Redefining ICT Embeddedness in the Construction Industry: Maximising Technology Diffusion Capabilities to Support Agility

Architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) research often engages linear approaches for embedding/implementing/diffusing new technology into existing business systems and processes. However, developments in information and communication technology (ICT) often fail to deliver their full potential for a number of reasons. This paper presents these challenges and highlights the need to embrace equifinality as part of a structured approach for improving impact diffusion. The central tenet and foci of this work rests with the optimization of AEC business agility. Given this, a multiple case study approach using three large construction organizations (in Turkey) was used to capture primary data from 30 respondents – representing viewpoints from three management levels: top management, middle management and first line management. Findings are presented in the form of a conceptual framework, the details of which highlight the constructs needed (inter alia ICT adoption/diffusion) to develop organizational: (i) responsiveness, (ii) flexibility and (iii) corporate competence

Integration and leadership as enablers of innovation in construction : case study

Adopting innovations in construction is challenging due to the fragmented and project-based nature of the industry. As construction innovation is a joint activity with a number of participants involved in the process, it is essential to consider the role of interorganizational factors in implementing successful innovations. The aim of this paper is to investigate the components of the innovation process by placing particular emphasis on the enablers of, as well as barriers to, innovation adoption. A case-study methodology was employed to gain insight on how innovation is achieved within a construction project setting. Modern methods of construction and lean construction were adopted in the examined case concerning an urban regeneration project. The findings of the case study suggest that resistance to change, inexperience, and unavailability of advanced products were the main barriers to innovation adoption. The project team benefited from several mechanisms to overcome these barriers, including integration of the project participants and effective leadership. The case study is expected to help participants of the construction industry reflect on their innovation processes and thereby enhance the rate of innovation adoption

Facilitating innovation in construction : directions and implications for research and policy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight for future innovation research activities and for the role of universities in working with industry to promote innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an overview and synthesis of the literature on innovation and the role of universities. This is supported by interviews, case studies, and surveys within academic and industrial communities. Findings – The paper identifies that innovation, whether at an international, national, regional, firm or project level of analysis, continues to be at the forefront of the mind of policy makers and practitioners alike. Nevertheless, our understanding of innovation is far from complete. More research is required to study innovation at these different levels of resolution and at different points in the project life cycle. In order for the research base to play its part in promoting construction innovation, an engagement mechanism is required that brings together academia and industry in a way that recognises and responds to these multiple perspectives on innovation. Originality/value – The paper creates value by synthesising literature on construction innovation and highlights areas for further research. Based on this, a model for effective industry/university engagement is proposed

Facilitating innovation in construction : directions and implications for research and policy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight for future innovation research activities and for the role of universities in working with industry to promote innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an overview and synthesis of the literature on innovation and the role of universities. This is supported by interviews, case studies, and surveys within academic and industrial communities. Findings – The paper identifies that innovation, whether at an international, national, regional, firm or project level of analysis, continues to be at the forefront of the mind of policy makers and practitioners alike. Nevertheless, our understanding of innovation is far from complete. More research is required to study innovation at these different levels of resolution and at different points in the project life cycle. In order for the research base to play its part in promoting construction innovation, an engagement mechanism is required that brings together academia and industry in a way that recognises and responds to these multiple perspectives on innovation. Originality/value – The paper creates value by synthesising literature on construction innovation and highlights areas for further research. Based on this, a model for effective industry/university engagement is proposed

A case-based reasoning model as an organizational learning tool

Organizational learning (OL) is a set of activities to obtain organizational memory (OM) byacquiring, sharing, interpreting, integrating and institutionalizing knowledge. Although the OLprocess of construction firms has been discussed for several times, utilization of the output ofthese activities has not been investigated in depth. All companies can learn but the advantage oflearning is revealed when companies enhance their decision-making abilities through their OM.The major objective of this study is to explore how construction companies create OM and howthey exploit this asset in strategic decision-making process. Within the context of this research,a framework is constructed to model the OL process in a construction company and based onthis model; an interview study has been conducted with eight leading Turkish contractors.This survey revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the firms in terms of OL competence. Themost significant point is that although some perceptions and attitudes are common to allcompanies, some may change due to the differences in cultures, strategies, structures, ages ofcompanies and the markets they are in. Results show that construction companies make use ofseveral knowledge sources and mechanisms to acquire knowledge; they are successful at thecollection and storage of knowledge but they are weak in exploitation of the corporateknowledge in strategic decision-making stage. In addition, they are unable to increase their OLcompetence due to some company and industry specific barriers. One of the key outputs is thatcompanies are not familiar with the decision support systems (DSSs) that benefit from OM.Such systems enable OL by assisting decision-makers in processing, assessing, integrating andorganizing knowledge.In this paper, a case-based reasoning (CBR) model is proposed as an OL enabler and tofacilitate decision-making in international market entry decisions within the constructioncompanies. This tool is generated under a software package by adopting CBR as the problemsolving approach, which finds solutions to new problems making use of the past experienceswhich are based on 215 cases from the Turkish construction industry. The model produces twooutputs that are indicators of attractiveness of a project and competitiveness of a company which are the key decision criteria in an international market entry problem. The application ofthe tool will be demonstrated by a case study and potential benefits of using the proposed modelas an enabler of OL in a construction company will be discussed

Organizational memory formation and its use in construction

As knowledge becomes a source of competitive advantage, knowledge-management activities have become critical for success. Construction firms can effectively use their organizational memory to enhance their decision-making abilities. A framework was constructed to model the organizational memory formation process in construction companies. Based on this model, an interview study was conducted to investigate both the organizational memory formation and the role of organizational memory in strategic decision-making within the construction industry. Eight Turkish contractors were assessed. The results suggest that construction companies make use of several knowledge sources and mechanisms to acquire knowledge. Although construction companies are successful at the collection and storage of knowledge, they are weak in the exploitation of organizational memory, especially at the strategic decision-making stage. In addition, they cannot increase their organizational teaming competence due to some company- and industry-specific barriers

International Market Entry Decisions: A Knowledge-Based Approach

As far as the growing potential in the overseas construction markets is concerned, it is becoming more important for the medium to large-size construction companies to take their parts in the global construction market. An international market selection decision may be considered as a highly complex problem since it involves several correlated parameters regarding the project, market, host country and the company in question. Moreover, there is no mathematical formulation that can easily associate all these factors together with the company strategies to give a bidding decision. There are models developed by many researchers on this subject, using different techniques such as cross impact analysis (Han & Diekmann, 2001), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) (Hastak & Shaked, 2000; Gunhan & Arditi, 2005) and neural networks (Dikmen & Birgönül, 2004). Each tool has its own assumptions and shortcomings in terms of selecting input and output criteria, data collection, solution method and user intervention. The major objective of this paper is to introduce a knowledge-based approach, which adopts case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to facilitate international market entry decisions by the exploitation of past experiences that reside in the organizational memory (OM). One of the main aims of this study is to demonstrate how learning from the experiences of competitors can be utilized to assist strategic decision-making. Within the context of this research, a decision support tool namely, CBR-INT, has been constructed by using 215 real international project data and 16 features related with the project, market and the country. CBR-INT is used to predict the potential profitability of the project and the competitiveness level of the company when giving ‘bid/no-bid’ decisions in international markets. The reliability of the model is proved to be high for both prediction of potential profitability and level of competitiveness