ABSTRACT
The real estate development model can be seen as an input–transformation–output system in which developers must periodically respond to internal and external strategic issues over the course of the development process. Today, the most decisive issues are those arising from dynamic and unpredictable environments. This study proposes four main types of strategic management systems: proactive, reactive, planned and ad hoc. Proactive strategic management systems are adopted by large, powerful, and politically well-connected developers with future-oriented management systems. Planned strategic management systems are adopted by large developers with sophisticated strategic planning practices. Reactive strategic management systems are adopted by large- to medium-sized developers with formal structures of management. Ad hoc strategic management systems are adopted by medium- to small-sized developers that lack a systematic management process. Data were collected by means of a web-based questionnaire survey in Hong Kong. 160 questionnaires were sent out between July 2015 and September 2015, and 45 questionnaires were completed representing a response rate of 28 percent. Descriptive statistics, hierarchical and K-means cluster analyses and discriminant analysis were used to test the hypothesis that “there exist four significantly different kinds of strategic management systems adopted by developers, with each system having different capabilities for responding to strategic issues.” The result generated from the cluster analysis was validated by the between-method triangulation. This study indicates that understanding emerging strategic issues is critical for the success of an organisation. Although not all of the potential threats and opportunities can be avoided or captured, developers would certainly increase their chances of success by improving their abilities to anticipate and deal with threats or opportunities.
