Manley, K and McFallan, S (2006) Exploring the drivers of firm-level innovation in the construction industry. Construction Management and Economics, 24(9), pp. 911-920. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
A survey of 335 businesses in the Australian road industry has been carried out to ascertain those factors that make firms innovate. 'Innovative' is measured by adoption rates of advanced technologies and practices, and the range of innovation drivers reviewed encompasses business strategy and environment. The findings indicate that business strategies are more important than business conditions, and that the following three strategies are significant in differentiating between firms with high and low adoption rates: (1) hiring new graduates; (2) introducing new technologies; and (3) enhancing technical capabilities. The findings also highlight the importance of undertaking R&D and encouraging employee ideas for improvement. The public policy implications are that the quality of university graduates should be protected and advanced, as should technical skills within public sector client agencies.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | business conditions; business practices; innovation; technology adoption |
| Index terms: | technical skill, survey, strategy, business strategy, public-sector client, agency, public policy, new technology, technology adoption, construction industry |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, business, public policy, innovation and technology management, management, professional development, sociology, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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