negligible, but their roles from the external environment in a given project cannot be underestimated.
2.6.3 BARRIERS TO INNOVATION
According to Salah (2002), in his research work on “the innovation in the Australian building and construction industry†he identified the following issues as barriers to innovation .
Lower proportions of turnover and savings from innovation in the industry than other industries globally.
Unavailability of finance for new initiatives to the innovativeness of an organization.
The competitive environment within the industry which includes, competition for fees, short lead times to respond to tenders, and the size of the market.
The ability to import overseas experience in expanding the creative environment.
Lack of support for new technology that is not well understood in the market place.
Lack of government role in encouraging innovation throughout the industry with respect to the building regulation, commercial legislation and taxation regulation.
The risk associated with commercializing unproven technologies, such as implementing risk (market acceptance risk and regulating acceptance risk).
Lack of capital for commercializing ideas which require the commitment of capital and resources; as this may be a very difficult to do in a cut price environment
Lack of skills and education level of staff.
2.7 INNOVATION AND THE NIGERIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Osofisan (2007), stated that in many developing countries like Nigeria, the construction sector which the building industry belongs is one of the biggest contributors to the Gross National Product (GNP).
Ukaegbu (1991), submits that Nigeria differs from the history of its counterparts in advanced countries particularly the west. While industries in the west aim at generating, accumulating and reproducing capital, Nigerian industry is premised on “import substitutionâ€, whereby industrial equipment and raw materials are transported into Nigeria, installed and used for routine production activities, either by multinational corporations, the state, or indigenous private business men.
Anya (1982), maintained that although Nigerian iron and steel industries were programmed to produce a mix of finished products, it was later realized that the programme did not include the production of sheet metal, an important component of the vehicle assembly industry. According to him, the implication of this singular omission for Nigeria is technological dependence through continued importation of finished parts.
The construction industry plays a strategic role in the Nigerian Economy. The industry is unique in the sense that it is a major contributor to rest of the economy, which spurs the other industries to produce. According to Akindoyeni (2004), “In the industrialized countries the construction industry can be responsible for up to 20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs up to 12% of the total labour forceâ€. He stated further that “Nigeria is striving to reach this happy state of affairs, but even at this sub-optimal state of development, the industry is responsible for 61% of the GDP and employs up to 20% of a labour forceâ€. This means it is a significant industry within the Nigerian economy.
It is therefore, evident that the Nigerian construction industry is a large industry and does contribute largely to the economic growth of the nation but the elements, especially of materials and technology that make up the construction process are not proudly Nigerian. The high rate of importation of construction materials and equipments and most times borrowed technologies reveal that innovation on these aspects are on the low level.
Also even in the management sector of the industry, especially as it affects information and communication, the use of IT is still questionable. Osofisan (2007), criticized the Nigerian construction industry to be one of the slowest to integrate technological advancement. She added that the issue of IT in the building industry is hence relatively limited compared to other sectors. She however acknowledged that IT implementation across all sector of the building industry may be more difficult than in other industries and thus advocated the need for innovation and process improvement in order to remain competitive in today digital economy.
Construction projects require high integration of different people and professionals and this in turn demands heavy exchange of data and information between and among project participants on a daily basis. This makes the industry one of the most information intensive industry, requiring close coordination among a large number of specialized but independent organizations and individuals (Osofisan 2007).
The issue of procurement of construction projects in Nigerian construction industry has really not been supportive towards the march to innovation. Our method of procurement system is still of the old traditional method of procuring construction work as revealed earlier. This method does not support or facilitate innovation and innovative integration into the industry. Nigeria should begin to think and research on these new innovative procurement methods.
Environmentally, innovative issues are good on paper, but there is no actualization of its implementation towards construction process. There is a disturbing question of R & D in the industry. Most acclaimed R & Ds developed in the industry are innovations already developed and exhausted in other countries.
A lot of factors have been identified as being responsible for all these drawbacks towards innovation, ranging from political structure of the country, culture, system of government, lack of value and integrity, lack of investment in R&D, educational standards, poverty, government regulations etc. All these factors, one way or the other inhibit innovation in the Nigerian construction industry.
Progresses
The Nigerian construction industry is not in slumber towards innovation. Despite the fact that Nigeria is dependent on the researches already done by most developed and some developing countries, the Nigerian construction industry has been making effort to at least queue up from the ‘rear-end’ of these developed countries.
The fact remains that the construction industry in Nigeria is making efforts towards innovation. Instances could be drawn from designs and instruments used in designs such as the Auto CAD, 3 Ds’drawing etc. Construction designs are really improving as most of them are meeting public demands.
Also in management and managerial issues, the industry and its firms are continuously fostering more innovative management methods towards construction activities.
Equally, in the construction process, new techniques and equipments are being introduced, thus creating jobs as well as improving production cost and quality.
A typical example is the “Hydraform†engine (M7) recently introduced in Anambra State of Nigeria (See Figure 3)
