2019 Q2

Technology: Reshaping the Built Environment

In this edition of the Quarterly, we have a collection of articles across all stakeholder groups in the built environment that talk about how technology is impacting and influencing businesses across the value chain.

Featured Article: Is Your Company Ready for the Beta User Experience?

Being a beta customer is not an easy decision and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Here’s how to make sure your experience is a good one.

Amazon Business Shakes Up Building Product Manufacturers

As Amazon Business continues to make headway in the building products distribution industry, we’re beginning to see the Amazon effect disrupt the purchase and delivery of building products to the job site.

Artificial Intelligence: Possibilities for Engineering and Construction

Four ways artificial intelligence can transform an industry that’s finally poised to embrace technology.

Building a Capable Technology Stack

With the universal growth of platforms powering business functions, the importance of a technology stack is being recognized by companies of all sizes in the built environment.

Picking the Right Technology for Your E&C Firm

How to get everyone onboard with successful technology implementations that benefit your entire organization—from the field worker to the senior-level executive, and everyone in between.

Technology and Risk Mitigation in the Built Environment

Once you know what you want and need from your technology solutions, you can begin to extract meaningful insights to help your organization manage risk more effectively.

Today’s Technology Catalysts in the Built Environment

The E&C industry plays a key role in identifying technology and bringing it to end users through the design and construction of the built environment.

What Happens to Construction Tech During an Economic Downturn?

Here’s how past recessions have influenced the technology industry and what new construction tech companies need to be doing now to get ready for the next one.

2019 Q1

How to Recession-Proof Your Business

Construction spending growth is slowing, and there’s a lot of turbulence going on in the general economy. We think the engineering and construction (E&C) industry is at or near the top of the cycle. Knowing this, it’s time for E&C firms to start thinking about how to operate their businesses profitably when (not if) the recession hits.

Featured Article: How to Focus on Performance in Any Market Conditions

Position your business for long-term success by fine-tuning your company’s operations, risk management, people and rewards practices.

10 Ways to Build Resilience and Turn Adversity Into Opportunity

Recessions can create opportunities for construction companies to weather economic headwinds, allowing them to catapult past the competition and emerge even stronger.

Creating a Dynamic Strategy Through Business Analytics

Using business analytics to create a data-driven culture that helps E&C companies fine-tune their business strategies and continually improve their operations.

Design-Build: Knowing What Your Clients Want

Now is the time to select strategic partners and understand what your clients really want in a design-build project.

How to Leverage Your Board Ahead of Turbulent Times

The best boards are helping companies devise good plans of action for the future. Is yours on target?

The Multifamily Boom: How Much Longer Can It Go On?

Because the time to fix a leaking roof is when the sun is shining, multifamily contractors should be shoring up their cash reserves and diversifying now rather than later.

The Rise of In-House Design

The pros and cons of bringing the project design function in-house.

What’s Your Strategy When Times Get Tough?

How to get the most out of your business strategy—even when the future is unclear.

2018 Q4

The Quiet Transformation of the Built Environment

This issue of the Quarterly highlights some key innovations and transformations that are taking place across today’s built environment and sheds light onto this seemingly quiet yet pervasive transformation.

Featured Article: How Building Product Manufacturers Can Outsmart Amazon’s “Easy” Button, Part I

How to develop a business strategy that outwits Amazon Business at its own game.

How to Turn Big Data Into A Strategic Business Advantage

How E&C firms can take their huge data sets and transform them into usable, actionable intelligence that improves competitive advantage, enhances efficiencies and supports high levels of productivity (2018).

Leading as Partners: An Innovative Succession Trend

How E&C firms are using shared leadership strategies to transfer their businesses to the next generation of leaders.

New Frontiers: Focusing on Technology in Facilities Engineering and Design

How technology and integration expertise are becoming key competitive differentiators for design and engineering firms focused on facilities and buildings.

Offsite Construction Adds New Wrinkle to Supply Chain Puzzle

How building product manufacturers can take advantage of offsite construction trends and adapt their distribution models.

Six Technology Innovations to Watch in Engineering and Construction

Zurich’s top picks for promoting productivity and mitigating risk.

Teams at the Top: Tackling the Innovation Challenge

How to develop an engineering and construction organization that values, cultivates and fully leverages innovation at all levels.

The Maturing Construction Technology M&A Environment

Assessing the key M&A deals for construction technology and what they mean for the E&C industry.

2018 Q3

Building Leaders and Legacy in Today’s
Digital World

This edition of the Quarterly focuses on C-suite leadership, corporate governance, field leadership, ownership transition, risk management and the importance of leaving a legacy for your company.

Featured Article: Building Leaders and Legacy in Today’s Digital World

Welcome to the third edition of the 2018 FMI Quarterly. We’re now well into the second half of the year, and our authors are all thrilled to be able to share a fresh batch of insights, advice and trends with you over the next few pages.

Five Critical Pitfalls to Avoid When Developing Your High Potentials

How to get the most value out of your leadership development investment.

How to Drive Productivity Through Lasting Field Leadership Development

Success in business today comes down to field leaders’ ability to stimulate performance not only through hard skills like quality and process improvements, but also through soft skills like motivating and influencing others.

Private Equity’s Growing Role in Shaping the Built Environment

The built environment offers the private equity community an opportunity to invest in strong, growth-oriented companies with competitive returns.

Self-Awareness: The Foundation for Exceptional Leadership

An accurate assessment of your own level of self-awareness takes effort and vulnerability, but if you commit to doing it, the positive results will follow.

Three Lines of Defense: Holding Leadership Accountable for Managing Risk

Fully embracing the “Three Lines of Defense” model can mitigate risk and optimize future opportunities.

Untapped Potential: Closing the Training Gap for Corporate Boards

E&C companies largely fail to invest in ongoing education and development at the board level. Here’s how they can get on the right path.

Using an ESOP to Continue Your Company’s Legacy

With over 90% of E&C firms not being candidates for sale to a third party, employee stock ownership plans can serve as a viable succession planning tool for owners looking to transition out of their businesses.

Walking the Corporate Board Compensation Tightrope

How to effectively balance recognition and rewards with independent board governance.

2018 Q2

Canada: A Northern Perspective

Welcome to the second-quarter issue of the “2018 FMI Quarterly.” With a focus on Canada, this issue explores the various facets of the E&C industry in a country that, while a close neighbor to and ally of the U.S., has its own unique, independent qualities.

Featured Article: Leadership Fundamentals for Any Market Conditions

A look at how strategic, deliberate talent development can make a significant difference in an organization’s current and future growth.

A Case for the “Last 10%” Being the Hardest 30%

The phase between substantial completion and final acceptance can be one of the hardest bridges to cross, but the rewards of getting there are worth the extra effort.

In the Path of a Natural Disaster: Lessons Learned for Construction Work Sites

Hurricanes and wildfires in North America have brought new insights to risk management strategies. Can your risk register weather the storm?

It’s a New Day, Canada

Technology connects us, informs us, entertains us and changes the way we think, but how is it shaping customer expectations in the construction industry?

JV Driver: Building a Strong Leadership Legacy Through Tough Times

Here’s why organizations that invest in their future leaders are always ahead of the curve.

Leveraging Canada’s Active P3 Market

A viable means to repair and upgrade infrastructure, particularly in a strained economy where public resources are limited and private capital needs strong, risk-adjusted investment opportunities, P3 maintains a strong presence in Canada.

The Surge in Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions

They say the grass isn’t always greener, but this year it may be in the case of U.S.-Canada cross-border M&A activity.

Why Millennials Are Great for Engineering and Construction

It’s time to start incorporating a millennial-focused talent development strategy in the E&C workplace.

2018 Q1

The Future is Now: Setting Yourself Up for Success

With continuing industry growth trends, labor and productivity challenges, and retiring boomers, it would be easy to maintain focus on addressing the opportunities and challenges of the here and now. The risk in remaining solely focused on the short term is that the industry will likely look and operate very differently in 10 years than it does today, and firms may find themselves on the outside […]

Featured Article: Strategy in a Time of Industry Disruption

This article was written in response to the rise of venture capital focused on construction technology and disruptive startups, such as Katerra. In it, by examining case studies from other industries, we explored how industry disruption was unfolding.

Addressing the Workforce Gaps and Related Risks for the E&C Industry

Assessing the role of emerging technologies in easing workforce gaps for engineering and construction firms.

How to Create a Future-Ready Board of Directors

A simple shift in perspective regarding boards of directors can lead to a cascade of the best decisions an E&C industry owner will ever make.

Managing Risk in the Face of Industry Disruption

How smart E&C companies must get ahead of disruption by finding ways to adapt and innovate to remain relevant.

Planning for Tomorrow’s E&C Workforce Now

A look at what types of employees the E&C industry will need over the next few years and how top companies are working to fill those positions now.

Simplifying E&C Projects: Technology as an Enabling Solution

By being innovative and fully leveraging technology, E&C firms can effectively address the various levels of complexity within their projects while assuring quality and timely project delivery.

Technology and Operational Excellence: Catalyst or Obstacle?

How to select a technology solution that aligns with your company’s overall direction and optimizes resources and information.

The Solar Operations and Maintenance Opportunity: Now and Beyond

How the rise of solar photovoltaics (PV) is creating significant Operations and Maintenance (O&M) opportunity for today’s engineering and construction (E&C) industry.

2017 Q4

Innovation: Pull Away From the Pack

In this Quarterly edition, authors discuss several topics, including how to develop high-performing teams, effective boards, and a strategic compensation philosophy to drive innovation and performance across the company. We also look at new trends around offsite construction among owner organizations (based on our latest industry study conducted with CURT and CII) and discuss the convergence of […]

Assessing Your Exposure to Design Risks in an Evolving Marketplace

Evolving project delivery methods present new roles, opportunities and distinctive challenges for general contractors.

Eight Factors That Will Increase Your Board’s Innovative Aptitude

A highly effective board can help drive innovation and keep your company ahead of the curve.

Five Steps to an Innovative Compensation Strategy

How to develop a pay philosophy to guide your compensation strategy.

Health and Wellness: The Next Disruption in Sustainable Building Design

How companies can effectively transform environmental- and health-related disruption into true opportunities now and in the future.

How to Leverage Customer Feedback to Drive Product Innovation

How to effectively draw out ideas and feedback from customer communities and translate that information into product innovation.

Moving from Offsite Construction to Smarter Project Execution

It’s time to rethink offsite construction and align it with your organization’s overall project execution strategy.

Peak Teams: An Innovative Model for High-Performing Teams

How to make the connection between exceptional leaders and high-performing teams.

Preparing Your Company for Growth and Innovation

How E&C firms can think out of the box and become true “innovation machines” during the years ahead.

2017 Q3

Positioning to Win From the Inside Out

We find ourselves in one of the longest sustained economic expansions in the history of the U.S. engineering and construction industry. As such, we think it is a good time to focus on a few strategic items that executives often overlook, but, if acted upon, can make a positive impact on a firm’s performance regardless of market conditions.

Boost Your Bottom Line and Strategy With Incentive Compensation

How to align employee performance with corporate strategy to ensure that staff behaviors are consistent with the company’s overall mission and vision.

Four Steps to a Winning Divestment Strategy

In a business environment where 83% of E&C firms are interested in acquisitions, it pays to set your criteria, establish your team and lay down the rules of the road before jumping in.

Four Ways to Take Your Client Relationships to the Next Level

Customer loyalty is more than repeat business. Now is the time to recalibrate your client focus and achieve new levels of customer loyalty.

How to Avoid Wasting Millions of Dollars Chasing Down Business

Getting smart about your go-to-market strategy, picking the right customers and pre-positioning yourself for the win will help set up your company to gain profitable market share without breaking the bank.

How Your Board Can Propel Organizational Strategy

How to leverage the power of your board of directors to propel strategy and enhance company growth.

Positioning Your Organization for the Win

It’s not enough to play the game well, you must also decide what game you want to play.

Taking Your Leaders to the Next Level With Coordinated Coaching

How Cadre Coaching can help address not only individual developmental needs but also a shared set of organizational objectives.

Using Subcontractor Prequalification to Help Mitigate Risk and Increase Success

The rebounding construction market demands even greater discipline and diligence when considering subcontractors.

2017 Q2

Texas: Lessons from the Lone Star State

In this Quarterly edition, our authors describe Texas’ business climate and reasons for success, share important lessons learned, and explore some of the key reasons why this state has maintained its prominence in the business market for decades.

Construction Joint Ventures: Texas Style

Joint ventures are a good way to grow a construction business, particularly when dealing with large and mega-projects.

Geographic Strategy: In Texas, as Elsewhere, All Construction Is Local

A few years ago, a marketing campaign for the state of Texas used as its tag line the phrase, “Texas: It’s Like a Whole Different Country.”

Leading Innovation: Insights From Industry Executives (Part 3)

Examining the influence of culture, talent and leadership on innovation.

Texas Does It Right — Workforce Development Initiatives

Three workforce development experts from Texas share their thoughts on how the E&C industry can do a better job of developing the workforce of the future.

Texas: Successful Compensation Strategies for Navigating Market Cyclicality

Weathering down markets and cyclical work, Texas holds steady in construction employee compensation.

What E&C Companies Can Learn From the Texas Model

Built on four key pillars of strength, Texas parallels the engineering and construction industry as a strong, vibrant component of the U.S. economy.

What’s Driving Contractor Acquisition Trends?

Understanding buyer strategy is essential to comprehending exit options and making the best possible choice for your company.

Why Diversity Matters: Leadership Lessons From the Lone Star State

Key lessons on how to create an inclusive and diverse corporate culture.

2017 Q1

Succession and Transition: Building the Future

At its core, succession is a deeply emotional process for leaders. For seasoned executives, it often requires reflection and insight into one’s career journey and legacy.

Addressing the Big Shifts of Ownership Transfer and Succession Management

How to effectively recognize and address the major, underlying shifts associated with ownership transfer and succession management in the E&C environment.

How to Use Phantom Stock to Assist With Ownership Transition and Retention

Exploring phantom stock issuance as a viable ownership transfer strategy.

Leading Innovation: Insights From Industry Executives (Part 2)

Leaders tend to respond differently when given the opportunity to lead innovative processes. Some leaders feel an overwhelming sense of excitement for the challenge ahead and the chance to make a significant impact on their businesses. Others get a deep pit in their stomach full of doubt and fear […]

Navigating a Clear Path to Successful Ownership and Management Transition

While there are no cookie-cutter solutions for ownership transfer, there are some viable strategies to consider when it’s time to successfully hand over your company’s ownership and management to the next generation.

The Big Transition:  Ownership Transfer and Management Succession

Much has been written about the aging baby-boom segment of the population.

The Continuity Mindset: Managing Succession for Lasting Organizational Success

At its core, succession is a deeply emotional process for leaders. For seasoned executives, it often requires reflection and insight into one’s career journey and legacy.

The Growth Mindset: Developing Your Successors With Intention, Purpose and Personal Focus

When companies adopt growth mindsets, those organizations are more readily able to identify and grow leadership potential in their employees.

Third-Party Sale or Internal Buyout?  How to Make the Best Choice for Your Firm

Key considerations that come into play when pursuing a third-party sale versus an internal buyout.

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