Professor Mohammed Dulaimi

The Research Companion to Innovation in Construction is an engaging resource for students and researchers in construction management, planning, architecture, and engineering.

The Research Companion to Innovation in Construction is an engaging resource for students and researchers in construction management, planning, architecture, and engineering.

The Research Companion to Innovation in Construction is an engaging resource for students and researchers in construction management, planning, architecture, and engineering.

The Research Companion to Innovation in Construction is an engaging resource for students and researchers in construction management, planning, architecture, and engineering.

This incisive Research Companion presents a global perspective on the state of the art of research on innovation policies, strategies and practices in construction, challenging existing theories, models and concepts. Chapters explore conceptual frameworks for fostering innovation in construction projects, featuring case studies that illustrate practical implementation.

This was a Q&A event with the CIOB magazine Construction Management

Purpose This research study aims to develop an alignment model based on a literature review that explains the association between the construction project lifecycle and the innovation process, while considering the integration of all stakeholders in the process in an open innovation context. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct an extensive review of the open innovation and the construction project management literature to establish an alignment model through the investigation and analysis of the current scholarly contributions. This research study is based on a theoretical framework; thus, it has not utilized any primary data. Moreover, data collected for this research study was obtained from reliable literary sources. Findings The study presents an alignment model that has uncovered a strong correlation between project activities, stakeholder integration and innovation. The authors revealed critical factors that require an enhanced inter- and intra-collaboration between the various stakeholders and team members to achieve an effective innovation process in a project context. Originality/value This study provides a previously unexplored alignment between the project lifecycle and the innovation process. It signifies several critical factors that influence the effectiveness of innovations in a construction project context. Furthermore, it identifies different zones and knowledge transfer gates that necessitate proper leadership, stakeholder integration and team dynamics throughout the project lifecycle.

This paper reports on the initial findings of a current study into the UK Construction Industry's attitude towards innovation and Research and Development. © 1995, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Despite the vast success of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in developing residential, commercial facilities and infrastructure; the track record of the country’s Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry is somewhat different with overwhelming evidence of poor performance. Albeit the promising nature of the UAE’s AEC industry, that sought to embrace the latest technologies, the research revealed that, BIM is not yet widely utilised. The UAE was selected as a case study due to the diversity of its local AEC industry, whereby the AEC market has attracted contractors, consultants, suppliers from across the globe. This research adopted a mixed methodological approach using both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to gather data from BIM users and non-users. The research investigated the perceived benefits and challenges of adopting BIM and the impact of short and long-term initiatives that can be deployed to drive the effective diffusion of BIM. The study found that there is irrefutable evidence of a lack of impetus to generate interest in BIM from an industry that has in fact undermined the pace of BIM adoption. This paper offers a set of practical recommendations not only for the government to accelerate the transition to BIM, but also to BIM late adopters.

Instigating changes to project organization structure during the project execution could disrupt many project processes and influence project performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate a particular problem occurred in completed construction projects in UAE market. The problem appeared due to unnecessary changes and slow or inadequate response to change by senior managers in contractor's project organization structure. These changes had negative impact on the project management roles and responsibilities, additional cost and time impact. Furthermore, there were negative consequences on the performance of the project's team and their effort to create new ideas as well as their innovation inside the construction project that they are involved. The qualitative methodology is used in this study through investigating five case studies for construction projects that completed in UAE market along with extensive literature review that focused on the different sides of the problem as well as an interview with ten members of contractor's project management and senior managers to examine the impact of the problem on project performance and team effectiveness. The main findings indicate that having clear and defined roles and responsibilities have positive impact on project performance and team effectiveness. Moreover, the contractor's senior managers have a vital role in establishing, managing the project organization structure and ensuring that any changes to the structure are dealt with effectively. This would enable the project to progress according to plan, reduce project activity reworks and address any weaking communication and cohesiveness between project team members.

The effective diffusion of Building Information Modelling (BIM) presents strong potential to evolve the productivity and performance of the construction industry. Implementing BIM effectively requires significant changes in the construction business practices to improve communication, collaboration and sharing information among team members in design, construction and operating phases. The aim of this paper is to investigate the required reformation of current procurement methods in the UAE to enable the effective diffusion of BIM. The paper will present a conceptual framework which illustrates the needed changes in procurement methods being change in the relationship among participants, change in the contractual agreements, sharing the risks and rewards among stakeholders, early involvement of stakeholders, and involvement of new participants. The paper will report the findings of the analysis of four case studies of companies with vast experience in projects that adopted BIM and how it has impacted the procurement approaches adopted. The research findings have articulated that in order to implement BIM process effectively, it is critical for the UAE construction industry to adopt more collaborative relationships and share the risks and rewards among the participants. The findings show that the most important requisite change is for the key players at design stage to collaborate to create an effective BIM model that will save time and cost. Furthermore, contracts should oblige the participants to adopt BIM, identify the level of development in each stage and determine the responsibilities and intellectual property rights of each stakeholder.

Clients in industrialized and developing countries complain about the poor performance of the construction industry. In Singapore, construction performs poorly when compared with other economic sectors in terms of quality, productivity and safety. The review of the industry under the Construction 21 initiative found that its performance lags behind those of its counterparts in industrialized countries. It offered recommendations to restructure the industry's practices and procedures, and thereby, enhance performance on projects. This paper reports on a study to assess the motivators and enablers of efforts to improve the level of professionalism in Singapore's construction industry, and the quality and maintainability of built items. A questionnaire-based survey of companies was conducted. Various statistical techniques were applied. Lessons for developing countries are drawn. Appropriate initiatives identified include overcoming enhancing skills and professionalism, and adopting appropriate procurement arrangements. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

Worldwide calls for industry improvements and integrated project teams have triggered a proliferation of collaborative working arrangements. This suggests a wider use of Relational Contracting (RC) to formalise such integration. The present study compares various factors and strategies for building an RC-culture. Results of statistical analyses of questionnaire responses from three different countries are presented. Despite the evident differences on the relative priorities of various specific factors, trust/ trust related factors and strategies are seen to be at the core of RC. Also, some factors appear to be more important depending on the project, client, and other contracting parties. However, there are some factors that are substantially common. Moreover, the results indicate the readiness of construction industry stakeholders in these three countries to incorporate RC and teambuilding techniques so as to move faster towards far better performance and value for money.

The construction industry in Singapore is dominated by a competitive business environment that is being driven by a lowest cost mentality. The pressure on contractors' profit margins has further increased after a prolonged recession in this sector, which has seen construction demand and output shrinking significantly. This paper examines the factors that contractors perceive to be important when they are considering the size of their bid mark-up. The research hypothesis is that contractor size would have a significant bearing on the factors that would influence the bid mark-up decision. Forty factors were identified and a survey was conducted. The results showed that contractor size has a significant impact on their attitude towards bid mark-up decision-making. The analysis also showed that when deciding the size of a bid mark-up large contractors tend to be more concerned with the nature of the construction work while medium-size contractors are more concerned about the state of their own companies finance.

To overcome a construction labor shortage, the Singapore construction industry employs migrant workers from other countries. The cultural differences between local project managers and foreign workers may give rise to communication problems and mismanagement, leading to low productivity. This study identified the similarities and differences in cultural traits among migrant workers from China, India, and Thailand and recommended strategies to manage diversity among migrant construction workers. The research method was a survey, and data were collected from project managers who had experience in managing migrant construction workers in Singapore. In-depth interviews were also conducted to gain insights into how diversity among migrant workers could be managed. The results show that workers from Thailand tend to exhibit the least negative traits. Workers from China have traits that are significantly different from Indian and Thai workers. The recommended management strategies to deal with cultural diversity are: engage highly skilled migrant workers; administer employment contracts closely; supervise strictly to lessen poor and passive-aggressive attitudes; reward workers who take initiative; and train workers to work safely and produce high quality workmanship. In addition to work-related strategies, project managers should also form concrete personal relationships with workers to create trust and organize social activities to engender interteam spirit. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.

The clamour for sustainable buildings in the construction industry is on the rise. Sustainable buildings reduce building energy consumption, support health, comfort, and wellbeing of building inhabitants without compromising the wellbeing of the earth. Studies have also shown that sustainable buildings make money sense. However, issues relating to process of achieving sustainable buildings goals have not been receiving the attention it requires. Process management is an essential tool which most architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals overlook or do not pay much attention to. If the process is wrong or inadequate, sustainable buildings goals may not be achieved effectively, if achieved at all. This may have significant impacts on future acceptance of sustainable building practices. With the use of existing data in the literature and our research in this field, this paper proposes a holistic approach for achieving the intended benefits of sustainable construction. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction The motivation for a new approach Promoting greater innovation in construction The innovation dimension Customer orientation dimension The motivation dimension The leadership dimension Discussion References Introduction The motivation for a new approach Promoting greater innovation in construction The innovation dimension Customer orientation dimension The motivation dimension The leadership dimension Discussion References

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. Designing for construction safety (DfCS) can be defined as the consideration of construction site safety at the design stage of a construction project. Although the link between the design decisions and accidents on construction sites is well established in the literature, the number of studies searching for the designers' perspective on the issue is limited. The aim of this research study is to investigate the interaction between (i) the designers' reliance on their abilities, (ii) their attitudes towards DfCS and (iii) organizations safety culture and current practices. Data is collected by means of a web-based questionnaire. The sample for this study consists of 72 participants from 17 nationalities who are actively engaged in design activities for construction projects in the United Arab Emirates, including architects, civil and structural engineers, mechanical engineers, interior designers and electrical engineers. By providing empirical evidence from a multi-cultural working environment, the findings of this study suggest that (i) designers nationalities, age, experience and professional background have a significant impact on their attitudes towards DfCS; (ii) safety culture of the organization is highly correlated with the attitudes of the designers towards designing for safety. Moreover, hands-on experience is regarded to be an important component in enabling professionals to develop their knowledge and understanding of their role in influencing health and safety.

It is important to manage the multifaceted risks associated with international construction projects, in particular in developing countries, not only to secure work but also to make profit. This research seeks to identify and evaluate these risks and their effective mitigation measures and to develop a risk management framework which the international investors/ developers/ contractors can adopt when contracting construction work in developing countries. A survey was conducted and twenty-eight critical risks were identified, categorized into three (country, market and project) hierarchical levels and their criticality evaluated and ranked. For each of the identified risks, practical mitigation measures have also been proposed and evaluated. Almost all mitigation measures have been perceived by the survey respondents as effective. A risk model, named Alien Eyes' Risk Model, which shows the hierarchical levels of the risks and the influence relationship among the risks, is also proposed. Based on the findings, a qualitative risk mitigation framework was finally proposed which will benefit the risk management of construction project in developing countries. © 2004 Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Uncertainty of eventual outcomes coupled with a reluctance to embark upon potentially long learning curves, have militated against much‐needed holistic innovations in our instant‐results‐oriented construction industry. While sporadic initiatives towards new organizational and/or contractual arrangements have enabled incremental improvements in some scenarios, the increasing demand for step gains in construction industry performance levels evidently envisages a more solid launching pad with re‐engineered paradigmatic foundations. Initial investigations suggest that the foregoing desired goals may be achieved together. Finally, a conceptual model that coherently synergises these strategies for institutional and industry development is presented and discussed.

The heightened state of flux in the construction industry in general and construction procurement strategies in particular, provides welcome opportunities to inject innovative improvements. While some improvements are generated from within the construction industry itself, these evolve sluggishly along prolonged learning curves. These are compared with lessons to be learnt and examples to be drawn from manufacturing in the development of a marketable product. A product development focus is thus advocated in re‐integrating segregated groups and in empowering and inspiring the innovations that are needed to achieve the dramatic productivity gains now demanded from the construction industry.

This paper addresses the influence of academic education and formal training on Project Managers' (PM) behavior. A survey was conducted to assess how PMs' academic education and formal training influence their behavior. The results have provided evidence that PMs with Engineering qualifications and background tend to be more technically oriented. This may raise concerns that PMs pre-occupation with the technical aspects of project management may overshadow the need for them to pay more attention to people management. However, PMs with the experience of working on projects at the "operational" level have been less technically oriented. Such experience seems to have enhanced PMs motivational and conflict management skills. These results highlight the need for academic and professional development programmes to provide the right balance, in content and emphasize, between the technical knowledge and the people management skills'for young professionals to take project management responsibilities. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

© 2015, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to articulate clear understanding about the role of enterprise information systems (EIS) in developing innovative business practices. Particularly, it aims to explore the different ways that make EIS enables innovation development. Design/methodology/approach: – The study adopted exploratory case study, based on qualitative approach. Investigations included two case studies each involved interviewing a number of senior information technology staff, working at these cases. Findings: – The paper provides empirical insights about the EIS role in enabling innovation. The analysis of the case studies revealed that integrating an EIS with other system(s) or with digital devices can provide new practices that could not be easily available without these technologies. The study also found that applying data analytics tools into data accumulated from EIS, to extract new insights, lead to innovative practices. Practical implications: – The study provides a set of recommendations for organizations interested to maximize the benefits from their investments in EIS. Originality/value: – The paper provides evidences from cases in United Arab Emirates for the EIS role in enabling business innovation.

© 2016, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved. This paper demonstrates that Lean management serves as a foundation to leverage innovation throughout the healthcare projects. An organisation that successfully accommodates both Lean and innovation will gain higher competitive advantage and reach long-term sustainability. Innovation in the healthcare sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is encouraged through responses to the challenges of patient needs and government pressure on the organisations towards innovation and sustainability concerns. The objective of the paper is to investigate critical success factors (CSFs) for effective diffusion of Lean innovation in healthcare projects in the UAE. A conceptual model is developed to explain the CSFs for diffusion of Lean innovation in the healthcare projects. A public hospital that implemented Lean innovation projects in the UAE was selected as a case study and the data provided through the interviews were reviewed and analysed. It is concluded that the successful implementation of Lean innovation had outstanding implications: It has markedly and sustainably decreased patient access and waiting time, improved safety and patient satisfaction and supported the hospital culture of empowering front-line caregivers. The championing role of leadership commitment and management support, and employee involvement across all levels is required for successful implementation.

Maintainability of building has been identified as one of the key areas in which the construction industry in Singapore must achieve significant improvement. However, maintainability is generally given little attention in many developing countries. This leads to financial losses in many respects to the client over the life of the building and inefficient use of the asset. This paper reports the results of a study that identified the key aspects that would enable and motivate Singapore's construction industry to achieve improvement in the level of maintainability of buildings. An industry wide survey was conducted and two key factors were identified, using factor analysis, which would enable Singapore's construction industry to enhance the level of maintainability in buildings. The two factors are developing knowledge on maintainability and setting a benchmark for maintainability. However, the reluctance of the different parties to assume further responsibilities and liabilities would create an obstacle to achieving such improvements. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of cultural competence on the ability of project managers to lead international development projects successfully. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical qualitative research was applied and a case study approach was chosen. In this case, the researcher followed an international project manager amongst the Maasai people in Kenya for six weeks. In addition to field observations, this study conducted 12 in-debt interviews and arranged several informal focus groups to discuss observed issues cross-culturally. Findings – Findings indicate that the cultural competence supports a process that might increase the awareness and knowledge of contextual factors that can improve the project managers’ ability to establish relationships, communicate and approach challenges and opportunities more effectively. Originality/value – There is very little research on the issue of multi-culturalism in the non-government development project environment. The outcome of this research is expected to stimulate further interest in the subject and encourage far-reaching research, which can provide a reliable future guide for PM’s and other decision makers in international non-government development projects.

Research in construction innovation highlights construction industry as having many barriers and resistance to innovations and suggests that it needs champions. A hierarchical structural model is presented, to assess the impact of the role of the project manager (PM) on the levels of innovation and project performance. The model adopts the structural equation modelling technique and uses the survey data collected from PMs and project team members working for general contractors in Singapore. The model fits well to the observed data, accounting for 24%, 37% and 49% of the variance in championing behaviour, the level of innovation and project performance, respectively. The results of this study show the importance of the championing role of PMs in construction innovation. However, in order to increase their effectiveness, such a role should be complemented by their competency and professionalism, tactical use of influence tactics, and decision authority. Moreover, senior management should provide adequate resources and a sustained support to innovation and create a conducive environment or organizational culture that nurtures and facilitates the PM's role in the construction project as a champion of innovation. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the applicability of empowerment to organisations in three different industries. Management approaches to the concept of empowerment in the manufacturing, service and construction industries are investigated. The experience of organisations which implemented employees' involvement programmes and their perceptions of empowerment are examined. The results of the study indicate that empowerment programmes are perceived by many organisations as extremely advantageous for both individuals and organisations. Empowerment is perceived to have increased motivation, loyalty, satisfaction and creativity of employees. The benefits of empowerment were seen to have enhanced the potential for top management to increase competitiveness, efficiency and productivity. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA.

The paper reports the findings of an investigation into the psychosocial aspects of the work of construction project managers (PMs) in the United Kingdom. A theoretical model, which identified the different variables that may influence the behavior and effectiveness of PMs was developed. This study has used an adapted form of the behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) to measure a PM's effectiveness. The technique yielded five behavioral dimensions by which a PM's role may be described, and it was used in a survey involving 62 PMs. Analysis of the data suggests that a PM's effectiveness was influenced by situational and personal variables. The results strongly suggest that by understanding the complexity of such relationships, construction firms can influence the direction and behavior of PMs. The results also suggest that the behavior of PMs and project performance varied independently.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and present how an innovative idea can be successfully implemented in a construction project organisation, through the case study approach. The scope of the innovation is the top-down construction technique that was implemented successfully in a building project in Singapore. The sequence of construction makes top-down construction different from conventional technique. In conventional construction, the sequence starts from the very bottom level of structure with fully completed sub-structure. In the case of the top-down technique, construction of super-structure and sub-structure can be undertaken simultaneously with the help of partially finished main support at basement and substructure level. It is concluded that the innovative technique could be successfully implemented because three main forces exist in the construction project organisation: (1) expectancy driven normative forces; (2) result driven instrumental forces; and (3) inter-organisational interactive forces. This paper is important because it shows that for innovation to be successfully implemented, the following conditions must be met: (1) clients must play an active role in the innovation; (2) client and the party who proposes the innovation must have strong bargaining positions; (3) other supporting parties to the innovation must be willing to compromise and have good working relationships with one another.

There are few public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the UAE, but the number is increasing. Recently government and public bodies have intensified their interest in PPPs to encourage more involvement of the private sector in the country's development. The aim of the research is to evaluate the UAE experience in using PPP projects focusing on the critical success and failure factors for PPPs in the UAE. Three case studies were examined to identify the critical success factors and the failure factors. The results have shown that political support is the most important success factor followed by having a strong private consortium. The most important factor that causes PPP projects to fail in this context is when the consortium lacks the appropriate knowledge and skills. Hence, private consortia need to ensure that they assemble the relevant skills and knowledge of how to set up and manage a PPP as well as the crucial knowledge pertaining to the local business environment and political drivers. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.

During the conceptual stage of a building design, major design decisions that have the greatest influence on buildability of a project are taken. Quality function deployment (QFD) is an integrated decision-making methodology that can assure and improve the alignment of elements of design and construction processes with the requirements of customers. On the basis of the enlarged customer concept, QFD has the potential to be developed as a quantitative approach for buildability evaluation. This paper presents the findings of a research effort to adapt House of Quality (HOQ) to meet the needs of buildable designs in the construction industry and to develop a fuzzy QFD system for buildability evaluation. In this system, the fuzzy set theory is integrated into HOQ to capture the inherent impreciseness and vagueness of design-relevant inputs and facilitate the analysis of design-relevant QFD information. An example is presented to illustrate the system, which provides a viable decision-making method for quantitative buildability evaluation at the early design phase. © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The construction industry in Singapore is under pressure to improve its performance and the quality of its products and services. The Government is looking to see Singapore develop into a knowledge-based economy, and construction cannot be left behind. A recently published report about re-inventing construction has called on the industry to become a world-class industry. This study examines the attitudes and views of contractors, operating in Singapore, on how and where developments should be focused to bring about such a transformation. The results show that local contractors are not overly enthusiastic about becoming worldclass. The study found also that contractors expect the development to be Government led, with policies and incentives to support such an effort. At the same time there is a feeling that current Government policies are not effective in enabling the industry to become world-class.

Before the global financial crisis hit the region in 2008, the buoyant construction activities in the United Arab Emirates, especially in Dubai, were successful in attracting many multinational companies and professionals from across the globe. One of the main drawbacks of this business environment is the increasingly high competition between such companies to recruit and retain the needed human resources. This paper investigates the cultural diversity phenomenon in construction project teams in Dubai and its effect on their effectiveness. The main objective of the paper is to examine the impact of cultural diversity of the project teams on their performance. The paper reports the results of an empirical study into the relationship between the extent of cultural diversity and project team performance. The findings of the empirical study suggest that there is no significant relationship between the degree of project teams cultural diversity and their overall performance measures. However, the results showed that there is a negative relationship between the degree of cultural diversity and output, productivity and efficiency.

This paper reports on the initial findings of a current study into the UK Construction Industry's attitude towards innovation and Research and Development.

This study investigates critical factors that significantly affect the benefits of an innovation to the clients and the project as a whole during implementation from the perspective of construction clients. A survey was conducted in Hong Kong, and data from 35 projects that had adopted innovations were collected via mailed questionnaires from project clients. The questionnaire requested respondents to provide specific data about their projects, the type of innovations adopted, and the enablers and barriers to innovation. We found that innovative solutions were particularly beneficial if they were mainly intended to solve technical difficulties in projects and if they were implemented by forming separate implementation teams and by establishing coordination and monitoring mechanisms at the project level. Moreover, we found that the construction clients' technical capabilities, provision of special training opportunities, and management interests before and after the innovation was implemented were also factors in attaining innovation benefits. © 2007 ASCE.

Several delay analysis methods (DAMs) have been developed and used in the construction industry in order to analyse the causes and effects of delay events. In this research, a number of commonly used DAMs, in the specific context of UAE, are investigated by exploring the factors influencing their selection decisions as well as the process of making such a decision. A total of eight expert respondents from five different projects in the UAE were selected who provided critical insight into the decision making process adopted in practice to select a DAM. The individual project case analysis as well as the cross case analysis helped to identify a number of factors that influence the selection of DAMs in UAE projects. Some of the main identified factors were the attitude of the client, experience of the delay analyst, reputation and impartiality of the delay analyst, complexity of the project, and cost and timing of performing the analysis. The research argues that such an important decision process that can have a serious impact on the success of a commercial venture requires individual organisations to develop and adopt clear guidelines on how such decisions are made to protect its commercial interests.

The construction industry is perceived to be a dangerous industry. Since 1994, fatalities and accidents in the construction industry in Singapore have continued unabated despite stringent legislation and regulation. The frequency and severity of occupational accidents and injuries of the construction industry in Singapore are high. Construction organisations are becoming more aware that controlling physical aspects and technical hazards are not the only way to reduce accidents. However, these organisations lack the insight for the development of effective performance measures and metrics needed to achieve a comprehensive safety system. Most safety performance measurement systems have been preoccupied with the negative consequence of site accidents rather than pro-active prevention strategies. This paper reports the findings of a study into the development of a performance measurement tool using Balanced Scorecard to measure safety performance on site. The authors discussed a framework and presented the results of a survey to identify the management goals that would contribute to a positive safety culture. The results of a survey conducted by this study suggest that safety culture on construction sites can be improved by achieving four management related goals. The goals are top management commitment to improving safety, selecting more safety-aware subcontractors, having a workforce that is competent, professional and capable of completing the project within the required safety requirements.

The poor performance of Singapore's construction industry, like its counterparts in other countries, has been highlighted in many studies. The most recent study in Singapore, 'Re-inventing Construction', criticized the performance of the industry and identified fragmentation and segregation of design and construction activities as the main barriers to improved investment and development. The objective of the paper is to identify the activities and initiatives that will motivate and enable the Singapore construction industry to achieve both greater levels of integration and increase the volume of R&D and innovation activities. An industry survey, workshop and interviews identified six factors. The main theme underlying them is the need for the creation of improved business and market conditions that demand further integration and greater innovation effort to meet customer demands and expectations.

After five years since their introduction, there remains a dearth of public-private partnership (PPP) projects in Singapore. This paper aims to investigate the problems faced when using PPP arrangements and provide recommendations on how these can be surmounted. Face-to-face in-depth interviews with practitioners from the public and private sectors were conducted. The results show that the problems faced by public PPP clients are: difficulty in deciding if a public service could be bought using the PPP route; private providers' inability to innovate and understand clients' requirements; private sector's low capability in facilities management; and public sector's constantly changing needs. The difficulties faced by private providers are: inability to recoup expenditure; absence of a PPP champion; high tendering cost; criteria for awards are unclear; and risk allocation is unfair. Recommendations on how problems faced in the PPP pre-contract stage might be overcome are presented.

This paper examines the individual firm's motivation to adopt innovation in a construction project, and the inter-organizational interactions of relevant parties involved in innovation. Based on the theory of organizational motivation and inter-organizational relationships, seven hypotheses are set out. These hypotheses are tested using a structured questionnaire, and data were collected via a postal survey. From the results, it is concluded that an innovative proposal may be successfully implemented in the project if effort is put into carrying the innovation through, and there are high expected goals, favourable results and high commitment. Firms need to be motivated to adopt the innovation, be optimistic about the results and exert additional effort. Incentives for the supporting parties need to be substantial to persuade them to participate in the innovation. In addition, the innovation should be designed such that it could draw all upstream and downstream parties together, and all their interests are looked after in the project.

The construction industry in Singapore is under great pressure to improve its performance. The C21 report, Re-Inventing Construction, is a key milestone in the development of Singapore's construction industry. The report set several recommendations, which represent the future blue print for the industry. This study aimed to identify the main engines for change that would enable and motivate Singapore's construction industry to achieve the C21 target of becoming a world-class industry in a knowledge-based economy. This paper focuses on five areas of construction activities: professional standards, skills levels, buildability, construction safety, and internationalisation. An industry wide survey was conducted. A total of 12 key factors were identified to be effective in enabling construction firms to change and achieve the objectives set by the C21 report. The results of the study have shown that the industry is more in favour of developing the business environment in which market forces would demand the desired changes and improvements. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Previous research on construction innovation has commonly recognized the importance of the organizational climate and key individuals, often called "champions," for the success of innovation. However, it rarely focuses on the role of participants at the project level and addresses the dynamics of construction innovation. This paper therefore presents a dynamic innovation model that has been developed using the concept of system dynamics. The model incorporates the influence of several individual and situational factors and highlights two critical elements that drive construction innovations: (1) normative pressure created by project managers through their championing behavior, and (2) instrumental motivation of team members facilitated by a supportive organizational climate. The model is qualified empirically, using the results of a survey of project managers and their project team members working for general contractors in Singapore, by assessing casual relationships for key model variables. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the model structure for fostering construction innovations. © ASCE.

Innovation is the new buzzword in the construction industry. The importance of innovation is unquestionable. There are calls for the industry to be more innovative by adopting models, technologies and philosophies used by other sectors. This paper will argue that current trends and future developments of organisations and current management concepts used to explain organisational behaviour are similar to accepted models of the construction project. Therefore, perceived disadvantages of the construction project’s set up maybe seen as key ingredients to a more innovative industry. The paper will compare modem theories and concepts of management to those of construction to examine the hypothesis that the construction process is a process of innovation. The main advantage will be the exploitation of the potentials in the multi-system organisation of the construction project to create an environment conducive to innovation and creativity.

Purpose The ability to develop new products and services has motivated the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to enter the global race for excellence and surprise the world with its iconic construction innovations. The key challenge for the UAE is how to encourage and enable organizations, public and private, to embrace innovation as the norm and create a positive environment for innovation. In this context, this study was carried out with the aim of examining the factors that can create innovation conducive climate in construction and the measures that can be used to assess such a climate. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports research effort to develop and test a conceptual model that hypothesizes relationships among different constructs that make up the climate for innovation in UAE organizations, construction and non-construction. In verifying the conceptual model and testing the validity of the hypotheses, a quantitative study was conducted based on data collected via questionnaire survey. A total of 101 respondents participated in the study, majority of whom were employed in private international firms, semi-public firms and private local firms. Findings The findings showed that, overall, the climate of innovation in the UAE organizations is moderately strong where construction firms performed slightly better than non-construction firms in demonstrating an innovation-conducive atmosphere. In this context, the results found a need for senior management to provide tangible support in terms of providing more resources for the skill base to develop further and seek better ways of developing creative solutions. The main conclusion provided evidence that leadership has positively influenced the climate for innovation and as a result delivered an improved business performance. Originality/value The research developed a new conceptual model and the constructs that can be used to understand the climate for innovation and assist researchers in examining the complex dynamics of innovation in the local construction industry.

This paper researches the literature and available case studies on success and failure of innovative projects with particular focus on the impact of the effective diffusion of innovation on the successful implementation of projects in modern organizations. The paper builds a model for innovation and the diffusion of innovation and tests this model on two case studies to enable the development of a critical understanding of the dynamics of innovation on the successful implementation of projects. The paper concludes that, for a successful diffusion of innovation in a project management environment to take place, it is critical to emphasize the importance of management support and training combined with the championship of the project manager, the strategic intent of the organization and the entrepreneurship of the team members.

The international construction sector is one essential organ of the global economic body. More construction companies target international construction markets and would need to make a decision as the most appropriate mode to enter a particular market. This purpose of the study is to develop a framework to guide the decision making process for contractors considering entry to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) construction markets. This market emphasis the delivery of innovation and creating smart facilities and infrastructure. The study analyzed data from 86 international contractors who are listed as the most successful international contractors in the GCC countries. The paper examined the key factors that have influenced contractors’ entry strategy. The paper presents the results from the analysis of the proposed selection framework through interviews with a sample of top management executives in contracting firms. The study found that firms’ initial choice of a specific entry mode is a key strategic decision made to ensure successful investment. Firms believed that the option of entry mode adjustment is hard without incurring significant losses of time and money. Further, it was found that construction unique characteristics imply different priorities than those in other industries to enter foreign markets. Furthermore, The study concluded that most of GCC markets require the entry using permanent modes (branches or sole venture companies), eventually a set of recommendations were introduced to facilitate the entry process and ensure successful entry to GCC construction markets.

The heightened state of flux in the construction industry in general and construction procurement strategies in particular, provides welcome opportunities to inject innovative improvements. While some improvements are generated from within the construction industry itself, these evolve sluggishly along prolonged learning curves. These are compared with lessons to be learnt and examples to be drawn from manufacturing in the development of a marketable product. A product development focus is thus advocated in re‐integrating segregated groups and in empowering and inspiring the innovations that are needed to achieve the dramatic productivity gains now demanded from the construction industry.

This paper examines the importance of quality management for Yemen, a developing country, in the light of challenges introduced by recent changes in levels of protection from international competition previously enjoyed by Yemeni companies. The current state of quality practices in Yemeni organisations is investigated and discussed. Then a variety of issues relating to the introduction and use of quality management approaches such as ISO 9000 and the European business excellence model (EBEM) are raised, with particular emphasis being placed on cultural issues. This paper also introduces a methodology to test the cultural acceptability of the European business excellence model in Yemen that could be accomplished in Yemen. Finally, the results of surveys and trials conducted in Yemen are presented.

Speed and quality of innovation has become crucial to surviving in highly competitive markets. Indeed, some argue that innovation should be embedded within corporate culture, rather than being delivered within a process of ad-hoc events. Furthermore, the organization’s ability to innovate is increasingly recognized as a key factor for sustainability, competitiveness, economic success, well-being, and the development of society. However, without the ability to observe, measure and reflect on the management of innovation, the ability to implement good corporate strategy is limited. The work reported will gain direct insight to the practices and methods used to capture and measure corporate innovation operations in UK construction, with the aim of developing a framework that captures and defines a practical process for measuring and valuing innovation. A systematic review of literature has been undertaken to identify the key attributes of corporate innovation that may be measured, interviews will be undertaken to identify literature outside of the academic field that might inform the work. It is expected that case studies will follow to collect rich strategic data that provides a unique and valuable contribution to knowledge. Following a study and analysis of the data, methods will be presented for better understanding of those metrics and measures used when assessing the value of innovation at a corporate level. This stage also includes a review of the literature and initial interviews in the field of innovation operation measurements outside of academia. Early results suggest innovation is far too important to be managed without accurate measurements. Metrics drive behaviour and “what gets measured gets done.” Innovation indicators should be selected, and their metrics should be designed and used to manage company’s evolution, to achieve better alignment with business strategies and nourish a culture of entrepreneurship that results in improved corporate success.

The construction industry faces significant challenges in maintaining effective communication between parties in a construction contract, including issues of clarity, information sharing, language barriers, and limited collaboration. These communication problems can lead to misunderstandings, delays, increased costs, and hinder efficient project management, necessitating efforts to foster clearer and more collaborative communication practices for successful project delivery. This research set out to identify if an early warning system for project failure based on the communication patterns between the contracting parties can be established. The system could be developed to help improve the communication and project management of construction project using the new engineering contract. The research design was a combination of correlation and regression analysis to identify statistically significant relationship between elements of project contractual communications and project outcomes of completed projects, followed by a thematic review. The sample size was 24 with nine case studies of ongoing projects. Within the dataset of the research was able to identify that (1) the number of client risks identified on the risk register, (2) the amount of cost fluctuation and (3) inversely, the total number of documents had a statistical significance with project cost increases. It also identified that (4) cost fluctuation and (5) the average response time for risks on the risk register had a statistical significance with time overruns. A further detailed qualitative data analysis identified the themes within the meta-data which would allow for a more structured efficient mitigation strategy. The implications drawn from the research underscore the influence of communication patterns on the overall success of projects. Applied in a commercial setting this model would offer cost savings and efficiencies for companies looking to improve their project management communication. By applying different datasets to the model, the different inputs with statistical significance can be identified depending on the contractual communication and project management maturity. This research identified a novel way in which a construction company can use their contract data to improve the outcomes of projects. The originality and value, comes from the analysis on the new data source which has previously not been examined in this specific academic field, the data model created is a new concept. The findings provide unique perspective of the specific areas which impact project success as well as their magnitude.

Recently, the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) are gaining ground due to the support of both the private and governmental sectors. However, the scale of the uptake among more traditional contractors is still weak. On the other hand, public clients have a track record in motivating the traditional sector to adopt innovation towards meeting their specific needs. This paper aims to investigate the gaps within the public sector and their ability to accelerate innovation. The study will review existing literature relevant to understand the required relation and influence. The central hypothesis of this research is that public client's engagement in procuring MMC projects would trigger and accelerate traditional contractors' organizational transformation to adopt such methods. Hence, this study aims to understand the complex dynamics of the involvement of public clients on possibly motivating traditional contractors towards offering innovative solutions. The findings of this research would support the effective intervention for more effective diffusion of MMC and add to the knowledge of facilitating a greater adoption of innovation within the UK public bodies. The main objectives of this research are to a) Understand the relation between public clients and contractors, b)Examine the influence exerted by public clients on contractors' behaviour, and c) Investigate theability of public procurement frameworks to act as integrators towards increasing the adoption ofinnovation. The findings highlight a gap within existing literature represented by the limited studiesaddressing contractors' behaviour in the public client context, particularly in MMC, and moreunderstanding of public clients' decision making processes are needed to enable researchers andpractitioners to have better understanding on contracts' behaviour towards the adoption ofinnovation's body of research.

The decarbonisation of built environment projects is becoming increasingly significant in realising net zero goals in many countries. Even though construction contractors responsible for bringing design to fruition have been touted to be slow in adopting strategies that can facilitate this ambition. Therefore, it is vital to understand the drivers that could motivate these stakeholders to decarbonise the carbon footprint within their control. While equally investigating the geographical spread and temporal distribution of studies that have contributed to this development. In achieving this, a systematic review of the literature approach was adopted and identified studies were examined through content analysis. The result of the analysis yielded thirteen drivers from 20 eligible studies. Also, studies on the drivers of carbon reduction began to appear in literature in 2008 and overall, the UK, USA and Australia tend to dominate this research area. These findings suggest that there seems to be sparse research conducted in this knowledge area and more studies are required across the globe if the world is to mitigate the effect of climate change and attain its net zero ambition. Lastly, the outcome of this study might be beneficial for construction stakeholders and policymakers in developing strategies to support research and practice to decarbonise the built environment.

Despite the calls to transform construction and the potential of the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to address traditional construction concerns, the global construction industry is yet to embrace the benefits. The purpose of this review is to theoretically explain MMC low uptake in the public sector by exploring the relative pressure points that are contributing to clients’ indecision. The study argues the five functional constructs of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI) against MMC attributes. A systematic review of sixty-seven articles through a Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) led to key arguments that explicate the lesser drive for MMC adoption. Results reveal that past literature is plurally discarding the dynamics between supply and demand, decision-making, and contracting business models. An improved understanding of these dynamics would, therefore, support research efforts in disclosing the necessary considerations that can promote clients’ favourable innovation-decisions. This study echoes past calls and act as a departure point for future research to assess MMC beyond its technical attributes from a theoretical lens to better understand how construction innovations flow in the public construction sector.

Innovation is a specific process to exploit change as an opportunity and is consistently found to be associated with organisational success In particular, the construction industry is widely perceived as being among the less innovative sectors, in part due to its project-based and fragmented nature This thesis will address a gap in the knowledge to which organizations systems measure the success of innovation projects and review which projects to select to realise value. The research is positioned in the wider context of the corporate objectives and principally asset management programmes of work. Following an initial review of innovation project selection systems, a set of research questions will be developed to investigate the potential for a new benchmark solely focused on Innovation Potential. It will deliver an original contribution to knowledge by developing an empirically validated conceptual model that consists of the main factors that have an influence, and are influenced by, innovation selection. The Paper will first, systematically review the existing literature in two broad sections: innovation studies within the construction industry and then specifically, the way in which organisations choose which projects to take forward and measure their success. Research studies on innovation measurement in the construction industry are a limited body of knowledge and as characterised by the industry, drivers and barriers appear to be the main focus of the studies. In addition, the majority of construction innovation studies have been carried out by academics with very few from industry. This research will ultimately identify a conceptual framework of the term innovation measurement within construction industry programmes to determine better innovation selection.

The UK government is promoting the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) by presumption in favour due to outperforming traditional methods in meeting its industry goals. Despite the public construction sector’s recognition of the benefits, MMC uptake across this influential purchasing power is yet far from satisfactory. Such low adoption rates have been linked to MMC firms’ business strategies contributing to public clients’ indecision. To investigate such arguments, the study utilises a questionnaire survey and gathers responses from seventy-four decision-makers of UK-established MMC businesses. Results are then discussed in relation to the contingency theory from a Business Model Canvas (BMC) perspective, revealing the divergence between organisations outperforming others in the public sector, i.e. achieving fit. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first construction management study to empirically propose the relationships between the nine business model elements of the BMC in relation to a specific market. The findings of this paper suggest the critical role of the Target Customer element in reaching alignment with the external environment by acting as a receiver and provider of information, superseding the importance of solely focusing on communicating added values and extended capabilities. Our findings also suggest that MMC organisations outperforming others in the UK public sector are those who are understanding public clients’ needs the most, and thus, continuously changing their business strategies to sustain alignment with any change in those needs. Overall, the paper proposes a three-dimensional consideration to achieve fit, namely, 1) internal consistency of the elements (inside-out), 2), changing external environment (outside-in), and 3) relationships between the nine elements (inside-in). The study depicts the problematic nature of the internal interrelations responsible for reaching fit in the UK public sector and deepens the understanding of how the nine BMC elements are supporting more informed and strategic decisions. Therefore, decision-makers are urged to pursue alignment by assessing the contingency of each decision made with respect to the proposed influences. Future research to focus on replicating the results in accordance with other theories involving technological and organisational change, maturity, and systems theory.

Construction has long been identified as an industry resistant to change and innovation, a reality that has prevailed to shape its overall reputation. The public sector includes an influential client type that dominates the major percentage of construction demand and is subject to public law. The Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) have been championed recently by the UK government and early adopters upon the emergence of data indicating their effectiveness in addressing key construction challenges. However, the uptake of MMC has been low among UK construction clients, particularly among public client organisations. Theories emerge across decades to inform researchers of variable clusters that can aid a broader understanding of decision-making and innovation adoption. One of the popular innovation theories suggests a relation between the characteristics of decision-makers and their own innovation decisions. This paper, therefore, aims to investigate the characteristics that are responsible for public clients’ low MMC uptake despite the associated relative advantages. Overall, 91 public client organisations have responded to this research’s survey, reflecting their organisation’s characteristics in line with the constructs adapted from the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory. Results suggest that among the ten influences that are captured from a detailed review of the literature, confidence in MMC firms supersedes all other factors in critically influencing the organisation’s favourable decision towards using MMC. Evidence provided in this paper suggests that a communication issue is presenting itself in the public construction sector, which is evident by the lack of confidence that public clients have in MMC businesses. This is the first study to utilise quantitative means to examine construction clients’ characteristics and relate the same to the adoption of construction innovation. Future research is encouraged to acknowledge the most influencing characteristics and detail how such knowledge can be embraced by supply to develop business models that can orchestrate better confidence in the public sector.

In recent times, there has been an increasing attention on embodied carbon reduction of building construction projects. However, most of this attention have been concentrated on carbon emission related to materials used for building construction while construction activity related carbon emission seems to have been largely ignored. Hence, this paper examines this claim by analysing literatures in construction management journals published between year 2000 and 2021. The authors performed the analysis by examining the annual publication of research related to carbon reduction during the construction phase of building projects, geographical spread and/or institution of authors who have contributed to these studies, and key research themes covered. The systemic review of literature conducted shows that there seems to be very little research published relating to carbon reduction during building construction projects. Also, the findings suggest that carbon reduction during building construction project related research have only just been in mainstream publication in the last five years with this research largely domiciled in China, US, Australia, and Hong Kong. Furthermore, it was discovered that most of the existing research related to the focus of this paper was done in the context of life cycle analysis or assessment. Research gaps were highlighted, and future research path is proposed. It is likely that the findings of this study may arouse researchers with interest in construction carbon reduction and industry stakeholders alike.

Construction contractors have been touted to be a major player in reducing carbon emissions during the construction process due to their role in bringing building designs to life. Also, various carbon reduction strategies have been highlighted in assisting contractors in reducing the carbon emitted while carrying out construction activities. However, it is believed that contractors are quite reluctant to adopt these strategies for several reasons, such as a possible increase in cost and being contradictory to their existing construction procedures. This paper, therefore, aims to highlight the report of a preliminary study done through the adoption of a systematised review approach in synthesising literature to understand what the evidence is as regards how contractors contribute towards the reduction of carbon during building construction activities. The findings reveal that there is a paucity of research in this research area as only 12 papers were found relating to the focus of this study. The analysis of these papers revealed eight possible ways (e.g. adoption of lean management principles, adoption of eco-hauling concept, and utilisation of modern digital tools) in which contractors contribute to carbon reduction during building construction projects. The findings of this study will benefit contractors looking for a suite of measures to implement in reducing their building construction project carbon footprint while also serving as a piece of foundational knowledge in the research area of carbon reduction during building construction projects. Lastly, a future study area worth exploring is proposed.

The existing body of knowledge on the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) reflects their benefits and relative advantages, particularly in addressing contemporary construction challenges. However, the uptake of such methods is minimal, particularly in the public construction sector. The low uptake has led MMC firms to liquidation due to the lack of an economy of scale. Studies, particularly recently, explain that the low adoption rates are linked to the inappropriateness of existing business models responsible for driving broader demand. This paper assumes that the lag in MMC adoption could be related to the ability of supply business models to communicate confidence to demand. Public clients are foreseen as important target customers, acquiring influential status across the industry, with an expected potential to drive innovation adoption across the sector. A systematic review method allows scholars to assess existing literature by critically locating and analysing relative publications to approach the study’s aim. Through utilising this method, the study classifies the arguments against the Business Model Canvas (BMC), and argues the results with respect to contingency theory, and in turn, synthesizing a new meaning that reveals the considerations needed to boost business model performance when penetrating the public sector. Hence, the critical analyses of 70 studies relative to MMC, led to proposing the contingencies that are believed to better structure business models. Results suggest that MMC firms can embrace specific reforms and gain more momentum when communicating confidence to public client organisations; however, a guideline that conceptualises the interactions between the elements and their influence on the decision-making does not exist, and this may be inhibiting coherency on how MMC businesses drive broader demand. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to utilise the contingency theory as an attempt to disseminate previous efforts to explain the low adoption of MMC in the UK public sector.

Despite the UK Government favouring modern methods of construction (MMC) and advocating their extended ability to address contemporary construction challenges, the current situation suggests that the sector has yet to achieve a sufficient economy of scale. This has led sizeable MMC businesses to experience, or to be close to experiencing, insolvency. Such events serve as the rationale for a study to investigate how MMC is perceived within the construction sector. Critics argue that MMC demands a fundamental change that has not been witnessed in construction for decades. This chapter aims to offer a scoping review to better understand how innovations transpire in complex social systems in construction. The logic flows to examining the decision-making processes of clients, which would then guide research towards the salient points where research can drive broader confidence in non-traditional ways of constructing places.

The construction industry has been noted to be impervious to change. Over time, contractors have been found to be slow in implementing strategies to reduce carbon during construction projects. Hence, it is imperative to unearth factors that could be contributing to such sluggishness as well as those capable of motivating and promoting the carbon reduction behaviour of contractors. This study, therefore, aims to achieve this. To attain this, a comprehensive literature review and survey amongst construction professionals with carbon reduction experience in the UK was conducted. The data collected were analysed by utilising numerous quantitative analysis techniques. The research findings suggest several drivers, barriers and KPIs could influence contractors’ behaviour in reducing construction carbon. The drivers include carbon literacy, motivation and incentives, procurement and integration, and cost and profitability. The barriers are resources and prioritisation, policy and standards, risk and commitment, and awareness and complexity. The carbon KPIs resulting from the study include those related to transportation and construction-installation stages of the construction process. The transportation stage KPIs are personnel and location, resource management, and percentage of renewables and the construction-installation stage KPIs include waste, services, operations, product, construction method and machinery, renewable energy, and material. In addition, the contractors’ carbon reduction behaviours found in this study are consummate and pragmatic behaviours. Furthermore, this research produced three structural pathway models illustrating the influence of the drivers, barriers and KPIs on the carbon reduction behaviours of contractors, thereby, extending the construction process decarbonisation body of knowledge. The models indicate that carbon literacy is the only driver with a significant positive influence on contractors’ pragmatic and consummate carbon reduction behaviour. Likewise, resources and prioritisation was found to be the only significant barrier impeding contractors’ consummate behaviour, and only construction-installation KPIs have a iii considerable influence on the consummate behaviour of contractors in reducing carbon. Consequently, a carbon management protocol was developed to guide the carbon management performance of contractors and steer the attainment of construction decarbonisation. The outcome of this research could provide direction to construction clients and policymakers in instituting effective strategies focused on the identified factors to support the decarbonisation of built environment projects.

The staggering demand for construction projects to meet a spectrum of public needs is projected to outstrip the industry’s supply capability. The Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), are methods that relies on shifting key construction processes offsite, a transformation from traditional practices that offers wider control, transpiring as a critical necessity. Public clients play a significant role as drivers for innovation and as the industry’s purchasing power, however, their uptake of MMC projects is still low, despite the associated benefits. The purpose of this study is to reveal the reasoning behind such low adoption. The research gap, herewith, is our lack of understanding on the perception of public clients from MMC, and how the same is contributing to their adoption’s indecision. This study utilised a qualitative approach to investigate the motives behind the public sector’s low MMC adoption. Semi-structured interviews with 14 of the United Kingdom’s public sector’s decision-makers, industry leaders, and experts have been conducted. Perspectives were argued against the Diffusion of Innovation theory (DOI). Overall, the innovation’s attributes informed the authors of the positive perceptions from the public sector, demonstrating that the low adoption of MMC is not linked to any embedded issues with the innovation itself rather being predominantly related to the dynamics between supply and demand. The former (supply), reflected a failure in communicating confidence, and the latter (demand), attained characteristics that are limiting wider uptake. This is the first study to apply the Diffusion of Innovation theory to reveal the relationship between UK public clients’ perceptions and their decision-making. Moreover, this paper addresses the scant attention to the use of theories to explain the flow of innovations in the construction context.

Purpose – Construction research comprises quality contributions to the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) context in terms of their benefits and relative advantages. However, the uptake of MMC is yet deemed very low in the public sector. Knowing that public clients acquire the purchasing power and the influential status to drive industry change, understanding their low MMC uptake is necessary. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic review of literature has been chosen to extract the key variables contributing to the limited adoption of MMC across the public sector, reinforced by a qualitative semi-structured interview with twelve industry leaders and public clients. This methodology enables the authors to explore works from the past decade, paving a direction for an adequate empirical investigation by reviewing and critically analysing forty-nine academic articles and interviewing twelve industry leaders and public clients. Findings – The study captured and argued the characteristics that have an influence on public clients’ decision, inhibiting the extraction of values associated with greater MMC deployment. A critical analysis resulted in identifying 13 characteristics under 4 main themes, providing a new argument to existing knowledge by calling on the need to better understand public clients and the influence of their own characteristics on their MMC uptake. Originality/value – This paper utilises the Diffusion of Innovation theory (DOI) which offers constructs that help explain the influence of the characteristics of a decision-making unit. Our knowledge on public construction clients is limited, and more research in this direction may help in better aggregating construction demand. Overall, arguments provided in this paper enable relative improvements in contractors’ business models when approaching the public market. The study is believed to be in support of the relative governmental efforts to shape effective policies that can enhance innovation uptake among public bodies.

Extant studies have highlighted numerous barriers to carbon reduction but none seem to have been done in the context of construction process in the UK. Hence, this study aims to bridge this gap by inves-tigating the barriers that are critical to the minimization of construction carbon footprint in the UK. A questionnaire was developed based on the carbon reduction barrier variables identified through a com-prehensive literature review and pilot study. Then a survey was conducted amongst construction profes-sionals in the UK and the data obtained were analyzed using mean ranking technique and factor analysis. The mean ranking analysis gave rise to 15 critical barriers to carbon reduction and their factor analysis yielded four dissimilar factors which are, resources and prioritization; policy and standards; risk and com-mitment; and awareness and complexity. The findings imply that these classifications can be used to describe carbon reduction barriers in the UK. This could stimulate a better comprehension of the critical barriers and provide a foundational basis for further research within the sustainable construction domain. Also, the result of this study could facilitate the need for collaboration between construction stakeholders in the UK to proffer pragmatic solutions to the identified challenges of carbon minimization.

The fragmented nature of construction operations makes it challenging to implement carbon-reduction strategies. However, attaining a holistic construction sector decarbonisation hinges upon ensuring all aspects of a construction project’s lifecycle are decarbonised, including the construction process stage. Therefore, to mitigate the implementation challenge of reducing the levels of carbon involved in construction processes, this study attempts to synthesise and categorise carbon-reduction strategies that could be employed to decrease the carbon footprint during a construction projects’ delivery. To achieve the aim of this study, a systematic literature review approach was adopted. Based on this technique, a total of 26 relevant articles within the built environment research area were eligible for the study, and their analysis revealed 56 carbon minimisation measures, which were summarised into nine distinct categories to ease their application and overcome the construction operations’ complexities. The nine categories include material transport, waste transport, materials and equipment, waste, materials, on-site office, on-site lighting, on-site transportation of material and equipment, and construction methods. The findings of this study provide contractors with a suite of measures that can be deployed to reduce the carbon impact of construction project delivery.

The construction industry has been criticized, in many countries around the world, for not keeping pace with developments in the rest of the economy. One of the key issues the construction industry needs to address is how to become “customer oriented”. This paper argues that the concept of customer orientation in construction has been influenced by the passive approach to product definition adopted by professional advisors and consultants. The paper will examine the current knowledge of the customer orientation concept and present a research model that can be used to examine the effectiveness of current practices in providing satisfactory products and services to customers. The paper will report the results of an investigation into the effectiveness of existing methods, practices and philosophies deployed by organizations involved in construction in identifying customer needs.

Reports from the industry generically suggest that the main reasoning for the indecision towards an industry change of broader Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in the United Kingdom is nothing but cost. This practice paper aims to advocate a different argument, replacing the cost issue with a confidence issue. Merely suggesting that cost is why MMC is not mainstream is incorrect and misleading. Nor is the argument that plain bulk production is the only option for making premanufacturing profitable. Why is it that organisations offering the same innovation intend to extremely drift away from uniformity, but knowingly acknowledge that competition forces work among organisations that are mostly similar? Why are organisations offering a ‘different’ methodology than traditional linked to failure because of their distinctiveness, but traditional organisations’ failure is due to industry status? What metrices are being used to compare a traditional construction methodology with another non-traditional one, and is this measurement valid longitudinally? How can a construction procurer be detached from a historically built relationship and familiarity? Why is it not worthwhile to establish a common point of terminological reference than attaching any non-traditional approach to a modern meaning? Why is manufacturing often disjointed from the overall interface of construction? And finally, why is it always those offering change are to blame and not other conditions undermining their ability to survive? Such questions find some of their corresponding answers in this practice paper, Confidence Amidst Collapse, which is published at a time of uncertainty and doubt. The paper brings forward new knowledge and insight and offers healthy criticism that can encourage searching for answers to these questions, or in the extant situation, ask even more. The construction industry has, as evidenced historically, a complex social function that is the first and foremost predictor of the successful diffusion of innovations. Such a function is yet misinformed about MMC, not about the values and advantages per se, but about how these value scan be accurately captured to fit with what is now critically needed to meet the priorities and respond to the industry’s shortcomings.

This was an interview to inform the development of a government report on the potential for this innovation.

Purpose Extant studies have discussed numerous carbon reduction drivers, but there is a dearth of holistic review and understanding of the dynamic interrelationships between the drivers from a system perspective. Thus, this study aims to bridge that gap. Design/methodology/approach The study conducted a review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and adopted interpretive structural modelling (ISM) to analyse and prioritise the drivers. Findings Eighteen drivers were identified and grouped into five, namely, policy instruments, bid-related, cost and risk, education and training, and reward and penalty drivers. The ISM revealed two hierarchical levels of the drivers with only higher cost of electricity/fuel on the higher level, making it the most important driver that could influence others. Practical implications The study presents an overview of decarbonisation drivers in the literature and would be of benefit to the government and stakeholders towards achieving net zero emissions in the construction industry. Originality/value The findings of the study present drivers of carbon reduction and prioritise and categorise them for tailored interventions within the construction sector. Also, it could serve as foundational knowledge for further study in the construction process decarbonisation research area.

The recent failures and insolvencies of organisations related to the modern methods of construction (MMC) have gained increased attention and controversy across the UK construction sector. Such failures are linked to their inability to achieve an economy of scale and drive key clients to accept the MMC as an alternative to traditional methods. This paper aims to unravel whether a phenomenon of “innovation negativism” has manifested and is contributing to public clients' indecision towards broader MMC, whether this is only linked to past negative experiences formed after the Second World War or whether additional contributing reasons exist to influence adoption. This study focusses on exploring the decision-making of the UK public construction sector; therefore, this paper adopts a qualitative approach, utilising interviews with 14 carefully selected MMC experts, government advisors and public clients. The phenomenological stance adopted herewith enables the authors to make better sense of the perceptions of the interviewees, leading to the conceptualisation of the innovation negativism phenomenon. The paper identifies nine themes that may be argued to promote a profound understanding of the MMC negativism influencing public clients' decision-making. The study has found that more than just the previous negative perceptions formulated post Second World War are driving innovation negativism in the UK public sector. Notably, the emerging themes are incomprehension, lacking evidence, communication, relationship history, bad experiences, uncertainty, inadequate experimentation, the business case and localism. This study is the first construction management research that acts as a fair departure point to conceptualise the reasoning behind innovation negativism in the construction setting. Through mirroring demand's unipolarity for traditional methods, policy and decision-makers can now rely on the conceptualised reasoning to determine practical solutions to overcome clients' indecisions towards MMC.

Purpose The decisions of contractors could impact the reduction of construction carbon footprint. These decisions are linked to the belief of contractors which equally affects how they behave while delivering projects. This study aims to investigate the behavioural tendencies of contractors that could lead to carbon minimisation during the execution of construction projects. Design/methodology/approach An industry survey was performed amongst 41 UK construction professionals. Spearman’s correlation and factor analysis were used to analyse the data. Findings The result of the Spearman’s correlation gave rise to 14 contractors’ carbon reduction behaviour (CCRB) variables and their factor analysis yielded two distinct factors, namely, contractors’ consummate carbon reduction behaviour and contractors’ pragmatic carbon reduction behaviour. The findings suggest that in the UK, contractors are willing to take voluntary practical steps to decrease the carbon footprint of construction projects. Practical implications This finding might be unexpected to construction stakeholders, especially construction clients who may believe that infusing strict carbon reduction obligations in contracts is sufficient in nudging contractors to lessen the carbon impact of projects. Originality/value The study attempted to quantitatively derive CCRB, thereby extending the breadth of knowledge in the construction carbon reduction domain.

Purpose – In the past decade, transforming key processes and activities towards a more digital nature has been the focus of most industries due to the associated advantages. Despite that, organisations in the construction sector are lagging the list of early adopters. The slow rate of a fundamental digital transformation is linked to the challenges facing an effective leadership. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to shed light on the barriers to digital leadership enactment in the construction industry. Limited research has empirically analysed and discussed these barriers to explain the low transformation rate in the existing body of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – This paper empirically investigates the perspectives of construction industry professionals acquiring various roles in the industry. Overall, the study comprises the views of 38 participants, adopting a qualitative methodological approach to explore relative barriers and explain the slow digital transformation rate. Findings – Findings are grouped into five themes: leadership characteristics, management and organisational issues, resource constraints, technological issues, and risk perceptions. The findings are helpful to business leaders, researchers, trainers, and educators to develop measures to encourage leaders in the industry to be at the forefront of digital transformation in their organisations. Originality/value – Literature, however, is discreet in reflecting the challenges and barriers facing today’s leadership in facilitating digital transformation among construction stakeholders. This paper provides insights into the variables that may be undermining wider digital adoption across the construction sector’s organisations.

Due to the practical complexity and fragmented nature of the construction industry, digitalisation, like other innovations, is not easily achieved. This study aimed to explore organisational influences on digitalisation within construction firms. Due to the practical complexity and fragmented nature of the construction industry, digitalisation, like other innovations, is not easily achieved. This study aimed to explore organisational influences on digitalisation within construction firms. Construction professionals from twenty-two organisations provided their perspectives on digital transformation and their organisations. Under four constructs- structure, culture, leadership, and internal processes, findings uncovered sixteen determinants critical to digitalisation in construction firms. The study offers a offers a theoretical perspective supported by empirical data to explore the complex dynamics and internal interactions of organisational influence on the uptake of digitalisation in the construction industry. This paper offers arguments from a theoretical lens by applying the organisational influence model and capturing the variables under each construct in an exploratory manner to highlight the reasoning behind the low digital uptake in construction firms. This research aids academia and practice on the pressure points responsible for enhancing, or undermining, digital uptake in construction firms at an organisational level.