A reflection of 20 years published work in construction innovation

Citation

Goulding, J. and Alshawi, M. (2012), "A reflection of 20 years published work in construction innovation", Construction Innovation, Vol. 12 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ci.2012.33312daa.001

A reflection of 20 years published work in construction innovation

Article Type: Editorial From: Construction Innovation, Volume 12, Issue 4

Introduction

The construction industry is one of the leading sectors in most countries, representing a global turnover of US$ 4.8 trillion and employing around 110 million employees. It is also estimated to contribute to around 9 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (Confederation of International Contractors’ Association, 2012). Given this, the number of journals in construction management and the built environment is relatively low, with only 53 bespoke journals covering this field (ARCOM, 2012). One of these journals, Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management (CI) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. This journal places special emphasis on innovation within the industry, and publishes papers related to the implications of: advanced technology; the impact of business process and people on the successful uptake of information communication technology; the impact of innovation on organisational performance; stimulants and impediments to innovation; industrial and organisational issues relating to strategy and the need for knowledge-based skills (Emerald, 2012).

Anecdotally, reviews of research trends and topics are important in order to assess developments in sectors, expose strengths and weaknesses in the existing knowledge base, and seek out new possible areas for future investigation. For example, Abudayyeh et al. (2004) considered the articles published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management between 1985 and 2002, noting that the most popular research areas related to scheduling, productivity, constructability, simulation, cost control, planning, safety, and computer systems. Similarly, Graham et al. (2011) analysed four journals (Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Construction Management and Economics, International Journal of Construction Education and Research, and the Associated Schools of Construction Annual Conference Proceedings), and noted the most popular research themes as being: training/human resources, management/risks, and technology/innovation. Given these trends, this editorial reflects on the past 20 years of papers published in CI.

Background

CI was first established in 1992 as a quarterly journal, and the first eight volumes of this journal were published under the title: the International Journal of Construction Information and Technology. This was later renamed in March 2003 to its present title of CI. This renaming was undertaken to not only better reflect the type and scope of the market and emergent themes, but also to focus more purposefully on the need to innovate, as innovation was seen as the core raison d’être for this journal (and still is). When the publisher of the journal was transferred, the volume numbers of this journal were reset – hence the disparity in sequential numbering. Issue 12.4 is therefore the 20th anniversary of CI in its current form.

Paper classifications and demographic coverage

Within CI, papers are classified into seven main categories, namely: research paper, technical paper, case study, literature review, conceptual paper, general view and viewpoint. Given this, the category “research paper” has been evidenced as being the most popular article type (70 per cent), followed by “case studies” (16 per cent). From a demographic coverage perspective, the papers published to date extend to embrace research issues from over 40 different countries, including the UK (31 per cent), USA (11 per cent), Hong Kong (11 per cent), and Australia (10 per cent). This represents over 900 authors, 92 per cent of which were classified as academic authors, followed by industry authors (5 per cent) and government/research bodies (3 per cent).

References

The number of citations made to external references over the past 20 year period was analysed in order to reveal indicative trends (Figure 1). This analysis identified a gradual increase in the use of external references in papers from an average of 19 references in 1992, to approximately 50 references in 2012. This correlation and trend may well be down to a number of factors, not least an increased maturity and knowledge of the subject domain (and understanding of the links to non-cognate areas including other industries and research settings), and the increased prevalence and availability of research material now currently for subsequent inclusion.

Figure 1 Average number of references included in published papers

Research topics

The research topics covered in CI over the last 20 years was analysed using “keywords”. Over 1,000 keywords were analysed, then grouped into core themes by subject (and frequency of repetition). For example, structural design, architectural design, design development, and building design were considered under the category “design”. Consequently, the keywords used were classified into 16 main categories, and then further distilled into the following six dominant areas: capability improvement; information management; organisational learning; underpinning technology; integration and simulation; interfacing and visualisation (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Trend analysis of main areas of research

Upon examining these trends in more detail, it is interesting to note that project management has been observed more frequently in recent years in deference to business management (although the importance of aligning strategy with project management still remains). Similarly, the number of studies on innovation has also increased in recent years. This indicates that innovation seems to be a popular topic in construction management, which is especially useful for construction entities wishing to re-augment or change their processes and operations in line with new business imperatives. Other important observations include a decrease in research on integration. This may be down to a number of factors, including market maturity. For example, in earlier issues of CI, several papers were published on tools and their subsequent integration into processes (project, design, construction, sequencing, resource, etc.). However, there are now several commercial products in the market that can help companies integrate their processes very effectively and strategically. It is therefore relatively safe to postulate that the industry as a whole has matured significantly over the last 20 years in this category. That being said, with the increased resurgence in Building Information Modelling (BIM), there are many issues still unfolding concerning integration. Finally, the most significant finding from Figure 2 is the continued level of importance placed on “capability improvement”. This category has continued to represent a sustained strength over the last 20 years, and is still increasing in prominence. This is perhaps not surprising, as whilst it could be argued that construction organisations are better positioned to use information management and its underpinning technology to improve business performance (per se), this in itself does not guarantee competitive advantage, nor does it offer unique leveraging opportunities. The real issue (and continued set of challenges) rests with the way through which these improvement measures are strategically implemented. Thus, capability improvement can be considered as a unifying enabler of business strategy, as this not only helps organisations focus on their strategic trajectories, but can help them align their internal intellectual capital to exigent market drivers.

Conclusion

The construction industry is continuing to evolve and change. Over the last 20 years, significant developments have been evidenced in a number of prominent remits, from technology adoption, absorption and diffusion, through to advanced innovation strategies aligned to sector-specific needs. The papers published in CI highlight a number of significant trends and changes in research direction. For example, the collaboration between researchers from different countries has increased significantly, from one or two authors per paper in 1992, through to an average of 2.5 authors per paper in 2012. In addition, the number of references cited in these papers has also increased significantly, from an average of 19 in 1992 to nearly 50 in 2012. This indicates that the research work undertaken is further embedded in extant literature, which is also reinforced by an increasingly wider knowledge base of support material (much wider than the construction sector per se). This is a welcome step forward, as it openly demonstrates that the industry as a whole is now embracing (inter alia), new perspectives from other industries (which is especially important as projects are becoming increasingly more complex). From a content perspective, the dominant areas of research has also changed over the last 20 years from being predominantly information technology-focussed (software, tools, integration, etc.), through to more capability-driven issues (strategy, innovation, capability, etc.). This change in emphasis may be due to the increased prevalence of advanced commercial systems available for use today. Whilst it could be argued that the resurgence of BIM may invite some of these issues to be revisited once again, it is however anticipated that the current trend of trying to secure competitive advantage through innovation (especially in rapidly moving business landscapes such as construction) will continue as a dominant lever (Akintoye et al., 2012). Finally, from an innovation perspective, it is important to acknowledge that a paradigm shift in thinking is now required to purposefully align proven innovation ideas, concepts and techniques to generate business growth and garner economic success (Gann and Salter, 2010; Blayse and Manley, 2004; Gambatese and Hallowell, 2011). These are considered growth areas, especially understanding the tacit knowledge that drives capability improvement through innovation enablers. Once again, it appears that there are many new challenges ahead to address.

Acknowledgements

The Editors wish to formally acknowledge the input of Dr Cenk Budyan for collating and analysing data used in this editorial.

Jack Goulding, Mustafa Alshawi