Application of home-country joint venture (HJV) for international construction contractors

Abstract

Home-country joint venture (HJV) is one of the strategies contractors can use to venture into the international construction market. In this method, contractors from the same country join to undertake a project in a host country. However, this method is not common among contractors compared with other methods. For instance, among many overseas construction projects executed by Malaysian contractors, less than 1% of projects were completed as HJV. The purpose of this paper is to understand why this method is not common and to determine its potential benefits. For this purpose, qualitative interviews were conducted with experts from Malaysian international contractor companies. The findings highlight the reasons why HJV is not common and the factors that facilitate HJV application among contractors. Factors facilitate the application of HJV include develop strategy for partnering, plan for HJV and risk, select the right partner and others. These factors are categorized into three main project management processes, which are HJV planning, HJV execution and HJV monitoring and control. The findings of this paper can promote the application of joint venture among contractors for successful construction projects and sustainable business in the international market.