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Although construction is a project-based industry, management focus has recently shifted from projects to project portfolios to meet strategic objectives of companies that require holistic analysis of the projects undertaken. Dependencies between projects within a portfolio need to be taken into consideration since they may significantly affect the portfolio success with their combined effects. There are limited studies in the area of construction project portfolio management that investigate how the dependencies between projects can be handled. In this paper, a method is presented to calculate and visualize project dependencies to support decision making process within a portfolio management tool for construction projects. Within this context, a dependency map is proposed not only to identify different dependencies and their effects within the portfolio, but also to take into consideration the combined effect of dependencies. An illustrative case study is depicted in the paper to demonstrate how the proposed method works and how its results can be used to support decision-making during portfolio selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalized competition and customer needs forced construction companies to measure their performance beyond the financial measures such as profitability, turnover, etc. As qualitative determinants were added to measurement systems, their investigation and evaluation became a major area of research. In this study, the impact of “resources and capabilities,” “strategic decisions,” “project management competencies,” and “strength of relationships with other parties” on “company performance” was investigated. A questionnaire survey was administered to 73 Turkish contractors and the results of the survey were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that, as expected, resources and capabilities and strategic decisions have an important and direct impact on company performance, whereas project management competencies and strength of relationships with other parties impact company performance only indirectly, through their impact on companies’ resources and capabilities and strategic decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint ventures have been an important research topic over the last few decades primarily because of their importance as a strategic alternative in global competition. Due to the inherent complexities of international joint ventures (IJVs), involving a mixture of different managerial systems, attitudes, and business strategies, such entities are very difficult to manage. In this study, the effect of strategic, organizational, and cultural fit between IJV partners and of interpartner relations on IJV performance is examined through a questionnaire survey. IJV performance is measured by means of two constructs: “project performance” and “performance of IJV management.” The results point out the significance of the quality of partner relations for a successful IJV operation. Findings of the study also suggest that the level of organizational fit between the partners has a moderate influence on IJV performance. It was observed that strategic fit between IJV partners affects interpartner relations extensively, which in turn affects IJV performance. IJV partners with compatible technical and managerial skills, financial resources, organizational size, workload, and project experiences are expected to achieve greater IJV success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]