Assessing Innovation Practices in Project Management: The case of Palestinian Construction Projects

Project management is one of the most important tools that have been used to maximize the probability of having a successful construction project. A successful project management requires effective controlling and alignment with innovation. Thus, the study takes the approach that project management can be improved if the construction industry is more innovative. From this point forth, this study is concerned with two topics and the interplay between them, namely “Innovation” and “Project Management”. The study relies on the exploratory research inquiry of structured questionnaires with interviews to achieve the objectives of the study, as it consists of two parts: The first part is prepared to present a clear picture of the relative importance of the key drivers, barriers, enablers and impacts of innovation in construction, the second one is prepared to explore the best innovation practices in construction project management. A survey for the questionnaire has been submitted to 365 consulting and contracting firms that reside at WB- Palestine, where the SPSS statistical program has been used for the data analysis. The data was analyzed through two phases of analysis: descriptive analysis and hypotheses testing. The results of the descriptive analysis showed that the main driver of innovation is “reducing the costs”, the main enabler of innovation is “the rewards system”, the main barrier of innovation is “lack of effective management” and the main impact of innovation is “getting a competitive advantage”. Furthermore, the results of hypotheses testing showed that there is a statistically significant relationship at a significant level (α ≤ 0.05) among five practices: (1) Strategic Management, (2) Internal Innovative Working Environment, (3) External Innovative Working Environment, (4) Stakeholders’ Management, and (5) Project Management. The focal point of this research is to assess the extent of applying these five practices in West-Bank Palestine. The total average response is (3.60) out of (5.00) which is considered high. Based on the findings of the research, the researcher devised a framework that is intended to be an effective management tool for supporting construction project management. It is recommended for the organizations to apply such framework and to be aware about the positive impacts of innovation and participate actively to implement it rather than to resist it. Finally, the findings of this research are expected to provide useful information for future research directions, especially as an indicator for the development of frameworks for innovative project management.