doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7920-4_S1-C36-cd

ABSTRACT

The globalization of business brings new opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in construction industry in newly industrialized countries (NICs) and developing countries. The need for local expertise is obvious when a company does business in the international arena. Improving the skills of SMEs in construction industry of host countries is expected to facilitate their cooperation with entrant firms. Therefore it is important to highlight the factors affecting the integration of SMEs to global business practices. The study reviews the factors that need to be taken into consideration to elevate the business skills of SMEs in construction industry. The affecting factors are identified in the context of Turkey’s business environment. The identified factors are technology skills, firm’s specialty that can be used in integrated project delivery, project management skills, business development and strategic planning abilities. This study is of relevance to practitioners as it highlights the important issues that construction companies from industrialized countries would face when they consider NICs and developing countries for business. It is also relevant to researchers whose interests lie on SMEs in the construction industry, especially in NICs and developing countries.

Keywords: SMEs, Construction, Globalization, NICs, Developing countries.

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