Company Analysis
Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners is an architectural planning and design registered firm specializing in the planning and design of recreational venues. This has earned it national recognition but the overall design platform was undertaken through an external guided paradigm composed of its senior partner, the Sperry. Administratively the company consists of Drew Sperry and John MacLennan as the senior partners in the firm, with only one junior partner. The firm has experienced the highs and lows of the architectural industry since its inception in the 1970S. This has allowed its partners and staff gain considerable knowledge allowing the firm to experience rapid growth and technical expertise. Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners has experienced its share of business slump such as the economic challenges of the 1980s the forced the firm to suspend operations which led to several of its workers subsequently losing their jobs. However, the company bounced back into the industry when senior partner Sperry successfully gained the tender to design the Canadian Games Aquatic facility that was to be held in Saint John. In partnership with the other senior partners John Maclean, Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners was revived. As an architectural designers and planners, the form finds excitement in their work of recreational design. Subsequently with the reduced interest rates as a financial boost, the firm was able to commence with the project that marked the start of its continued market growth and operational productivity.
As the firm grew junior partners such as Mitch Brooks joined the firm in 1987, this was after he showed great promise and an architect with impressive production skills. This was in addition to other good architectural attributes he demonstrated, such as quality supervisor, meeting project deadlines in time and working on projects within the budgetary limits. He also formulated new and dynamic ideas such as exporting of the firm's activities outside their area of operation, on the basis of optimism and expanding the firm’s operational scope and market reach. The growth of the company was reflected in its financial gains for instance in the fiscal year of 1987 the firm made nearly $1.2 million, this in addition to its high quality work enabled the company gain reputation in the architectural market more so because of its impressive work on the Canada Sports Facility which was also shown by the awards won by the firm. This inspired staff within the firm such as junior partner Mitch Brooks to search further for more ideas on how to expand the firm’s services beyond the Canadian market. Mitch Brook’s ambitious ideas however, were not in shared spirit with other members of the firm who saw a decline in business in 1988 as economists painted a picture of gloom with forecasts of recession in the coming year.
Major organizational issues within the firm
On a whole the Architecture industry has undergone varying issues that have been a concern, to the general outlook of business which has also been of effect to other businesses affecting aspects such as architect licensing (Rukmane & Krastins, 2010). This is because it was not possible to transfer a license from one province to another, upon transfer the license would prove invalid in the other province. This led to an increase in joint venture based firms, as a common practice within the architectural industry to tackle this issue (Buchman, 2012). On the basis of Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners industry experience, large scale projects were found to be time consuming at the client level and yet designs could even be imported and simply applied to the needs of the client. Such an approach to meeting the needs of the client showed that, varying methods and angles of approach exits to meet client needs and do business in the architectural industry such as through referral from earlier clients, outcomes of jury based design competitions, client proposal needs or expressed interest calls. All these methods of approach are part, of the much wider process of selection. Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners like any other architectural firm can also get their client contracts through invitations by potential clients which would involve the process of submission from various potential firms with the most suitable firm being chosen on the basis of their qualifications. Furthermore, an architectural firm can acquire their projects through word of mouth referrals from previous clients (Kintsch, 1992). Of the client acquisition methods mentioned above, Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners notably use the last to approach methods as their operations involve construction of institutions and large scale corporate projects, (Rukmane & Krastins, 2010).
Market Opportunities
Upon acquisition of a contract, several communicative meetings are held with client continuity as aspect of formulation of the services being sold. Following industry research findings report, that called for the need to export Architectural services. To Mitch Brooks a junior partner in Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners, this information provided him with opportunities to expand the firm's operations to the United States as he felt the firm had reached the point of expansion beyond the Canadian market. Opportunistic as this idea seemed with its benefits and issues, Mitch Brooks’s perceived the research findings, as being in line with the firm's capability despite being under governmental and private sector control. The market report also showed findings that opened Mitch Brook's eyes, to opportunities in institutions of higher learning such as universities that had mistrust in local based firms. Contemporary designs and competence were also in post secondary establishments, this was in addition to athletics facilities as that showed possibilities in application of contemporary designs. Furthermore, capital maintenance backlogs and the need of modern building guidelines in most institutions of higher learning also provided Mitch Brooks with more ideas and the need to export the firm’s architectural services.
Though Canadian architectural firms had a positive global reputation, Mitch Brooks had concerns of the advancement of American firms regarding their use of modern technologies such as computer aided design that was an adoption being worked upon since financial assistance was a requirement, (Booch, 2010).
Furthermore, free trade policies allowed trade of services to occur without any hindrance among different countries even without qualifications from the American Institute of Architects. Nonetheless, any firms that showed interest are required to be respected members of an established provincial association that met all licensing tests and apprenticeship requirements (Buchman, 2012). As such in order for Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners to gain their targeted market, there was need for inclusion of New England on a basis of its geographical proximity to the firm's main area of operation. More so the targeted area had a population density that bearded similarity to the climate of Canada. From all this gathered information, New England presented itself as a good opportunity based on its small sized institutions of higher learning such as universities and tertiary colleges. For most of these institutions, there recreational structures were outdated and badly maintained. Opportunistic as it seemed Mitch Brooks was still concerned that his focus on the American market might overshadow and overlook other markets with even greater potential. His target markets included European recreational facilities, whose design plans were taken more seriously and had a more regulated market.
Mitch Brook's conclusions were based on Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners reputation, formulated in the home country that were proven to be successful subsequently gaining the firm international reputation. Brook also had other concerns in regards to markets within close proximity of the firm were not properly suited, in terms of future profit maximization or favorable market share.
As such the most suitable and profitable way for the firm to export is architectural planning and design services, required a full examination based on market research so as to ascertain areas that presented a competitive advantage for the firm. Mitch Brooks needs to take his time and undertake a thorough analysis and research of the market, since most notable firms in the industry make their corporate decisions based on a determination of measures to be taken.
Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners posses the capability to expand its operations and extend its services to the New England areas based on the geographical location and potential market and clientele. Besides the firm does not need a considerable number of its stuff to work abroad, since the area is in close proximity to their head offices which also presents cost effective benefits for the firm based on its size.
Conclusion
As such from the case study, we see that it shows similarities between US and Canadian markets in addition to the market expectations and the cultural population. Brook needs to consider certain factors in his short and long term ambitions for the firm. In the first place there needs to be availability of personnel needed for the job, organizational management outside normal operational areas, availability of customers as well as the capital available for establishment of structures for new investment opportunities.
This will provide him with needed information as he attempts to convince the senior partners of the firm and related stakeholders in adoption of his idea. Another issue concerns profitability of the firm, other external aspects that affect Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners as shown above are in favor of the idea since free trade areas has been adopted in Canada and the United States. Furthermore, other issues that require more examination include market potential, size of the market and growth. As such from the case study analysis Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners has shown the ability to extend its services to the New England as it meets all the industry requirements.
References
- Buchman, P.,(2012).Rethinking the purposes of architecture. Architectural Review.231,75-83.
- Rukmane,I. & Krastins, J., (2010).Formal expression tendencies in 21st century architecture. Architecture Urban Planning.4,50-56.
- Kintsch,W.,(1992).Cognitive architectural comprehensions. Cognition Conceptual and methodological issues. 1,143-163.
- Booch,G.,(2010).Technical and Enterprise Architecture. IEEE Software.27,90-96.
- Critchley,J., (2007).Rough guide to solution based architecture. Home.1,24-57.
