Positioning for architecture and design firms

For an architecture or design firm to survive and prosper in the new economy, it needs to redefine and reinvigorate its position in the marketplace. With dozens of how-to cases, examples, and guidelines, Positioning for Architecture and Design Firms provides the entire menu of tools, plus the inspiration needed, for making the changes required to stay competitive in the design world. Offering strategies for leveraging a firm's strongest assets into the formulation of a successful long-term plan, this book breaks with tradition to introduce the latest concepts specifically developed for building future business opportunities in an unstable economic landscape marked by shifts in competition, technology, and client expectations.

With a wealth of information targeting the subject of positioning, readers will learn:

Why the aftershocks of the Great Recession are likely to linger, and what you can do about it in relation to your firm's success

How the coming generational shift will change the design business

What positioning is, and how it needs to be developed to support and implement your strategic vision

How your firm can establish a robust identity and operating model

The importance of your firm's essential purpose

How to turn your marketing department into a true marketing system, transforming it from production mode into an integrated positioning machine

Why it is important to engage in advanced research and open innovation initiatives

Addressing issues of firm identity, including an understanding of how to create the market positioning desired, Positioning for Architecture and Design Firms shows how a design firm--large or small, new or well established--can position itself to gain greater control over its destiny, and reach loftier levels of achievement.

Learn about firm types, and match the right type to a firm's goals

Develop and maintain a firm's identity in the marketplace

Discover how organizational design and marketing support a chosen firm type

Author Notes

Jack Reigle, a veteran of the design industry with more than two decades of strategic planning experience, is President of SPARKS, The Center for Strategic Planning. He assists firms of all sizes in the development of strategy and positioning plans, allowing them to thrive and succeed in the most challenging environments. His previous book is Silver Bullets: Strategic Intelligence for Better Design Firm Management

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Chapter 1 Future Tense	p. 1
The Big Shift	p. 1
The Fourth Turning	p. 5
Pragmatism	p. 8
The Effects of Sustainability	p. 9
Chapter 2 Positioning	p. 15
Positioning Defined	p. 15
The Positioning Platform for Design Firms	p. 19
Chapter 3 Firm Identity and Purpose	p. 39
Firm Identity	p. 39
Now For Sale: Our Culture, Our Processes	p. 61
Conducting A Staff Retreat to Address Positioning and Firm Identity	p. 63
Summary	p. 66
Chapter 4 Markets And Services	p. 67
Market Selection, Penetration, and Influence	p. 69
Positioning within Multiple Markets	p. 74
The Convergence of Ideas Essential for The Design Industry	p. 76
Geographic Reach and Positioning	p. 80
Commoditization of Design Services	p. 95
Service Development	p. 98
Chapter 5 The Marketing System	p. 101
Establishing a Marketing System Mindset	p. 101
Methods Buyers are Using to Procure Services	p. 134
Chapter 6 Organizational Development	p. 137
Primary Arenas for Organizational Development	p. 140
Leadership Development	p. 146
The Learning Environment	p. 154
Firm Values	p. 157
Measuring For Success	p. 160
Chapter 7 Advanced Research and Open Innovation	p. 167
Advanced Research	p. 167
Open Innovation	p. 176
Appendix: The Sparks Framework Assessment: Charting Your Preferences	p. 179
Introduction to the Assessment	p. 179
Who Should Participate in the Assessment?	p. 180
Instructions	p. 180
The Sparks Framework Assessment: Twenty Critical Choices for Firm Leaders	p. 181
Afterword	p. 191
The Future of the Design Profession	p. 191
Index	p. 197

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Author Notes

Table of Contents