DEVELOPING AN

INNOVATION
ASSESSMENT TOOL
FOR
CONSTRUCTION
COMPANIES
Rafly Radyatama
181317271
 In the UK, the construction industry has been
characterised as slow in the adoption of technological
innovation, advanced business practices, and also new
ways of working, which has been said to contribute to
low productivity and poor performance. Many studies
have shown that construction companies are not able
to deliver on their potential to innovate.

Abstract Against this background an innovation assessment tool

is proposed to provide a rapid online assessment of
innovative practices and competencies in construction
companies. The objective of the tool is to initiate a
process leading to the effective implementation of a
strategy/best practice guidelines.
 The construction industry contributes to the UK
economy, providing a tenth of the UK’s gross domestic
product (GDP) and employs up to 1.5 million people.
However, compared to other industry sectors, the
construction industry is not perceived as socially
important and therefore, has not been a high priority
for national government.

Introduction
‘Innovation is seen as a major source to improve
competitiveness and is perceived to be a pre-requisite
for organisational success and survival’ (Egbu, 2004).
Most stakeholders expect innovation to offer benefits
in one or more of following areas; capital and
operational expenditure, quality, performance, market
share, competitiveness, customer service and value
(Glass, 2002).
 There are several tools/models, which have been used for the last few
years to selfassess organisations’ performance and capabilities. These
assessment tools or models have different underlying goals and
definitions.

REVIEW OF For example, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the UK and
ASSESSMENT the Construction Excellence have produced Construction Industry Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) that underpin a number business excellence
MODELS AND models (CE, 2005). The KPIs were successful in promoting the use of a
performance measurement within the construction industry (Beatham,
TOOLS 2003).

In recent years the power of Information Communication Technology (ICT)

has driven large and SMEs companies from all sectors to search for ways
of monitoring and improving performance (Neely and Hii, 1998).
Of these assessment tools, most conceive organisational
improvements in general as supporting innovation, some of them are
under development and some are being used on a commercial basis.

However, the assessment tool that is most relevant to this study after
appropriate modification is Verdict (Verify End-user e-Readiness Using
a Diagnostic Tool) (Ruikar, 2005).

Verdict is an internet based e-readiness application that assesses the

overall e-readiness of end-user construction companies for using
ecommerce technology.

But there is a missing parameter from Verdict that is IR investment

which is one of the main determinants of innovation or technology in
any industry.
KEY DETERMINANTS OF INNOVATION
IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTY

• Leadership
They are expected to be able to; identify and overcome the basic barriers to
innovation; create and deploy proven internal marketing principles to better incubate
innovative projects; maintain a culture of continuous play etc.
• Management
Innovation is extremely complex and involves the effective management of a variety
of different activities. To do so, management must believe in innovative practices and
take such strategic measures sufficient to save its adoption. This must therefore be
addressed in the tool.
• People
The UK construction industry has long experienced difficulties in meeting its skill requirements.
Given the right atmosphere or culture, ‘innovation will not readily take place without the right
people being drawn to it’ (Sturges et al., 1999). The people factor accounts for the social and cultural
aspects related to the people within an organization and are important to its success.
• Process
According to Sexton and Barrett (2003) the process of innovation means a series of actions and
reaction forces which include management support (action), resistance to change from the
staff/people (reaction), allocation of capital to purchase needed technology (action) and lack of
appropriate work routines to coordinate and channel the innovation activity (reaction).
• IR Investment
The amount of investment funding available for construction research has been declining steadily in
recent years and is estimated to be less than 0.5% of the construction sector’s spending. By
comparison aerospace invests 11%, automotive over 9% and pharmaceutical up to 13% of their
revenues on research (ICE, 2003).
• Technology
The technology factor covers all aspects relating to information and communication technology
(ICT) and its capability of coordinating different activities within and cross organizations and also
across industries (Laudon and Laudon, 2002). Electronic tools for sharing information, including e-
mail, intranets and knowledge management systems dramatically enhance people's ability to
represent, organize and apply knowledge and ideas (Kao, 1997).
 Concluding Comments

A number of assessment tools/models have been discussed

and an innovation assessment model iCon is proposed as
part of this research to help construction companies assess
their innovation capabilities. The model is to initiate a
process leading to the effective implementation of a
strategy/best practice guidelines. Fairclough (2002)
critically suggested that it is important that a better
mechanism be developed for defining the industry’s long
term research needs. This lack of innovation and research
can be explained by the lack of recognition of a number of
key determinants of innovation in construction industry,
such as leadership, management, people, processes, IR
investment and technology.