A Cluster Analysis of Real Estate Business Models in China

Abstract

The globalized construction market has created strong completion among industry players. To remain competitive, the building developers are constantly in search of novel business models. As a result, diverse real estate business models have emerged and research into business model construct has also intensified. Despite the growing academic interest in the area, no commonly accepted definition and construct of real estate business models have yet been established. Also, there is a lack of quantitative studies of the real estate business models in China. The aim of this paper is thus to (1) identify the variables for studying the real estate business model; and (2) reveal the main streams of real estate business model in China. The research was carried out through the combination of a two-step cluster analysis of 117 real estate companies in China. The business model clusters were revealed using a number of variables including target customer, product, market orientation, finance, collaboration network, core capability and revenue. Five clusters of these companies were revealed: (1) commercial property model; (2) government-dominant model; (3) management-dominant model; (4) resource-dominant model; and (5) domestic leading model. The findings should help with understanding the complex profiles of real estate business models and support cross-context learning of the practices.