Changing strategic management practice within the UK construction industry

The aim of this paper is to review the current use of strategic management within UK construction organizations. Assessments are made on such aspects as its degree of formality, the tools and techniques used, the role of individuals, the strengths and weaknesses of current processes, the time frames adopted and the attitude of management to the strategic management process.This assessment has been used to identify how the strategic management process could be improved within construction organizations.Data were obtained through a literature analysis, detailed postal questionnaire survey, follow-up telephone interviews and case studies.This paper mainly deals with the information obtained through a questionnaire survey and included the following topics: the structure of the strategic management process; the tools and techniques adopted; the perceived strengths and weaknesses and contextual questions relating to the background of strategic leaders, size of the organizations and type of work.Many large construction organizations were found to be rapidly developing their strategic management capabilities and allocating substantial resources to the task. However, strategic management was found to be a low-profile activity within many small and medium-size construction organizations.