21 Journal of Construction Education Copyright 1998 by the Associated Schools of Construction Spring 1998, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 21-30 1522-8150/98/$3.00/Educational Practice Manuscript Strategic Management in Construction Education Paul S. Chinowsky Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia Increased competition and changing economic conditions are requiring construction students to understand a wider range of issues than ever before in areas such as strategic analysis, knowledge management, and emerging technologies. However, the development of construction curricula to provide this strategic knowledge is noticeably lacking in current graduate construction programs. With a tradition of project management-focused programs, expanding educational opportunities for students in the area of strategic management represents a significant challenge for construction educators. In response to this challenge, this paper introduces a new course to provide graduate level construction students with a new knowledge set focusing on strategic management. The paper introduces the reasons for developing the course, the case study emphasis within the course, and the industry barriers that may deter the expansion of strategic management education. Key Words: Graduate Education, Construction, Management Introduction The traditional philosophy of management in construction, both in academia and in industry, places great emphasis on the ability to plan and execute projects. Preparing individuals with project management competencies is viewed as a necessary role for university programs. Through the sharing of research, teaching and practice, the construction industry has evolved itself on a project management model. Professors, researchers and practitioners use project management indicators such as schedule and budget as the industry's standard of performance. Similarly, to succeed in academic programs focusing on construction management, the central focus for graduate students is to understand the fundamental skills of project management. In contrast, a similar emphasis on strategic management is noticeably lacking (Goodman and Chinowsky, 1997). Specifically, the analysis needed to solve diverse sets of problems which companies face as they struggle to create competitive organizations requires a distinct set of knowledge, understanding and skills. Although the pressures of project performance can often obscure the broader social, economic, and professional context in which strategic management is undertaken, it is these broad contextual areas that make strategic management an essential issue for construction students. Rapidly changing social and technological issues are creating a professional environment that will look very different in the coming decades than that experienced in today’s organizations. Specifically, three catalysts are converging to motivate construction programs to introduce strategic management concepts. First, the emergence of broad societal and professional issues are affecting core construction concerns including the acquisition of employees, the development of markets, and the use of information. Second, the project management tradition that has served