Jacqueline Cannon - Böcker

'A refreshing and useful addition to the folklore of management. It covers, in addition to the selection of objectives and the methods for their achievement, policies on growth and diversification, finance, marketing and bidding, international operations, management and labour and subcontracting.

Can the construction industry cope with the challenges of the future? This book presents an analysis of the state of large construction companies. It focuses on the changes in their environment and behaviour from the boom conditions of the late 1980s. It also examines the decline in the firm's traditional markets and their attempt to develop others, the disastrous financial experiences of the early 1990s, the changes in strategies and structures, and in the management of the firms. It is based on published data and interviews with senior executives of 20 major firms.

Bringing together those aspects of modern theories of economics and management which are of particular relevance to the strategic behaviour of major construction firms, this book is aimed at the non-specialist reader. It analyzes the different behaviour of firms due to the special characteristics of the construction industry. After a chapter setting the scene for the relevant theories, the book launches into a discussion of business objectives and strategy of which diversification and international strategy are major components. This links in to financial policy, because it is the special financial aspects of contracting which partly determine market policy and diversification into contracting. Further chapters focus on the management structure of contracting organizations and the behaviour of managers and manpower management. Finally the major difference between the pricing behaviour of contracting firms and that of firms in other industries is emphasized. A companion volume by the same authors is also available - "The Modern Construction Firm".