Abstract

SILVA, Susana Costa e  and  SOUSA, Maria João de. Consortia in the internationalization of construction firms: a case study. Rev. Portuguesa e Brasileira de Gestão [online]. 2009, vol.8, n.2, pp.51-63. ISSN 1645-4464.

The choice, use and management of foreign operation modes are an important component of international business strategy, which has been widely studied within international business literature. However, amongst the entry modes, there is one that has been receiving less attention: consortia. This study intends to answer the question of «how» to internationalize, anticipating the consortium as the most feasible way for construction firms to enter in certain markets. The reasons which determine its choice are related with aspects concerning the specificity of the projects, markets and of the firm in question. In the first part of the study, is introduced the revision of literature already existing about consortia as an entry mode and a tool of internationalization used by construction firms, resulting in a framework which reveals the motivations that lead to their choice. In the second part, it is presented the case study of Mota-Engil, as a potential source of valuable information which may contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon under study. The case-study allows corroborating the motivations found to create the consortia. The study culminates with a combination of contributions, limitations and suggestions for future researches.

Keywords : Consortia; Entry Modes; Internationalization; Construction.

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