ABSTRACT
The overseas operations of contracting firms has a long history. In the colonial era British companies played an important overseas role in the provision of infrastructure such as road, rail and port facilities. US construction companies were establishing foreign operations in a number of countries by the 1920s ( Wilkins 1974). The intervening period has witnessed an enormous growth in the size and sophistication of overseas contracting. In addition, international contractors are now to be found in a wide range of developed, and increasingly, developing nations.
