After this course, the student is able to:
- Explain and assess the role of the construction industry in the challenges facing our global community; (the challenges the construction industry faces);
- Describe and identify mechanisms used by clients, policy makers and governments to mobilize change in the construction industry;
- Understand how the industry responds to these mechanisms and likelihood of innovation and business development in the construction industry, based on the interactions between market regulation, industry structure, types of procurement, market dynamics.
- Propose and explicate ideas or strategies for change and innovation in the industry.
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The construction industry provides infrastructures crucial for our society as roads, canals, energy networks, sewage systems, flood protection). These infrastructures keep us safe, healthy and prosperous. The Industry has to respond to the challenges and need of our societies. Central in this course is the way and pace the stakeholders in the construction industry deal with competition, and develop and absorb new technologies (eg ICT, BIM, GIS) and new challenges (eg sustainability, social responsibility, circularity). This knowledge and understanding is put into the context of the strategic choices of the stakeholders, and the international initiatives undertaken to reform the construction industry. The course focuses on the issue of changes in contract types and procurement, and the effects on strategies and innovation in agencies and firms. It explains the relationships between market regulation, competition, market dynamics and innovation at the level of the industry and the organizations within. It also addresses the issue of business paradigms and strategic management for firms in the construction industry.
This Course addresses the following topics:
- Outlook to the future: World Economic Forum’s “Infrastructure and Urban Development Industry vision 2050”)
- A narrative of the changes in the construction industry over the past five decades (to provide context)
- Theories and logics used to explain the relationships between industry characteristics, strategic choices and industry dynamics
- Papers on markets, competition, regulation and industry dynamics (to provide insight into dynamics beyond change in the entrepreneurial environment)
- Papers on obstacles for innovation due to structure and culture of the construction industry (particularly to provide insight into the systemic barriers to change and innovate due to fragmented supply chain, project wise production, procurement ad adversarial relationships)
- Papers on Complex product industry and the “systems integrator” business model (to provide insight is to an integrated business model for construction industry)
Additional info
This course gives an introduction to:
- Procurement strategies: because procurement is the main driver for the industry dynamics;
- BIM/ICT courses: because they demonstrate the new technologies for the industry;
- Sustainability courses: because sustainability is the ‘leit motive’ in procurement;
- Project management, legal and governance: these are the ‘bedding’ for the industry dynamics
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