Vistas of strategy-making within Northern Ireland construction firms: How SME's differ from large firms

The Northern Ireland (NI) construction sector endured a more austere deterioration from the 2007 economic recession, compared to the rest of Great Britain (GB). Indeed, the sector experienced a consistent downward trajectory in output from 2007 to 2013, with a moderate recovery ensuing during 2014 and 2015. Consequently, construction firms, both large and small, responded to this cacophony of environmental change; scrambling to capture market power and preserve competitive advantage. Extant empirical research has shown that the pressure on chances of survival in an industry is far greater for smaller firms than for larger ones, and furthermore, that start-up firms fail at a higher rate than their larger rivals. Within the general management domain, there is a serious paucity of research investigating episodes of strategy-making within small and large firms during a period of economic contraction and growth; hence the emergence of this topic. To address this research gap, two comparative case studies with different macro-level outcomes, were used to examine episodes of strategy-making within NI construction firms during the period 2007 - 2015. Resonating under the strategizing praxis theme, the results suggest that large and SMEs differ substantially in their responses to industry environments, and subsequently in their strategy-making philosophy and approach. The large firm's generic strategy-making philosophy was based on deliberate and purposeful activities, while the SMEs philosophy was founded on the emergence of strategies non-deliberately. Lastly, the findings will enable top managers to recognize and reflect on how 'strategy is actually made', and how this relates to macro strategic change over time.