Construction Innovation Management and Organizational Development
Summary
Construction innovation management encompasses the processes, structures and leadership practices that enable the development and implementation of new technologies, methods and organisational forms within the construction sector. It addresses both incremental improvements—such as digital modelling and prefabrication techniques—and radical shifts in design, materials or procurement. Organisational development in this context focuses on shaping culture, governance, knowledge flows and social capital to support sustained innovation. Effective innovation management in construction requires calibrated procurement strategies, clear risk-sharing arrangements, boundary-spanning roles and a leadership ethos that encourages experimentation and learning. At the same time, modern projects often involve dispersed networks of small and medium-sized enterprises, public clients and specialist consultants, heightening the need for inter-organisational collaboration and trust. Recent practice has emphasised the integration of sustainability criteria, the use of advanced data analytics and the cultivation of adaptive organisational cultures. By aligning strategic leadership, knowledge-sharing mechanisms and favourable incentive systems, construction firms can achieve higher productivity, reduced environmental impact and greater resilience in the face of complex macro-economic and regulatory challenges.
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Construction Innovation Management and Organizational Development publication trend
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Technical terms
Boundary spanner: Individuals or roles that bridge different organisational or disciplinary domains to facilitate communication and joint problem-solving.
Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA): A set-theoretic method for identifying combinations of conditions that are sufficient or necessary for a given outcome.
Radical innovation: The introduction or adoption of processes or technologies that represent a significant departure from existing practices.
Inter-organisational collaboration: Coordinated activities among multiple organisations to share knowledge, resources and decision-making in pursuit of innovation.
Innovation risk management: Strategies for identifying, allocating and mitigating uncertainties associated with developing and implementing new solutions.
Social capital: The networks, relationships and norms of trust within and between organisations that enable efficient knowledge exchange and collective action.
References
- Drivers of innovation in infrastructure development projects: A configurational analysis of boundary spanning roles. International Journal of Project Management (2024).
- Procurement and innovation risk management: How a public client managed to realize a radical green innovation in a civil engineering project. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management (2022).
- Collaborative Innovation for Sustainable Construction: The Case of an Industrial Construction Project Network. IEEE Access (2020).
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