Holding the Advantage
Small firms are constantly under a number of business pressures, and competing for qualified engineers with both large and small engineering firms is just one more challenge to contend...
Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Plans
Less than a third of workers at small firms with 100 or fewer employees have a job-sponsored retirement plan, far fewer than that of bigger firms. A survey by the Employee Benefit Research...
The New Commute
Owners of small engineering firms differ in their opinions about the efficacy of allowing employees to work from home one or more days per week. Some find it difficult to justify the technology...
A Stockholder's Story
A former partner in an engineering consulting firm tells about what happens when a firm goes public. His view is that while it benefitted financially, the firm changed for the worse. The...
Small Firms, Big Advantages
Engineering companies with 50 or fewer employees make up the bulk of the profession, yet they rarely receive the attention that larger, better-known firms do. Owners say that's...
Marketing is Everyone's Job
While good management, strategic planning and a good reputation certainly contribute to a firm's growth and higher profits, most successes can be credited to an aggressive...
The Foreign Office: Managing Multinationals
This chapter discusses the management of multinational employees working out of the foreign office....
Big Business
Prior to the 1990s, there were few mergers in the environmental engineering consulting industry. Growth and profitability were generally sufficient to compensate owners and employees and...
Sticking with the Web
After a slow start, engineers are rapidly claiming their territory on the World Wide Web. Here's a look at what they're doing and what they hope to gain�along...
The Marketing Director and the Marketing Team
All employees of a firm are part of the marketing organization. The general staff indirectly performs their marketing task by doing their work well. The leaders of the organization, however,...
The Urge to Merge
A report issued in 1994 by the Professional Services Management Association offers a glimpse into the world of mergers and acquisitions in the architecture/engineering industry, through...
PR Prescription
Image and reputation are powerful tools for professional services firms competing in today's marketplace. The ability to win projects, enter new markets and attract key employees...
Turning Water into Dollars
Revenues were suffering in the water departments of Jefferson Parish, La. and Houston in the late 1980s and early 90s. But after overhauling their billing, collection and customer-service...
ASCE Salary Survey 1995
The 23rd biennial ASCE salary survey of the civil engineering profession conducted by the ASCE Committee on Employment Conditions during the first quarter of 1995 is presented. It consists...
Continuous Excellence
Building Effective Organizations
This handbook for managers and leaders pulls together, in one resource, all that is important to know about effectively utilizing and managing change in service organizations. For leaders...
ASCE Salary Survey 1993
The 22nd biennial ASCE salary survey of the engineering profession conducted by the ASCE Committee on Employment Conditions during the first half of 1993 is presented. It consists of an...
Guide to Employment Conditions for Civil Engineers
ASCE Manual 55,
The `Criminalization` of Government Procurement
Laws and regulations governing federal government contracts are proliferating. Every firm that does business with a federal agency should have an internal program to prevent violation...
Motivating Technical Employees
The traditional methods of motivating employees�offers of higher pay and better perks�often fail to inspire technical employees, leaving their managers scratching their heads. But a review...
Managing Problems Associated with Using Computer Programs
Everyone says they want to use computers. Yet, there are still some people who avoid using computers whenever they can. Also, some managers still resist using the latest computer technology....
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