Purpose: – Previous research on clients’ procurement typically focuses on their procurement strategies. Research on local sustainability governance has, however, revealed that municipalities also govern construction projects through land allocations. This paper aims to explore how housing developers are governed by municipal land allocations and the implications. The purpose is to problematize the governance of sustainability during the early phases of construction projects.

Design/Methodology/Approach: – A case study on an urban development project in Sweden was conducted. Empirical material consists of interviews with housing developers’ project managers, observations from seminars and meetings between the developers and municipality officials and the municipality’s policy for land allocations and sustainability program. This was analyzed using Bulkeley and Kern’s (2006) typology of modes of governing change at the local level as a framework.

Findings: – The results provide examples where the municipality governs the housing developers by authority, enabling and provision. The implications for the housing developers during the early phases of their construction projects are explored.

Research limitations/implications: – Findings have implications for research on clients’ procurement strategies because it illustrates how they can be governed during the early phases of certain construction projects, which might limit their flexibility during procurement. However, the study is only based on housing projects in one urban development project governed by one municipality.

Practical implications: – Findings provide support for clients when designing their procurement strategies.

Originality/value: – This paper contributes to the understanding of how sustainability is governed in construction projects and the implications for housing developers’ flexibility.

Municipalities in Sweden govern construction projects on municipal land through requirements that sometimes go beyond national building regulations in order to advance sustainable building practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of negotiating such project specific requirements for construction projects built by private housing developers on municipal land. The paper builds on a case study of an innovative urban development programme in Stockholm where interviews with private housing developers and municipal representatives and observations of meetings, seminars and forums were conducted. Emerging negotiations between the municipality and private housing developers over project specific requirements set by the municipality were explored and analysed using the concepts of product and process innovation. Findings reveal that housing developers try to remove or change those requirements that are considered to increase costs, increase risks and decrease the value of their final product. This paper illustrates how project requirements for construction projects on municipal land are dependent upon early phase negotiations between the municipality and housing developer.

The construction sector is often identified as less innovative than other industries due to its project-based character and the lack of long-term relationships (Miozzo and Dewick, 2004; Bygballe et al., 2010). Even though individual projects are viewed as innovative arenas for problem solving and creating new ideas and solutions, the latter are however seldom scaled up and turned into widespread innovations (Winch, 2014). According to the IMP literature, this problem originates from the disconnection between the temporary project environment and the permanent organization of firms: project-led learning and solutions are hard to transfer to the wider organization and hence difficult to turn into business learning (Dubois and Gadde, 2002a; Brady and Davies, 2004; Hartmann and Dorée, 2015). This paper addresses this inherent paradox by focusing on the following research question: How can construction firms capitalize on new ideas and solutions across local and global company levels and their temporary and permanent internal networks in generating new innovations?

This paper draws on a critical case (Yin, 2005) in the sense that we use it to “confirm, challenge, or extend” (Yin 2005, p. 40) IMP theory, specifically contributing to innovation in networks (Corsaro et al., 2012). In the case, there are two channels for new idea generation and innovation; one on the local project level and one on the global corporate management level. However, both are “failures” in terms of institutionalization of new knowledge into innovations. The case highlights the mechanisms mobilized by the firm’s staff over a long period (longitudinal perspective) to overcome the disconnections between the local and global firm levels and between its temporary and permanent organizational levels.  It highlights insights regarding the structure and dynamics of internal networks and especially the role of individuals in these networks. Due to the role of individuals and group dynamics in managing tensions, we had to expand the conceptual background from IMP and innovation networks to the community-of-practice lens (Wenger, 1998). This process corresponds to an “abductive” approach to research (Dubois and Gadde, 2002b).

While IMP studies highlight the key role of interaction and high-involvement relationships in innovation processes both for the emergence of new solutions and for supporting their widespread use, few of these studies provide an in-depth analysis of how these learning and innovation processes transcend different organizational levels. In other words, how new solutions move from the project level to the firm level and vice-versa (Bygballe and Ingemansson, 2014). The community-of-practice literature enables us to dig more deeply in these processes by focusing on the individual and group dynamics (shared identity) and hence provides complementary insights to innovation in networks on the “social fabric” of learning and innovation (Wenger, 1998).

The case study is structured around three major paradoxes (Andriopoulos & Lewis, 2018) which emerged during the firm’s internal innovation journey and reveals the way these paradoxes have been handled by local and/or global managers. The first paradox deals with the decision regarding the organizational level driving innovation (local versus global leadership), the second deals with the level of standardization or adaptation of the innovation to enhance its widespread use (adaptation to local context versus standardization); the third relates to the decision regarding autonomy versus control of the firm’s staff in the innovation journey.

The results highlight that innovation in construction requires a connecting mechanism between top-down (global firm level) and bottom-up (local firm and project level) processes for idea development to turn into company-wide knowledge and practices. In this regard, communities of practice can play a key role in functioning as “vessels” for ideas and knowledge in both directions. However, while these informal structures are useful in favoring such ideation processes based on informal and emergent mechanisms, they also prove insufficient to turn these innovations into widespread solutions both within and outside the firm. Formal hierarchical structures and business networks are then required facilitate the widespread use of innovations.

REFERENCES

Andriopoulos & Lewis, (2018), “Exploitation-exploration Tensions and Organizational Ambidexterity: managing paradoxes of Innovation”, Organization Science, Vol.20, n°4, pp696-717

Brady, T. and Davies, A. (2004), “Building project capabilities, from exploratory to exploitative learning”, Organization Studies, Vol. 29 No. 9, pp. 1601-1621.

Bygballe, L., Jahre, M., Swärd, A., 2010, Partnering relationships in construction: A literature review, Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, 16, 239-253.

Bygballe, L. and Ingemansson, M. (2014) The Logic of Innovation in Construction, Industrial Marketing Management, 43:3, pp. 512-524

Corsaro, D, Ramos, C, Henneberg, S. and Naude, P. (2012), “The impact of network configurations on value constellations in business markets – The case of an innovation network”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 41, 54-67.

Dubois, A., & Gadde, L. E. (2002a). The construction industry as a loosely coupled system: implications for productivity and innovation. Construction Management & Economics, 20 (7), 621-631.

Dubois, A. and Gadde, L. -E. (2002b), “Systematic combining: An abductive approach to case research”, Journal of Business Research, vol. 55, p. 553–560.

Hartmann, A. and Dorée, A. (2015), “Learning between projects: More than sending messages in bottles”, International journal of project management, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 341-351.

Miozzo, M. and Dewick, P. (2004), Innovation in Construction. A European Analysis, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., Cheltenham.

Patton, M. Q. 2002. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Winch, G. M. (2014). Three domains of project organising. International Journal of Project Management, 32(5), 721-731.

Yin, R. 2005. Case Study Research. Design and Methods. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

The construction sector is often identified as a less innovative than other industries, due to its project-based character and the lack of-term relationships. This impacts how actors interact, learn and innovate over time. Even though projects are innovative arenas for new ideas and solutions, they are scaled up and turned into widespread innovations. This problem is deemed to originate from the disconnection between the temporary project environment and the permanent organisation of firms: project-led learning and solutions are hard to transfer to the wider organisation of the firm and hence, to turn into business-learning. This paper addresses this inherent paradox by focusing on the following research question: how can construction firms capitalize on new ideas and solutions across the local and global company levels and their temporary andpermanent networks in generating innovations?

The construction industry is a complex industry in which all activities occur in projects. Construction projects are by their definition temporary and inter-organizational with multitude of different actors working together. The work is done through several sequential and parallel processes that needs to be coordinated through the entire project lifecycle. This has been seen as a challenge for innovation and change within the construction industry, which has been characterized as conservative and reluctant to change. To improve innovation and inter-organizational integration, the construction industry has seen an increased use of collaborative efforts to support efficient production, to improve safety, reduce environmental impact and implementing third-party logistics (TPL). Introducing a new, a TPL provider, challenges the traditional project setting and how construction work traditionalley has been performed. The general aim of this study is to explore the effects of a new actor in a traditional project setup and to better understand how relationships evolve with innovation in temporary networks.

As a measure to increase performance, improve safety and reduce environmental impact, the use of third-party logistics (TPL) solutions has increased in the construction industry. Other measures are inter-organizational collaborative methods and agreements between different actors. The purpose of this study is to explore how a TPL solution can affect inter-organizational relationships, specifically in the horizontal dimension. Findings are based on a case study of an urban development project with a TPL solution mandatory to use for all construction actors working side by side in parallel and sequential stages. The analysis is based on the industrial network approach, using the ARA-model for identifying and analyzing inter-organizational interactions among main contractors. The findings indicate that the contractors do collaborate with each other on both technical and organizational resources, as well as coordinate activities between each other, and that the TPL solution has a vital role in bringing them together and improves collaboration. This nuance the predominant view of the construction industry as being characterized by adversarial relationships and lack of inter-organizational collaboration. It also extends the knowledge of what a TPL solution can contribute with besides improved logistics.

With the announcement to tender a project, several strategic decisions are made that have significant impact on the innovation and efficiency potential of a project. The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare how different types of integrative and collaborative procurement strategies may enhance the opportunities for improved efficiency and innovation in infrastructure projects. Hence, it contributes to the scientific debate on buyer-supplier relationships in relation to project performance. Furthermore, it guides public client organisations in steering explicitly for integration and innovation in their projects. Interview-based case studies of ten public infrastructure projects procured based on four different types of collaborative procurement strategies in Sweden and the Netherlands were conducted. The findings indicate that the duration of the collaboration is fundamental in setting the limits for innovation and that early involvement and long-term commitments in maintenance open up opportunities for more innovation. Naturally, the potential for increased efficiency is higher than for innovation and also occurs in collaborations with limited duration. The findings confirm the importance of a learning perspective on procurement strategies for public client organisations and show the importance of explicit considerations on incentives and project governance issues in the front-end phase of a project.

The construction industry is often described as a fragmented, loosely coupled industry, slow to innovate and lacking in productivity. In order to address these issues, the role of client organizations is commonly acknowledged as a key actor for change. However, what this role constitutes of is less clear e.g. questions arise such as: should innovation be mainly supplier-led or client-led? The aim of the research is to explore different strategies clients can adapt in realizing innovation in transportation infrastructure. The method used to fulfil the aim can be described as a case study performed at the Sweden's largest transportation infrastructure client, exploring two strategies deployed simultaneously to stimulate innovation. The organization is on the one hand trying to stimulate innovation through providing more flexibility in projects, enabling suppliers to propose new solutions and emphasising competition on the market; while on the other hand, found in the implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM), the client is trying to dictate demands and actively influencing the supply chain, which builds on innovation being actively led by the client. Although the strategies essentially deal with different types of innovation, either a known innovation in the case of BIM, or an unknown innovation for the client organization; the research finds that the simultaneous use of both these strategies has created tensions within the organization, causing the favouring of one strategy over the other. The findings provide insights in different strategies clients can use in order to stimulate innovation. 

Project management roles and functions, which are standardized and clearly defined in literature, vary in practice. This study explores project management roles and functions in collaborative construction project practice. The findings, which are based on a longitudinal case study of a collaborative construction project, reports that several project management roles emerged during the project process, for example collaboration manager, BIM-manager and cooperation manager. The findings also report associated risks with the emergence of new management roles, for example information overload and misunderstanding. These new managerial roles served both as boundary spanners when creating and maintaining relationships between stakeholders, and as innovators when challenging the traditional and ingrained adversarial construction project practice. The findings contribute to the growing literature on collaborative approaches in construction and to the discussion on the transformation of project management roles and functions.

:Construction works are in periodical need of performance upgrade such as maintenance, repair and rehabilitation (MR&R). Facility managers are responsible to fulfil this need during the whole life cycle of the construction works in a manner that maximises the economical profit, minimises the environmental impact and keeps the risk of failure at a low level. A prerequisite for efficient facility management (FM) is long-term planning of MR&R actions. This requires management of a large amount of information, a process that includes gathering, storing, processing and presentation of data. With the development of open Building Information Models (open BIM) and standardisation of Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) new possibilities of efficient management of FM information have emerged. Due to its parametric and object-oriented approach, the open BIM-concept rationalises the information management and makes it more cost effective. This paper discusses how open BIM, with the aid of IFC, and Product Life Cycle Support (PLCS) may facilitate the implementation of a predictive Life cycle Management System (LMS) and by that improve the feasibility for adopting long-term and dynamic maintenance strategy in the FM process. A case study on the use of a commercial BIM-based design tool as information repository and media to present life cycle information within the context of the LMS concept on a hospital building is also presented. The case study shows that the build-up of the information becomes simpler, more clear and efficient compared to a traditional database solution, as it is done with parametric objects. However, the basic BIM can not serve for all LMS functions. There is still need for development of a BIM integrated LMS solution that may support prediction of life cycle performance and maintenance needs. Such a solution needs to be communicative to any open BIM software and thus has to be built upon open standards for exchange of building information, e.g. the IFC standard, and life cycle oriented standards like PLCS. Additional focus is put on 4D simulation and visualisation. Simulation and visualisation of long-term performance of buildings is of crucial importance when improving the feasibility for adopting a long-term and dynamic maintenance strategy in the FM process.

Building on a brief illustration, this article discusses the need for new empirical fields and methods in project management research. This would not only provide novel insights into project practices and management, but would also entail questioning the hegemony (Gramsci, 1988) of project management and project research. We argue that the hegemony is upheld by, or perhaps even constructed through, the language and the ideal images of the area, developed by project researchers and used by project practitioners; adding to what could be called 'the social power' (Bourdieu, 1991) of those involved in what are called 'projects' and 'project management'. It is also argued that the social power of those familiar with 'projects' and 'project management' is sustained by the silence of all those involved in similar practices, but who do not master the terminology of project work.

Drawing on the true story of the actions of a middle manager in a major industrial company after the unexpected death of one of his employees, while participating in one of the most important social rituals to humans and society - the creation of meaning of death - we take an analytical approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is done by discussing the overlap between CSR and human resource management (HRM). The story induces us to question the upholding of CSR an HRM as separate theoretical fields, since the managerial practice seems to indicate that these have merged into one. Also, the story indicates that the borders between the 'private' and 'public' roles in managerial practice are blurred and that to be a middle manager today is quite complicated. The article finishes with a discussion on why the writing of policies may not be the answer to this problem.

Construction projects constitute a highly complex and fragmented project environment where a variety of stakeholders are forced to interact and collaborate during the various phases of the project process. In enhancing collaboration and communication among project stakeholders Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been identified as important tool, however the implementation and use of BIM as a collaborative tool has been more difficult and time-consuming than anticipated. The aim of the study is to investigate how various project stakeholders perceive the value of BIM in a large construction project by using and applying the Industrial Network Approach (INA). An in-depth case study of a Swedish healthcare project was performed through interviews with main stakeholders of the project. The results indicate that each stakeholder perceives the value of BIM from their own perspective and role in the project. The perceived value of BIM is closely connected to the changes and adjustments that each stakeholder have to do in order to use BIM; for some stakeholders BIM cause an increased work load, while for others’ BIM facilitated their work processes. The diverging perspectives of the value of BIM and the associated changes among the various project stakeholders provide a deeper understanding to why the implementation and use of BIM is challenging.

Traditional theory on innovation claims that while incremental innovation can be handled through internal effort and co-ordination with suppliers and customers, radical innovation is achieved using what Weick (1976) calls “weak links”. 

Within the industrial networks paradigm, it is likewise observed that learning and innovation can be effects of long-term relationships (e.g. Håkansson, 1987; Håkansson and Waluszewski, 2007). Thus, innovation and product development can and do benefit from long-term relationships. In a larger research project, the authors will try to trace how industrial networks theory can be developed to discuss and explain radical innovation. The main goal is to create a model, and explore whether it can be used to corroborate Weick’s suppositions. This article is the first one resulting from this project, and an empirical investigation has been used to develop a model illustrating how the involved actors use their relationships to find and use knowledge about solutions that are, if not entirely radical, at least not used very often by the actors involved.

Methodologically, the authors have chosen a case approach. This is appropriate for this type of exploratory studies (Yin, 1994). Using theoretical sampling, the authors chose the construction industry for their case study. The construction industry presents itself as the extreme case of a fragmented business landscape in terms of the major part of all activities being confined to temporary projects and there is also a high degree of specialisation (Winch, 2010). Firms are highly dependent on each other in this industry, but business interaction is confined to short and intense periods of separate projects (e.g. Dubois and Gadde, 2000). As such, the construction industry has been referred to as a “loosely coupled system” (Dubois and Gadde, 2002), but in contrast to Weick’s hypothesis it has been indicated to lessen its productivity and innovativeness. Thus, the theoretical assumption made is that if use of relationships can be shown within such an “inhospitable” industry, they must be an important phenomenon.

Within the construction industry, the authors have studied two specific construction projects. Both are construction of wards for psychiatric institutions. These are buildings, which are built very seldom, and they contain a lot of specially adapted solutions and products that the construction-related organisations (firms and public actors) are not used to handling. Thus, the involved organisations are required to reach out to different sources of information and knowledge in order to be able to complete their contracts. Through a total of 26 semi-structured interviews with involved actors and divided evenly between the two projects, the authors have gathered data on how the actors have been involved in  accomplishing this search and adaptation work. It is data from these interviews that constitute the empirical base for the analysis.

Analytically, we have tried to divide the involved actors into broader groups of actors by their role in the construction project. We have then registered every expression related to the individual actors’ acquisition of knowledge about specialised solutions and products which may or may not be inside their own organization, and systematized these data. From these raw data, we have built a model of where the different actor groups reach out to obtain knowledge.

The results show that one actor, a government coordinating company (Sykehusbygg) has a central role in providing research-based knowledge and spreading it around in the network of participating actors. This was not surprising, since the governmental body was created to perform such a coordinating role. Moreover, the results also provide examples of actors reaching out to suppliers, colleagues in other companies and to other sources of knowledge. Finally, some actors solely rely on their internal knowledge and expertise in order to develop the required solutions and products for the project. We summarise the different types of actors and try to build a model illustrating where relevant information existed and which actors brought it into the projects.

References

Dubois, A. and Gadde, L.E. (2000), Supply strategy and network effects – purchasing behaviour in the construction industry, European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 6, pp. 207-215.

Dubois, A. and Gadde, L-E. (2002), The construction industry as a loosely coupled system: implications for productivity and innovation. Construction Management and Economics, 20, pp. 621–631.

Håkansson, H. (1987) Industrial Technological Development: A Network Approach, London: Croom Helm.

Håkansson, H. & Waluszewski, A., eds. (2007) Knowledge and Innovation in Business and Industry –The importance of using others, London: Routledge

Weick (1976) Educational organisations as loosely coupled systems, Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(1), pp. 1-19. Vol. 21

 Winch, G. (2010) Managing Construction Projects. Wiley-Blackwell. 

Yin, R. (1994) Case Study Research: Design and Methods (2^nd edition), Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

Our built environment has the power to influence where we live and work, how we transport ourselves, how and what we consume and many other behaviors in our everyday lives, in other words, it has a significant impact on our global environment and economy. Given the notable need for more sustainable development of both the global environment and economy, sustainability has become a critical factor also in the area of urban development. With this as a backdrop, the construction industry and its many actors, such as clients, contractors and suppliers, that collectively drive urban development, play a significant role in creating sustainable development.

Innovation is a cornerstone to achieve development, so also in the construction industry. However, with its many interrelated organizations, projects and actors, innovation inevitably becomes inter-organizational. From an urban development perspective, inter-organizational innovation will happen in a multi-project context where several construction projects, led and executed by different actors from different organizations, become interdependent and are therefore required to collaborate. In any construction project, the client holds a key position and has been identified as a critical supporter for successful innovation and collaboration. On the back of these dynamics, the purpose of this licentiate thesis is to explore clients’ role in a multi-project context where inter-organizational innovation is initiated to drive sustainable urban development.

From a contingency perspective, the purpose of this study has been explored through a multiple-case study where coordinated construction logistics, during the study, has been identified as inter-organizational innovation. The study has shown that coordinated construction logistics, developed for a multi-project context, must be developed and implemented differently than in a single project or organization. In other words, coordinated construction logistics can take the form of different types of construction innovation. The construction clients, in this thesis the building developers, are identified as being important to support innovation and collaboration within and between parallel and sequential projects. The study has also shown that different clients behave differently when inter-organizational innovation is present; whilst some are proactive to achieve development, others are hesitant and less supportive for change. The findings suggest that long-term committed clients take a more proactive stand for innovation, for example, by including innovation in their procurement strategies and reflecting on how to best implement it in their projects. Additionally, in a multi-project context, the collaboration between clients is found to be important in order to successfully implement innovation, for example to align procurement strategies with the next-door neighbors and to create opportunities to communicate with each other.

A theoretical contribution from this thesis is that coordinated construction logistics, which is often seen from a supply-chain management perspective, could be considered as inter-organizational innovation. This conclusion expands the understanding of the empirical phenomenon and its context. Furthermore, adding to the on-going discussion on clients as innovation supporters, their role as a potential innovation supporter is established in a multi-project perspective, but where differences between different types of clients must be taken into account. The multi-project context also implies an increased need for client collaboration, which is often informal, why the clients themselves need to handle all the aspects of collaboration. Tentative findings indicate that in this context time, spatiality, innovation and requirements will affect this collaboration. From a practical side, the findings show that initiating and implementing inter-organizational innovation requires understanding of the context, such as project objectives and the system. For clients and governments active in urban development, the thesis can guide the understanding of the importance of collaboration and choosing procurement strategy for inter-organizational innovation.

Coordinated construction logistics is an increasingly discussed topic in the Swedish construction industry. It is suggested as a means to increase efficiency in transportation, decrease material usage, coordinate health and safety on-site, etc. Much research on construction logistics has been done from a supply chain management perspective, often highlighting construction logistics as a necessary rational tool to improve efficiency in construction industry. However, could there be other ways to study this phenomenon? The purpose of this paper is to map empirically found coordinated construction logistics models and explore them as different types of innovation. The findings suggest that coordinated construction logistics models should be regarded as not being a fully embedded innovation as they have not yet changed the processes in the way they set out to do initially. Furthermore, differences are identified between company-based models, project-based models and system-based models, and suggest that differences in, for example, development, impact and objectives should be regarded both when conducting research on and when implementing coordinated construction logistics in practice. Finally, it is concluded that commitment, communication and cooperation are important when implementing coordinated construction logistics, which is in line with findings within the supply chain management literature.

Coordinated construction logistics is an increasingly discussed topic in the Swedish construction industry. It is suggested as a mean to increase efficiency in transportation, decrease material usage, coordinate health and safety on-site, etc. There is much research on construction logistics seen from a supply chain management perspective, often highlighting construction logistics as a necessary rational tool to improve efficiency in construction industry. However, could there be other ways to studying this phenomenon? The purpose for this paper is to apply an innovation perspective on empirically found coordinated construction logistics models and explore them as different types of innovation and their change process. The findings suggest that the coordinated construction logistics models should so far be regarded as not fully embedded innovation as they have not yet changed the construction industry’s processes in the way they set out to do. The findings highlight differences between company-based models, project-based models, and system-based models, and suggest that differences in for example development and adoptability should be regarded both when conducting research on and when implementing coordinated construction logistics in practice.

Innovation in project-based organisations (PBOs), notably in the construction industry, is challenging. Based on a literature review of innovation in PBOs and three empirical cases from the construction industry, this paper explores factors and actors that affect innovation in the 'loosely-coupled' construction industry. The literature review reveals the following factors as important for innovation: solution, initiators, impact, driving forces, development and future aim. When analysing the empirical cases, findings suggest that also the number of interdependent actors affect innovation and that the client's role becomes increasingly important as the number of interdependent actors increases. On generic level tentative findings suggests that there is a difference in scale between process innovations that are systemic or non-systemic dependent upon the number of actors involved. Furthermore, these findings shape directions for future research: to develop better understanding of systemic process innovation in the construction industry; as well as to increase the understanding of how systemic process innovation can diffuse between the interdependent and fragmented actors in the construction industry.

Purpose: Innovation is constantly present in the construction industry, however, mainly on a single project level. Initiating and implementing inter-organizational innovation in a multi-project context such as in urban development entails large complexity, for example due to the many interdependent projects and users of innovation. The users’ influence on inter-organizational innovation in a multi-project context has not been fully explored. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to discuss how users influence inter-organizational innovation in multi-project contexts by mapping the receptiveness for change.

Design/methodology/approach: A single case study approach was used, where empirical material including semi-structured interviews in combination with meeting observations, document studies and participative workshops. The empirical material, studying inter-organizational innovation in an urban development context, was mapped based on the receptive context for change framework.

Findings: A receptive context for change was not present in the studied multi-project context. Communication to develop and implement inter-organizational innovation was not sufficient and the clients’ procurement strategies were to a large extent not developed to facilitate inter-organizational innovation. Findings suggest differences in users’ possibility and aim to implement inter-organizational innovation.

Originality/value: The mapping of the receptive context to influence inter-organizational innovation widens the knowledge base on how inter-organizational innovation may be implemented in the loosely coupled construction industry. Furthermore, the paper adds knowledge to the discussion on clients as innovation supporters, by highlighting the importance of distinguishing between different types of clients.

Transformation of performance requirements to technical solutions and production parameters is central for architects and engineers in the design process. Construction industry suffers from low efficiency in design, and the information flow creating bottlenecks for the production process. Tracing and managing information through design process needs standards both for requirements and Building Information Models in a life cycle perspective. Structuring functional requirements is of great interest for the construction industry and especially for companies developing industrialised housing system that often have control over the whole manufacturing process. The delivery of a new low-carbon economy in Europe puts pressure on the construction industry to reduce the energy consumption for buildings. Therefore is one national standard for energy requirements tested on a building system and evaluated in an Information and Communication Technology-environment (ICT) that supports the design process for industrialised construction. The result of the research shows that the transformation of requirements to technical solutions needs functionality that supports the design process by using standards for requirements. A rigid building system based on well defined design tasks together with a technical platform, both for spaces and physical elements, work as a backbone for development of ICT support systems. Product Life Cycle Support (PLCS), as a standard that enables flexibility in categorisation of information through the construction design.

Executive Summary

Introduction

Following alarming reports from the IPCC, climate change has engaged policymakers world-wide to chart policies at different administrative levels to mitigate increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The construction sector causes a substantial part of all greenhouse gas emissions, primarily carbon dioxide. Traditionally in this sector, the focus of carbon reduction measures has been on improving the energy efficiency of buildings. Further, various sustainability assessment schemes (BREEAM, LEED, Green Star, etc.) have been developed to assess sustainability performance. More recently, awareness has increased of the considerable greenhouse gas emissions arising from the manufacturing of construction materials and components, and also from construction processes and transport. Consequently, the infrastructure construction sector is now considered as a major source of greenhouse gases. In the UK, The Infrastructure Carbon Review has estimated that the construction, maintenance and operations of infrastructure assets account for 16% of the nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions. It is widely acknowledged that these emissions need to be significantly reduced if the international and national reduction targets are to be met.

About the project

This research project has investigated the institutional and organisational contexts, policies, procurement requirements and implementation strategies used to drive greenhouse gas reduction in large infrastructure projects in five countries world-wide: Australia, The Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and the US (see below for an overview of case study projects). The study is based on interviews with key partners on the client side and in the supply chain of each project. To provide a contextual understanding of the strategies used in these projects, we further include descriptions of the policy background that underlies current strategies and ambitions. Thus, the project traces the pathway from political and organisational goals to actual realisation in projects.

Overview of case studies in the Impres project

Country

Impres case studies

Australia

Sydney Metro Northwest

Newcastle Light Rail

The Netherlands

Motorway A6 Almere

Sweden

Results from the Swedish Transport Administration research project Control Station 2018 - an evaluation of carbon procurement requirements in Swedish infrastructure projects.

UK

High Speed 2

Anglian Water (Grafham WTW Resilience and Dalton Piercy WTW) 

USA

California High-Speed Rail

SFO AirTrain Extension

The title of this research project is Implementation of procurement requirements for sustainable collaboration in infrastructure projects, also referred to as Impres. The project is a collaboration between the engineering consultancy firm WSP, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Lund University and the construction company Skanska. The project is co-financed by Construction Climate Challenge (CCC), a sustainability research fund and network initiated by Volvo Construction Equipment, and the Swedish Research Council Formas. The latter funding comes through a grant for the Strong Research Environment ProcSIBE, Procurement for Sustainable Innovation in the Built Environment[1].

We expect that results from this research project will be useful for decision-makers on the client side that are in charge of developing policies, procurement strategies and procurement requirements to reduce carbon emissions in the construction sector. Further, client and contractor project managers, environmental specialists and procurement staff responsible for implementing policies will be interested in experiences gained in similar initiatives in other countries. In parallel with this report, scientific articles are being developed by the authors to analyse and discuss the results described in this report more thoroughly in relation to other studies and to theory.

Conclusions

In all countries studied, there is an ongoing process to develop and implement policies for carbon reduction in infrastructure projects, with raised ambitions over time. In some cases, the development has initially been driven by a few dedicated individuals, but today there are frameworks and executive mandates in place that would make it hard to avoid carbon reduction commitments. National and regional reduction policies were found to be important in encouraging clients to develop ambitious carbon requirements that can contribute to setting new industry standards.

Carbon reduction measures such as optimisation of constructions, minimised transport, reuse of excavated material and cement clinker replacement are applied in the studied cases. However, most of these measures are also cost efficient and would – or should – have been undertaken in a normal design and construction optimisation process. The positive side of this is that considerable carbon reductions may be achieved within existing budgets, and in most cases will even reduce cost, and that an increased focus on carbon may contribute to finding more such options. However, it also raises the question of what constitutes a relevant reference case, or baseline. Further, to meet the target levels of the Paris agreement, costly measures will also be needed, and this research identified only a few examples of such policies being implemented. 

Goals for carbon reduction are still new to many in the sector, and both clients and industry partners need time to adjust and develop new competencies. In countries with a longer history of carbon management, procurement strategies and requirements have advanced through continuous interaction between clients and industry actors over longer periods of time. Clients are wary of introducing requirements that may limit competition, and requirements to comply with rating schemes or to supply EPDs have been introduced successively to match the development of industry capacity. Award (MEAT) criteria related to carbon are used, but more often to increase awareness of carbon reduction rather than as a substantive basis for selection. Front-runner contractors and material suppliers were found to play important roles in reducing obstacles to innovation-oriented procurement. Moreover, the development of procurement requirements has been aligned with information and training initiatives, tool kits and guidelines to support low-carbon design and the calculation of emissions. In general, client environmental specialists have taken an active part in supporting the implementation of requirements in supply chains.

Procurement requirements are considered important in driving carbon reductions in all countries, but the preferred style of these requirements vary. This diversity was partly related to general carbon management maturity and partly to general contracting practice and policy culture in the country or region. All countries used some form of contract-level reduction requirements, in most cases set in relation to a carbon emissions baseline. Overall, reduction requirements are perceived to encourage innovation, but our results show that such requirements were often more complex than foreseen and associated with administrative costs. First, to produce change and avoid speculation it is important to set requirements and incentives at the right level, which requires awareness on the client side of both the supplier’s competence and of the opportunities for carbon reduction in the specific project. Also, sharp requirements call for equally sharp and transparent performance evaluation. Moreover, much time was spent on calculation and re-calculation of baselines which could detract from measures for actual reduction of carbon emissions. In effect, time constraints in the projects limited the opportunities to involve subcontractors and material suppliers, which meant that all possible reductions were not realised. We conclude that expectations for substantial and innovative carbon reductions through functional reduction requirements may be too high. To influence sub-contractors and suppliers directly, several clients use specific requirements.

Collaborative contracting models are a flexible option to encourage innovation and integrate knowledge of different participants. Many interviewees state the importance of breaking silo-thinking and integrating the supply chain in order to reach greater carbon reductions. Also, long-term alliances allow for continuous learning and more transformational innovation, including incentivising contractors to find ways of fulfilling client goals while building less. However, it should be emphasised that strong client leadership and commitment are essential both to legitimise collaborative contracting models and to achieve more fundamental behavioural change within collaborative projects and alliance schemes.

Clients in mega-projects perceive an obligation to conform to national policy goals and may also have ambitions to be industry-level change agents. Since such projects have vast budgets, last for long periods of time and engage highly competent firms and individuals, they are often expected to show high performance in the area of innovation. However, mega-projects have many goals to fulfil, are technically and organisationally complex and associated with high risks. Therefore, time and willingness to develop new ways of working or implement new technology may be lacking. Further, even large projects may not be long enough to encompass processes to develop, test and approve new solutions. Thus, to support more efficient innovation processes in the industry, a long-term system perspective is needed. Interviewees suggested using smaller pilot projects for quicker testing of new materials, tools and technologies and, once proven, use procurement requirements in large projects to implement these more widely in the market.

Overall, the study shows that the applicability of procurement requirements for carbon reduction is dependent on how well these requirements are aligned with culture, policies and capabilities in the local context. Inspiration may be sought from cutting-edge examples in other countries and regions, but practices may seldom be directly transferred. Also, it is clear that awareness, competence and capacity on the buyer (client) side is a key success factor. Such client capabilities involve constructive collaboration between procurement functions, environmental specialists and project managers. Further, policy makers need to acknowledge that measures to reduce carbon must align with existing procurement and innovation systems. To reach higher levels of ambition for carbon reduction, such institutional structures may also need to be changed.

Recommendations

Based on the findings, our recommendations to the target group of policy-makers and clients are:

Policy level – national, regional and organisational

• ·         Set high-level goals and policies for carbon reduction in order to sanction ambitious initiatives that contribute to setting new industry standards.
• ·         To reduce barriers for innovation-oriented procurement requirements, engage industry associations and encourage initiatives by supply-side front-runners.
• ·         When developing organisational policies and strategies, address not only ambitions but also what roles the client and other parties should have in implementation.

Project level policies and procurement requirements

• ·         When defining requirements, consider implementation costs for setting and following up requirements. In particular, be careful that focus stays on carbon mitigation measures and that calculation of baselines does not impact negatively on carbon management. Assess and mitigate behavioural risks associated with incentives.
• ·         Ensure that requirements will be effective in influencing all relevant decision-makers in the supply chain (designing engineers, constructors and material suppliers). This implies that time, competence and resources should be available at relevant points in time.
• ·        Apply a long-term learning perspective and acknowledge that different combinations of award and selection criteria, reduction requirements, specific requirements and rating schemes may be preferable over time.
  • ·         Align requirements and activities with general contracting models and encourage models that enable integration of knowledge and carbon management in the supply chain.

Innovation and learning

• ·         Develop guidelines, tools and training programs to help build industry capabilities.
• ·         Establish which organisations should drive development, for example commission, host and update guidelines, and provide training and support.
• ·         Communicate plans for raised ambitions well in advance, for example requirements to comply with established carbon management standards and rating schemes.
• ·         Orchestrate long-term innovation by combining small pilot projects to test new solutions with systematic implementation in larger projects to achieve wide market dissemination. 
• ·         Establish transparent procedures for updating client standard specifications based on frontrunner initiatives, planned pilots and academic research.
• ·         Innovation should also address contracting and business models: develop institutional capabilities that enable and legitimise long-term, strategic collaborative alliances.

[1]www.procsibe.se

Construction project performance is dependent on efficient collaboration and the ability to overcome traditional rigid boundaries between organizations, professions and process stages. This paper is based on an exploratory case study of a contemporary collaborative construction project during both design and production and reports findings on boundary spanning and boundary spanners. The findings propose a typology of boundary spanning in collaborative construction projects: geographical boundary spanning, professional boundary spanning and stakeholder boundary spanning. The findings also report a comprehensive list of boundary spanning roles of importance for boundary spanning to take place. The paper also present directions for further research on management of collaboration in construction projects.

Industries have to adapt to changes in external environment. This adaption includes the development of new professional roles that challenge established structures, roles and communities of practice. In order to better understand the unfolding of construction project practice in an increasingly changeful world new professional roles are explored as liminal roles. The studied professional roles are partnering manager, building logistic specialist and BIM coordinator. Liminality is used as framework to understand descriptions of liminal experiences when negotiating boundary interfaces in construction project practice. Findings are both theoretical and practical and suggest that new professional roles practice multi-liminal work and acknowledge tensions that pose challenges for liminal roles to act as change agents.

Project management handbooks and courses teach structured and standardized ways of organizing and managing projects, including clearly defined project roles. However, projects are no isolated islands and projects in practice continuously develop and change. This is the case in, for example, the project based construction industry, and in which new inter organizational and collaborative work practices have become increasingly common. This paper is based on two case studies and explores developments and changes in construction project practice, in particular the development of new roles. The concept of liminality is used as analytical lens to better understand these new roles. Findings show new and challenging multi liminal roles that origin from other knowledge domains and professional communities of practice, than what is traditional in construction project management. This development poses both opportunities and challenges for the individual project worker and the development of construction industry practices.

While project work can be motivating, stimulating and creative, it can also be frustrating, ambiguous and stressful. Situations of project overload, i.e. situations in which fragmentation, disturbances and disruptions are reoccurring, are common in project-based organizations running many parallel projects. This paper reports findings from an extensive interview study on how project managers and project members working in parallel projects handle project overload by changing their work routines. The results show 1) that project work in practice is organized by using narrowing strategies and 2) that narrowing strategies run the risk of excluding the vital historical and organizational context. The findings have implications for project theory and project practice.

Purpose – Traditional construction project practice has been based on rigid and impermeable boundaries that have made communication, cooperation and integration a major challenge. However, new collaborative approaches have been developed. This paper aims at adding to knowledge on projects‐as‐practice by interpreting findings from a case study on a contemporary collaborative construction project. The purpose of this paper is to provide knowledge about organizational development in the project‐based construction industry by identifying boundary actions in contemporary collaborative construction practices.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an exploratory longitudinal case study approach covering both early design phase and the following production phase, including interviews, participant observation at formal meetings and informal gatherings and internal and external documents. Thus, the methodology used is triangulation and the analysis has followed an interpretative process.Findings – The paper provides empirical insights into three examples of boundary actions of a collaborative construction project: stakeholder boundary action, professional boundary action and geographical boundary action. From a project‐as‐practice perspective, these boundary actions turn out to be interesting renewal initiatives, providing increased understanding of where and how renewal can take place.Research limitations/implications – The findings are based on a single case study and more research on this area is needed. However, the paper shows examples of boundary actions in a contemporary project and thus adds to the knowledge on contemporary projects‐as‐practice.Practical implications – The paper provides implications for construction project managers on examples of renewal arenas.Originality/value – The paper is exploratory and the findings are important for much needed development and renewal of the construction industry.

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the theory development of “temporary

organizing.”

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper advances the theory of the temporary organization by

applying a process ontological-perspective.

Findings

– This research note conceptualizes “the temporary organization” as constantly changing

across time and space; as shifting between two empirically driven modes:

“goal seeking” and “goal oriented.” This is done through the shift of the trajectory of the particular “project” at hand.

Practical implications

– Based on the theoretical suggestions in the paper, further research is

encouraged to find empirical support of and to develop its claims.

Originality/value

– Despite a call for taking the “organizing”-aspect of temporary organizations

seriously, there is still a need for theory development of the area. By introducing the concept of “trajectories” into the studies of temporary organizations, the paper builds a theoretical framework through which such studies may be undertaken.

Keywords

Trajectory, Projects, Goal oriented, Goal seeking, Temporary organizations,

Temporary organizing

Paper type

Conceptual paper

This paper explores an intrinsic case of a guided tour of a future city: Stockholm Royal Seaport. Whereas guided city tours usually aim at educating and enlightening those guided about the past and present of the place visited - building the truth claim by relating what is said in the tour to the physical environment of the tour - the case described in this paper offers the opportunity to explore how the urban future is made material to those guided. The study shows that the guide's actions materialized the urban future in two ways: by using future components of the future and by using present components of the future. Based on this analysis, we conclude that both these ways function as ways of confirming the present.