The impact of clients’ decision-making on their adoption of industrialized building

Abstract

Previous research has shown that client organizations’ decision-making about new-build creates individual-level and organizational-level barriers to the adoption of Swedish industrialized building (IB). However, it has been proposed that clients may overcome barriers on both levels by allowing multiple meanings and conflicting interpretations to surface and interact with their decision-making. The aim is to test this proposition. Based on the theoretical fields of decision-making and organizational information processing, a framework for analysis has been developed. In the framework, three decision-making approaches are operationalized: rational, judgments and managing multiple meanings. Data were collected using in-depth interviews with key decision-makers from four Swedish professional clients differing on when and if they adopted IB: one early-adopter, two late-adopters and one non-adopter. The empirical findings support the proposition and show a relationship between how clients manage multiple meanings in their decision-making and their adoption of IB. The research adds to the understanding of how clients may overcome barriers to the adoption of IB on both individual and organizational levels. Moreover, it increases understanding about how clients might better cope with radical changes and innovations.

Keywords:

• Client
• decision-making
• industrialized building
• innovation
• Sweden

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Interreg IV A North (project IEEB). The authors thank all interviewees in the client organizations that kindly participated in interviews and provided valuable information and data. Helpful comments on an early draft from colleagues at the research group Timber Structures at Luleå University of Technology are gratefully acknowledged. Also gratefully acknowledged are the valuable comments from the anonymous referees.

Notes

1. All quotes are translated from Swedish.

2. To read more about the EU public procurement directives, see for example the European Commission webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/eu_public_directives_en.htm.