Global Market Research

Global Market Research Case

In the case study 3-2, Sperry/MacLennan Architects and Planners is considering taking their firm global by expanding into the United States. The firm specializes in recreational facilities and is contemplating branching out to expand their market and opportunities. Mitch Brooks a junior partner is by some of the slowing down of the market and intends to present the expansion plan to the directors in their October meeting.

Drew Sperry is one of the two senior partners and the founder of this one-man organization in 1972 in Nova Scotia. Throughout the seventies the firm sustained substantial growth and had added an additional 14 employees, and two other branches. The additional locations helped add local presence and meet licensing requirements during a very aggressive growth period. During the eighties the firm came upon hard times and laid off but three of the partners. In 1983 the firm was awarded the aquatics facility for the Canadian games and gained national recognition for their sports facility expertise.

Despite winning several awards the firm went through many hard times but fought to stay competitive during this period. The firm won the Canadian Architect Grand Award is prestigious because it is voted upon by fellow architects. The reputation of the firm allowed them to win several more bids for recreational facilities but because of increased competition the firm is considering moving to the United States to export their hard-won expertise.

One concern in moving their services is that architects are licensed provincially, and the documents are not readily transferrable from province to province. To account for the issue, some firms enter into joint ventures with local companies. S/M also found that when dealing with large projects a considerable amount of time spent dealing clients, even more reason to have a local presence.

An additional concern, especially in Nova Scotia is that there is a lack of loyalty and often the bids are given to the lowest offers. S/M prides itself on a superior level of service, which is not apparent in bids only concerned with monetary savings. S/M countered this by concentrating on buyers looking for premium products and service. "S/M's philosophy is to provide quality products with quality service for quality clients."

In a report entitled "Precision planning and Perseverance: Exporting Architectural Services to the United States," several niches were identified by Brooks as most likely to match S/M's capabilities. Among the report, Universities were known to be loyal to local firms and represented a potential market for S/M to capitalize on. This proved to be a valuable market because at that time most universities had older, outdated facilities presented numerous opportunities for the firm.

An additional concern