Autoethnographic writing as a strategic tool in a medium-sized construction company: A strategy as practice approach

In this qualitative study, I demonstrate here how autoethnographic writing can be used to develop and refine a construction company’s business strategy. Doing so, I contribute to the debate about practice-relevant research and practitioner research. My research draws in particular on the two different ways researchers and practitioners think – namely problematising and problem-solving. Running my own construction company, I am in a unique position to explore my business environment autoethnographically. That comprises of writing extensive fieldnotes about my experiences and observation as well as reflecting on them. Hence, I can – using the researcher’s thinking – problematise what I see. Yet changing my role, I can use practitioner’s thinking to develop solutions to the problems I have seen. Drawing on the gained insights, I can immediately begin to make changes to the company’s business strategy. Hence, the approach used here is very close to insider action research. Utilising experiences of my business practice, I demonstrate how ethnographic writing – in other words qualitative material – can be used to develop and refine a construction company’s business strategy. Ethnographic research has been employed to develop business strategies in different fields. Various industries showed interest in the insights ethnographic exploration can offer. Yet, it has not been applied to develop business strategies in the field of construction management, although, ethnography is well established in this area of research. Additionally, the using of autoethnographic research in construction management is a further contribution to the efforts to relate research to the construction management practice. Even if my exploration is limited to my unique case, lessons might be transferred to other companies, and it might offer new valuable insights to researchers seeking collaboration with the construction industry and beyond.