Digital innovation strategy at a construction company's project business

Book Chapter (2025)
Author(s)

Eleni Papadonikolaki (TU Delft - Integral Design & Management)

Bethan Morgan (University of Sunderland)

Issam El-Asbi (ZIGURAT Institute of Technology, Consolidated Contractors Company)

Research Group
Integral Design & Management
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035311279.00023 Final published version
More Info
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Publication Year
2025
Language
English
Research Group
Integral Design & Management
Bibliographical Note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository as part of the Taverne amendment. More information about this copyright law amendment can be found at https://www.openaccess.nl. Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Pages (from-to)
173–189
Publisher
Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN (print)
9781035311262
ISBN (electronic)
9781035311279
Downloads counter
66
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Abstract

Digital transformation brings many changes to businesses that seek to embrace new technologies and innovate. This case study provides an in-depth exploration of the digital innovation strategy at the Main Contractors Company (MCC), a leading project-based construction company in the Middle East. The story revolves around Ahmed Shalhoub, the chief innovation officer at MCC, who is facing scrutiny from the board regarding his digital innovation strategy, particularly in the context of the New Airport Terminal Building (NATB) project. The project-based nature of the construction industry means there are typically thin budgets for innovation, research and development and exploration of new innovations. Under the leadership of Shalhoub, MCC has been able to leverage global trends in digitalization and develop new solutions and, as a result, offer better outcomes to the NATB project and MCC itself. However, challenges towards the end of the project brought strategy changes and the need for Shalhoub to make hard decisions about concessions in the resources of the digital innovation group.

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