A fuzzy approach for assessing contractors' competitiveness

Purpose – Proper assessment of contractors' competitiveness is important for assisting contractors in taking internal analysis and for assisting clients in selecting suitable contractors. This paper seeks to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach – With previously identified contractor key competitiveness indicators (KCIs), this study presents a fuzzy competitiveness rating (FCR) method for measuring contractor competitiveness with reference to the Hong Kong construction industry. A set of linguistic terms is used for facilitating the assessment process. Findings – For illustration, an example is used to show the application of the FCR method. The results provide valuable information for helping contractors in the local construction industry to understand their competitive advantages and weaknesses, and to formulate effective competition strategies to improve their competitiveness. Research limitations/implications – The model used in this study is not validated by real cases. In a future paper, the model will be further demonstrated by conducting real case studies, and the linguistic terms and corresponding fuzzy numbers will also be re-defined based on the collected data. Originality/value – As the competitiveness assessment process involves complexity and uncertainty, a fuzzy competitiveness rating method is considered suitable for reflecting the reality and the assessment panel can easily give their opinions by using the linguistic language.