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The strategic choice of a market architecture firm is to have expertise in several markets. All choices are originated with keeping this strategy in mind. Following the sequence of reading this diagram let’s look at the central choices. The central varying choices are to hire staff with experience in these markets, to lease or buy office space in a prestigious location, and to use the software that the client prefers. The unique choice is to do pro-bono work.
Hiring staff who have experience in markets that a firm targets will ensure successful project delivery and maintain the firm’s reputation in these markets. Another choice that helps maintain reputation and make a good impression is choosing to locate the office in a prestigious area. This office will not only work with local client, but also with national clients. Therefore, it is better to locate in a known area with easy airport connection to be more accessible to clients across the country. The quality of office space, itself, should match that of their clients to emphasize the equal partnership.
Using the software that the client prefers is another central choice. In markets like healthcare and education the clients come with expectation that the architect will use specific software that all their other consultants will be using. These clients are usually more sophisticated with construction experience and will rarely choose to go with the firm that will not satisfy this requirement.
This brings us to the unique choice to do pro-bono work that leads to marketing advantages. There is little differentiating between market firm types when they are competing for the project. The pricing is similar, the style of work that is expected is uniform and the software is the same. Overall this is a homogeneous firm type. In order to be differentiated it may be useful to have pro-bono work done that would suggest that this firm is giving back to the community and to the planet as well as being a major compliment to both the firm and the client. The simplest way to participate is to enter into competitions that are specific to the market. However, this is not as effective because many homogeneous firms participate and there is no competitive advantage to win. Instead, something that is very rarely done is self-initiated community or world outreach. There are many opportunities for improvement and experts’ participation; for example, a conceptual design for a nonprofit daycare center. There are many architects who are willing to give their time without pay for something worthwhile. If the office has a positive atmosphere and culture, a lot of employees would not mind doing pro-bono work through the firm without pay as long as they are contributing, have freedom to design and enjoy working with their colleagues. In addition, these types of activities are also a great way to do team building. There are plenty of opportunities and all that is needed is to spend time on it. In return the connection, recognition and reputation will follow and serve the firm as a competitive advantage.
Now that all the choices have been discussed we can look at the virtuous cycle consequences that are the result. Like the local firm type, the demand is elastic, and there is no opportunity to raise prices because local competition. If the reputation is growing because of good project delivery and meeting expectations, the amount of projects will increase. This will lead to profit gain in the office that decides to grow to satisfy all the demand. If the office maintains a consistent size the profit will remain the same because of price elasticity of demand.
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