Attempts at Giving and Receiving Hugs in the Arms-length Construction Industry

The paper focuses on new ways of organising product development projects in the construction industry. We discuss two such projects, one in Denmark and one in Finland where different forms of ‘network organisation’ have been tried out. The paper looks at how the existing structure in the construction industry affects the product development projects ‘organised-as-networks’. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE PAPER Using relationships and networks as a form of organisation has been claimed to improve efficiency and the rate of innovation at the firm-level, as well as the industry-level. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how attempts at creating ‘interorganisational networks’ for product development in the construction industry is affected by the existing structure of the construction industry. By taking two product development projects ‘organised-as-networks’ as the point of departure, we illustrate and discuss difficulties with introducing networks/ relationships as an organisation mode in the construction industry. On the basis of this, we suggest a number of factors which may be taken into consideration if firms within the construction industry try to manage product development projects by forming ‘interorganisational networks’. Furthermore, we propose some policy implications for national councils, which may consider setting up programmes for changing the organisation form used in the construction industry.