Crosthwaite, D (2001) The internationalisation of construction professional services: Consulting engineers overseas. PhD thesis, University of Reading, UK.
Abstract
Engineering consulting firms are increasingly having to seek work on an international basis. The aim of the present research is to investigate the internationalisation of the engineering consulting industry. The research is based on a longitudinal analysis of the internationalisation of the engineering consulting industry using published data, followed by a cross-sectional analysis of data gathered from a questionnaire survey of senior executives from 66 British engineering consulting firms. In terms of national competitive advantage, the research identifies the leading position of firms from the USA. In addition, British firms were found to exhibit competitive advantage in international engineering design services, however the research highlights the relative decline of British firms in the international market since 1989. From a practical standpoint the research recommends that British firms adopt a more pro-active strategy towards internationalisation and expand the service they offer through increased strategic alliances between contractors and consultants in order to maintain their position in the international market. With regard to specific internationalisation issues, the research identifies a significant difference in the international behaviour of engineering consulting firms in terms of firm size and levels of international experience. More specifically, in the early stages of international development the firm is reactive, follows an incremental path in terms of resource commitment and tends to operate in relatively dose geographic markets. However, as the degree of experience increases this process is superseded by a pro-active strategy, a commitment to wholly owned entry mode options and operation in relatively distant geographic markets. From a theoretical perspective the conclusion is that the research findings lend support to the concept of experiential knowledge in the internationalisation of firms as being a suitable framework for explaining the international behaviour of engineering consulting firms.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | internationalisation; experiential knowledge; competitive advantage; strategic alliance; engineering consultancy; consultant; market; questionnaire survey |
| Index terms: | markets, option, engineering design, entry mode, construction professional, international market, consulting industry, internationalization, strategic alliance, competitive advantage, consultancy, questionnaire, consulting engineer, commitment, senior executive, strategy, survey, international development, longitudinal analysis |
| Subjects: | market analysis, partnership management, decision analysis, industry analysis, leadership, management, design process, development economics, professional development, psychology, data analysis and analytics, economic analysis, profession, strategic management, data collection methods, organization |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Human Resources, International Construction, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Risk Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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