Shook, S R (1997) Innovation and the United States residential construction industry: An integrated model of determinants of firm innovativeness for engineered wood products. PhD thesis, University of Washington, USA.
Abstract
This study assesses the nature of engineered wood product adoption and implementation within the residential construction industry. Engineered wood products examined include finger-jointed lumber, glue laminated timber, laminated strand lumber, laminated veneer lumber, oriented strandboard, and wood I-beams. A total of fourteen hypotheses are developed and tested in this study. These hypotheses are established within the context of ten residential construction industry characteristics that are consistently suggested to be significant determinants of firm innovativeness for engineered wood products. These characteristics include: (1) horizontal and vertical fragmentation, (2) metropolitan location, (3) firm size, (4) presence of trade unions, (5) professional and trade association affiliations, (6) purchase and use complexity, (7) management intensity, (8) firm experience in residential construction, (9) perceived environmental uncertainty, and (10) competitive rivalry. Hypotheses are tested utilizing survey data collected from residential construction firms throughout the United States. Second-order multiple linear and logistic regression models are estimated to determine how industry characteristics affect innovation adoption and implementation (continuous dependent variable measure) and the dichotomous choice of firm adoption/rejection of each of the six engineered wood products and the product class. Results indicate that product use complexity is the only factor that is statistically significant in affecting residential construction firm adoption and implementation of engineered wood products across all six products and the product class. Management intensity and firm perception of industry competition, in general, are also found to negatively influence adoption and implementation of engineered wood products. Results of the logistic regression model for the product class indicate that the presence of trade unions also negatively affects the probability of firm adoption of engineered wood products. Results indicate that firm size, vertical and horizontal fragmentation, and type of construction have little or no influence on firm innovation adoption behavior. The results also indicate that firm- and product-specific factors are more likely to affect firm adoption behavior than factors related to industry structure. Therefore, the results suggest that increasing the rate of adoption of engineered wood products may be enhanced to a greater degree by increasing ease of use product attributes rather than implementing measures to modify industry structure.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Eastin, I L |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | United States; beams; competition; complexity; construction firms; fragmentation; innovation; probability; professional; regression model; residential; timber; trade unions; uncertainty |
| Index terms: | residential construction, trade union, presence, beam, environmental uncertainty, implementation, determinant, innovation adoption, logistic regression, regression model, integrated model, wood, competition, dependent variable, complexity, United States, construction firm, survey, fragmentation |
| Subjects: | analytical methods, contractual arrangements, environmental science, organization, innovation studies, market analysis, structural engineering, financial risk, Geography, business, risk assessment, data collection methods, sociology, systems engineering, statistical analysis, traditional and composite building materials, construction integration |
| Topics: | Cost Management, Business Strategy, Construction Materials, Information Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Organizational Design, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Risk Management, Sustainability, Procurement |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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