Lauri Pulkka

Applicability and benefits of the ecosystem concept in the construction industry

Inter-firm collaboration has increased significantly in the last decades. The concept of ecosystem has emerged to explain the nature and implications of businesses’ increasing reliance on networks. The ecosystem concept is intended to be generalizable across sectors, but research on ecosystems has focused on high-tech industries. Moreover, the construction industry has special features that differentiate it from other industries. In this paper, the concept of the ecosystem is introduced and developed in the context of the construction industry and the relationship between ecosystem characteristics and value creation in construction networks is examined. Based on a multiple-case study of six networks in the Finnish and Swedish construction industry, it is suggested that the ecosystem concept is applicable and offers a useful analytical lens for understanding value creation in the construction industry. The results suggest that operating according to ecosystem principles is positively connected to value creation in construction networks. Based on a cross-case analysis, a conceptual framework is presented on the main connections between ecosystem characteristics and value creation. The relevance of the ecosystem concept for the construction industry is predicted to grow in the future, as previous studies suggest that ecosystem-like features are being increasingly employed in construction networks.

Service‐dominant innovation in the built environment

Purpose – The main aim of this paper is to examine how commercial sustainability innovation projects in real estate and construction industries utilise the contemporary market‐oriented innovation models based on the service‐dominant logic.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of a large set of sustainability innovation projects was conducted and analysed.Findings – The results show that over a third of the examined projects lack all the necessary innovation components recognised in the literature. Furthermore, very few projects utilised concurrent market feedback in the development phase. The study suggests that sustainability innovations fail commercially in built environment, because they lack active customer participation and value network involvement, and they aim for incremental instead of radical improvements.Research limitations/implications – Future research should address available ways for companies in the real estate and construction industries to take advantage of their unused potential in cl...

Gravitational slingshot analogy of discontinuous sustainability innovation in the construction industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the roles and dynamics of different institutional actors in the innovation process and to demonstrate how discontinuous sustainability innovation depends on the support of a group of actors wider than the innovating consortium. The paper explores how discontinuous sustainability innovation comes about in the construction industry. More specifically, it focuses on the understudied area of low-technology innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports the findings of a detailed longitudinal single case study. The case in question is the K3 houses initiative: the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s attempt to point out a low-technology path to energy-efficient detached houses. The empirical data consist of semi-structured interviews and extensive archival data. A visual mapping strategy is used to structure the qualitative case analysis. Findings – The paper reports two main findings. First, environmentally oriented regulation can sometimes hamper susta...