Demand for construction ebbs and flows. This has a major impact on so many aspects of a construction business, and makes it hard for a senior manager to maintain a steady flow of work and to employ the firm’s resources at an optimum.
Good construction managers need to understand business cycles and the economic principles that underlie them and to appreciate the patterns of apparently unrelated events which occur at various phases of the cycle. The ability to predict accurately can be used as a basis for shaping strategies to manage the fluctuations in demand and to grow sustainably, without which the firm will act reactively and may struggle to survive.
After an introduction to the subject there is a description of the phenomenon of cycles, covering the range of known cycles: long cycles, medium term and short-term economic cycles. The changing nature of short-term cycles is then examined, and their frequency, amplitude and influence on the construction demand cycle are described. Techniques are presented for predicting the upper and lower turning points of cycles, and for gaugung their impact or effect of cycles throughout each of the four phases. Variations between sectors and regions are also described. After a review of corporate and project objectives, a presentation is made of strategies for the effective management of the cycles and their effects in ways that will allow practitioners to orientate their businesses in advance of changing market conditions.
Students at undergraduate and Masters levels should find this book useful, and its practical advice and useful techniques should be helpful for consultants and managers.
- ISBN10 0415370469
- ISBN13 9780415370462
- Publish Date 1 April 2010
- Publish Status Withdrawn
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Imprint Spon Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 176
- Language English