A comparative analysis of key elements of the strategic decision-making process across construction professional services firms: Evidence from the Irish construction industry

The Irish construction industry is experiencing a well-established growth phase following a prolonged recession. While the economic impact has been documented, there remains less emphasis on the micro or firm level impact pertaining to strategy within construction firms in Ireland. Additionally, evidence pertaining to the strategic management within the construction sector is predominantly concentrated on contracting organisations, with less emphasis on highly knowledge-intensive professional service firms (PSFs). As the construction sector in Ireland continues its sustained growth, there have been increased calls within the industry for the need for even further collaboration between key stakeholders. There is thus a need to understand the strategic decision-making process within and across these firms. The study reports a unique insight pertaining to the strategic choices and characteristics of the decision-making process within consultant engineering and Quantity Surveying (QS) practices in Ireland. The research forms part of an ongoing Ph.D. in strategy and reports on findings from the first phase of data collection, namely a widespread surveying of QS and Consultant Engineering practices in Ireland. The study provides two key specific contributions. First, it adds to the body of knowledge by identifying trends in the decision making process within the context of highly knowledge intensive firms in a turbulent construction sector environment. Secondly, it addresses the recommendations of earlier studies about the need for cross-profession comparative analysis within PSFs in construction, by comparing the process across two key professions. The paper concludes with recommendations for a more practice-centric inquiry into the topic of strategy in these firms, particularly employing more humanist approaches such as the strategy-as-practice (SAP) lenses.