Innovation In Small Architectural And Civil Construction Firms In Kenya

Abstract

Innovations are acknowledged because of playing vital roles in value creation and also maintenance of the construction firms' competitive gains. However, the innovation traits vary from one industry to the other, and this creates external or internal challenges for construction firms. Besides, new inventions are very risky, costly plus possibilities of being successful deem to be very small, which dampened the ability of small construction and architectural firms to adopt new technologies. Compared to large firms, small firms in the construction sectors are characterized by low productivity with a lack of new technologies being the fundamental cause of low outputs. This study, therefore, examined the degree to which innovation practices were adopted by small architectural and civil construction companies and the factors influencing the adoption of innovation in small architectural and civil construction companies in Kenya. The research was anchored on the technology adoption life cycle theory, diffusion of innovation model, and the resource-based view. The research employed a cross-sectional descriptive study design, and the population was made of 650 licensed civil construction firms and 80 architectural firms in Nairobi County from which a sample of 73 companies was carefully chosen through simple random sampling. The study entirely used primary data, which was gathered using a semi-structured questionnaire. The collected data was sorted and keyed into the SPSS then summarized using descriptive statistics and factor analysis to establish the interconnection and decrease the various factors into small variables. The findings revealed that the major innovation practice used by small construction and architectural firms in Kenya included continuous research and development, internet adoption, entering new markets, adoption of modern equipment and timely completion and delivery of projects, engineering innovations, retraining of human resource and devolving to counties respectively. The study also found that the major challenges included financial resources, research and development funds, competition, and pressure from other industries, equipment availability, available skill level, and project risks and insurance. The other challenges included industry standards, leadership support, user desires, and industry networks. The study recommended that management of small architectural and civil construction firms should ensure that the adopted innovation practices are frequently reviewed to ensure that they conform to the firms' goals and objectives and that they are cost-effective in the long run.