Developing a climate for innovation index for architectural design firms

Abstract

PurposeIn recent years, climate for innovation has attracted wide attention from industry and academia. It is perceived as a critical component of innovation performance in the built environment sector, especially in architectural design firms (ADFs). This study attempts to assess the degree of climate for innovation in the Vietnamese ADFs under the organizational climate theory.Design/methodology/approachA list of 13 innovation climate variables was found by reviewing previous studies and discussions with industry practitioners. These variables were then categorized into three principal factors (personal commitment, tolerance of difference, and support for creativity), forming the inputs of the fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) analysis.FindingsThe results showed that the overall level of innovation in the climate is moderate, implying that it is still necessary for more improvements to the Vietnamese ADFs. The fuzzy analysis revealed that support for creativity was the most critical factor, followed by tolerance of difference and personal commitment.Originality/valueThe proposed climate for innovation model is practical and reliable for architectural professionals and can be applied to assess other research areas. Few studies have emphasized the innovation climate in the construction sector, so this research may broaden the knowledge and literature on the industry, especially for the ADFs.