EFFECTUAL DESIGN BLUEPRINTS FOR SUCCESS: INTERNATIONALISING SWISS AND THAI ARCHITECTURAL AND CIVIL ENGINEERING SERVICE SMEs

Abstract

At the dawn of the 21st century, the international business environment for Swiss and Thai entrepreneurial architects and civil engineers presents complex challenges and a web of uncertainty. Although some studies have explored the expansion of architectural and civil engineering service SMEs beyond national borders, a significant gap remains in the literature. The entrepreneurial actions involved in the internationalisation of these design service SMEs remain largely unexplored, necessitating a thorough investigation. This study aimed to fill this gap by investigating how creative professionals engage in international opportunities. This research results in a practical 'How-to-Internationalise Action Guideline' for SMEs, enabling them to navigate international boundaries and succeed in an uncertain world.

The purpose of this doctoral research is to contribute scientific knowledge and enhance the current managerial practices of international architecture and civil engineering service SMEs. It explores the combined and complementary use of causal and effectual design principles by individual design entrepreneurs throughout the Swiss and Thai international opportunity process. The objective of this doctoral study was to address the central research question: “How to use the effectual design method throughout the international opportunity process of Swiss and Thai architectural and civil engineering service SMEs to facilitate successful internationalisation?” The international opportunity process is conceptualised as an entrepreneurial process comprising three design problem spaces: beginning with (1) international opportunity creation, proceeding to (2) international opportunity evaluation, followed by (3) international opportunity exploitation.

The key findings provide evidence that Swiss and Thai design entrepreneurs effectively combine and complement the causal and effectual design principles in the international opportunity process. They predominantly apply effectual design principles like using 'Available means', 'Affordable loss', and 'Forming partnership' to address the design problem space of international opportunity creation. Additionally, they pre-dominantly employ causal design principles such as ‘Expected return, ‘Avoid surprise’, and ‘Potential competitor’ to tackle the design problem space of international opportunity evaluation. Moreover, they effectively balance the causal design principles of ‘Goal oriented’ and ‘Expected return with the effectual design principles of ‘Available means,’ and ‘Forming partnerships’. However, when unexpected outcomes (Leveraging contingency) arise, the effectual design approach is more prominently used to address the design problem space of international opportunity exploitation. Successful international opportunities are socially created, human-made, abstract artefacts that manifest as new international projects or wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. Furthermore, the effectual design principle of 'Forming partnership' plays an essential role, while the 'Affordable loss' principle, particularly in terms of reputation, is a significant consideration for both Swiss and Thai design entrepreneurs.

The unique doctoral research approach combines the intersectional perspectives of social science and creative design science philosophies. It is grounded in constructivism (Lincoln & Guba, 2013), employs an artefact-centred design perspective (Berglund, 2020; Ding, 2019), and incorporates a theoretical perspective of the Hermeneutic Circle (Lincoln & Guba, 2013). Through qualitative cross-country research and 27 phenomenographic semi-structured interviews (Marton, 1986) with purposefully and comparison-focused samples (Patton, 2015), Swiss and Thai design entrepreneurs provided interesting insights into their experiences and actions.

This doctoral study not only contributes to academic knowledge on international entrepreneurship but also offers practical insights for individual design entrepreneurs and those responsible for developing curricular guidelines in higher education programs on architectural and civil engineering design. This study bridges a critical gap in our understanding of the effectual design method in international entrepreneurship, offering both theoretical advancements and practical applications.

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