Collaboration and shared logic for creating value-added in three Finnish wooden multi-storey building projects

ABSTRACT

Increasing societal interest towards sustainable and low-carbon materials contributes to demand for wood-based materials and modern solutions for urban construction. Wooden multi-storey construction (WMC), however, is a relatively new phenomenon in the construction business, and collaborative business models in projects that adopt such novel building techniques are yet to develop. Shared logic is a key concept shaping the development of well-functioning business ecosystems, even though actor priorities may vary between the WMC business ecosystem members. This study examines the applicability of business ecosystem concept based on actor perception involved in three Finnish WMC projects. The results suggest that elements from the business ecosystem thinking can be identified in all the cases. Moreover, network collaboration created benefits to the ecosystem, such as reference value and new insights from research and development. For some companies, engagement in the business ecosystem created financial and employment benefits, while some interviewees perceived these projects also to create immaterial value, such as awareness on sustainability issues in their business, marketing gains, or in the form of mutual learning effects.

KEYWORDS:

• Business ecosystem
• wood-based materials
• sustainability
• value
• collaboration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Academy of Finland: [Grant Number 307480]; Tekes: [Grant Number 642/31/2016].