Markets and Strategy

In the previous chapters on the supply of contracting services, it has generally been assumed either that the contractor was operating in one market or that the markets were so similar that they could be considered as one. Firms’ outputs are not usually confined to a single product. In the construction industry, not only do firms produce different products within the contracting operation, but they also go outside the contracting business into property development, materials production and other activities. A study of twenty large UK contractors (Hillebrandt and Cannon, 1990, p. 40) even found firms engaged in very diverse activities having virtually no relation to construction, including manufacture of boats, computer software and gold mining.