Directives seem to be requiring more routine testing, there is the matter of cost. Directive requirements are to some extent negotiable — the EEC Commission allow for regional differences, e.g., in milk and bread — but it has to be remembered that EEC Regulations bind Member‐states from the date of notification by the Commission, over‐riding the national law. Although not so frequently used for food legislation, they constitute one of the losses of sovereign power, paraded by the anti‐market lobby. Regulations contain usual clauses that they “shall enter into force on the day following publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities” and that they “shall be binding in their entirety and directly applicable in all Member States”.