Quasi-firms for real innovations

The construction industry is notorious for its (lack of) innovativeness. Many papers, reports\ud and articles have been written on this subject already for more than three decades.\ud The explanations presented can be summarized by such terms as fragmentation,\ud segmentation and segregation when referring to the industries’ structure and by qualifications\ud such as opportunistic, hostile, antagonistic and conflictive when referring to its\ud culture. In this paper it is argued that the main reason for the innovation status quo is\ud the fact that the construction industry, when compared to other industries, lacks real\ud producers- producers who develop products and compete with each other in terms of\ud these products. It is particularly this kind of competition which is identified as a source\ud to stimulate innovation. In construction, production capabilities are tested on the market\ud and not product capabilities. As a result, design decisions are not tested on the market.\ud It is this flaw which is examined in this paper, and possible improvements are suggested.\ud Endurable strategic alliances, as quasi-firms, are proposed as the equivalent of\ud producers. Essential herein is the pivotal position of design. An organizational innovation\ud as such could change the way business is done in the construction industry. It\ud would alter its structure as well as its culture

Cie Vos kan de problemen niet oplossen, maar kan wel een aanzet geven tot hervorming

Vandaag begint de parlementaire enquête naar de onregelmatigheden in de bouw met openbare verhoren. Wat mogen we daarvan verwachten? Krijgt de enquête commissie boven tafel dat de bouw structureel in de fout gaat, of zal zij blijven steken in twistgesprekken over incidenten? Tot voor kort was ik daarover sceptisch. Het beperkte politieke prestige van de enquête, de onduidelijke slagkracht van de commissie, en het probleem nieuwe feiten te vinden, werken niet in het voordeel van het onderzoek. De gang van zaken en uitkomsten bij andere enquêtes heeft cynisme gezaaid

How companies without the benefit of authority create innovation through collaboration

To create new business firms develop and provide systems that are new to the market.\ud However, if a firm wants to achieve this goal but does not possess all required resources\ud and capabilities, it needs cooperation from other organizations. This study focuses\ud on how firms that lack authority to compel such cooperation, gain and foster\ud commitment from other organizations to cooperate. To develop a model that addresses\ud this question two cases of interorganizational innovation from the Dutch construction\ud industry were studied. In both cases an organization set up and coordinated a\ud network of organizations to jointly develop and market a new system. The cases suggest\ud that, in particular, three types of activities of such leading organizations affect\ud other organizations' commitment to cooperate. These include two types of activities\ud that correspond with two extensively researched constructs, champion behavior and\ud supportive leadership, and one type of activity whose influence is more indirect, value\ud proposition management. Overall, both cases can be regarded as examples of innovation\ud and value chain integration, two issues identified as industry deficiencies in various\ud countries