Oluwatayo, A A and Amole, D (2011) Architectural firms: Workforce, business strategy and performance. Construction Economics and Building, 11(4), pp. 21-44. ISSN 2204-9029
Abstract
The intent of this research was to investigate the relationship between the workforce, business strategy and performance of architectural firms. Data was collected from 92 firms randomly selected from the cities where architectural firms were most concentrated in Nigeria using questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analysis was carried out to investigate the direct and indirect impacts of the workforce of architectural firms on their performance. The findings confirm the significant positive impact. With business strategy controlled, the specific characteristics of the workforce and its management which influenced performance were the number of architects, the work structure, and the age and experience of the principal partners. The impact of the number of nonarchitecture professionals and staff participation in decisionmaking on performance was moderated by the business strategy adopted by the firms. The results suggest that workforce characteristics are more important than the management of the workforce in determining performance of architectural firms. This is contrary to the results of previous studies which suggest higher importance of the management. This probably indicates the peculiarity of architectural firm as a professional service firm in the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | architectural firms; business strategy; performance; professional service firms; workforce |
| Index terms: | architectural firm, questionnaire, architect, staff participation, Nigeria, regression analysis, professional service firm, business strategy, construction industry |
| Subjects: | statistical analysis, industry analysis, leadership, organization, business, profession, data collection methods, Geography |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Business Strategy, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here