Assessing construction innovation: theoretical and practical perspectives

Abstract

Innovation is key for productivity improvement and advancements in different sectors of the economy, including the construction sector. The criticism of the slow pace of innovation in construction industry may be unwarranted, considering the structure of the industry and nature of the construction business. The loosely coupled nature of firms, mostly Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s), delivering ‘projects’ through partial engagement, together with the distinction between the project innovation and firm innovation makes it difficult to extract innovations in a meaningful way. The problem also lies in conceptualising, defining, articulating and assessing innovation in construction. The literature is replete with research into construction innovation, however, there is limited research into understanding how innovation is perceived and narrated in practice. The paper aims to explore how innovation is assessed and narrated in construction, specifically analysing theory and practice perspectives. A theoretical model was constructed from a structured literature review illustrating existing discourse and narratives of construction innovation assessment. A qualitative analysis of ‘Professional Excellence in Building’ submission documents to the Australian Institute of Building was performed to identify the practice perspective of innovation. The findings suggest that internal organizational and process innovation account for the majority of improvements identified. Importantly a taxonomy of narrative is developed that articulates how the construction industry in Australia views industry innovation.

Compliance within a Regulatory Framework in Implementing Public Road Construction Projects

“…Noteworthy, the literature review identified few studies that investigated compliance in public procurement without a focus on road construction projects. Public procurement regulatory frameworks aim at promoting fairness, transparency, accountability and value for money with efficient and effective procedures benefiting all stakeholders (Agaba and Shipman, 2007;Davis et al, 2016;PPDA Authority, 2003). However, enforcing compliance with public procurement regulatory framework is challenging (PPDA Authority, 2016).…”

“…Public procurement is a contractual arrangement between Government and the private sector to deliver infrastructure, goods and services (Frøystad, Heggstad and Fjeldstad, 2010). Most Government's rely on public procurement as a macroeconomic tool for economic development (Davis et al, 2016). For public procurement to achieve economic development, effective and efficient management of procurement activities is paramount (Obicci, 2015).…”

Ambidextrous Leadership and Sustainability-Based Project Performance: The Role of Project Culture

“…To meet the requirements of technological, organizational and sustainable development, construction companies or project-based organizations should seek new operational and managerial approaches to achieve a more efficient production or construction process [2,3]. The project is considered as a creative environment, where different parties with various skills and knowledge are addressing specific problems within limited time frame and resources [4]. The project-based character burdens the project management and its implementation with paradoxes and tensions, then project management processes are complex and nonlinear, which leads to an ever-changing cycle of events or requirements [5].…”

A method to encourage and assess innovations in public tenders for infrastructure and construction projects

“…As such, they plead for a distinction between different types of projects while reporting on innovation in construction as the innovation potential is strongly affected by the type and size of the project. The relative lack of innovation can also be partly explained by some of the characteristics of the construction industry (Davis et al, 2016):…”