Insight into contractors’ competitiveness at Most Economically Advantageous Tenders in the Dutch construction sector

Abstract

Increased application of Most Economically Advantageous Tenders (MEAT) in the Dutch construction sector changes contractors’ tender processes. They are no longer requested to execute fully specified projects for the lowest price, but contractors are asked to come up with solutions themselves. This offers new opportunities to compete at tenders. Therefore the applicability of insights from three theories has been researched to increase the understanding of competitiveness at MEAT tenders: two generic theories related to firms´ competitiveness - Porter’s positioning theory and Barney’s resource-based view - and the construction specific emphasizes on the process of organizational learning. The applicability has been researched by means of semi structured interviews within a major Dutch construction firm. The generic theories become more relevant due to new differentiation opportunities. Construction specific characteristics remain nevertheless intact, causing the importance of organizational learning to remain just as relevant.