Client’s role in promoting BIM implementation and innovation in construction

Hannes Lindblad and Jacob Rudolphsson Guerrero

Construction Management and Economics, 2020, vol. 38, issue 5, 468-482

Abstract: Innovation is often viewed as vital in addressing future demands on the construction industry, but innovation implementation is also considered challenging in this fragmented, project-based industry. In order to address the challenges, client organisations are commonly acknowledged as key actors in driving construction innovation. However, the details of what the client role constitutes is less clear, and the question of whether innovation should be mainly client-led or supplier-led is debated. The purpose in this paper is to explore different roles public client organisations can enact to promote innovation. To fulfil this purpose, an explorative case study has been conducted at the largest transport infrastructure client in Sweden; exploring two initiatives which have simultaneously been deployed to promote innovation. The studied organisation is on the one hand trying to influence the industry to implement Building Information Modelling (BIM), adopting a BIM policy and actively influencing the supply chain, while on the other hand promoting innovation through policies aimed at providing more flexibility in projects, enabling suppliers to propose new solutions and emphasising market competition. Even though the overarching goals are similar, promote innovation, the research finds that the simultaneous use of the policies create intra-organisational tension within the client organisation. The findings provide insights into the different roles clients can enact in promoting innovation, and contribute to the understanding of clients as a key actor for promoting innovation in the construction industry.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01446193.2020.1716989 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:38:y:2020:i:5:p:468-482

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RCME20

DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2020.1716989

Access Statistics for this article

Construction Management and Economics is currently edited by Will Hughes

More articles in Construction Management and Economics from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().