Bid/no-bid decision modelling for construction projects

Not bidding for a project could result in losing a good opportunity to make substantial profit, improve the contractor's strength in the industry, gain relationship with the client, and more. However, bidding for inappropriate projects may result in large losses or the consumption of time and resources that could be invested in more profitable projects, ultimately even financial failure of the contractor. This dilemma expresses the importance of the bid / no bid decision till it become one of the most critical decisions that have to be made by construction companies. The high complex process is a major characteristic of the bidding decision, which involves a large quantity of objectives and reflection of several internal and external factors. Smart contractors realise the importance of doing initial research and project evaluation before committing themselves to a construction project. This paper reports on-going research aims to develop a framework that can be used as a decision aid for project evaluations at the initial project selection decision phase. The results from a review of the literature concerning the bid / no bid decision are presented, and a conceptual model is developed. The work aims to contribute to the body of knowledge available on project evaluation processes and the research agenda related to enterprise project management in the construction industry.