Public clients ability to drive industry change: the case of implementing BIM

Abstract

Public clients are proposed as key actors in driving construction industry change towards a more sustainable, efficient and productive industry. Based on how they procure consultants and contractors, it is argued that public clients have the power and are in the position to act as “innovation supporters” and “change agents.” However, the client’s role as a driver of change and innovation is oversimplified and there is a need for further investigation into the client’s ability to drive industry change. This paper presents a case study of a public client’s initiative to drive industry change through the implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM). We do this by investigating the process of intra-organisational change at the public client by mapping the client’s absorptive capacity for change. The case study shows difficulties in turning the external knowledge into actual transformation when implementing a systemic innovation such as BIM. Findings contribute to the literature on public clients as drivers of change and innovation in construction and are relevant to research on public clients as drivers for industry change and innovation and to research on BIM as a game changer.