Abstract
A joint venture (JV) is a global business partnership approach to accomplish jointly executed projects which allow at least one of the partners who is an operating entity to broaden its activities to gain a new market entry or to conduct a profit-motivated business. Joint ventures (JVs) bring together firms with diverse strengths and weaknesses so that they can bid for and execute construction projects as a way of overcoming increasing complexities and associated risks. This study is aimed at assessing factors affecting successful joint ventures in the South African construction industry, as this will assist construction stakeholders to identify factors that hinder the construction process and operations. A quantitative research approach was adopted to elicit answers to the research questions. The study used the probability sampling method, which allows participants based on their experience on joint ventures within the South African construction industry to be represented in the sample, ensuring that a representative sample of construction professionals was selected for this study. The targeted population for the study were construction professionals in the South Africa construction industry. A structured questionnaire was designed as the data instrument for retrieving respondents’ opinions on the variables identified. Data analysis was conducted in three stages which included data reliability and validity, descriptive statistics, and exploratory factor analysis. The findings also showed that shared vision and competitiveness, attractive economic value for the industry, effective project management and management of internal inconsistency as the drivers of successful joint venture operations in the South African construction industry. From the findings of this study, it was established that the strategies required for successful JV operations include establishing guiding principles, an effective management framework, leverage on each partners’ technical ability, efficient communication and monitoring systems, and agreement of memorandum of incorporation.The study also recommended that to reduce failure of Joint ventures in South Africa construction industry a partner-shared vision needs to be adequately evaluated to attract competitiveness and economic value. It recommended that to reduce the failure rate of joint ventures in the South African construction industry, JV formulation requires due diligence from the partners to understand the project, a memorandum of association, organisational cultures alignment, sharing ratio and economic viability to avoid unnecessary conflicts of interest and operational constraints.
Keywords: Joint venture; Construction projects; Partnerships, Exploratory factor Analysis, South African construction industry.