van Nguyen, M V; Khanh, K D and Nguyen, T T (2025) Developing a climate for innovation index for architectural design firms. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 32(9), pp. 6161-6186. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose - In recent years, climate for innovation has attracted wide attention from industry and academia. It is perceived as a critical component of innovation performance in the built environment sector, especially in architectural design firms (ADFs). This study attempts to assess the degree of climate for innovation in the Vietnamese ADFs under the organizational climate theory. Design/methodology/approach - A list of 13 innovation climate variables was found by reviewing previous studies and discussions with industry practitioners. These variables were then categorized into three principal factors (personal commitment, tolerance of difference, and support for creativity), forming the inputs of the fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) analysis. Findings - The results showed that the overall level of innovation in the climate is moderate, implying that it is still necessary for more improvements to the Vietnamese ADFs. The fuzzy analysis revealed that support for creativity was the most critical factor, followed by tolerance of difference and personal commitment. Originality/value - The proposed climate for innovation model is practical and reliable for architectural professionals and can be applied to assess other research areas. Few studies have emphasized the innovation climate in the construction sector, so this research may broaden the knowledge and literature on the industry, especially for the ADFs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | architectural design firms; climate for innovation; evaluation; fuzzy synthetic evaluation |
| Index terms: | architectural design, construction sector, practitioner, methodology, commitment, fuzzy synthetic evaluation, academia, built environment, critical factor, innovation performance, creativity |
| Subjects: | risk assessment, performance measurement, design practice, educational institutions, infrastructure and transport systems, industry analysis, practitioner, psychology, research methods, decision-making and optimization, innovation and creative processes |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Urban Studies, Design Practice, Organizational Design, Risk Management, Quality Management, Education |
| 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