sustainability Article Business Models and Performance of International Construction Companies Youjin Jang 1 , Yonghan Ahn 2 , Moonseo Park 3 , Hyun-Soo Lee 3 and Nahyun Kwon 2, * 1 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0355, USA; uzjang@gatech.edu 2 School of Architectural Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan 15588, Korea; yhahn@hanyang.ac.kr 3 Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea; mspark@snu.ac.kr (M.P.); hyunslee@snu.ac.kr (H.-S.L.) * Correspondence: nhkwon@hanyang.ac.kr; Tel.: +82-31-436-8182 Received: 15 April 2019; Accepted: 1 May 2019; Published: 4 May 2019   Abstract: As the construction business environment becomes ever more competitive and intense, business models are receiving considerable attention as potential sources of sustainable survival and growth. In order to design sustainable business models in today’s global construction market, it is important to understand the business models that would make a construction company achieve higher performance in terms of profitability, growth and market competitiveness. Therefore, this study identifies the business model variables of international construction and statistically analyzes the relationship between business model variables and firm performance guiding 72 international construction companies over a six-year period from 2009 to 2014. We examine the effect of business model variables on firm performance and how different business model variables can lead to different outcomes. The results show that business models play significant roles in determining the performance of international construction companies, with financial resources being a major determinant of profitability and regional diversification a major determinant of revenue growth and market competitiveness. Each business model variable had a different effect on profitability, growth and market competitiveness. This confirms that there are ideal combinations of business model variables that can help firms achieve higher performance. These findings are expected to provide useful guidance to assist executives’ decision making when designing a business model that will enable their firm to thrive in the global marketplace. Keywords: business model; quantitative analysis; firm performance; international construction companies 1. Introduction The construction industry has been characterized by poor performance for decades [1], with many of its problems through to arise from low-bid tendering. As construction companies extend their operations to the worldwide stage, they face fierce foreign competition and are forced to propose lower costs and greater operational flexibility than their competitors in order to win contracts [1,2]. Cost cutting is the only way to be awarded contracts at the project level, but this often comes at the expense of worse performance for construction companies. For this reason, construction companies are increasingly interested in understanding the potential sources of competitive advantage at the corporate level. Nowadays, business models are receiving considerable attention and are becoming essential for the sustainable survival and growth of companies in many fields. A company’s business model refers to the underlying logic of how that company operates and creates value for its stakeholders [3–7]. Scholars have suggested that a company’s business model may be a major source of competitive advantage and superior performance [8,9]. Sustainability 2019, 11, 2575; doi:10.3390/su11092575 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability