The impact of environmental turbulence on the strategic decision-making process in Irish quantity surveying (QS) professional service firms (PSFs)

Figures & data

Figure 1. Theoretical framework.

Table 1. Quantitative phase population and response rate.

	2009/2010 Period 1 (P1)	2018/2019 Period 2 (P2)
Total population (number of firms)	150	236
Usable responses (number of firms)	62	66
Response rate	41%	28%

Table 2. Qualitative phase respondents by size of practice.

	2009/2010 P1 number of firms	2018/2019 P2 number of firms
Small (<10 employees)	4	5
Medium (11–49 employees)	3	2
Large (>50 employees)	3	2

Table 3. Size of practices in quantitative phase.

Number of people currently employed (single select multiple choice question)	P1	P2
<10	79%	83%
11–49	16%	9%
>50	5%	8%

Table 4. Number of years in business of practices in quantitative phase.

Number of years in business (single select multiple choice question)	P1	P2
0–5	21%	9%
6–10	13%	27%
11–20	24%	17%
20+	42%	47%

Table 5. Approach to strategy of survey respondents.

Select the usual approach adopted by your organization from the options below (single select multiple choice question with explanation of terminology provided)	P1	P2
Planned approach: strategy is determined following analysis of the business environment, prior to the final decision being made	34%	33%
Emergent approach: strategy is not planned, it emerges as opportunities arise	30%	54%
Resource-based approach: our internal resource availability usually drives the planning process	36%	13%

Table 6. Strategic type of survey respondents.

Select the statement that best describes your organization’s strategic intention (single select multiple choice question with explanation provided)	P1	P2
Prospector: the organization is primarily concerned with the identification of new market opportunities and the provision of new services and innovations	13%	17%
Analyzer: the organization seeks to defend market share in some sectors while pursuing promising new developments in others following extensive market analysis	33%	14%
Defender: maintaining the current market position of the organization is of critical importance while developing new market opportunities are less important	22%	30%
Reactor: decisions are reached based on circumstances as they arise	32%	38%

Table 7. Written strategic plan of survey respondents.

Does your company have a written strategic plan? (single select multiple choice question)	P1	P2
Yes	31%	16%
No	69%	84%

Table 8. Corporate strategy of survey respondents.

Select the statement that best describes your organizations current overall corporate strategy (single select multiple choice question with explanations provided)	P1	P2
Stability: we seek to maintain our current market position, despite the rapidly changing competitive environment	41%	41%
Expansion: we seek to expand into new growth sectors/markets	19%	36%
Retrenchment: we are currently rationalizing/downsizing our current practice in pursuit of increased efficiency	22%	10%
Combination: a combination of two of the above (please specify the combination in the text box provided)	18%	13%

Figure 2. Strategic decision making taxonomy.