Drivers for international construction joint ventures adoption: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Recognizing that there exist discrete sets of factors driving the adoption of international construction joint ventures (ICJVs) for different countries, organizations, and stakeholders, this study aims to identify the driving factors, and integrate them into a classification framework for better understanding. The Virtual Libraries (VLs) of respective journals were accessed directly to retrieve the related papers for the study. Popular search engines such as Google Scholar, the Web of Science, and Engineering Village were also used to complement the search process. From the review, universal drivers that promote the adoption of ICJV have been identified for policymakers and stakeholders’ realization. The UK, Australia, Singapore, Turkey, and China have been the top countries noted for pioneering ICJV drivers’ research. While the bulk of studies has come from developed countries, developing countries have also made a significant contribution. A conceptual framework has been developed to guide, determine, and assess the success of ICJVs based on 47 identified drivers. The framework consists of five major constructs of ICJV drivers: legal and market-driven drivers, strategic vision drivers, organizational and personal goal drivers, relationship building and operational success drivers, and capacity building drivers. These drivers act as a blueprint for the parties to the venture and could be used to determine the success and failure dynamics of ICJVs. The developed framework serves as a guide for all industry practitioners and decision-makers interested in adopting an ICJV. Further, it can facilitate the development of appropriate and effective policies by government agencies to promote the adoption of ICJVs. Moreover, the checklist and framework provide a strong foundation for researchers to conduct a further empirical investigation on the topic.

Keywords:

• Benefits
• construction industry
• drivers
• international construction joint ventures
• literature review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This paper forms part of a large-scope Ph.D. study on Determinants of success for ICJVs in Ghana. The authors acknowledge that this paper shares a similar background and methodology with other related papers, but with different scopes and objectives. The authors acknowledge the Department of Building and Real Estate of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for funding this research. Finally, the authors are grateful to the editors and anonymous reviewers for providing constructive comments to enhance the quality of this paper.