Organizational improvement through standardization of the innovation process in construction firms

[EN] The purpose of this article is to identify the drivers, success factors, benefits, and barriers to innovation in a medium size construction firm with a standardized innovation management system. The case study method is used to compare theory to reality from different perspectives, building explanations from a Spanish contractor observed over a three year period. Findings suggest that innovation management can be standardized, which leads to an organizational improvement for the company, and at the same time this improvement facilitates organizational problem-solving on a regular basis, increasing technical capabilities, knowledge management, business profit, and client satisfaction. The framework described in this research aims to provide guidance for managers, thus they can innovate in a systematic way; however, this exploratory study has still to be validated by empirical investigations on a larger scale through a significant number of certified companies, which is currently not yet the case in the Spanish construction industry.The research described in this paper was partially funded by Universidad Católica del Maule (project MECESUP-UCM0205), the Spanish Ministry of Infrastructure (grant 2004-36), and the Universitat Politècnica de València (contract UPV-20050921). The authors are most grateful to Ricardo Lacort, Francisco J. Vea, and Manuel Civera for their cooperation throughout the research period. Finally, the valuable commentaries and suggestions of three anonymous reviewers improved the final version of the paper.Pellicer Armiñana, E.; Correa Becerra, CL.; Yepes, V.; Alarcón, LF. (2012). Organizational improvement through standardization of the innovation process in construction firms. Engineering Management Journal. 24(2):40-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/10429247.2012.11431935405324