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The economic downturn in Nigeria calls for the need to appraise the survival strategies being adopted by organisations within the built environment, as it plays a major role in the development of every nation. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to appraise the survival strategies of organisations within the built environment, with a view to showcasing these strategies to ensure continuous survival of organisations within the industry.

The study adopted a survey approach, and construction professionals across the six geo-political zones of the country were sampled using structured questionnaire. Data gathered were analysed using percentage, Kruskal–Wallis H-test and factor analysis.

The study revealed that organisation- and workforce management-related strategies are the most adopted survival strategies in the country, as they have the highest factor loading and accounts for about 37 per cent of the total extracted factors. This is followed by the adoption of strategies relating to organisation’s innovation, diversification, financial management and organisation’s networking, the combination of which accounts for 27.5 per cent of all extracted factors.

Findings of this study imply that although organisations within the built environment see the need for effective management of their organisation and workforce in a bid to survive in the harsh economic situation of the country, more need to be done as regards the other identified survival strategies, as they can help ensure the survival of these organisations.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge as it showcases the survival strategies being adopted by the different organisations within the built environment in the challenging Nigerian economy, as against the usual common practice of studying specific organisations within the industry.

This paper aims to present the effect of innovation on implementing competitive strategies (CSs) and to find their relationships on the survival of construction-related small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in macroeconomic crises.

Data were compiled from construction SMEs in Turkey. The research used structural equation modeling to investigate the relationships between innovation, CSs and firm survival (FS).

Innovative construction SMEs may implement differentiation and focus strategies and survive without CSs, whereas innovation may be obtained through cost leadership strategy. Also, differentiation and focus strategies may play a role to survive. However, the cost leadership strategy may be implemented after survival. Finally, differentiation strategy may be triggered by innovation and focus strategies.

The model may be applied on other construction organizations. Future studies may also examine the difference in findings concerning other industries and regions. Moreover, different factors may be added to the model. However, a larger group of samples could cause different results.

This study may be a roadmap for practitioners to plan their firms’ strategies, considering innovation, CSs and FS. In this context, they may pay attention to innovative production processes to survive.

Survived SMEs may sustain their works through the prevention of crisis-based unemployment. Hence, this benefit may bring a wealthier society.

This research is first to propose a model connecting innovation and CSs for SMEs’ survival in macroeconomic crises. This is convenient for rivalry of SMEs planning to be long-lasting enterprises.

Disruption caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to the ways and manners businesses are conducted worldwide is phenomenon. The study therefore examined the survival strategies adopted by quantity surveying firms (QSFs) in Lagos State, Nigeria, with the intention of improving their performance.

This study used a systematic sampling method to select three QSFs from 20 local government areas in the state. Of the 60 QSFs contacted for interview, only 42 agreed to participate. A questionnaire was designed to collect the required qualitative information, which was then analyzed using content analysis.

The results revealed that the main survival strategies adopted by QSFs in Lagos State, Nigeria, during the COVID-19 disruptions were downsizing, contract staffing, salary cuts, work from home and service negotiation strategies.

Due to the chosen research approach, the research results may not be generalizable. The incidence of the pandemic and the socio-economic situation of the study area have to be considered.

The survival strategies employed by QSFs in Lagos Nigeria in the middle of COVID-19 are palliative (unsustainable) as the impact of the disruptions is biting hard on QSFs in Lagos Nigeria as such a more robust and sustainable method to enhance the performance of QSFs in the study area.

This study attempted to unearth the survival strategies of QSFs amidst COVID-19 in Lagos State, Nigeria, with the aim of improving the performance of such firms.

Due to its cost savings nature and ability to ensure constant jobs for contractors, this study aims to assess the capability of the labour-only procurement system to serve as a surviving strategy for construction contractors in a challenging economy.

The study adopted a mixed-methods design. An interview and questionnaire were used to harness information from 98 construction participants who have been involved in labour-only procured projects. These respondents were identified through snowballing. Frequency, percentage, mean item score, Mann–Whitney u-test and content analysis were used in analysing the data gathered.

Result revealed that participants are willing to execute more projects through this system because it gives considerable cost savings for clients and provides reduction in contractor’s risk and allows them to maintain healthy cash flow. The main factors influencing its usage are the client’s decision to procure materials, need for job at hand for contractors and the need for referrals from clients for subsequent jobs.

Findings of this study will assist contractors to understand the potential of this procurement system as a surviving option in a harsh economy. Small and medium contractors can make use of this available opportunity of having projects at hand at reduced risk to ensure continuous cash flow to keep their organisations afloat.

The contribution of this study to the body of knowledge lies in its provision of a reasonable insight on the inherent nature of a procurement system as a surviving strategy for contractors unlike the usual assessment of the generic survival strategies adopted in other studies.

The modern construction industry is highly competitive and cost driven, with tangible adversarial relationships between projects' contractual parties at individual and organisational levels; there are conflict of interest as people to survive. Accordingly, team leaders on construction megaprojects (CMPs) in multinational engineering organisations strive to survive in such competitive markets. The research’s aim is to investigate relationships between team leaders' tenure and management styles towards professional subordinates on CMPs and elaborate how corporate governance can optimally address this conflict of interest and adversarial relationships.

The research methodology adopted processes of inducting theory using case studies. A qualitative approach was adopted as a primary data collection and analysis source. It involved case studies through primary data collection in semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 38 professional subordinates (interviewees) to discuss impacts of team leaders' tenure on their management style (a five-team leader, case studies). The research methodology is based on building theories from case study grounded theory research methodologies.

The research introduced the notion that team leader survival syndrome is pronounced and evidenced by adversarial reactions towards new or experienced professional subordinates where team leaders perceive professional subordinates, especially at senior technical levels, as potential risks that jeopardise their positions and employment survival possibilities. The syndrome is proven based on real-life case studies; it is constant, tangible and serious disorder of attitudes and behaviours. Longer tenure stimulates and accelerates these phenomena and syndrome, with 58% of team leaders exhibiting such syndromes. Optimum employee tenure is between 7 and 10 years. Corporate governance provides good resolution practices.

The research implications are useful to construction industry and academia. However, the analysis is limited to the case studies considered in Canada and Qatar. Due to small sample size for both case studies and respondents to the questionnaire survey, it is recommended for future exploration to expand the scope of research to larger sample size and various demographic and geographical locations.

Corporates should acknowledge the presence of team leader survival syndromes. They should thoroughly investigate sociopolitical relationships behind it and seek to understand consequences on professional subordinates. Corporates should also adopt a 360-degree feedback system; they should limit trust given to team leaders in this regard to responsible trust, to eliminate manipulation. Team leaders are perceived as being not always truthful and misrepresent capabilities and performance of their professional subordinates to senior managers. Corporate governance holistic multidimensional perspectives are required to provide resolutions of team leader survival syndromes.

The research has discovered a phenomenon that team leaders on CMPs in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) organisations, prompted by virtue of long tenure in corporates or by power of their managerial level in organisations, perceive their professional subordinates, especially senior technical employees, as potential risks. It is thought promoting them would put their own positions and security of tenure at risk. Hence, team leaders act adversarially, to enhance their own survival prospects. This research introduced the novel team leader survival syndrome and introduced analyses, practical implications and recommendations.

Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in their efforts to develop and market new products. Looks at the issues from different strategic levels such as corporate, international, military and economic. Presents 31 case studies, including the success of Japan in microchips to the failure of Xerox to sell its invention of the Alto personal computer 3 years before Apple: from the success in DNA and Superconductor research to the success of Sunbeam in inventing and marketing food processors: and from the daring invention and production of atomic energy for survival to the successes of sewing machine inventor Howe in co‐operating on patents to compete in markets. Includes 306 questions and answers in order to qualify concepts introduced.

Literature suggests that there are sets of common variables that are capable of explaining organisational performance differentials. These variables are used to examine performance variance and its contribution to organisation profitability. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of large construction organisations’ performance in South Africa using a partial least squares path analytic method.

This study examines the interrelationship between a number of constructs, namely, organisational characteristics, resources/capabilities, competitive strategies, business environment and performance, using a questionnaire survey to obtain data from 72 large construction organisations in South Africa. Using a path analytic approach, the paper examines the relationship between the constructs discussed in the study.

The findings from the analysis of the data show that organisational characteristics do indeed influence the performance of organisations, and that the business environment is capable of moderating the relationship between competitive strategies and performance. The results, however, indicate that organisations that combine sustained organisational characteristics and strategy tend to experience high performance over those that do not.

The study findings have implications for management practice, as it could help managers of construction organisations to acknowledge the influence of organisational characteristics, unique resources/capabilities, competitive strategies and business environment as sources of competitive advantage. The study contributes to the current debate on the causes of performance differentials among large construction organisations.

The decision-making styles and strategies of organisations play significant roles in their competitive advantage and the achievement of superior performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of decision-making styles on the strength of the relationship between competitive strategy and organisational performance among large construction organisations based in South Africa.

The study focuses on large construction organisations in South Africa using a questionnaire survey to elicit information. The sample consists of 72 large construction organisations, and the measures of decision-making styles, competitive strategies and organisational performance used for the instrument utilised to elicit information were derived from the literature. Descriptive, parametric and multiple regression analyses were used to determine the effect of decision-making styles and competitive strategies on the organisations’ performance.

The results of the study show that organisations utilize all types of decision-making styles, but the most significantly adopted styles are analytical and directive. The study found that decision-making styles influence organisational performance through competitive strategies.

The research considered large construction organisations based in South Africa and operating in three provinces, where almost 75 per cent of all public projects are being implemented. The findings can be generalised to other large construction organisations functioning within the South African industry, because most of the organisations surveyed operate nationally. However, the findings may not be generalizable to the entire industry. Small and medium-sized organisations vary in terms of structure in relation to large organisations; hence, their decision-making styles may be different.

The study makes explicit the need to consider the role of different decision-making styles being practiced within organisations and how their moderating effect influences organisational performance beyond rational processes. A better understanding of this will enable organisations to achieve the total commitment of their staff to achieve superior performance.

The study contributes to the existing literature and body of knowledge on the strategic management of organisations. It underpins the assertion that decision-making styles and competitive strategies can influence organisational performance, and this is validated within the construction industry. Knowledge of the relationships between the variables measured in this paper will be beneficial to both owners and managers of construction organisations, because they provide the necessary information on how strategic decision-making styles influence the strategy adopted and, in turn, the organisational performance.

The importance of innovation has been increasingly highlighted in construction as a large and complex industry sector that is more challenging than ever before. To bridge the knowledge gap about how firm size affects innovation in construction, the purpose of this paper is to explore firm-level innovation through an empirical investigation and compare innovation in construction firms of different sizes in terms of drivers and strategies.

This research adopts a combination of a literature review, a group of qualitative interviews and a quantitative questionnaire survey. In this research, the questionnaire survey is the main instrument to collect empirical data. Main contractors, subcontractors and specialist contractors as well as suppliers of labor, material and equipment are used in this research to represent construction firms of different sizes. On the other hand, client organizations, design firms and management consultants are not included in this research.

This research provides clear evidence for the embrace of innovation in construction. Many forces can drive construction firms to innovate and many strategies can be applied to construction innovation. Innovation drivers can be either internal or external. On the other hand, innovation strategies fall into four categories: technology, resource, marketing and management. For innovation drivers and strategies, both commonalities and differences can be found among construction firms of different sizes.

The finding of commonalities describes the general trend of innovation development in construction. It also encourages all construction firms to innovate regardless of firm size. On the other hand, the finding of differences enables construction firms of different sizes to realize what forces better drive their innovation and what strategies are more appropriate for their innovation. A thorough understanding of innovation drivers and strategies offers an important framework for construction organizations and practitioners to pursue best practice.