Building the Link between Technological Capacity Strategies and Innovation in Construction Companies

Abstract

Interest in construction industry innovation has been growing with the globalization and in parallel with change of the building production processes. However, despite its potential for gaining sustainable company performance, many construction companies have failed by management of innovation. In this context, the main theme of this study is to examine how technology capacity in construction companies changes according to the main innovation areas. The technology capacity and the integration of technology to organization is one of the main determinants of construction innovation. The main purpose of this study is to determine how the existence of different innovation areas in construction companies is related to the technology capacity features. A questioner survey was conducted to collect data from construction professionals, and they were asked assess their company's current position about technology capacity and activity level of predicted innovation areas-product, process, and organization. Independent sample t-test was employed to see the differentiation of technological capacity among different innovation types. The results indicate that the technology capacity of the construction companies, which are active in the fields of product, process, and organizational innovation, is in a varying strength.

Practitioners' experiences with the drivers and practices for implementing sustainable construction in Nigeria: a qualitative assessment

“…Even though the construction industry has been accused of being slow to respond to innovations such as sustainable construction (Ercan, 2019; Yusof, 2014; Opoku and Ahmed, 2014; Okae Adow et al , 2013), it has started to adopt sustainable construction to combat the environmental, social and economic issues arising from construction activities. Sustainable construction is simply construction that is environmentally friendly, socially responsible and economically viable.…”

Conceptualising a Framework for Construction Sector Capacity

“…The HRC also referred to the system of recruitment, training, team development, boarding program, benefits, health and safety and performance appraisal. Other research focused on technological capacity as it is a critical factor for innovation strategies in construction companies (Ercan, 2019;Kamal, et al, 2021). Different indicators for measuring the technological capacity of the contractors were found such as staff technological skills, on-job training scheme, investment in R&D, and top management's support (Ercan, 2019).…”

“…Other research focused on technological capacity as it is a critical factor for innovation strategies in construction companies (Ercan, 2019;Kamal, et al, 2021). Different indicators for measuring the technological capacity of the contractors were found such as staff technological skills, on-job training scheme, investment in R&D, and top management's support (Ercan, 2019). In conjunction with technological capacity, absorptive capacity was discussed in the literature in terms of the main indicators of how construction companies develop their absorptive capacity and factors that influence their absorptive capacity (Waalkens, 2006;Kamal, et al, 2021).…”

“…An organisation with O2 capacity has 'supply and equipment capacity', 'infrastructure capacity', and 'set of procedures capacity' that enable their staff to carry out critical functions and produce acceptable outcomes (UNDP, 2005;Baser, et al, 2008;Brinkerhoff and Morgan, 2010;Bennett, et al, 2012;Levine, et al, 2013;Hambrick, Svensson and Kang, 2019;Dymnicki, et al, 2021). Previous work in the construction management field usually centred on specific components of O2 such as financial capacity, human resource capacity, and technology capacity (Tucker, Windapo and Cattell, 2015;Offei, 2016;Okoye, 2016;Arneson, 2018;Asante, Kissi and Badu, 2018;Mishra, 2018;Ercan, 2019;Kamal, et al, 2021). Other aspects of organisational capacity in the construction sector have not yet been explored.…”

“…It has generally been considered a traditional sector with low productivity (Ma and Liu, 2016;Ghodrati, et al, 2018;Hasan, et al, 2018;Xiong, Newton and Skitmore, 2019), especially the lowest productivity gains over the last decades (Deloitte, 2019), high staff turnover (Ayodele, Chang-Richards and González, 2020), skills shortages (Chang-Richards, et al, 2017;Kim, Chang and Castro-Lacouture, 2020), loss and lack of collaboration among partners (Deep, Gajendran and Jefferies, 2019), and slow adoption of digital technologies and innovation (Chancellor, Abbott and Carson, 2015;Delgado, et al, 2019;Olanipekun and Sutrisna, 2021). The construction sector is also susceptible to economic fluctuations (Ercan, 2019). For example, the construction sector suffers from capacity constraints such as resources and expertise in high-demand periods.…”