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At the beginning of the nineties, the Danish construction market was in the midst of a severe slump (Eurostat, 1995). At the same time, the German market was beginning to boom, due to the process of unifying the two German states (European Construction Research, 1995). Because of the poor home market circumstances, many Danish construction industry actors, including individual architects and architectural firms, attempted to find work in Germany (Halskov, 1995). However, the aspirations of most of these actors were dashed. By 1996, many of the largest Danish civil engineering and contracting firms had lost billions of Danish kroner, and a great number of small firms, typically architectural firms or subcontractors in the construction process, had also experienced severe losses, some of which had jeopardized the very existence of these firms (ibid.). This turn of events surprised both insiders in the Danish construction industry and the general Danish population as both groups believed that Denmark has high construction standards and that the most of the firms that had attempted operations in Germany were technically competent and had sound domestic business policies.

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors which define and predict the satisfaction of first-time residential clients of architects in Nigeria using Lagos as a case study.

The study was based on the notion that satisfaction of first-time residential clients with architectural services is a combination of satisfaction with service, design and relationship qualities as well as reputation of the architect. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected first-time residential clients of architects in the study area was conducted using pre-tested questionnaire as the principal data gathering instrument. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor and regression analyses.

Of the seven factors identified, the factors which best define the satisfaction of the first-time residential clients were personalization of service, reliability of, confidence inspired by and personality of the architect. The best predictors of the satisfaction of the first-time residential clients of architects in Nigeria varied with the nature of service. However, it was observed that the experience of the architect cut across all service types as a significant predictor of client satisfaction.

Only residential clients were considered in the study. Other categories of clients may be considered in further studies.

There is need for architects to consider the nature of services provided in their quest to satisfy their first-time residential clients.

Previous studies have focused on experienced and mostly public sector clients. This study provides empirical data on the factors that influence the satisfaction of first-time private clients who engaged the services of architects for their personal homes.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors which discriminate between local and global architectural firms in Nigeria. The rationale was to examine how the globalization process differs in Nigeria and contribute to the discourse on globalization.

The research is quantitative, using discriminant analysis to differentiate the global architectural firms from the local ones. The study used a random sample of 92 architectural firms in Nigeria, examining various characteristics of the firms through a questionnaire.

There was a strong distinction between global and local firms. Compared to the local architectural firms, the global firms were larger, and mostly run by sole principals who were more experienced. The internet was used more to communicate with other professionals, but less to communicate with clients and in designing and drafting. The global firms also placed higher value on developing expertise in specific building types.

Data are obtained from architectural firms in Nigeria only. The results suggest that global architectural firms are peculiar and exhibit certain characteristics which further differentiate them from local ones.

The implications for architectural firms seeking to operate globally include building size advantage, building expertise in specific specializations, having principals with high level experience and employing alliances with other professionals in operating internationally.

This paper adds to the body of knowledge on architectural firms which are under‐researched. The importance of this paper lies in its empirical nature in investigating the characteristics of global architectural firms using a sample of architectural firms in Nigeria.

This paper aims to explore current management attitudes towards benchmarking and its implementation within small business‐to‐business service firms in order to enhance a deeper understanding of benchmarking within such contexts.

The paper uses in‐depth case analysis of small architectural services to collect empirical data on benchmarking initiatives, attitudes, key characteristics and constraints on benchmarking.

Findings suggest that there are significant variations in the receptiveness of small business‐to‐business firms towards the adoption of benchmarking. There may be an inherent distrust of benchmarking, as it is primarily perceived as being a tool for larger organizations, where productivity improvements are the main driver. Evidence of perceived constraints in both the implementation of benchmarking and in the definition of what constitutes best practice highlighted a cultural difficulty for small architectural firms when adopting a business process orientation. Traditionally, when evaluating their services, architectural practices are oriented towards professional design criteria, often with creative rather than business process priorities. Results suggest less cumbersome measurement models than key performance indicators (KPI) are needed to allow organically developing firms, such as architectural services, to apply benchmarking and quality ideas flexibly.

Research on current management attitudes towards benchmarking or actual implementation of benchmarking techniques in small business‐to‐business service firms is scarce. This paper addresses this by developing a deeper and richer contextual understanding of benchmarking within such contexts.

Clients in Nigeria have continuously questioned the quality of services being rendered by architectural firms in building projects. This study aims to investigate the areas of service responsible for determining client satisfaction.

The study uses questionnaire for data collection on perceived service quality and indicators of clients’ satisfaction.

The results of descriptive statistics suggest that efficient analysis and compliance with client brief along with buildability, flexibility and comprehensiveness of the design are the main technical determinants of clients’ satisfaction. Management measures for engendering clients’ satisfaction include team communication and collaboration as well as regular site visits when required. The study established a significant relationship between the perceived service quality and client satisfaction. At technical level, economical design and compliance with budget, buildability, optimal and error-free design and timely delivery have significant correlation with the perception of service quality, which could engender client satisfaction. At management level, collaboration and coordination, integrity and trust, regular site visits and project management knowledge and skills had significant relationships with perceived service quality.

To improve overall client satisfaction, architects are expected to focus on these factors in the process of service delivery. Architects’ expertise and skills can be further harnessed through continuous training and understanding of the project environment.

Architectural competitions have been in existence for over 2,500 years. Past studies on this have focussed on the architectural aspects, competition formats, design evaluation by jury members and its evolution. However, no comprehensive research has examined the way that architectural competitions can be structured as a competitive procurement process for contractual outcomes. This paper addresses that gap by examining the way in which a two-stage proposal procedure (as defined by ISO 10845) was used to convert the architectural ideas competition for two new universities in South Africa (SPU and UMP) into a public procurement process with contractual outcomes.

A case study was designed to examine (1) the procurement and contractual aspects of the two-stage proposal procedure within a public procurement context; (2) the challenges encountered in implementing the procurement procedure adopted; and (3) the outcomes of the procurement process. In total, 16 documents relating to the architectural competition were examined, using document analysis, to obtain insights into the procurement approach and processes. This was followed by in-depth interviews with the competition administrators to identify the key challenges encountered in implementing the procurement procedure. A content analysis method was used to analyse the qualitative data.

Only 40% of architects who expressed interest made submissions in the first stage. Those admitted to the second stage associated themselves with architectural practices and submitted tender offers which were evaluated on the basis of their financial offer, preference and quality. Most participants experienced difficulty with the procurement procedure due to unfamiliarity with the process and tight timescales. However, necessary clarifications provided by the client's team enabled them to respond appropriately and the procurement procedure proved effective for procuring innovative design ideas from nine talented architects. They were all based in small to medium-sized firms rather than large firms.

This paper fills an important gap in current understanding of how architectural competitions may be alternatively structured into a competitive procurement process, using empirical evidence from two architectural competitions. Architectural competitions have traditionally been used and characterized in the research literature primarily as an ideas competition rather than a competitive procurement process. This paper, therefore, extends current knowledge on the traditional way architectural competitions are generally used in practice and demonstrates through examination of two case studies how architectural competitions may be further extended and utilized as a competitive procurement process rather than just a process for obtaining ideas.

This paper aims to analyze the influence of organizational learning (OL) and service innovation (SI) on organizational performance of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) and examine the mediating role of SI.

Hypotheses were tested using the theoretical OL model of knowledge acquisition, distribution, interpretation and organizational memory (Huber, 1991; Lopez, Peon, & Ordas, 2005; Jiménez-Jiménez & Sanz-Valle, 2011), using structural equation modeling partial least squares analysis of a survey data set of Brazilian architectural firms.

Findings suggest that OL is significantly linked to SI and so is SI to organizational performance. However, neither the direct relationship between OL and organizational performance could be verified, nor the mediating effect of SI.

These results can offer KIBS managers insights that suggest that OL alone does not guarantee a significant impact in organizational performance, but it is a starting point for achieving SIs, that lead to performance improvement and competitive advantages.

This paper contributes to the knowledge production in the following ways: to the understanding of the relationship between OL and SI and its effect on organizational performance, traditionally overlooked in the literature; to the study of SIs, considering the importance of the service sector; and to the study of innovation processes in architectural firms, a sector traditionally understudied, because of the focus on large construction firms.

Many types of commercial professional services are commonly sold as projects. Therefore this article draws on the project marketing literature to elucidate the international marketing of professional service projects. After an initial literature review, the project marketing milieu concept’s a priori territorial definition is critically examined on the basis of cases concerning the internationalization of Nordic architectural firms. It is hypothesized that territoriality plays the biggest role in situations where a firm is moving from one national milieu with well‐established norms, rules, and representations to another national milieu with similarly well‐developed norms, rules, and representations, yet that there also exist global milieux. Managerial implications concerning professional service firms’ preparation for entering a foreign milieu as well as subsidiary or office establishment abroad are provided.

The term architectural management has been in use since the 1960s and forms an essential part of this journal's title. However, the evolution of the architectural management field has not been a smooth affair, coming into, out of, and then back into fashion; and concise definitions continue to be illusive. Architectural management is a powerful tool that can be applied to the benefit of the professional service firm and the total building process, yet it continues to receive scant attention in the professional journals, seen as little more than a specialist interest. This paper charts the development of the architectural management field and takes a critical look at the field in relation to current research and its applicability to those who stand to gain the most from architectural management, the professional service firms. The paper concludes that architectural management is a cultural issue.

Services are highly important in a world economy which has increasingly become service driven. There is a growing need to better understand the possibilities for, and requirements of, designing modular service architectures. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the roots of the emerging research stream on service modularity, provide a concise overview of existing work on the subject, and outline an agenda for future research on service modularity and architecture. The articles in the special issue offer four diverse sets of research on service modularity and architecture.

The paper is built on a literature review mapping the current body of literature on the topic and developing future research directions in service modularity and architecture.

The growing focus on services has triggered needs to investigate the suitability and implementation of physical-product-focused modularity principles and theories in service contexts, and to search for principles/theories that enhance services. The expanding research stream has explored various aspects of service modularity in empirical contexts. Future research should focus on service-specific modularity theories and principles, platform-based and mass-customized service business models, comparative research designs, customer perspectives and service experience, performance in context of modular services, empirical evidence of benefits and challenges, architectural innovation in services, modularization in multi-provider contexts, and modularity in hybrid offerings combining service and tangible product modules.

Nine areas are recommended for further research on service modularity and architecture. The introductory piece also discusses the roots of service modularity and provides an overview of current contributions.