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Notwithstanding that numerous studies have focused on strategy in quantity surveying (QS) professional service firms, there is a paucity of investigation on the segmentation of QS professional services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the segmentation of QS services for diversification and a focus strategy formation.

This study adopts the positivist stance and quantitative approach in which a simple random sampling technique was used to select participants. In total, 110 survey questionnaires were administered to registered professional QS, out of which 79 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis.

The paper identifies three main QS service segments characterised by low, moderate and high competition. In addition, this study found that the concentration of traditional QS services in the building construction sector is due to the unwillingness of QS professional service firms to diversify into the non-construction sectors such as oil and gas. The diversification of QS services in the low competitive segment requires the adoption of agile approaches.

The study was limited to numeric analyses and so would be complemented by qualitative research in the future.

This paper is useful to QS professional service firms interested in diversifying their services into the non-construction sectors to enhance the pricing of their services.

Segmentation of QS services is fundamental to the formulation of focus strategy for non-construction sectors such as oil and gas and mining to enhance the pricing of QS professional services.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges of pricing quantity surveying (QS) professional services to enhance the understanding of practitioners in developing strategies for the determination of fees for their services.

The paper adopts the quantitative approach by administering 150 survey questionnaires QS professionals out of which 79 questionnaires were retrieved for analysis using the mean, standard deviation, standard error and the Chi-Square test.

The study identified the challenges that continue to hamper the successful pricing of QS services as the inability to respond to changing contractual arrangements; lack of appropriate response to emerging services; slow response to changes in information and communication technology.

This paper focused on QS professionals. Hence, a future study to encompass other professionals in the built environment will be novel.

The findings of this paper have the potential to motivate QS firms to develop solutions that address the challenges identified to improve the efficiency of their service delivery to clients. The paper also has the practical importance of opening up new frontiers of research that focus on pricing of professional services in the built environment in general.

The paper contributes to the awareness and understanding of QS professionals about the challenges that continue to hamper effective pricing of their services.

Professional quantity surveying (QS) services are critical to successful delivery of construction projects within planned budget, quality and duration. The supply of QS professional services is largely dependent on the price level of services and the willingness of clients to pay. The pricing of professional QS consultancy services has been confronted with a myriad of pricing challenges due to rapid changes in the business environment; the pervasive influence of information technology; and the complexity of clients’ expectation. It is therefore necessary for QS consultancy firms to develop strategic competences for the pricing of their services. In addition, numerous studies have not given the pricing the pricing of professional services the requisite attention. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategic competences for pricing professional QS services.

The study was positioned within the positivist tradition. As a result, the quantitative approach was adopted using a survey questionnaire to collect data from QS consultants. The sample size of the study was 79 professional quantity surveyors chosen by using simple random sampling technique from a population of 372 registered professional QS of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors. Using the χ² test and factor analysis, the study established relationship between strategic competences and pricing of QS services.

The study found that strategic competences for pricing QS professional services is significantly related to the managerial and professional competence of QS consultants. The strategic competences of QS consultants identified by this study include business management, services cost management; and production capabilities.

This study provides an empirical basis for QS consultancy firms to focus on strategic direction of their contractual arrangement with clients. Practically, resource configuration and on strategic competences for professional service pricing would create price leadership.

The study advances the pricing knowledge within the QS practice by demonstrating the nexus between strategic competences and the pricing of QS professional services which hitherto this study have not been effectively investigated.

Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) prepared by built environment professionals. In recent years, there has been a perception amongst professionals that quality of documentation has declined. “Low” professional fees were cited as one of the reasons for poor quality documentation. However, most studies on the topic contained inappropriate methodologies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to develop a conceptual methodology to comprehensively examine the relationship between fees and professional service output quality.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to evaluate the limitations of previous methodologies and identify variables in the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings from the SLR were used to develop a conceptual methodology to investigate the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs.

Based on a frequency analysis of factors in the construction literature, the three main variables influencing professional service output quality were fees, coordination and amount of time available for project tasks. The SLR and shortcomings in previous studies informed the development of a conceptual methodology to examine the relationship between fees and professional service output quality.

The conceptual methodology will assist in comprehensively investigating the effect of fees on the quality of professional service outputs. This is particularly relevant in countries where clients procure built environment professional services based on the lowest fee tendered but are concerned about quality. The methodology can establish how and to what extent “low” fees impact on professional service output quality. Industry professionals can also use variables identified in this paper to mitigate quality-related risks when producing professional service outputs.

This paper adds to the body of knowledge by identifying variables in the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. The identified variables can be monitored and controlled by researchers during future investigations. Additionally, a conceptual methodology was proposed to assist researchers to determine the effect of fees on professional service output quality. The flexibility of the conceptual methodology enables it to comprehensively investigate other key variables (apart from fees) impacting on professional service output quality.

Competitive tendering in South Africa is often associated with procurement based on the lowest fee tendered. Previous research on this topic did not provide in-depth examinations of how pricing within consulting engineering companies was affected by competitive tendering nor did it illuminate the extent to which professional services were impacted by competitive tendering. This paper aims to examine the implications of competitive tendering on pricing and delivery of consulting engineering services in South Africa.

A survey research strategy with a questionnaire as the research instrument elicited qualitative data from 28 experienced consulting engineers in South Africa. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data from the questionnaires.

Three key themes were identified, namely: considerations when determining consulting engineering fees on competitively tendered projects; the impact of reduced fees due to competitive tendering on the delivery of consulting engineering services; and interventions to prevent unsustainably “low” professional fees. Many consulting engineers in South Africa still determine fees using fee scales, while other considerations include resources, project complexity, risk, etc. Most participants asserted that design optimisation/value engineering, training, meetings and construction monitoring were adversely impacted by “low” fees.

This paper provides in-depth qualitative feedback from experienced consulting engineers (most having more than 20 years’ experience) on a topical issue in the South African construction industry. Thematic analysis was a novel method of analysis that was not used previously in this area of study.

This study aims to develop an evaluation model for public managers in Hong Kong to assist in the procurement of best value consultants for professional housing maintenance services as part of the privatisation process.

The model developed is termed the “strategic evaluation model”, in which the strategic objective of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of resources through privatisation is used as the basis for evaluation. A value for money (VFM) ratio can represent both efficiency and effectiveness. This ratio refers to the output service quality versus the input costs, which are assessed independently. Production and transaction costs are quantitative figures, and as such the key issue in the analysis is the forecast of the output quality. It was hypothesized that there was a correlation between output quality and input management and economic factors. A triangulation methodology was used to develop and test out the correlation whereby the literature review and qualitative interviews with the maintenance consultancy management practitioners of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) were used to generate the hypothesis, which was then tested by quantitative regression, using data from the maintenance consultancies of the Authority. The hypothesis was validated, and hence an authentic, objective evaluation model was substantiated.

The main hypothesis was “In evaluating the competitive consultants for providing professional services for housing maintenance, the decision approach to ensuring the optimum use of resources can be determined by an objective comparison of the value for money of the respective services”. The sub‐hypotheses considered the relationships between output service quality and individual input factors of competition level, past performance, project leadership and quality benchmarking. The results of the qualitative and quantitative studies confirmed and validated the hypotheses, and hence substantiated the strategic evaluation model which is based on objective VFM assessment.

While the model was developed in the context of housing maintenance in the Hong Kong Housing Authority, it can form the baseline from which further research can build to provide an evaluation model for procuring property management and construction professional and contractor services in many other public‐ and private‐sector settings.

The weighted quality and price assessment method previously used is unable to obtain value services. This combined assessment method should therefore be replaced by the strategic model in order to achieve an optimum use of resources.

This paper establishes an evaluation framework for public managers to obtain best value services and hence ensure optimum use of resources in outsourcing of those facilities management (FM) services.

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the factors that influence innovation in construction professional services firms. The paper examines the role of middle managers who have responsibility for developing the right conditions that foster innovation at the business unit level.

A theoretical framework was initially developed through a synthesis of the literature. Using a case study approach, three types of innovation were explored to illustrate the role and influence of middle managers in fostering and exploiting innovations.

Findings from the study suggested that middle managers' innovation supporting behaviours influence innovation outcomes by helping development of a climate for innovation that influence championing behaviours among project managers.

The study was based on a single United Kingdom‐based construction professional services firm. Nevertheless, the research contributes to the call for more qualitative approaches to understanding leadership research in construction.

Limited research has been undertaken on the impact of leadership on construction innovation beyond senior managers. This paper seeks to contribute to addressing this gap in literature by highlighting the significant role that the middle managers play in enabling innovation in construction professional services firms contrary to well‐publicised negative views on the middle managerial roles.

Service quality is a major determinant of business performance. Empirical evidence from the literature indicates that, to attain a high level of customer satisfaction, a high standard of service quality should be provided by the service provider. This study aims to examine the relationship between the perceived service quality and the indicators of client satisfaction with particular reference to engineering consultancy services in building projects.

A survey research approach was adopted using a semi-structured questionnaire as an instrument of data collection. The questionnaire survey formed the basis for the descriptive and inferential (Pearson correlation and multiple regression) statistics that were used to evaluate the relationship between engineering consultants’ service quality and clients’ satisfaction indicators.

The study identified 10 key technical indicators and 10 key managerial indicators for measuring client satisfaction. Statistical analysis shows a positive significant relationship between the perceived service quality and all the indicators of client satisfaction. The positive correlation values show that as perceived service quality increases, both technical and management indicators of client satisfaction equally increase.

The results offer opportunity for professional service providers to continuously develop the technical and management indicators, embrace personnel training and key into continuous professional development for better service quality.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between Job Design, Job Commitment and Organizational Culture with Human Resource Performance: a study of the construction services provided by national consultants.

The research population consisted of all employees of a national company offering consultation services, from four big Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises Contractors: PT. Yodya Karya Company, PT. Hutama Karya, PT. Adhy Karya, PT. Waskita Karya Referring to the approach to SEM modeling with an average population of 600 employees for each enterprises, the sample to be used as respondents consisted of 100 employees for each enterprises, and total 100×4 enterprises=400 samples.

The variables Organizational Culture and Job Design have a significant direct effect on Job Commitment. Likewise, the effect of Organizational Culture and Job Commitment on Human Resource Performance is also significant. However, a different result is shown in the result of the direct effect of the variable Job Design on the variable Human Resource Performance, which indicates that the variable Job Design does not have a significant direct effect on the variable Human Resource Performance. In other words, the intensity of the Job Design value will not affect the intensity level of Human Resource Performance. In addition, a mediating effect of the variable Job Commitment is found on the effect of Job Design and Organizational Culture on Human Resource Performance.

The use of Job Commitment to exercise a mediation effect on the relationship between the effect of Job Design and Organizational Culture on Human Resource Performance, and the research site (no previous research investigating this relationship).

The UK Government construction strategy has a clear objective to maximise potential and value for construction and infrastructure projects. The purpose of this paper was to develop a performance outcome framework for the public-sector university client to identify the criteria for value against which construction consultants’ performance will be appraised for selection and monitoring purposes in outsourcing.

Multiple-case study method was used to examine the performance requirements of construction consultants, using three state universities having similar contexts in terms of organisation objectives and requirements on projects funded by the government.

Within the public-sector university environment, five performance outcomes are identified: time, cost, quality, innovations and working relationship with the client. These areas form a conceptual framework for measuring the performance of construction consultants.

The performance outcome framework developed should be regarded as “conceptual”. University clients may have different organisation objectives and hence requirements for performance outcomes, which may further vary according to specific project situations. The framework should be adapted accordingly.

University clients and their professional advisors should specify the performance requirements under those five areas in tender documents for selection purposes and subsequently use them as key performance indicators to monitoring the consultant performance. Construction consultants should address these requirements in the tender proposals to add value to the project.

There is a need to investigate what performance outcomes are required by the public-sector construction client. Based on the results of this research, frameworks and guidelines can be further developed for use by other public sectors, thus benefitting the wider public sector as a whole.