Performance Assessment of Partnership Estate Surveying and Valuation Firms in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study advances the understanding of the relationship between firm size and performance on partnership formation and sustainability in the profession of Estate Surveying and Valuation in Nigeria. It has been argued in different literatures that size is positively related to performance for some categories of firms but negatively related in some other cases. This study examines the opinion of both the sellers and buyers of real estate services on the subject. Questionnaires were administered to 68 respondents selected from sole proprietorship estate firms, partnership estate firms and commercial banks in Lagos Metropolis. Data were presented and analysed with frequency tables, percentages, 4-point Likert scale and relative importance index. Findings reveal that the performance assessment criteria used by the sellers differ from those engaged by the buyers and that partnership estate firms record better performance from both side. It was further revealed that the overall performance assessment score partnership better than sole proprietorship estate firms. It is therefore concluded that performance could not have been a factor militating against partnership formation and sustainability in Estate Surveying and Valuation in Nigeria. The study suggest that prospective partners and the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers should come up with ethics and code of practice particular to partnership whereby erring partners face disciplinary action at the institution and compelled to compensate the other partner(s) and the firm by forfeiting certain benefits.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n13p489