Najib, T (2005) Investigation of success factors for smaller engineering firms. PhD thesis, Wayne State University, USA.
Abstract
This research identified the success factors that had an effect on the profitability of smaller engineering firms, and established appropriate dependent and dependent variables that was analyzed to establish frequencies of occurrence and relationships between the variables. Large engineering firms can be more successful than small engineering firms due to the high cost of resources. Therefore, small engineering firms can benefit highly from this research since this information is not available and not shared by the large engineering firms. Data was collected by a survey instrument based on a fish bone diagram illustrating critical success factors. Descriptive statistics as well as chi-square, pear son correlation, and logistic regression analysis were used in data analysis. It was found in the study that majority of the engineering firms were corporations and offered civil engineering services. Upper management was involved with project duties significantly and project management software was not used extensively. This study was limited to Michigan firms and analyzed all engineering firms in one group. It is suggested that future studies have a national scope and analyze individual engineering disciplines.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Usmen, M |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | civil engineering; regression analysis; critical success factor |
| Index terms: | statistics, regression analysis, future study, logistic regression analysis, investigation, profitability, engineering firm, success factor, survey, data analysis, critical success factor, duty, dependent variable, project management software |
| Subjects: | firms, statistical analysis, control systems, data collection methods, contractual role, mathematical modelling, research design and methodology, data analysis and analytics, health monitoring assessment and metrics, economic analysis, digital technology |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Project Management, Contract Administration, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Research Practice |
| 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