Innovation in construction involves changes and improvements in products, systems or methodologies that are new and, in some cases - radical. I personally have fostered an interest in construction innovation for many years as a result work with the Canadian Innovation Center and CCMC.
It was remarkable how many times a building contractor would contact these agencies with a product concept invented “on-site” which was the result of knowledge or inspiration regarding how to accomplish a construction related task more efficiently – or more quickly.
When it comes to innovation however there are certain aspects of the construction industry, which make the topic unique in many respects.
Aside from the fact that it the industry is extremely complex and highly regulated we are not dealing with an assembly line or a product that you can hold the palm of your hand.
(The technical terms are immobility and high level of social responsibility – risk.)
Durability, demonstration of performance, (testing), cost and health & safety or other issues also have an impact.
In the past researchers variety of models of innovation in construction into a number of distinct types as follows:
- Incremental and/or modular innovations, which involve relatively small change(s) and that have limited impact on other components, are by far the most common.
- Architectural innovations that generally consist of what appears to be a small change in a component, but in fact can produce significant and sometimes radical change.
- System innovations, when they occur, produce changes in multiple elements.
- Radical innovations, which are generally considered “breakthroughs” in science, technology or methodology are the most powerful and can literally alter the character of the industry itself. (What drywall did to plaster)
Photograph supplied courtesy of William Conway, Progress Photography. www.progressphotography.com
Invitation to Innovation
I can assure you that in Canada we have learned more about construction innovation than any nation on the planet. It is also important to remember that innovations are not restricted to products and materials. Innovations often occur in management practices, regulations, and many other aspects of the construction business. (For example the trend toward design/build methodology is a case in fact of radical innovation.) I have also seen cases were changes in building codes and other regulations actually have the effect of “forcing” innovation.
In actual fact most construction innovations originate from material and component producers and their diffusion is easier if no changes in surroundings are needed.
From the list of innovation categories we also know that incremental and modular innovations are by far the most frequent in construction. Of course, as one would expect, radical innovations when they do occur, have the greatest impact. (According to the scholars implementation of these different types of innovation requires different levels of management and supervision.)
Therefore, the way forward is to develop an adequate and explicit theory of production in construction that stimulates radical innovation, which in turn facilitates “topdown” and “bottom-up” innovation processes in firms.
|
