1,720,986 research outputs found
Business strategies supporting effective implementation of innovation by project-based firms
No full textThis empirical paper focuses on the need to provide practical guidance to project-based firms wishing to improve their innovation performance. The relationship between different types of business strategies and innovation outcomes was explored in the Australian construction industry, as an example of a project-based industry. A survey of 1,317 firms was conducted in 2004, which resulted in 383 useable responses, giving a response rate of 29%. The relative importance of five types of business strategies was assessed, concerning: (1) employees, (2) marketing, (3) technology, (4) knowledge and (5) relationships. Innovation outcomes were measured by an index that comprised three indicators:\ud
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1.the degree of novelty of each firm’s most important technological and organizational innovation, \ud
2.the impact of each firm’s most successful innovation on profitability, and\ud
3.the adoption of prescribed technological and organizational advances by each firm. \ud
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The index was used to score and rank the innovativeness of each survey respondent, and to assign each to one of three groups – high innovators, middle innovators and low innovators. Analysis focused on comparing strategy usage by firms in the high and low innovator groups. The findings revealed that marketing strategies are least important to innovation outcomes, across the five types of business strategies reviewed. The individual business strategies having the greatest impact on innovation were (1) ‘investing in R&D’ (2) ‘participating in partnering and alliances on projects’ (3) ‘ensuring project learnings are transferred into continuous business processes’ (4) ‘monitoring international best practice’ and (5) ‘recruiting new graduates’.\u
The Relationship between Business Strategies and Successful Innovation
No full textThe literature emphasises the role of innovation in driving economic growth. It is also generally understood by academics and practitioners that the types of strategies adopted by a firm play a key role in determining innovation levels and firm profitability. The research examines this proposition in the Australian context, using the construction industry as a case study. The primary research question driving the study was 'What types of business strategies are the main contributors to successful innovation?'. Data were collected via a large scale mail survey covering 38% of the industry, with 1,317 questionnaires distributed and a 30% response rate achieved. Innovation was defined as a new or significantly improved technology or advanced business practice. Innovation success was measured via an innovation index based on input and output innovation indicators. The results show that the following strategies are key drivers of innovation success: \ud
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• actively encouraging employees to seek out improvements and share ideas\ud
• recruiting new graduates\ud
• inter-industry networking\ud
• international monitoring of best practice\ud
• transferring project-based learnings into continuous business processes.\ud
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Businesses wishing to improve their innovation performance are encouraged to consider adopting these strategies, or embracing them more fully
Knowledge flows in the road Industry – Queensland’s experience
Get PDFThis paper is based on empirical data obtained from a large scale survey of the Queensland road industry in 2002. The survey focused on innovation activity in the industry and this paper examines a key part of that study – knowledge flows. This focus responds to the rapidly increasing knowledge intensity of successful and sustainable economic activity in the 21st century. Knowledge ‘flows’ and networking, both within organisations and between them, are seen as key elements in successful innovation processes. In turn, innovation is widely regarded as a key driver of economic growth and environmental sustainability. \ud
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The paper reports on knowledge flows between industry participants as revealed in the survey of over 200 contractors, consultants, clients and suppliers. Two types of knowledge flows are discussed – the first involves communication patterns, and the second involves the sources of new ideas about technologies and advanced practices. The tracing of these knowledge flows amounts to mapping business networks.\ud
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The objectives of this paper are to:\ud
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• measure the level of networking between organisations;\ud
• identify the key nodes in networks;\ud
• map the patterns of usage of key nodes by industry sub-sector, region and business size; and\ud
• determine whether there is a relationship between level of networking by an organisation and innovation adoption rates.\ud
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The most important finding of the study is that business networking, both in terms of consultation patterns and sources of new ideas of innovation, is positively related to innovation levels, measured by adoption activity. Participation in business networks is one of the key features that differentiates innovative businesses from other businesses.\ud
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The paper concludes by highlighting the value, for industry participants, of comprehensive relationships with the key nodes identified by the study
Innovation rates and drivers in the road industry : the case of Queensland, Australia
Get PDFThis paper examines the extent of innovation in the Queensland road industry, in terms of original and adoptive innovation. The drivers of innovation are also analysed, with reference to industry subsectors. The results help clarify our understanding of road industry performance, in terms of change trajectories, international competitiveness and leverage points for improvement.\ud
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Data is presented based on a 2002 survey of over 300 contractors, consultants, clients and suppliers. The report findings draw attention to the importance of ICT, business practice innovations, in-house innovation skills, and the key roles played by clients and product suppliers in driving innovation. Given that these drivers of industry performance are reflected in the literature, they should be singled out for attention in any effort to improve innovation performance in the road industry, or indeed in the construction industry generally
Measuring the technical competence of repeat public-sector clients
Get PDFA broad based industry survey investigates whether repeat public sector construction clients are technically competent, measured by their in-house innovation performance. The study covered non-residential building and civil work in three Australian States – New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Data were collected via a large scale mail survey undertaken in 2004 which covered 38% of key construction organisations in the study population. Descriptive statistical methods are employed to give an indication of the relative level of technical competence held by repeat public sector clients compared to contractors, consultants and suppliers. Such competence is taken to be reflected in a number of innovation indicators. The results show a high level of technical competence held by repeat public sector clients. As the literature reports a relationship between technical competence and innovation leadership ability, this finding has positive implications in terms of industry development potential. This research has immediate benefits in giving the construction industry more confidence in the quality of leadership shown by government clients. It also provides the basis for further research examining the link between the technical competence of clients and industry perceptions of client leadership
The impact of business strategies and business conditions on innovation
Get PDFThis paper focuses on the factors that drive innovation activity by businesses. A survey of over 200 businesses in the Queensland road and bridge industry was undertaken in 2002 and respondents were asked to rate the importance of key elements of business strategy to business success and to identify key elements of their business conditions. The results were then correlated with two measures of innovativeness. Exploratory tests indicated that the most important business strategies involve ‘investing in R&D’ and ‘protecting intellectual property’, while the most important business condition to innovation success is ‘obtaining high quality external technical support’. The conclusions stress the importance of building inter-organisational relationships and effective business networking. In future research, the results will be interpreted more widely, by undertaking a comprehensive integrative analysis of emerging academic literature
Exploring the drivers of firm-level innovation in the\ud construction industry
No full textA survey of 335 businesses in the Australian road industry has been carried out to ascertain those factors that make firms innovate. 'Innovative' is measured by adoption rates of advanced technologies and practices, and the range of innovation drivers reviewed encompasses business strategy and environment. The findings indicate that business strategies are more important than business conditions, and that the following three strategies are significant in differentiating between firms with high and low adoption rates: (1) hiring new graduates; (2) introducing new technologies; and (3) enhancing technical capabilities. The findings also highlight the importance of undertaking R&D and encouraging employee ideas for improvement. The public policy\ud
implications are that the quality of university graduates should be protected and advanced, as should technical skills within public sector client agencies
Experience with the management of technological innovations within the Australian construction industry
Get PDFThe BRITE Project (Building Research Innovation Technology and Environment) was established by the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation to encourage and report on innovative developments in the construction industry. Using both case studies and extensive industry surveys the BRITE Project has examined the creation, adoption and diffusion of innovations. A nexus is reported between technological innovations and the adoption of advanced management practices. Indeed the management of the innovation process is found to be critical to the successful implementation of technological innovations. The BRITE Project’s combination of specific detailed case studies with a broad industry-wide survey allows the testing of the hypothesis that organizational and technological innovations are linked from two different perspectives. In both instances, a strong correlation is observed between high technological innovators and the proactive management of organizational knowledge with emphasis on continuing education and training. In contrast, the low innovators surveyed were characterized by a lack of business strategies to improve and monitor performance and by minimal investment in research and development. Technological innovations were found to be significantly more likely to occur in those firms with good profitability and with managers who seek out a broad range of sources for new ideas as well as actively working to capture project learning for ongoing reference. Such ongoing active management involvement fosters the appropriate atmosphere for new technological innovations to occur. The BRITE Project experience highlights the primacy of management skills for the encouragement of ongoing technological advancement within the often conservative construction and engineering sector
Demonstrating the benefits of construction innovation
Get PDFThe construction industry needs to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness. However, change is not readily embraced by the industry. This resistance to change compromises innovation performance, and negatively impacts client and industry goals. One of the key reasons for relatively poor construction industry performance is scepticism about the potential benefits of innovation, particularly among small and medium-sized businesses. This paper investigates the links between innovation and project performance, with a view to demonstrating the benefits that can be achieved. It offers case study evidence of the tangible, monetary benefits of innovation to businesses. The paper is based on innovation case studies in the Australian construction industry undertaken in 2003. It concludes with a discussion of the distribution of innovation benefits and the impact on incentive structures. In future research the results will be interpreted more widely, by undertaking a comprehensive integrative analysis of existing academic literature on construction innovation benefits
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