Management of New Zealand quantity surveying practices: A longitudinal study

Abstract

This is a study of the management and strategy of quantity surveying firms in Auckland from the bottom of the property cycle in the late 1980’s to just past the next peak in 2008. Over the period the firms have developed a degree of differentiation based on the needs of clients for varying degrees of sophistication of service. This in turn leads to price differentiation. The firms who have become market leaders are all part of international groups and are able to use the expertise from within those groups to provide higher levels of sophistication of service. At the same time all firms have moved away from using contract labour and outsourcing as a means of having some flexibility in their cost structure. Because of this they may be vulnerable to incurring losses during the current downturn.