Critical Analysis of Innovation in Project Management (MSc Report)

This report critically analyzes the drivers and opportunities for innovation within project management, particularly focusing on the construction sector. It begins with an overview of the importance of innovation for economic growth and competitiveness, highlighting the challenges faced by the construction industry, such as fragmented supply chains and low R&D investment. The report reviews relevant literature and conceptual models, including innovation diffusion models, to establish a theoretical basis for understanding innovation in construction projects. The report then discusses the external and internal drivers of innovation, such as consumer demands and the need for systematic innovation. It emphasizes the importance of client leadership, strong relationships with stakeholders, and improved knowledge flow to foster innovation within the construction industry. The report recommends that the construction sector improve client leadership using high levels of technical competence, prudent risk taking and advanced demand patterns, as well as establish strong relationships with clients, suppliers, designers and contractors to enhance research and development programs and encourage innovation.

MANAGING PROJECTS FOR
INNOVATION

Critical Analysis of the External and Internal Drivers
and Opportunities for Innovation at Project Level
• Innovation is a making a great contribution to the economic growth, being
significant in competition and well as significantly enhancing the quality of life,
has been considered a pivotal knowledge-based economy.
• Realizing successful innovation that satisfies the society and individual needs, as
well as to improve competitiveness has increasingly become a major challenge in
the construction sector.
• As a result, reform programs are under course in different countries in attempt to
aggravate construction innovation.
• Construction is a service-based and project-based sector.

Literature and Conceptual Models that
Researchers have Developed that support the
effective diffusion of innovation
• While innovation has been increasingly given priority among business and research
agenda of leading manufacturing and commercial in the construction sector innovation
is faced by lengthy literature augments in regards to if the industry is innovative or not.
• Research has shown that the problem of innovation in the construction sector is as a
result of poor investment rates and development of R&D.
• There is absence of co-ordination amongst academia as well as the industry in terms of
research undertakings and fragmented supply chains.
• The construction industry is regarded as unique compared to other industries in
the sense that it is greatly fragmented because of the specialized and specific
nature of every project (Murphy, Perera, and Heaney, 2015, p.210).

Innovation Diffusion Model
• The contemporary technology diffusion models do not sufficiently explain the
core aspects that influence the adoption date of innovation in construction
projects.
• This parts discusses academic literature about technology diffusion models and
their corresponding aspects to establish the theoretical basis for innovation
diffusion model of construction project.

Conclusion
• Innovation is a process that involves the improvement and application of novel
concepts, which over time involves transacting with other people within the
industry.
• The primary drivers of innovation are consumers who comes with ways through
which they want their requirements and need to be realized.
• Nevertheless, innovation in the construction industry should work towards
establishing systematic innovation because it does not resulting in drastic changes
in the functionality of a system.

Recommendation
• In order to ensure innovation process in the construction industry it is
recommended that the construction should improve client leadership using high
levels of technical competence, prudent risk taking and advanced demand
patterns.
• It is also recommended that the construction industry should establish strong
relationships with clients, suppliers, designers and contractors in view of their
engagement in R&D programs.
• The construction should improve the flow of knowledge through establishing
more rigorous industry relationships to offset the challenge of production that is
based on temporary collaborations of companies to foster innovation.