Commercial Construction & Renovation helps our subscribers design, build and maintain better commercial facilities by delivering content to meet the information needs of today's high-level executives.
Issue link: https://ccr-mag.epubxp.com/i/108449
CODE OF ETHICS The construction profession relies upon a system of technical competence, management excellence, and fair dealing to serve the public with safety, efficiency, and economy. Each member of the association is committed to following the Standards of Professional Conduct: 1. A member shall maintain full regard to the public interest in fulfilling his or her professional responsibilities. 2. A member shall not engage in any deceptive practice, or in any practice that creates an unfair advantage for the member or another. 3. A member shall not maliciously or recklessly injure, or attempt to injure, the professional reputation of others. 4. A member shall insure that when providing a service that includes advice, such advice shall be fair and unbiased. 5. A member shall not divulge to any person, firm, or company, information of a confidential nature acquired during the course of professional activities. 6. A member shall carry out his or her responsibilities in accordance with current professional practice. 7. A member shall keep informed of new concepts and developments in the construction process appropriate to the type and level of his or her responsibilities. Adopted by permission from the American Institute of Constructors. April 1999 Revision Primitive Weapons Won't Feed a Village By Cynthia Paul, Managing Director, FMI Corporation Thriving in any market stems from the ability to see into the future, determine where the market is heading, and get positioned to take advantage of opportunities. This allows a company to identify the right techniques to be successful. Opportunities exist, regardless of market conditions. The key is advanced warning, and a good plan of attack. It may surprise you to know that FMI has a number of clients who are putting up their single-best years. Some are positioned in good market segments. Some have found areas to compete in the market that gives them a competitive advantage. Others are simply getting back to basics and executing strategies that have proven successful. What makes these firms successful is they aligned their marketing strategies and business development activities with future market insights gained from experiences during previous recessions. In other words, instead of using the primitive weapons of earlier markets, they developed a new arsenal of tactics to remain competitive in the changing market. Developing insights into the future starts with reflection. Think about on what your organization has faced in the last two to three years. We have faced more than 30 months of economic struggle. What would you have done differently in 2007 and 2008 if you knew that the economy would be where it is now? to getting ahead of the curve and capturing an advantage. Start with aligning marketing and business development activities with the business strategy (strategic plan). Strategy answers the question of how a goal will be accomplished. To win new business, it may include: • Being the low-cost provider (while generating a healthy bottom line) • Positioning as the go-to contractor for franchise retailers • Providing a unique design-build advantage that cannot be gained elsewhere Regardless, the corporate strategy needs to identify which marketing approaches and tactics are necessary, as well as which customers and markets to target. The purpose of marketing is to keep in touch with customers and warm up prospective customers to buy on value. Business development engages in the conversation about a specific project. In far too many construction firms, marketing is tied to strategy, but lacks any real integration or collaboration with business development. Full-time business developers are far Continued on page 2 • Rightsized quicker? • Diversified into nontraditional market segments? • Realigned your company faster? • Shifted more resources into business development? • Grown new skills and abilities in your people? President's Message Page 3 Full Member Directory Page 4 The lessons learned over the last several years will help operate more efficiently in the years to come. One of the key lessons is it is impossible to save your way to prosperity. Cutting costs and realigning the organization are good areas to focus on when heading into a recession. However, simply cutting back does not get you positioned to win big. There are four modern weapons needed to thrive: strategy, targeting, marketing, and business development. Member Directory Icons Page 5 Start With Strategy Past Presidents: Where Are They Now? Tom Eckinger Page 6 RCA Sustaining Sponsors Page 8 Inside This Issue New Advisory Board Members Page 3 In an ideal world, you would want to get positioned for a changing economic market six to 12 months in advance. However, we do not live in an ideal world, far from it. Regardless, being in position ahead of time makes solid business sense. It is the shortcut Exhibit 1 RCA's Mission: RCA's Mission is to promote professionalism and integrity in retail construction through industry leadership in education, information exchange, and jobsite safety.