SamWilko Advisory Industry Advice
Transport, Construction & Technical Services
How Values toughen up your Engineering and Construction Business
Businesses in Engineering and Construction tend not to describe themselves as “values-driven”. More often, they identify and pride themselves on their ability to get things done in the typically tough circumstances in which they operate. What value then, do values...
Bankrupt builders are demonised but is the environment in which they do business the problem?
The inflexion point of an economy from ‘boom to bust’ is a time of heightened risk for engineering and construction, an industry characterised by high risk. Rapid shifts in supply and demand can turn a profitable business into a loss-making venture almost overnight....
The Why for Change in an Industry Undergoing Radical Transformation
A wide-ranging debate rages in engineering and construction, regarding the extent to which the industry must change to align more closely with contemporary business and broader societal expectations. The debate concerns a raft of challenges facing the industry, with...
Margin Squeeze and the challenge of government intervention
Most homeowners are acutely aware of the high cost of housing in Australia. So too, many would-be homeowners are becoming aware of the challenges faced by new home and apartment builders as contractors assess the consequences of their committed forward workloads,...
Givers, Takers & Matchers: Which behaviour creates the greatest success?
In my experience, many businesses struggle to make referrals, even when they’re in an industry – for example professional services – where good quality referrals are the lifeblood of a successful enterprise. Most experienced professionals are aware of the benefits...
Reflections on a Theme: Is Australia’s Big Infrastructure Build Delivering Value?
A recent CEDA conference in Sydney headlined “Is Australia’s Big Infrastructure Build Delivering Value?” coincided with the 21 March 2022 release of Infrastructure Australia’s report on “A roadmap to a more productive and resilient future” A fair amount of the...
Productivity improvement in Engineering & Construction – why is it so important?
I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m finding it hard to remember what life was like prior to the onset of the dreaded “C” situation. Can you recall what was happening across Australia 5 years ago? I’ll summarise with help from my archives and more specifically a 15...
What has “Design Thinking” got to do with my business?
Our current age seems to be increasingly characterised by an overwhelming preference for getting to an answer QUICKLY. This shows up across the entire spectrum from “thought shower” problem-solving popularised in business, to the relatively more disciplined Minimum...
Insights from the Past – 75 Years of Transport Engineering & Construction in Australia
The central role of Government is the most obvious and defining characteristic of the engineering and construction industry in Australia. Our public sector is primarily responsible for creating the market for constructing and maintaining the roads, railways, airports...
How effectively does our brain actually function?
As a business advisor of many years standing, I’ve inevitably been involved in Infrastructure projects that have not gone to plan (as well as a project or two that have been set up for failure). I can assure you that no-one – not even the lawyers – gets much real value out of cleaning up the resulting mess.
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PETER WILKINSON
Sydney, Australia
+61 (0) 418 636 545
peter@samwilkoadvisory.com
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