ABSTRACT
Much has been written about cultural issues in doing business around the globe. Well-documented studies have been designed to brief business managers regarding the cultural and business environmental aspects of the market in which they will operate. However, these studies are rarely industry specific and little has been written that specifically addresses issues in the global construction sector.
This chapter reports recent research that has studied, in some detail, differences in culture between designers and contractors from Germany and Austria on the one hand and from Australia on the other, as well as differences in industry regulations and practice between these countries.
Austrian and German companies are well represented in the Australian construction sector, through both joint ventures with local companies and majority ownership of several major Australian construction companies. In these arrangements, it is common to find senior engineers from the European partners/owners working on major projects in Australia; as a result, they need to bridge the cultural and technical gap between practice at home and abroad.
The study reported here revealed significant differences both in the way the industry is regulated and in the way in which organisations and projects are managed in the two different parts of the world.
These differences were evident in relation to safety management regulations and practices on site, the influence of trade unions, industry vs enterprise bargaining and project level agreements, environmental regulatory and management issues, stability of employment and bureaucracy. They have arisen as a result of a diverse range of cultural, regulatory and historical factors. Furthermore, the study revealed differences between the organisational cultures in design and construction firms in Europe and Australia.
185The chapter concludes that significant differences exist in both technical and cultural practices between markets, and detailed knowledge of local regulations and practices is therefore important for the successful operation of global construction businesses.
