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International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) will fully realize their potential for success and effectively monitor performance when an adequate and suitable performance benchmark is established. However, existing studies fall short of adequately providing a mutually acceptable benchmark for assessing the performance of ICJVs. This study aims to develop an adequate and suitable performance measurement framework for ICJVs.

A twofold structured questionnaire survey, supplemented by semi-structured interviews, was used to collect data from the practitioners of ICJVs hosted in the developing country of Ghana. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a hybrid-fuzzy logic approach.

A list of 30 performance indicators (PIs), defined by project performance, perceived satisfaction, company/partner performance, socio-environmental performance and performance of ICJV management, was validated and proved to be significant. Only 22 out of the 30 PIs, focusing on project efficiency, societal improvement and organizational goals are realized by the ICJV practitioners. Further, suitable determinants and viable quantitative ranges for measuring each PI are established to prevent different interpretations of the meanings of PIs and objectively express the level of success in quantitative terms. The results call for further investigation of the convergence between the practice of and research into some PIs (e.g. socio-environmental performance) and a range of different performance levels (PLs) in a more scientific manner.

This study not only advances the knowledge base and practice of performance measurement in ICJVs but could also assist stakeholders and decision-makers to assess, compare and monitor the performance of different ICJV projects on common grounds objectively.

This study not only comprehensively assessed PIs – what to measure – but also systematically determined suitable determinants – how to measure – for each PI.

While previous studies have focused on identifying management control (MC) mechanisms in international construction joint ventures (ICJVs), the impacts of such MC mechanisms on the performance of ICJVs remain largely unknown. This study aims to investigate the impacts of MC mechanisms on the performance of ICJVs hosted in the developing country of Ghana.

Through a comprehensive review of the literature, a theoretical model was developed, and data were collected through a questionnaire survey with 190 project managers composed of Ghanaians/locals and their foreign partners of ICJVs. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Results showed that both personnel and support and training control mechanisms have a positive and significant impact on project and company/partner performance. Surprisingly, insignificant and negative impacts exist between both mechanisms and socioenvironmental and company/partner performance from the local partners' view, respectively; the reverse is rather true from the foreign partners' perspective.

This study contributes to the ICJV body of knowledge by analyzing the impacts of MC mechanisms on the ICJVs’ performance, enabling ICJVs frontliners (i.e. top managers) and project managers to better enhance their control structures and the ICJVs’ performance.

This is arguably the first study to take the bipartite perspective rather than the unilateral view of studying the impacts of MC mechanisms on the performance of ICJVs.

International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) implementation is plagued with several barriers, full understanding of which is still lacking due to a lack of an in-depth exploration of them, particularly in developing countries. To fill this knowledge gap, this study aims to investigate the critical barriers to the success of ICJVs hosted in developing countries by examining the Ghanaian case.

This study builds on a previous study that identified 37 barriers factors to ICJVs success via a systematic literature review. Through expert interviews, 34 potential barriers were identified, and a two-round survey was conducted with 84 ICJVs practitioners in Ghana. The data collected was analyzed using the combination of a multidimensional fuzzy logic method and confirmatory factor analysis.

Results showed that 22 barriers were critical. The top five most critical barriers were “lack of preparedness to accept company philosophy,” “competing objectives,” “opportunistic behavior of parties,” “conflicts” and “lack of management control.” Furthermore, the results uncovered and confirmed five significant underlying components for the 22 critical barriers, namely, organizational-related, cultural-related, knowledge-related, individual-related and logistics-related barriers.

The findings could be useful to ICJVs practitioners and policymakers in developing suitable strategies for the successful implementation of ICJVs. Further, foreign firms aiming to execute and promote ICJVs in Ghana could have prior knowledge of the critical barriers and prepare for them.

This study empirically analyzed the individual levels of barriers criticalities in ICJVs context and from a specific-country perspective – the developing country of Ghana – rather than in the context of construction joint ventures and from a cross-country perspective in extant studies.

International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) are an effective strategy for construction companies worldwide for delivering large and complex projects. Despite numerous ICJVs studies, there is a lack of comprehensive empirical examination of what drives ICJVs implementation. This study aims to investigate the key drivers for implementing ICJVs through an international survey.

Grounded on a comprehensive literature review and structured questionnaire survey, 123 ICJV experts' responses from 24 different countries/jurisdictions were analyzed using inferential and descriptive statistics. Mann–Whitney U test was used to determine any divergence of ranking of the drivers by the experts. Factor analysis (FA) was used to identify the clusters underlying the key drivers. Rank agreement analysis was later used to investigate the consensus between experts from developing and developed countries/jurisdictions on their ranking of the clusters.

Out of 34 factors, 26 factors greatly drive the implementation of ICJVs. Mann–Whitney U test results prove the absence of significant disparity among the experts in the ranking of the drivers. Six clusters were obtained through factor analysis (FA), namely, market-penetration and innovation-driven drivers, legal and market-driven drivers, fiscal incentives and market expansion drivers, personal branding drivers, sustainable advantage/power drivers and industrial and organizational promotion drivers. Rank agreement analysis exhibited varied levels of concurrence between professionals from developed and developing countries/jurisdictions.

The appreciation of the factors motivating ICJVs is beneficial to the successful implementation of ICJV strategies. A clear understanding of the drivers can help practitioners and policymakers to customize their ICJVs to reap the expected benefits.

The study has generated valuable insights into the factors that are greatly driving the implementation of ICJVs worldwide. While the findings of this study provide a profound contribution to theory and practice, it contributes to sustainable growth in different perspectives.

Management control is needed in international joint ventures (IJVs) for successful management and performance. While IJV management control and performance concept has been widely explored, in the construction sector, the core understanding of the design of the two concepts is still lacking. This has resulted in the neglect of important questions and directions for research and practice improvement. This study aims to conduct a critical survey of prior studies addressing the conceptualization of management control and performance in IJVs and to propose a framework for studying the performance implications of management control in international construction joint ventures (ICJVs).

Using Scopus database and search terms, a systematic desktop search was conducted to retrieve empirically related peer-reviewed papers for this study.

Drawing on the transaction cost, institutional and relational logic, the first inclusive hypothetical model for studying the relationship between different dimensions of management control mechanism and multiple performance criteria in ICJVs is presented. The model proposes a measurement method for both the management control and performance and explains how they can be established in ICJVs.

The proposed framework provides a methodology to understand the dynamics of management control and performance implications in ICJV. Specifically, uncovering the critical paths will assist ICJV frontliners to approach management control in a more holistic and systematic way to promote achievement of ICJV goals.

The study gives a firm ground to the construction industry, which is accurate and educational for related fields concentrating on several other forms of cooperative relationships.

Construction tradesmen are exposed to high levels of stress that can worsen mental health, negatively impacting safety compliance and organization productivity. Hence, effectively coping with stress to prevent mental ill-health becomes an essential point of reference. Thus, this study aims to examine the role of factors such as resilience and coping strategies in protecting tradesmen against mental ill-health.

Using a cross-sectional survey design, 110 tradesmen from 65 construction companies were surveyed using the Patient Health Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Brief Resilience Scale and Ways of Coping Questionnaire.

The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis. With a 74.5%, 36.4% and 14.6% prevalence rate of self-reported depression, anxiety and suicide ideation among the tradesmen, only positive reappraisal, accepting responsibility coping behaviors and resilience would mitigate the likelihood of developing mental ill-health symptoms.

This study has extended existing literature by providing information vital to building interventions to deal with stressors effectively. This information would benefit individuals, organizations and the economy and equip policymakers with a deeper knowledge base toward improving mental health.