ABSTRACT
To make the sustainably innovative building project a success, several distinctive organizations have to cooperate. It is well known that the construction industry is fragmented and consists of many specializations and specialized firms. In, for example, a simple building project, often several companies are involved, such as an architect, a building technology consultant, a contractor, and various subcontractors. The larger the project, the more complex it gets in terms of participants and coordination of their contributions. The larger projects employ not one single but several project developers, investors, governmental officials, architects, consultants, contractors, and subcontractors. During such a project, which may last several months or even years, they meet, cooperate, negotiate, quarrel, and try to contribute and make a profit. While construction projects are complex and difficult to control, innovative construction projects are even more complex. Some questions that arise are: Who or which company is in charge? Or are several persons and companies in charge at the same time, at different moments? Who or which company innovates? Who pays for the innovations? Who benefits from the innovations? How do all these parties communicate? Is everything formalized in contracts or not? Can you trust your partners in the innovation process? In the literature, these questions are the subject of innovation management research and several publications describe the development of the cooperative innovation process (Bossink, 2002c; Fisher and Varga, 2002; George and Farris, 1999; Kreiner and Schulz, 1993; Ring and Van de Ven, 1994). This chapter investigates how cooperative innovation, that is, co-innovation, in sustainable building projects can be managed. It looks for answers to the following research questions:
Which consecutive co-innovation stages can be distinguished?
Which interaction patterns between organizations can be distinguished in these stages?
What influence, in terms of effectiveness, do these stages and interaction patterns have on sustainable innovation?
