Clients’ role in construction innovation management process

Previous literature has suggested that investments in innovation within the construction sector can increase a company's profitability and competitive advantages. Paradoxically, in practice it has often been noted that the construction sector is quite inefficient in producing innovations. Clients are in essential role in the management and decision-making of construction projects - especially in the early-stages of the project. However, clients' role in construction innovation management process and especially in implementation process has not been extensively studied. Therefore, this dissertation assesses, first, the clients' role in construction innovation projects, and second, how the clients can manage innovation process during the construction design phase. The research employs a mixed-method research strategy using both quantitative and qualitative data. The mixed-method strategy adopts a diversity of research approaches in order to understand the complex network of relationships present within the construction sector. The dissertation finds that the client is a driver for innovation in the construction sector and it proposes the following: (i) Companies should involve clients in the construction innovation process because clients can help companies in identifying and reaching innovation targets; and (ii) Clients can use the desired value-in-use for building users, project risk analysis and milestone targets to specify their demands for innovation and manage construction innovation process. The dissertation presents and tests three new tools that clients can use to manage innovation process during the construction design phase. The project where the proposed tools were tested successfully implemented several construction innovations. As a whole, this research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the construction innovation field by studying empirically the client's role in construction markets. It supports the view that construction innovations are not typically implemented at the companies themselves, but, rather, at the construction project sites where the companies are engaged. The research highlights the role of the client in the implementation process. The study demonstrates that by applying proper tools, clients can manage the innovation and improve the requirements for construction project stakeholders to successfully implement innovative changes during a construction project. As a mixed method study, the dissertation generates expected methodological pluralism in the field of research on the construction sector. The dissertation suggests that in the future it would be highly interesting to both deepen and wider the construction innovation process by client's perspective and study further how the construction innovation process influences to construction markets effectiveness.