Drivers of Innovation in Major Infrastructure Projects

Major Infrastructure projects, also known as megaprojects, play a pivotal role in enabling social-economic activities to function on a daily basis. They underpin the well-being and development of countries or regions (Frischmann, 2013). Consequently, significant investments are made to create, maintain and improve existing infrastructure. The success of a megaproject can have a substantial effect on an economy. Studies show that significant worldwide investments are required due to population growth and technological development (OECD, 2013; HM Treasury, 2014).

Construction megaprojects tend to underperform on their expectations, researchers have outlined numerous causes that contribute to their underperformance (Flyvbjerg et al. 2003, Davies et al. 2014). This is also generally the case for the construction industry, which has long been criticised for its performance (Egan, 1998; Latham, 1994). For the past several years there has been a strong call for the construction industry to step up its performance and specifically acknowledging that innovation is a significant contributing factor to this (Latham, 1994; HMG, 2015; ICE, 2015).

It is argued that many construction industry practices do not provide an environment for innovation, this includes industry being risk averse; slow to develop and adopt new products and processes; and poor at managing knowledge and innovation in order to improve performance. As a result, many argue that the construction industry is a low innovation sector and emphasise the need for improvement to exploit innovation (Gambatese & Hallowell, 2011).

Megaprojects have unique characteristics, whereby many diverse interconnected organisations execute large uncertain and complex projects. The strategic innovation capabilities and processes required for multi-organisation projects are different in comparison to an individual fixed organisation. Although there are established research publications in relation to innovation within individual originations, however, there is an apparent gap that addresses innovation within the context multi-originations (Davies et al. 2016).

However, progress is being made in terms of adopting a systematic and intended approach to seeking innovation in megaprojects. This is apparent from the Crossrail's 2012 project (Crossrail, 2012). Davies et al. (2014), Dodgson et al. (2015), and DeBarro et al. (2015) highlight that still further research is required to enable the current knowledge and experience to be adopted into other megaprojects. This research builds upon existing findings and recommendations, to carry out further research on innovation in megaproject; specifically within the area of processes (development, implementation, and diffusion) of innovation.

Case study strategy will underpin the research methodology of this research, where multiple methods (quantitative and qualitative) for the collection of data will be used. This research will be nested in major infrastructure projects (multi case studies), providing a unique opportunity to address the research aim and objectives below.

Aim
The overarching aim of the research project is to:
Explore and identify drivers for the 'development, implementation, and diffusion' (processes) of innovation in major infrastructure projects.
Objectives
In order to achieve the research aim the following objectives should be addressed:

To explore the relationships between the processes of innovation in the construction industry, with a focus on megaprojects.
Identify the key drivers for adopting successful processes of innovation in major infrastructure projects.
Develop a framework that integrates the drivers for the processes of innovation in major infrastructure projects.
Test and validate the framework and findings.