Explication of the need for developing Marketing Function of Professional Service Organizations

Abstract

This paper examines and shows why developing the marketing function (MF) as a   management tool in Professional Service Organizations (PSO) is critical for the survival and growth of such organizations. It adopts the descriptive study design and employs the Contingency Theory Paradigm and a review of extant literature on construction marketing with focus on PSO, as a method to identify, summarize and synthesize to show the need for developing the marketing function of PSO operating in the built environment, especially the Quantity Surveying Consulting Firms (QSCF) in Ghana.  The paper shows that a means to cope in a changing business environment which is key for survival and growth of a firm requires development of the marketing function of the firm which will enhance the needed adaptability to the changing environment. Effectiveness of that depends on the appropriate matching of contingency factors with internal organizational designs that can allow appropriate responses to the environment, and that make marketing indispensable. The paper opens a new direction of construction marketing research which focuses on the benefits of marketing in managing a construction business.

Keywords: Contingency Theory, marketing, Professional Service Organizations (PSO), Quantity Surveying.