Tatum, C B (1989) Organizing to increase innovation in construction firms. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 115(4), pp. 602-617. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Driving forces in the construction industry indicate that the ability to innovate is quickly becoming a competitive necessity. Changes in owners' demands and more complex facilities require new approaches in both design and construction. Investigations of other industries reveal organizational characteristics of innovative firms, but construction’s institutional framework, products, and technology differ significantly from manufacturing. Based on investigations of successful examples, this paper describes elements of organizational structure and culture that appear to foster construction innovation. These common elements include supportive policies and priorities, flexibility in unit size and grouping, intra-and interorganizational coordination, and staffing to satisfy specific requirements for key positions. This paper describes each of these elements and gives examples from a study of innovations. The descriptions of these elements include recommendations for managers seeking to organize for increased innovation, and the conclusions include research insights and needs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | design and construction, investigation, construction industry, organizational characteristic, coordination, becoming, interorganizational, owner, construction innovation, manager, organizational structure, construction firm |
| Subjects: | management, building construction, sociology, philosophical process, industry analysis, business, organization, data collection methods, practitioner, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Procurement, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here