Internationalisation of construction industry design firms, $40,000

Project Leader:
KLondon

Duration:
2004 – 2005

Aims & Objectives:
The project aim was to assess the extent of economic sustainability of Australian construction industry SMEs who export design related products and/or services. The objective was to identify barriers and success factors SMEs experience, which increases or reduces their exposure to financial risk.

The research question addressed was:

  • How do construction sector design firms internationalise and develop sustainable business models?

Deliverables:
Detailed investigation on 3 case studies of successful firms which describes approaches taken by Australian SME design related firms in attempts to achieve market entry and long term economic sustainability documented in progressive and final research reports

A literature review of international publications related to design management and firm internationalisation which documents case studies

3 refereed publications: two international (CIB W092 and Facilities Management journal) refereed publications were achieved and one national (CRC_CI conference).

Outcomes/Impact:
The findings of how firms manage social, cultural and intellectual capital and the relationships between SCI and financial capital provides a basis for the industry and firms seeking to enter international markets or firms in international markets seeking to diversification and economic growth

Comparative analysis of firms allows for findings from each industry partner firm to inform their own self assessment of processes and strategies and provides information for project reviews, practice reviews, quality assurance systems, international fee proposals, marketing etc

Information grounded in rigorous research which provides practical information to policy makers. Requests have already been made for the final report from other CRC_CI industry partners; QDPW Industry Policy and Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB)

Provision of policy advice to the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia on accreditation policy in relation to APEC member country policy currently being developed for architects gaining professional accreditation in APEC countries, in particular in relation to testing of local knowledge; Project Leader is member of the NSW Architects Registration Board and member of the Board’s Education and Training Subcommittee and provided advice through this avenue; a common APEC member country policy is currently being developed

An outcome for the research community is development of theory in international business specifically for firms involved in design; this includes not only consultancy firms but also contractors and subcontractors

A further outcome is the clarity of the industry and research problem which will allow a sound basis for future grant applications, an outcome has already been achieved through the award of an internal University of Newcastle Project Grant Scheme; Social capital in the export of the architectural, engineering and construction supply chain integration (London and Kriz; with Chen as research assistant, 2005)
A book is being considered by the research team and it will be targeted to both industry and academia and has been discussed with the CRC

Project participants:
University of Newcastle
Queensland University of Technology
Woods Bagot
DEM Architects
Queensland Government Department of the Premier and Cabinet