Marketing analysis for Construction Forensic Thesis

Marketing analysis for Construction Forensic - Thesis Example Hence, we see that the construction industry has taken over a number of services that were offered by A/E consultants. The contractors have taken over a large share of the service market of A/E consultants and thus, A/E firms need to expand the services offered to retain their market shares. They need to venture into service segments such as providing financial assistance to the clients, assistance with regulations, cost analysis of project life cycle, O&M functions, and renovation services. The situation has changed dramatically for marketing professionals and construction services providers and it is not as simple as it used to be. The shift in the project delivery system and the advances in communication technology requires the architects and the engineers to change themselves from their usual procedures of working. For example, in the past architects relied on their name and recognition whereas consulting engineers relied on 80/20 rule2 , and general contractors used to bid low i n competitive bidding situations3. The A/E consultants can retain their market shares by strengthening their market niche, marketing plans that increase customer retention, and restructuring of the organization to increase flexibility in the human resource and the services offered. If we take a look at the US construction industry, it is a pretty large profitable market and the barriers to entry in the market for foreign firms are low as there have been indications that a number of foreign firms have entered the heavily civil and public works markets in California, Massachusetts, and Florida. Statistically, Construction industry is a huge one. According to the US Census Bureau, the total value of business done in 2007 was $748,4994 (in millions of dollars). Similarly, in the state of Washington, there were a total of 21,701 establishments in 2007 and the dollar value of business done was $27, 916, 1235. Construction Litigation Industry The function that Construction Litigation serve s is dealing with legal disputes that result from construction projects. The disputes could result from disagreements in construction contracts and from injury claims or accidental deaths caused by ignorant behavior. In any case, construction litigation consultants are responsible for dealing with civil lawsuits involving private parties that are governed under separate rule and regulations from those of criminal prosecution6. Several new methods have evolved in the construction industry such as design/build, at-risk construction management, built-operate-transfer methods7. Difference of opinion exists on the claims and litigations under these methods. Proponents of these methods are of the view that these methods tend to bring down the hostility of the relationship between the concerned parties, hence resulting in an overall reduction in claims and litigations whereas advocates of litigation believe that despite the use of alternate methods; these methods just place the associated risks within the construction process. Consequently, there is no significant impact on the claims or litigation. On the contrary, they believe that