Push and Pull factors of Innovation Performance in Quantity Surveying Firms

Abstract

Innovation has been defined as exploiting change as an opportunity. The enormity of changes experienced in the built environment such as changes in technology, changes in client desire due to variation in taste, aspirations and purchasing power, should therefore, provide the necessary stimulus for innovation. However, the built environment consulting industry rely heavily on “business as usual solution” rather than adopting innovative practices. The study uncovered specific factors affecting rate of innovation occurrence in Quantity Surveying Consulting Firms (QSCF). Specifically, this study investigates the factors that drives, enables or hinders innovation in QSCF. A questionnaire survey of 48 QSCF operating in the two largest cites in Ghana were reached for the study using snowball sampling technique. Findings revealed that the innovation performances of QSCF are affected by factors such as drivers, enables and barriers. The result should assist management in identifying relevant factors that can stimulate innovation for them to invest the needed effort. It highlights the barriers to innovation for the firms to find ways to manage their effect. Future research must focus on outcomes of innovation activities to derive management attention to the need to be innovative.

Keywords: Innovation, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), quantity surveying.