Innovation management and construction phases in infrastructure projects

An innovation management approach for construction projects should take into account the opportunities that different phases of construction create for innovation. This research demonstrates how innovation behavior changes over a project life cycle using a mega-alliance as a case study. This paper shows what happens to innovation behavior when infrastructure projects are set up to generate innovations throughout a project life cycle using a key performance indicator system for measuring innovation. More than 500 innovations in an innovation database were categorized, analyzed, and classified according to their type, novelty, and benefit and then mapped against the project life cycle. Using a classification model developed for this research, a quantitative analysis of the innovations was performed to show the principal types of innovation and the changing trend of each type over construction project phases. The findings of this research verify variations in innovation creation throughout the project life cycle. The results show the importance of the initial stage of a project for novel technologies innovation and the different innovation types that are likely to be generated per phase. The findings will help project managers to design, develop, and apply the best innovation management policies considering both project phases and classified types of innovations. These findings strengthen the argument for developing an innovation management approach in the construction industry that is contingent on the phases of construction projects.