Strategic Excellence in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Industries

5External Analysis

5.1 INTRODUCTION

An external analysis focuses on what is happening in the marketplace in which the firm is operating. It is an outward-looking analysis that evaluates environmental influences affecting the organization and compares the firm to the competition. Often, this type of analysis is best performed by an external organization, the main reason being that “you don’t know what you don’t know” – you don’t know what to look for in the comparison analysis.

5.2 CLIENT RELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS

One of the most critical and perhaps most neglected type of analysis an Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) firm can perform is a client relationship analysis. Firms often focus primarily on financial and performance analyses ...