Engineering Services: A Business Plan

[ABSTRACT ONLY; NO FULL TEXT] The following MBA thesis was selected based on our cumulative group interest in engineering services. Our client reached out to CSUN as a Masters in Mechanical Engineering alumni seeking business counsel for his startup engineering company. Based on mutual interest between the group and our client, a situational analysis was conducted, concluding that the project's scope would include finding a profitable niche and business strategy in the engineering services environment. Research commenced through the use of tools such as Porter's Five Forces and PEST Analysis for the external environment, in addition to SWOT analysis for the internal environment of engineering services. The purpose of these analyses was to identify resources and capabilities of the firm and determine how they fit into its competitive environment. Next, a feasibility analysis was conducted to determine the viability of the firm's offerings, given the capabilities and constraints whichconstraints that it possesses. This included a thorough analysis of technical specifications, risks, management team, marketing, and management team considerations. The methods used to conduct our research included research from literary websites and databases in addition to customer and competitor surveys. Based on the group's research, recommendations were offered to fulfill the firm's goals by focusing the firm's resources on a specific area or niche of the engineering market. The tactics to achieve this include capital investments, sales and marketing strategy, management plans, and financial leverage techniques. My contributions to the project included thorough literary research, interviewing potential customers and incumbent competitors of the industry, and strategy recommendations. I took the lead on key areas of the project such as Porter's Five Forces analysis and , marketing feasibility, while managing and supporting my teammates. In addition, I designed the marketing survey and maintained a key role in editing the group's documentation throughout the project. Furthermore, I was able to leverage some of my networking abilities to attain critical information from targeted cold-calling and established contacts within the engineering industry. The thesis was largely considered a success due to the hard work of the engineering services team, the support of our graduate counselor, Dr. Ali Behnezhad, and the willingness of our client to embrace change.