Research On Cognition And Intervention Of Contractors’ Violation Behaviors In International Construction

With the in-depth implementation of the "Going global" strategy and the "Belt and Road" initiative,Chinese contractors have actively cultivated their competitive advantages,and the international construction business has a good momentum of development.However,the multi-dimensional compliance supervision system brings major compliance risks to Chinese contractors,and many contractors suffer sanctions,business losses and reputation losses due to violations.How to reduce and prevent contractors’ violation behaviors in the international construction has become an important issue.Most of the existing studies understand violations from the perspective of external observers,focusing on the external environmental factors that lead to violations,but there are few studies on the cognitive process of the actors who engage in violations.According to the S-O-R(Stimuli-Organism-Response)paradigm,the cognitive state is the direct mechanism that causes the behavioral response.This study aims to explore the cognitive process and intervention strategies of contractors’ violations in the international construction.Violation behavior can be understood as a wrong response by the contractor to relevant rules in the international construction context.The efforts and results include:Firstly,the cognitive mechanism of contractors’ violations in the international construction was analyzed.Based on the cognitive behavior model,the cognitive process of contractors’ violation behaviors was divided into "obtaining rule information","understanding rule information","perceiving coping behavior","selecting coping behavior" and "implementing coping behavior".Any deviation may lead to violations.Drawing on the core concepts of Social Cognition Theory,Theory of Planned Behavior and Protection Motivation Theory,a cognitive model of contractors’ violation intentions was proposed.Secondly,the cognitive model of contractors’ violation intentions in the international construction was verified.The questionnaire was designed using the hypothesis scenario method to obtain the research data,and the hypotheses were tested based on PLS-SEM method.The results showed that both perceived threat possibility and perceived threat severity had a positive impact on violation attitude.Reward for compliance had a positive impact on subjective norm,and a negative impact on perceived behavioral control and violation attitude.Response cost had a positive impact on subjective norm,and a negative impact on perceived behavioral control and violation attitude.Response efficacy had a negative impact on subjective norm,and a positive impact on violation intention.Subjective norm had a negative impact on the attitude and intention of violation.Perceived behavioral control had a positive influence on violation intention.Violation attitude had a positive influence on violation intention.Thirdly,the cognitive model of contractors’ violation behaviors in the international construction was simulated.Based on the PLS-SEM results,a simulation model was constructed by Fuzzy Cognitive Map,and what-if simulation analysis was conducted,including predictive analysis,diagnostic analysis and hybrid analysis.The results showed that response cost and reward for compliance had the greatest impact on contractors’ violation intentions,and were most likely to be the root cause of contractors’ strong intentions to violate.Furthermore,a comprehensive intervention on contractors’ cognition functioned better than a single intervention.Fourthly,the intervention strategies for contractors’ violation behaviors in the international construction was formulated.Social network analysis and inductive content analysis were used to investigate the current compliance policies related to international construction in China.Based on the two main bodies of government,industry organizations and international contractors,this paper proposed cognitively oriented intervention strategies from the perspectives of environmental intervention and cognitive intervention.This study integrated multidisciplinary theory to explain the international contractors’ violation behaviors,and emphasized the importance of cognitive intervention.Moreover,it expands the understanding of contractors’ violations,enriches the research system of violation in the construction industry,and provides targeted strategies to reduce and prevent contractors’ violation behaviors in the international construction.