Organisational and strategic change in the New Zealand building & construction industry, 1990-1999

Abstract

The current research explores the impact of legislation enacted in the early 1990's on the New Zealand building and construction industry. It focuses on medium-sized construction companies operating in the Wellington region during 1990 - 1999 in order to determine whether the legislation enacted triggered organisational and strategic changes within construction firms. As a result of case studies undertaken on five construction companies using qualitative research methods (focused, semi-structured interviews and documentary evidence), the study revealed that organisational and strategic changes did occur within the firms studied. It is concluded from the number and magnitude of the changes observed in response to the legislation enacted, and subsequent environmental changes, that such changes for most established organisations were primarily evolutionary in nature. It is also concluded that significant change is difficult within construction companies as tight configurations of strategic variables, industry norms and the need for a firm to maintain its reputation as the critical antecedent to obtaining work, 'lock in' competitive practices. Furthermore, it is concluded that reputation spirals, geographic constraints and the presence of company size groupings, limit the potential strategic choice set available to managers and pre-empt some strategic decision-making options.