Marketing management functions of construction companies: Evidence from turkish contractors

Gul Polat*, Umit Donmez

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Globalization, the restructuring of the world economy, changes experienced in project financing and delivery systems, the pervasive utilization of information and communication technologies (ICT), and the intensity of the competition prevailing in the market compel contractors to rethink the competitive forces and client expectations, which in turn necessitate a well planned marketing orientation for business planning. The Turkish construction industry is not different from the global construction industry in the context of intense competitiveness as Turkish contractors do not only undertake projects in the domestic market but also in foreign markets including the Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa, Middle East, Europe, Asia, etc. They also often face intense competition from local and foreign companies such as U.S., Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, U.K., and Korean contractors. Given the intense competition, effective marketing of their services is imperative for Turkish contractors in achieving competitive advantage. This study explores the marketing management functions of Turkish construction companies and the extent to which they carry out traditional marketing practices via a questionnaire survey of 71 Turkish contractors. The survey results revealed that Turkish contractors made use of marketing management functions to some extent, yet responding contractors did not attach adequate importance to differentiating their products/services from the products/services offered by their competitors. Since achieving client satisfaction by means of product and/or service differentiation is the ultimate goal, Turkish contractors should carryout all of the traditional marketing practices in order to differentiate themselves in the market, and thereby create competitive advantage.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)267-277
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Civil Engineering and Management
Volume16
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 May 2010

Funding

Gul POLAT serves as Associate Professor in the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. She conducted her PhD studies at Istanbul Technical University and Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Her main areas of research interest include off-site manufacturing (e.g., precast concrete systems), marketing management, process modeling (e.g., simulation methods), business process reengineering, resource management, and most aspects of construction management. She has been involved with several research projects funded by Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Feyzi Akkaya Fund for Supporting Scientific Activities (FABED), and other construction industry agencies. Her research work over the years has resulted in 47 technical papers in refereed journals and proceedings. She is a member of Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers and Lean Thinking Association.

FundersFunder number
Feyzi Akkaya Fund for Supporting Scientific Activities
FABED
Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi

    Keywords

    • Construction companies
    • Marketing management
    • Questionnaire
    • Turkey

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