Welcome to another copy of The International Journal for
Construction Marketing. I am happy to say that the high standard
of papers seen in past editions of this journal continues. The interest
in construction marketing as a separate research area within the
construction research field is increasing. Evidence of this is seen
in the increasing submissions of quality papers to this journal
and in the growing participation of people at the International
Construction Marketing conferences. The papers in this edition again
show the broad and rich nature of this valuable research area.
There are five papers in this edition, from five different countries,
looking at five areas within construction marketing. Each paper
is unique in the way in which it tries to develop our understanding
of how marketing affects different aspects of the construction
business, or how construction business is affected by different
marketing strategies.
The first paper by Mark Hall, marries research in construction
culture with research in construction marketing. Mark argues that
in order for companies to market their products and services internationally,
they must pay attention to cultural differences. Through a series
of case studies, Mark's paper illustrates how some UK companies
are failing to address cultural differences, such as ethical differences,
when marketing their services and he develops our understanding
of how this affects business.
The second paper, by A. R. Abdul Aziz also deals with relationships
between various parties, this time between players in the Malaysian
construction industry. Abdul-Aziz's paper examines the problems
that have arisen in the privatization of Malaysian highways. He
argues that failure to adequately consult with various stakeholders,
in particular end users, when developing a toll charge structure
for their highways has led to adverse public opinion, directed
at the government. This has led to the government having to reexamine
relationships with the end users and businesses to make the system
more workable and, as he puts it, "consumer-amenable".
Chantal Scoubeau's paper gives us a more holistic view of marketing
strategies adopted internationally and applied to the Belgium
construction industry. Chantal's paper discusses how, in Belgium,
the Business Intelligence System is being applied and how it can
assist businesses to be more successful.
The fourth paper, by R.J. van Eijk and H.J.H. Brouwers shows
us how by the strategic marketing of secondary materials these
can be introduced into the construction industry. The authors
detail two main problems that need to be overcome when introducing
these materials: the need for certification of the material and
the need for good collaboration between suppliers and user. The
authors discuss some ways in which these problems can be solved.
The final paper by M. Motair Rahman and Mohan M. Kumaraswamy
again stresses the importance of developing good relationships
between parties on a construction project; this time using Hong
Kong and China as a background to the study. Their work discusses
how using relational contracting can improve joint risk management,
and also how, by paying attention to forming and improving relationships,
transaction and overall costs can be reduced.
Many thanks to the review team at The University of Auckland,
for their effort: Robert Amor, Margot Buchanan-Oliver, Gary Mason
and Rosemary Scofield. Thanks also to the other reviewers of papers
and to the team at Oxford Brookes University for their hard work
in mounting the editions. This is my last edition as editor; I
hope you enjoy the read!
Suzanne Wilkinson
Guest Editor
The University of Auckland
February 2002
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