A proposed model for a sustainable engineering consulting firm

In Malaysia and many developing countries, the sustainability of a small and medium sized engineering consultancy firm is seldom achieved after the owners retire or pass away. The lack of a proper system to groom experienced engineers in a firm to take over the ownership is one of the main causes. The sustainability of the firm also relies heavily on the quality of works (services) produced and this can only be achieved with a proper implementation of a Quality Management System (QMS) for planning, analysis, design, checking, review and research and development. With a proper system, elementary errors experienced even by some large and long established consulting firms could be prevented. This paper proposes a model of a sustainable engineering consulting firm with continuous capacity building to compete in the open liberalised market.