Introduction
The concept of competitive advantage has been widely
studied in the academic field and applied to various industries
in many western countries. However, practical cases and
empirical findings related to the Chinese construction industry
remain lacking. To help construction enterprises in China
identify and structure critical sources of competitive
advantage, this research aims to build a conceptual model
based on the findings gathered from the case studies of 12
large Chinese construction companies. The relationships
among variables within the model are subsequently verified
and refined through statistical analyses of survey results,
which consist of 85 valid responses.
Essentially, the conceptual model combines two main streams
of strategic management theories – industrial organization
(IO) and resource-based view (RBV) theories. According to
Kale (1999)’s definition, competitive advantage refers to the
ability of a firm to outperform its rivals on some performance
criteria, such as profitability and market share. In the model,
which is shown in Figure 1, it is postulated that there are
two major sources of competitive advantage: competitive
strategies and imperative resources and competencies (iRCs).
This article presents the findings related to competitive
strategies and the analytical results of Hypothesis No. 1.

Authors:

Kang Jian (PG04220485@ntu.edu.sg)
Cheah Yuen Jen Charles (cyjcheah@ntu.edu.sg)
Chew Ah Seng David (caschew@ntu.edu.sg)

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