Contingency-Based Approach to Firm Performance in Construction: Critical Review of Empirical Research

Abstract

In management literature, a fundamental research question is why some companies succeed while others fail. The contingency-based approach proposes that organizational performance is a consequence of the fit between a set of contingencies, e.g., structure, people, technology, strategy, and culture. This approach has been adopted implicitly and increasingly by construction management (CM) researchers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of contingency thinking, theoretical and analytical issues of its application, and the measurement of firm performance in the empirical research in construction. After reviewing the literature of firm performance research approaches in construction, firm performance measurement in the empirical research, and contingency theory, a total of 36 empirical papers addressing firm performance in construction are reviewed in-depth and their content is analyzed. These papers are selected from four leading journals in construction: ASCE