Exploring the Impact of Collaboration on Competitive Advantage in Construction Groups

Abstract

This work was motivated by the premise that new competitive advantages in the international economy are increasingly enabled by the collaborative industrial system rather than working alone. Construction firms are transforming from contractors to integration service providers. However, existing studies on collaborative processes ignore the value attributes of the firm. This study aims to explore a comprehensive framework by complementing the value attribute perspective and empirically reveals the impact of six necessary collaboration factors on competitive advantage. Data of 192 respondents from seven leading Chinese construction Groups based in China are collected. The results show that the two macro elements (i.e., Value Reconfiguration and Strategy Congruence) act together on the remaining four endogenous variables of Resource Sharing, Information Sharing, Organizational Integration and External Integration. The realization of enterprise collaboration has a significant positive impact on the improvement of its competitive advantage, and 13 critical paths are identified in this paper. This paper provides a new perspective on the theoretical system of collaboration and practical guidance for enterprise to provide a higher-quality package of services.