Low, S P; Gao, S and Mohdari, M M (2016) Marketing importance and marketing performance measurement of architecture firms in Singapore: An exploratory study. Construction Management and Economics, 34(11), pp. 739-750. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
While marketing is a known element of successful practice, architects are yet to be convinced of its full potential. Little was known about the marketing practice in architectural firms in Singapore. Attempts were made to determine the realities of formalized marketing approaches and their importance to architectural firms in Singapore through a questionnaire survey (where 95 architectural firms participated) and follow-up interviews. A total of 34 usable responses were collected. This was investigated using the 'Architecture Business Development Process' as a framework, which found evidence to suggest that marketing has been recognized as an important component of architectural practice in Singapore. The results show that the adoption of the 'marketing concept' in the architecture profession is still in its formative stages. Architectural firms – and small and medium ones in particular – need to fully capitalize on this area of business knowledge in order to influence, command and understand the market for them to remain financially viable as a practice. Despite little attention being paid to measuring the performance of marketing outcomes, almost all the respondents and interviewees acknowledged its increasing importance. With greater corporate governance, these firms are beginning to realize the significance of marketing, and are evaluating their practices to ride the market for success. This move indicates a positive step in bridging the disparities between architecture practice and design.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | architecture; marketing; performance; professional services; Singapore |
| Index terms: | evidence, questionnaire, professional service, corporate governance, business development, interview, exploratory study, survey, marketing, architect, profession, architectural practice, disparity, architectural firm, performance measurement, Singapore |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, evaluation and assessment methods, profession, business, organization, institututions, social justice, performance measurement, research methods, Geography |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Geographical Context, Business Strategy, Governance, Roles and Professions, Quality Management, Ethics, Organizational Design |
| 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