Industrialized house building of multi-storey residential buildings is not only gaining practical... more Industrialized house building of multi-storey residential buildings is not only gaining practical importance in Sweden but is also emphasized as a way for companies to address the demands for lower and more predictable production costs, shorter delivery times and higher product quality. However, to be competitive on the market, IHB companies need to protect and capitalize their specific investments into platforms and organizations. The engagement inplatforms and industrialized way of working, it is not just about the complexity of integration but it is also about having a capability over time to handle this market variation (i.e. dynamic capabilities). Industrialized house building has mainly been investigated from an operational view, leaving a gap in the characterization from a strategical (dynamic) view. Purpose of this research is to increase understanding about industrialized house building, from a dynamic capability view, described the characteristics of industrialized house building through exploring and describing the evolution and development of and industrialized house building company. An in-depth, longitudinal case study approach was adopted to get and deeper understanding of the development of dynamic capabilities in an industrialized house building company. The unit of analysis was the long-term interaction between house-market development, the case company’s business development, and external collaboration activities between the years 1993 and 2018. The findings from the case study were then analyzed against a theoretical framework based on dynamic capabilities. Industrialized house building can be characterized by a set of dynamic capabilities constructs that are evolved and developed in order to cope with the changing conditions derived from both internal and external factors, entailed in entrepreneurship and long-term thinking. The findings indicate that the organization's focus may vary between different kinds of dynamic capabilities over-time. In addition, findings indicate that development of dynamic capabilities supporting collaboration and building trust to the market was of importance at the beginning of their journey. These dynamic capabilities evolved in close relations with external partners, due to external market pressure. This study also indicates that path dependency affects the development of dynamic capability, through collaboration, trust, and learning – which influence how the company behaves and through their investments in a platform constraining future actions
Purpose To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emer... more Purpose To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emergent corporate-ability perspective, this study aims to trace the build-up of corporate assets in an IHB company over time. The research draws on dynamic capabilities, acknowledging not only what assets the company have developed and currently are exploiting, but also how these assets were develop and managed (i.e. enhanced, combined, protected and potentially reconfigured) to sustain long-term competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach A case study design was used to form a narrative that covers the evolution of an IHB company over a 25-year period. Corporate archival material, analysis of original data from a large number of research studies during 1993-2013 and retrospective reflections of owners and managers, including crosschecking interpretations of archival material, developed and triangulated the narrative. Findings The study presents rich empirical findings on the build-up of c...
To achieve competitive advantage, companies have different capabilities that supports a reciproca... more To achieve competitive advantage, companies have different capabilities that supports a reciprocal and dynamic effectiveness way of operating. This research aim to extend theory about business mode ...
To achieve competitive advantage, companies have different capabilities that supports a reciproca... more To achieve competitive advantage, companies have different capabilities that supports a reciprocal and dynamic effectiveness way of operating. This research aim to extend theory about business models and get deeper understanding on how industrialized house building coordination takes place and the dynamic aspects of the coordination. It was conducted as case study, using two deliberately different industrialized house building companies. The results indicates processes links to reciprocal dynamic effectiveness are complex, because all four dimensions in the model must be considered. The theoretical contribution lies in the definition of reciprocal and dynamic effectiveness needed to maintain a viable business model.
In a competitive situation where clients demand for high responsiveness to order-specific require... more In a competitive situation where clients demand for high responsiveness to order-specific requirements, suppliers of volumetric preassemblies are struggling to maintain efficiency in production. In ...
Propose - Aim of this paper is to understand what constitutes exploitation, exploration and how t... more Propose - Aim of this paper is to understand what constitutes exploitation, exploration and how the tension between exploitation and exploration is managed over-time. Dynamic capabilities provide m ...
Introduction: Manufacturers equipment for the construction industry have been engaged case by cas... more Introduction: Manufacturers equipment for the construction industry have been engaged case by case in research on innovations, but there is no formal mechanism to explore the transfer of safety and health technologies in the construction industry. Methods: We will present findings from a symposium sponsored by The Center for Construction Research and Training in May 2012. The meeting will identify drivers for and barriers to moving new, safer tools and equipment from research to practice in the construction industry. Participants will include academics, construction professionals, manufacturers, and trade association representatives. Results and discussion: The symposium will develop recommendations for building and sustaining a technology transfer function for the construction industry. Issues for discussion include: (1) Intellectual property/patents and the role of exclusive vs. non-exclusive licenses for inventions. (2) Cost factors that impact adoption, such as how to quantify t...
Introduction: Manufacturers equipment for the construction industry have been engaged case by cas... more Introduction: Manufacturers equipment for the construction industry have been engaged case by case in research on innovations, but there is no formal mechanism to explore the transfer of safety and health technologies in the construction industry. Methods: We will present findings from a symposium sponsored by The Center for Construction Research and Training in May 2012. The meeting will identify drivers for and barriers to moving new, safer tools and equipment from research to practice in the construction industry. Participants will include academics, construction professionals, manufacturers, and trade association representatives. Results and discussion: The symposium will develop recommendations for building and sustaining a technology transfer function for the construction industry. Issues for discussion include: (1) Intellectual property/patents and the role of exclusive vs. non-exclusive licenses for inventions. (2) Cost factors that impact adoption, such as how to quantify t...
Although it is well-established that industrialised construction can improve construction compani... more Although it is well-established that industrialised construction can improve construction companies’ productivity, the uptake of industrialised ways of working has been slow and traditional construction companies remain unwilling to move towards industrialisation. One key reason is that there is little understanding of how construction companies can overcome path dependency (PD). Drawing on a longitudinal case study looking at an industrialised house-building (IHB) company, this work investigates how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has influenced the development of a construction company that was able to transform from a traditional construction company to an IHB company over 25 years and to overcome PD in the process. The study found that by focusing on a niche market segment, developing a platform in collaboration with external actors, and an entrepreneurial mindset supported the company in overcoming its PD. However, being the “first-mover” in the industry created new path depen...
Purpose-To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emer... more Purpose-To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emergent corporate-ability perspective, this study aims to trace the build-up of corporate assets in an IHB company over time. The research draws on dynamic capabilities, acknowledging not only what assets the company have developed and currently are exploiting, but also how these assets were develop and managed (i.e. enhanced, combined, protected and potentially reconfigured) to sustain long-term competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach-A case study design was used to form a narrative that covers the evolution of an IHB company over a 25-year period. Corporate archival material, analysis of original data from a large number of research studies during 1993-2013 and retrospective reflections of owners and managers, including crosschecking interpretations of archival material, developed and triangulated the narrative. Findings-The study presents rich empirical findings on the build-up of corporate assets. Starting from a successive process of exploration and exploitation formation of dynamic capabilities eventually played out into an exponential dynamic capability build-up. The IHB case company displays the ability to not only continuously exploit and renew resources and competences, but also to sense, seize and reconfigure cumulative assets over time. The exponential development of dynamic capabilities resonates to literature on higher-order dynamic capabilities implying that: the accumulated and higher-order dynamic capabilities are difficult to imitate and a (any) company must possess higher-order dynamic capabilities to be able to exploit and/or take up IHB. Originality/value-The study is complementing and potentially challenging frequent framings of the IHB concept. Previous research has addressed and characterised IHB mainly by encapsulating a moment in time and, thus, characteristics are momentary and represent static views on IHB. However, IHB has seen a strong development over the past 25 years, and the study reflects on this development from the perspective of one of the IHB-forerunner companies in Sweden. By exploring from a company perspective the developments, reconfiguration and capacity to develop/reconfigure over time in a changing environment, the study introduces an alternative understanding of IHB as dynamic capabilities.
The demand for affordable, high-quality homes and premises has increased as society has evolved. ... more The demand for affordable, high-quality homes and premises has increased as society has evolved. Construction companies have shown that an industrialised housebuilding (IHB) platform strategy is an effective way of meeting exacting customer requirements. We decided to apply a managerial perspective and consider the IHB platform as a technological solution when investigating technology transfer (TT) in a construction context. Drawing on a meta-analysis of the literature and a qualitative case study at an IHB company , this work examines how two construction companies participate in TT. The results show that the IHB platform strategy can help a company overcome uncertainties associated with the TT process. Furthermore, the platform strategy supports the transferability of IHB to different markets, which, in turn, provides unique opportunities for companies from other contexts to enter the construction market. Our findings also revealed that CEOs from three construction companies were not only interested in TT due to potential profit improvements, but also considered how the process could benefit their employees and the community. This may be a result that is specific to Nordic culture or insight into a unique characteristic of the broad construction industry. This study contributes knowledge to the scarce research field of TT in a construction context. It provides evidence for how further cases of TT may disrupt the construction industry in terms of new business models or companies from the diverse field entering the market.
Although it is well-established that industrialised construction can improve construction compani... more Although it is well-established that industrialised construction can improve construction companies' productivity, the uptake of industrialised ways of working has been slow and traditional construction companies remain unwilling to move towards industrialisation. One key reason is that there is little understanding of how construction companies can overcome path dependency (PD). Drawing on a longitudinal case study looking at an industrialised house-building (IHB) company, this work investigates how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has influenced the development of a construction company that was able to transform from a traditional construction company to an IHB company over 25 years and to overcome PD in the process. The study found that by focusing on a niche market segment, developing a platform in collaboration with external actors, and an entrepreneurial mindset supported the company in overcoming its PD. However, being the "first-mover" in the industry created new path dependencies that may hinder other companies from entering this specific niche market area and the development of the industry as a whole. This study contributes to the theoretical buildup of EO, PD and strategic orientations of IHB companies, and contributes to practitioners' understanding of IHB companies from a strategic management contingency perspective.
Industrialized house building of multi-storey residential buildings is not only gaining practical... more Industrialized house building of multi-storey residential buildings is not only gaining practical importance in Sweden but is also emphasized as a way for companies to address the demands for lower and more predictable production costs, shorter delivery times and higher product quality. However, to be competitive on the market, IHB companies need to protect and capitalize their specific investments into platforms and organizations. The engagement inplatforms and industrialized way of working, it is not just about the complexity of integration but it is also about having a capability over time to handle this market variation (i.e. dynamic capabilities). Industrialized house building has mainly been investigated from an operational view, leaving a gap in the characterization from a strategical (dynamic) view. Purpose of this research is to increase understanding about industrialized house building, from a dynamic capability view, described the characteristics of industrialized house building through exploring and describing the evolution and development of and industrialized house building company. An in-depth, longitudinal case study approach was adopted to get and deeper understanding of the development of dynamic capabilities in an industrialized house building company. The unit of analysis was the long-term interaction between house-market development, the case company’s business development, and external collaboration activities between the years 1993 and 2018. The findings from the case study were then analyzed against a theoretical framework based on dynamic capabilities. Industrialized house building can be characterized by a set of dynamic capabilities constructs that are evolved and developed in order to cope with the changing conditions derived from both internal and external factors, entailed in entrepreneurship and long-term thinking. The findings indicate that the organization's focus may vary between different kinds of dynamic capabilities over-time. In addition, findings indicate that development of dynamic capabilities supporting collaboration and building trust to the market was of importance at the beginning of their journey. These dynamic capabilities evolved in close relations with external partners, due to external market pressure. This study also indicates that path dependency affects the development of dynamic capability, through collaboration, trust, and learning – which influence how the company behaves and through their investments in a platform constraining future actions
Purpose To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emer... more Purpose To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emergent corporate-ability perspective, this study aims to trace the build-up of corporate assets in an IHB company over time. The research draws on dynamic capabilities, acknowledging not only what assets the company have developed and currently are exploiting, but also how these assets were develop and managed (i.e. enhanced, combined, protected and potentially reconfigured) to sustain long-term competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach A case study design was used to form a narrative that covers the evolution of an IHB company over a 25-year period. Corporate archival material, analysis of original data from a large number of research studies during 1993-2013 and retrospective reflections of owners and managers, including crosschecking interpretations of archival material, developed and triangulated the narrative. Findings The study presents rich empirical findings on the build-up of c...
To achieve competitive advantage, companies have different capabilities that supports a reciproca... more To achieve competitive advantage, companies have different capabilities that supports a reciprocal and dynamic effectiveness way of operating. This research aim to extend theory about business mode ...
To achieve competitive advantage, companies have different capabilities that supports a reciproca... more To achieve competitive advantage, companies have different capabilities that supports a reciprocal and dynamic effectiveness way of operating. This research aim to extend theory about business models and get deeper understanding on how industrialized house building coordination takes place and the dynamic aspects of the coordination. It was conducted as case study, using two deliberately different industrialized house building companies. The results indicates processes links to reciprocal dynamic effectiveness are complex, because all four dimensions in the model must be considered. The theoretical contribution lies in the definition of reciprocal and dynamic effectiveness needed to maintain a viable business model.
In a competitive situation where clients demand for high responsiveness to order-specific require... more In a competitive situation where clients demand for high responsiveness to order-specific requirements, suppliers of volumetric preassemblies are struggling to maintain efficiency in production. In ...
Propose - Aim of this paper is to understand what constitutes exploitation, exploration and how t... more Propose - Aim of this paper is to understand what constitutes exploitation, exploration and how the tension between exploitation and exploration is managed over-time. Dynamic capabilities provide m ...
Introduction: Manufacturers equipment for the construction industry have been engaged case by cas... more Introduction: Manufacturers equipment for the construction industry have been engaged case by case in research on innovations, but there is no formal mechanism to explore the transfer of safety and health technologies in the construction industry. Methods: We will present findings from a symposium sponsored by The Center for Construction Research and Training in May 2012. The meeting will identify drivers for and barriers to moving new, safer tools and equipment from research to practice in the construction industry. Participants will include academics, construction professionals, manufacturers, and trade association representatives. Results and discussion: The symposium will develop recommendations for building and sustaining a technology transfer function for the construction industry. Issues for discussion include: (1) Intellectual property/patents and the role of exclusive vs. non-exclusive licenses for inventions. (2) Cost factors that impact adoption, such as how to quantify t...
Introduction: Manufacturers equipment for the construction industry have been engaged case by cas... more Introduction: Manufacturers equipment for the construction industry have been engaged case by case in research on innovations, but there is no formal mechanism to explore the transfer of safety and health technologies in the construction industry. Methods: We will present findings from a symposium sponsored by The Center for Construction Research and Training in May 2012. The meeting will identify drivers for and barriers to moving new, safer tools and equipment from research to practice in the construction industry. Participants will include academics, construction professionals, manufacturers, and trade association representatives. Results and discussion: The symposium will develop recommendations for building and sustaining a technology transfer function for the construction industry. Issues for discussion include: (1) Intellectual property/patents and the role of exclusive vs. non-exclusive licenses for inventions. (2) Cost factors that impact adoption, such as how to quantify t...
Although it is well-established that industrialised construction can improve construction compani... more Although it is well-established that industrialised construction can improve construction companies’ productivity, the uptake of industrialised ways of working has been slow and traditional construction companies remain unwilling to move towards industrialisation. One key reason is that there is little understanding of how construction companies can overcome path dependency (PD). Drawing on a longitudinal case study looking at an industrialised house-building (IHB) company, this work investigates how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has influenced the development of a construction company that was able to transform from a traditional construction company to an IHB company over 25 years and to overcome PD in the process. The study found that by focusing on a niche market segment, developing a platform in collaboration with external actors, and an entrepreneurial mindset supported the company in overcoming its PD. However, being the “first-mover” in the industry created new path depen...
Purpose-To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emer... more Purpose-To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emergent corporate-ability perspective, this study aims to trace the build-up of corporate assets in an IHB company over time. The research draws on dynamic capabilities, acknowledging not only what assets the company have developed and currently are exploiting, but also how these assets were develop and managed (i.e. enhanced, combined, protected and potentially reconfigured) to sustain long-term competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach-A case study design was used to form a narrative that covers the evolution of an IHB company over a 25-year period. Corporate archival material, analysis of original data from a large number of research studies during 1993-2013 and retrospective reflections of owners and managers, including crosschecking interpretations of archival material, developed and triangulated the narrative. Findings-The study presents rich empirical findings on the build-up of corporate assets. Starting from a successive process of exploration and exploitation formation of dynamic capabilities eventually played out into an exponential dynamic capability build-up. The IHB case company displays the ability to not only continuously exploit and renew resources and competences, but also to sense, seize and reconfigure cumulative assets over time. The exponential development of dynamic capabilities resonates to literature on higher-order dynamic capabilities implying that: the accumulated and higher-order dynamic capabilities are difficult to imitate and a (any) company must possess higher-order dynamic capabilities to be able to exploit and/or take up IHB. Originality/value-The study is complementing and potentially challenging frequent framings of the IHB concept. Previous research has addressed and characterised IHB mainly by encapsulating a moment in time and, thus, characteristics are momentary and represent static views on IHB. However, IHB has seen a strong development over the past 25 years, and the study reflects on this development from the perspective of one of the IHB-forerunner companies in Sweden. By exploring from a company perspective the developments, reconfiguration and capacity to develop/reconfigure over time in a changing environment, the study introduces an alternative understanding of IHB as dynamic capabilities.
The demand for affordable, high-quality homes and premises has increased as society has evolved. ... more The demand for affordable, high-quality homes and premises has increased as society has evolved. Construction companies have shown that an industrialised housebuilding (IHB) platform strategy is an effective way of meeting exacting customer requirements. We decided to apply a managerial perspective and consider the IHB platform as a technological solution when investigating technology transfer (TT) in a construction context. Drawing on a meta-analysis of the literature and a qualitative case study at an IHB company , this work examines how two construction companies participate in TT. The results show that the IHB platform strategy can help a company overcome uncertainties associated with the TT process. Furthermore, the platform strategy supports the transferability of IHB to different markets, which, in turn, provides unique opportunities for companies from other contexts to enter the construction market. Our findings also revealed that CEOs from three construction companies were not only interested in TT due to potential profit improvements, but also considered how the process could benefit their employees and the community. This may be a result that is specific to Nordic culture or insight into a unique characteristic of the broad construction industry. This study contributes knowledge to the scarce research field of TT in a construction context. It provides evidence for how further cases of TT may disrupt the construction industry in terms of new business models or companies from the diverse field entering the market.
Although it is well-established that industrialised construction can improve construction compani... more Although it is well-established that industrialised construction can improve construction companies' productivity, the uptake of industrialised ways of working has been slow and traditional construction companies remain unwilling to move towards industrialisation. One key reason is that there is little understanding of how construction companies can overcome path dependency (PD). Drawing on a longitudinal case study looking at an industrialised house-building (IHB) company, this work investigates how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has influenced the development of a construction company that was able to transform from a traditional construction company to an IHB company over 25 years and to overcome PD in the process. The study found that by focusing on a niche market segment, developing a platform in collaboration with external actors, and an entrepreneurial mindset supported the company in overcoming its PD. However, being the "first-mover" in the industry created new path dependencies that may hinder other companies from entering this specific niche market area and the development of the industry as a whole. This study contributes to the theoretical buildup of EO, PD and strategic orientations of IHB companies, and contributes to practitioners' understanding of IHB companies from a strategic management contingency perspective.
Uploads
Papers by Petri Uusitalo