Infrastructure Systems Development Research
Charles Y.J. Cheah
Ph.D. Candidate
Construction Engineering and Management
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Room 1-331
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617.253.3880
Fax: 617.258.7598
Email: yjcheah@mit.edu
Current Research
The increasingly vibrant and competitive nature
of businesses in most industries is amplified by the current strong trends of
globalization, deregulation and full utilization of information technology to foster
competitive positioning. Research efforts in fields of strategic management, corporate
finance, organizational theories have been achieving breakthroughs and successes with
concepts appropriately applied to most industries. Nonetheless, similar research efforts
have been lacking in the construction industry, which still seems to focus largely on
management issues at the project level rather than the corporate level. This poses a
peculiar picture, given the size of this industry that is essentially the largest among
all. Global construction and infrastructure markets have experienced a huge boom since the
mid-1980's, but the risks associated with the operating environment have further
threatened the profit margin of most large firms. The objective of this research is to
develop a strategic framework that will enhance the decision making power of corporate
executives whose firms are competing in global construction and infrastructure markets.
The main stream of this research centers upon organizational strategy, complemented with
studies of ways to apply IT and financial principles strategically at the corporate level.
Infrastructure Systems Development Research is affiliated with the Construction Engineering and Management Program in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT.
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ISDR on 01/22/01.
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