Martin Sexton

A literature synthesis of innovation in small construction firms: insights, ambiguities and questions

Construction firms are being challenged to be more adept at successful innovation to better meet client needs and to enhance business competitiveness. The substantial contribution that small construction firms make to the output of the industry signifies the importance for this body of firms to improve their innovation performance if the performance of the industry as a whole is to move forward. The literature on innovation in small construction firms is synthesized and structured around a generic model to provide a holistic picture of our current knowledge. Significant gaps in the understanding and practice of innovation in small construction literature are identified, which severely hamper understanding of the myriad complex and systemically interactive issues embodied within the theory and practice of innovation. The gaps identified by this literature synthesis are the basis for a number of important questions that, the authors propose, form an integrating agenda for future research.

Appropriate innovation in small construction firms

Innovation‐led performance improvement in the construction industry is significantly influenced by the innovation performance of small firms. There is a dearth of research investigating innovation from the perspective of the small construction firm. This paper contributes to this underdeveloped area by offering relevant empirically based results. The findings stress the important role that owners of firms play in successful innovation. The type of innovation undertaken, and the different organizational factors which are brought into play, is shown to depend on the characteristics of the interaction environment in which the firm is operating. Small construction firms need to incrementally nurture, or identify and move into, supportive enabling interaction environments. This is achieved through an integrated development of a firms business strategy and market positioning, organization of work, technology and people. The process of innovation is demonstrated to be subject to cyclical peaks and troughs as the progress of the innovation competes with day‐to‐day pressures. Small construction firms have their own distinctive characteristics, which are profoundly different from those of large construction firms. The implication for policy is that any initiatives geared toward improving appropriate innovation need to appreciate these differences.

The role of technology transfer in innovation within small construction firms

Findings were drawn from an 18 month research project involving in‐depth case study and action research fieldwork with seven small construction companies to understand the role and significance of innovation for them. A key finding of the work has been the importance of the role of effective technology transfer in the innovation process. The “organizational factors of innovation” model is presented as an analytical and prescriptive tool to assist small construction firms to understand better and manage the technology transfer process. The utility and application of the model is illustrated with a case study.

Performance-based building and innovation: balancing client and industry needs

One reason for the interest in performance-based building is that it is commonly advocated as a powerful way of enhancing innovation performance by articulating building performance outcomes, and by offering relevant procurement actors the discretion to innovate to meet these performance requirements more effectively and/or efficiently. The paper argues that the current approach to performance-based building assumes that relevant actors have the capacity, ability and motivation to innovate from a business perspective. It is proposed that the prevailing conceptualization of PBB is too restrictive and should be broadened explicitly to accommodate the required business logic that must be in place before actors will innovate. The relevant performance-based building and innovation literature is synthesized to support the assertion. The paper concludes with an innovation-focused definition of performance-based building.

Alliances in construction: Investigating initiatives and barriers for long‐term collaboration

Purpose ? This paper aims to prove that alliances in the construction industry can be used as vehicles to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach ? The paper first sets out a theoretical proposition through a literature review and synthesis, then details an empirical case study in the construction industry to investigate the theoretical proposition. Findings ? The findings indicate the existence of the ?project based mindset?, within the working practices of the different players in construction alliances. This overly narrow project focus constrains the process of achieving sustainable competitive advantage for alliances. Research limitations/implications ? This research, in broad terms, provides insights on the value of long-term orientated collaboration in construction alliances and specifically target practitioners by identifying benefits of balancing alliance tasks and activities among senior executives and project managers in an appropriate way. Originality/value ? The paper makes an original contribution to the general body of knowledge on alliances and specifically to construction alliances by identifying the core value addition in the process of long-term orientated collaboration so that the processes are carefully designed, interpreted and nurtured in practice. Also, recommends initiatives by the alliance management to redesign tasks and activities such that collaboration becomes part-and-parcel of senior executives and project managers? daily routine, rather than considering collaborative encounters as extra activities that need ?slack? time.

Managing construction project change: a knowledge management perspective

In the information age, organization theories have addressed problem‐solving as an information‐processing activity. However, in this era, with the realization of knowledge‐based views of the organization, shared problem‐solving is increasingly recognized as a knowledge creation trigger. During shared problem‐solving, stakeholders bring different types of knowledge into the problem situation and it is captured, created and shared by the team members. In construction projects, shared problem‐solving often takes place through pragmatic problem‐solving on site, in particular, through managing project changes. However, this significant role of knowledge in managing project change is not well appreciated in the extant literature. Accordingly, to explore how knowledge is created during project changes in construction a case study approach was adopted using two change events in two collaborative settings within the UK construction industry. The case study findings revealed that different forms of knowledge are created during the project change process within construction projects. However, this knowledge remains largely tacit and does not disseminate to the wider organization due to imbalanced codification and personalization strategies existing in such settings. A knowledge management perspective is introduced to manage project change so that construction project teams can successfully resolve and learn from change events.

Technology management of IT in construction: a driver or an enabler?

The 1970s and 1980s have witnessed the development of many technological advances in the construction industry. At the same time, IT has been perceived as a driver for many of the construction business and operational processes. The 1990s have seen a technological shift in the construction sector from IT driven solutions to IT enabling ones. The industry, however, has become frustrated with the failing of IT as many companies have invested in the wrong technologies without addressing business needs. This is now being rectified by developing IT systems that support business processes taking into account process, people and cultural needs. This paper describes how IT systems are being developed within a major EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) funded research project in order to help the construction industry develop feasible technological IT solutions. This is achieved by considering the co‐maturation of processes and IT within the context of process improvement.

The challenges of creating actionable knowledge: an action research perspective

Academia has a critical role in developing new knowledge which construction industry practitioners need to envision, undertake and sustain successful innovation. The new knowledge produced by academia, however, often does not satisfy the needs of practitioners. This unsatisfactory state of affairs is frequently taken to be the consequence of the cultural, motivational and operational differences between the two communities. Actionable knowledge is presented as a useful concept which can fuse the expectations, contributions and outputs of academia and practitioners. Within this context, action research is argued to be an appropriate methodology to develop successful actionable knowledge. Results from an action research project are given which provide researchers and practitioners greater understanding of the key factors that shape the degree to which action research produces actionable knowledge: change focus, collaboration capabilities and systematic process. The criteria intrinsic to Mode 2 research (Gibbons et al., 1994) are demonstrated to have utility in evidencing actionable knowledge. The implication for policy is that there is a need to develop and use appropriate actionable knowledge frameworks and measures to design funding calls, and to evaluate research proposals and outputs.

Communities of practice in construction case study organisations: Questions and insights

Purpose – At the heart of knowledge management (KM) are the people – an organisations important knowledge asset. Although this is widely acknowledged, businesses seldom understand this axiom in terms of the communities through which individuals develop and share the capacity to create and use knowledge. It is the collective learning that takes place within the social systems, i.e. communities of practice (CoP) that are of particular significance to an organisation from a KM perspective. This paper aims to review, critique, and raise some pertinent questions on the role of CoPs; and with the help of case studies shed light on the “goings‐on” in construction practices.Design/methodology/approach – After critically reviewing the literature on CoPs and querying some underlying assertions, this research investigates how these issues are addressed in practice. A case study approach is adopted. Three organisations operating in the construction sector are interviewed for the purpose of this paper.Findings – Case...

Role of knowledge in managing construction project change

Purpose – Unplanned changes in construction projects are common and lead to disruptive effects such as project delays, cost overruns and quality deviations. Rework due to unplanned changes can cost 10‐15 per cent of contract value. By managing these changes more effectively, these disruptive effects can be minimised. Previous research has approached this problem from an information‐processing view. In this knowledge age, the purpose of this paper is to argue that effective change management can be brought about by better understanding the significant role of knowledge during change situations.Design/methodology/approach – Within this knowledge‐based context, the question of how construction project teams manage knowledge during unplanned change in the construction phase within collaborative team settings is investigated through a selected case study sample within the UK construction industry.Findings – Case study findings conclude that different forms of knowledge are created and shared between project te...