A Focus on Survival Keeps Firms from Innovating

July 31st, 2006 by Hal

Why are construction companies reluctant to adopt new ideas? This UK-based study suggests it is a matter of habits.

Drivers for Innovation in Production Management

Carl Abbot, et al

The researchers compared the construction industry to all other industries. They found that in the areas of product innovation, process innovation, and long term views construction firms exhibit far less innovative actions than others. They conclude that the big majority of companies are focused on survival.

"Small involvement with innovation can move firms out of the survival mode."

Looking at different innovation processes and the results, it is easy to focus on the improvements. The researchers claim that what firms learn while innovating is far more important to on-going improvement. (That doesn't seem quite right to me.)

"Notions of learning and knowledge sharing have much to contribute towards achieving organizational performance."

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