Understanding Business Strategies for Design Firms

The role of architects and engineers is to design and develop new buildings, but in the process they also have to consider a plethora of other factors, including budgets, government regulations, and client demands. These challenges, together with the effects of a global pandemic and evolving technology, make the role of managing an architectural and engineering design firm a complex task.

Tim Tracey, vice president and Chicago office director of the global design firm SmithGroup, will address these challenges in a new course this winter in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Executive Management for Design and Construction (EMDC) program, titled Business Strategies for Design Firms. This five-week course will focus on how architecture is changing, the importance of analyzing risk, and how to maintain a firm’s design quality and reputation.

“In my class, we focus on the inherent risks, challenges and opportunities that are unique to a design firm and how these sometimes diametrically opposed forces manifest into decision points that one will need to address as a business leader,” Tracey said.

The topics in this five-week course will complement those presented in Advanced Business Strategy, an EMDC course that deals primarily with the activities that affect the profitability for a construction company. 

 Each week, the new course will address a different theme, including: 

• Introduction to Professional Services Firms
• Financial Performance
• Marketing, Sales, and Business Development
• Project Management
• Human Resources/Talent Management

“Architects and engineers go to school with the hope of designing beautiful spaces and creating innovative solutions," Tracey said. "Running a business is not something most designers plan to do when they are in school. But the business side of this industry is such that the pursuit of creating great design can be easily and quickly compromised by bad business decisions.”

Students will gain an exposure to the broad range of issues encountered in architecture and engineering beyond design challenges of today's world, so that they are better prepared to make a positive impact in their daily practice.”

Tracey’s class will emphasize how to set up a business for long-term success, including strategy and business sustainability.

“It's important to have a long-term plan that recognizes and accepts that this is not an industry where one makes their money quickly and retires early,” Tracey said. “Our profession is a labor of love that requires a vision for what you would like to achieve. It takes commitment to invest the energy, time, and passion to achieve that vision.”

This course will also touch on how the challenges of 2020 such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and social justice issues will impact the architecture and engineering design field for years to come.

“Architects and engineers are uniquely positioned to be leaders in creating positive change through innovative designs and processes that can make a meaningful impact in people's lives,” he said. "Design is a team sport, and the best designs come from a team that embraces the diversity of thought that a variety of perspectives provide, whether that comes from academic background, discipline, level of experience or cultural upbringing.”

By using real-world examples and his first-hand experience, Tracey conveys to students the role that successful business strategies can have on design firms.

“Value is not hierarchical,” Tracey said. “In my experience, powerful ideas that add 'value' to a project can come from any member of the team, from the most experienced to the newest addition. Diversity, inclusivity, and creativity add value to the design process and can lead to a truly integrated design solution.”