Diffusion of technological innovations in the Malaysian construction industry - an empirical study

This paper is about technological innovations in the Malaysian construction industry. The study investigates the diffusion process of indigenous technological innovations, with the objectives of understanding the diffusion mechanism, and the adoption decision-making procedure of the construction firms. Innovation study by the diffusion approach has become popular since 1960s. initially focusing on agriculture, but later increased significantly in volumes and the number of disciplines. Diffusion study reveals the dynamic aspects of innovation process, and the cost-benefit potential of an innovation (Rogers 1995). This probably explains the popularity of diffusion as the dominant analytical framework in innovation study as compared to other approach, such as innovation management. The goal of this study is the formulation of a diffusion management framework to facilitate (1) the adoption of innovations by the construction firms, (2) the commercialization of R&D outputs of researchers from the public research institutions, and (3) the promotion of construction innovations by the private innovation developers. This is an empirical study where data are collected through a postal questionnaire survey carried out nation-wide from a randomized sample of G7 (i.e. the category of the largest firms) construction firms. It is hoped that the findings of this study will contribute to the competitiveness of the Malaysian construction industry in facing the challenges brought about by globalization and trade liberalization. The notion of innovation leading to competitive advantage is well supported by research evidence, thus Malaysian construction players must embrace innovation to gain competitive advantage.