Train, A; Egbu, C O and Hinks, J (2006) Key issues in innovation and knowledge management in the finance and construction sectors. In: Boyd, D (ed.) Proceedings of 22nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2006, Birmingham, UK.
Abstract
In today's dynamic global trading environment it is vital that firms develop dynamic capabilities allowing them to stay ahead of the competition. It is generally accepted that innovation can provide a firm with sustainable competitive advantage. Tacit knowledge, the type which resides in humans and organisational routines, has also been identified as a means of sustainable competitive advantage. An examination of how teams, units and organisations build dynamic capabilities from innovations through harnessing and exploiting knowledge for organisational benefits will be made. A comparison will be made between the UK construction and finance industries. The UK construction industry is often seen as underachieving in terms of meeting its own needs and those of its client. In contrast, the finance sector is perceived as being highly innovative one of the UK's most profitable industries. Current innovation and knowledge management practices in both industries will be examined, plus the relationships between Innovation and Knowledge Management in each sector will be analysed using a new conceptual framework. The key challenges likely to be faced by the researcher as well as proposed research methodology are also documented. Evidence from the literature points to innovation as a complex social process. Similarly, it is suggested that a robust research methodology for uncovering complex social processes in innovation and knowledge management will benefit from the employment of qualitative research approaches.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | competitive advantage; conceptual framework; innovation; knowledge management; tacit knowledge |
| Index terms: | research methodology, evidence, competition, social process, qualitative research, dynamic capability, organizational routine, knowledge management, construction industry, conceptual framework, construction sector, tacit knowledge, competitive advantage, employment |
| Subjects: | communities and social development, industry analysis, market analysis, professional development, theoretical framing, management, business, research design and methodology, evaluation and assessment methods |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Human Resources |
| 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