Bröchner, J and Lagerqvist, O (2016) From ideas to construction innovations: Firms and universities collaborating. Construction Economics and Building, 16(1), pp. 76-89. ISSN 2204-9029
Abstract
The purpose here is to study patterns of project collaboration found in one government supported programme for construction innovation. Preferred types of interaction were identified using data from two questionnaire surveys, one with experienced construction sector respondents and one aimed at construction researchers. All sixteen development projects within the Swedish Bygginnovationen programme were investigated, relying on documents and a survey of project managers. Important types of interaction, according to construction respondents, are informal contacts, joint research projects and staff mobility. For university respondents, informal contacts is also seen as the most important type of interaction, followed by MSc thesis work in firms and industrial PhD candidates. Grant applicants from manufacturing depended more on university laboratories and were less sensitive to firm/university distance. Laboratory use was also more frequent for projects relying on the field of materials engineering. In conclusion, there is a consensus about which types of collaboration are valuable. The broadness of participation in the programme, ranging over many industries, both as to origin of ideas and ultimate applications, reaches beyond narrow interpretations of the construction industry. Policy makers should recognize the innovation importance of university laboratory facilities and field testing, rather than seeing researchers as sources of ideas.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry; Sweden; collaboration; innovation; universities |
| Index terms: | collaboration, laboratory, questionnaire, project manager, mobility, documents, field testing, construction sector, construction industry, interaction, construction innovation, programme, Sweden, survey |
| Subjects: | project controls, building construction, research management, professional practice, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, behavioral psychology, data collection methods, management, profession, Geography, professional development |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Research Practice, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Roles and Professions, Urban Studies, Organizational Design, Time Control |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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