Project-Based Innovation Perspective of Construction Organizations

Abstract

Project-based organizations differ from „conventional‟ organizations due to their engagement in unique, novel and transient work and delivering custom-made outputs to clients. While innovation with respect to „conventional‟ organizations has been widely researched, there is limited research conducted on project-based organizations, especially at the project level. Construction represents a major project-based industry responsible for creating physical assets beneficial for humankind. As the organisers of construction projects, clients have a significant role to play to drive innovation in construction projects. Innovation at the project level is not researched much up to now and the paper fills this knowledge gap. Using scant research literature available on project level innovation and combining with other relevant innovation research, the paper examines the performance of innovation at the project level of construction organizations. An extensive literature review conducted on the subject has enabled identifying fundamental mechanisms that can be initiated by construction clients to foster innovation in construction projects at the execution level. These mechanisms are idea harnessing, relationship enhancement, incentivisation, and project team fitness. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss these fundamental mechanisms and explain how they facilitate innovation. The study is aimed to supplement the relatively small body of knowledge on project level innovation in construction projects.