Cheah, C Y J; Chew, D A S and Huang, J (2006) Marketing foreign interior design services in China. Building Research & Information, 34(6), pp. 584-595. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
With China's accession to the World Trade Organization and rapid development of the country's economy, foreign design firms are seeking timely opportunities for market entry. However, unique features of the Chinese business environment and their impact on the design services sector remain unclear to many of these potential new entrants. The objective of this paper is to survey the interior design services sector and provide guidance for foreign firms that wish to enter this market. Several systemic problems pertaining to this sector are identified from interviews, which include two different standards for design fees, short design cycles and an inappropriate design proposal review system. Several transnational marketing strategies are proposed: establishing alliances with Chinese private design firms, and establishing long-term cooperative relationships with developers and contractors to provide focused services. However, a more competitive pricing policy is not regarded as a sustainable strategy for foreign interior design firms.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | business systems; China; construction culture; construction markets; design services; interior design; internationalization; market entry; marketing |
| Index terms: | construction market, China, market entry, foreign firm, marketing, survey, internationalization, strategy, World Trade Organization, pricing, design firm, interior design, proposal, interview |
| Subjects: | business, data collection methods, strategic management, practitioner, institutional frameworks, economic analysis, project planning, management, Geography, specialized design, market analysis |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Governance, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Project Management, Organizational Design, Design Practice, International Construction |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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