Managerial Representations of Achieving Competitive Advantage in Architectural Firms within the United Kingdom

Purpose - The purpose is to unearth managerial representations of achieving competitive advantage in relation to architectural firms operating within the United Kingdom (UK).
Design/Methodology/Approach - A sequential qualitative methodology is applied, underpinned by nine managerial interviews in five architectural practices; all of which are analysed using computer assisted qualitative data analysis software.
Findings - 108 representations are identified with highly rated concepts discussed in detail. Subsequently, the leading concepts include reputation, client satisfaction, fees and staff resources, among others.
Research Limitations/Implications - There are numerous studies conducted on this subject; however, there has been no research done to date documenting managerial representations within the UK on achieving competitive advantage in the context of architectural firms.
Practical Implications – The need for architectural firms to develop a competitive advantage within their market sector is ever more apparent, particularly during times of increased competitiveness.
Originality/Value – This paper fulfils a gap in knowledge by contributing to underlying research on the subject of competitive advantage, but focusing on the managerial representations, specifically within UK practices. The findings are of relevance to architects in both the UK and beyond, as well as perhaps forming the basis of identifying further research with the area.

Failure to produce an anti-poverty strategy: The Committee on the Administration’s Application [2015] NIQB 59, June 30, 2015

This is a note on the Northern Ireland High Court decision of 30 June 2015 that the Northern Ireland Executive had acted unlawfully in failing to fulfil its statutory duty to adopt a strategy setting out proposals for tackling poverty, social exclusion and patterns of deprivation based on objective need.

Beyond managerial talent: ‘key group’ identification and differential compensation practices in multinational companies

With the maturation of strategic human resource management scholarship, there appears to be a greater call to move from monolithic workforce management to a more strategic and differentiated emphasis on employees with the greatest capacity to enhance competitive advantage. There has been little consideration in the literature as to whether organizations formally identify key groups of employees based on their impact on organizational learning and core competences. Using survey evidence from 260 multinational companies (MNCs), this paper explores the extent to which key groups of employees are formally recognized and whether they are subject to differential compensation practices. The results demonstrate that just in excess of half of these MNCs identify a key group. There was considerable differentiation in the compensation practices between these key groups, managers and the largest occupational group in the workforce. The results give rise to questions worthy of future investigation, namely whether the differentiated approaches used lead to improved performance outcomes.