Adesi, M; Murphy, R and Kehily, D (2019) The strategy process of Irish quantity surveying firms operating within a turbulent business environment. In: Gorse, C and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 35th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2019, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Rapid technological changes and market fluctuations create a turbulent business environment, which poses significant challenges to the strategic planning process of quantity surveying (QS) firms. A turbulent environment refers to the existence of high levels of uncertainty, unpredictability, volatile demand and changeable growth conditions within an industry. In addition, the strategy process is complex and becomes more challenging in the face of turbulent environment. To date studies focusing on QS practices seldom investigate the impact of a rapidly changing environment on the strategic planning process within these firms. The aim of this study is to address this perceptible gap by investigating the impact of environmental turbulence on the strategic planning process in Irish QS firm. As part of the investigation, the strategic choices made by QS firms operating in turbulent environment are explored. The paper presents findings from the first of a two-phase data collection process, which adopts a quantitative approach based on data collected from a widespread survey of senior management in Irish QS firms, in collaboration with the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI). The study indicates that a turbulent environment results not only in a change in the approach to strategic decision making, but also the strategic objectives pursued by QS firms in Ireland. A key contribution of the study lies in the determination of response strategies for QS practices operating within the Irish construction industry and provides a comparative analysis of areas of divergence and convergence in this regard against the existing body of knowledge in other industry sectors.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | strategic planning; process; turbulent; environment; market; fluctuation |
| Index terms: | quantity surveying firm, society, industry sector, surveying, strategy, face, survey, comparative analysis, decision-making, collaboration, turbulence, strategic planning, technological change, chartered surveyor, investigation, body of knowledge, construction industry, Ireland |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, communities and social development, decision analysis, Geography, management, knowledge management, data analysis and analytics, health monitoring assessment and metrics, fluid mechanics, psychology, innovation studies, profession, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Risk Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Health and Safety |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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