INNOVATION IN JAPAN'S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY - PERCEPTIONS OF CLIENTS AND CONTRACTORS

This paper represents a partial outcome of a doctoral research undertaken at the University of Tokyo, Japan. The doctoral research looked on the phenomenology of innovation and its implications for the construction industry in Japan. This paper focuses on the perception of innovation by major Japanese construction clients and major Japanese construction firms. Among construction researchers innovation is a popular topic and no conference will miss covering the issue. After a period of very critical judgment on the ability of the construction sector to innovate and partially even frustration on the inflexibility of the sector, a much more positive attitude was taken. At present, most construction researchers would agree that the construction sector clearly is very innovative. That stands in contrast with how construction practitioners perceive their own sector. This paper presents the results of and empirical research in how construction clients and contractors in Japan perceive the issue of innovation. In fact the perceptions differ largely and give interesting insights on particularities of the Japanese construction sector and on the mismatch of clients and contractors perceptions.