Interenterprise Collaboration Network in International Construction Projects: Evidence from Chinese Construction Enterprises

Abstract

With the globalization and liberalization of the construction market, an increasing number of construction enterprises enter the international market to expand their business. In this process, these enterprises seek to collaborate with others to share the risks and profits associated with international construction projects. However, the characteristics of the resulting collaboration network of construction enterprises, including large enterprises (LEs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the influence of network attributes on enterprise performance remain unclear. To bridge this gap, social network analysis (SNA) and a statistical analysis approach were employed to assess 251 cases of international construction projects that were implemented collaboratively by 156 Chinese construction enterprises from 2000 to 2016. The results show that (1) LEs tend to establish large and dense collaborative relationship networks, whereas SMEs are more willing to maintain small and sparse collaborative relationship networks; (2) compared with SMEs, LEs are the foci of the collaboration network and have higher influence within the network; and (3) direct ties, indirect ties, outdegree, betweenness centrality, and triads have a significant positive impact on the performance of LEs, whereas closeness centrality, structural holes, and triads have a significant negative effect on the performance of SMEs. These findings provide a reference for construction enterprises to develop efficient international collaborative strategies by identifying network attributes and focusing on network development.