Productivity improvements through flow conversations with site operatives: insights from the CITB innovation driven procurement (IDP) project

Some of the best ideas in construction come from the small companies that are directly responsible for site production. Yet, many industry productivity initiatives are driven top down, by large contractors, and valuable solutions from the site-level supply chain are missed or overlooked. The ‘Innovation Driven Procurement’ (IDP) programme sought to tackle this challenge with a focus on improving profits, relationships, and projects for all parties involved. Innovation, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a High Performance Work System (HPWS) connect to form the conceptual framework for the discussion in this paper. Ethnographic Action Research (EAR), which involved a series of workshops with three Tier 2/3 supply chain firms in the UK, offers the methodology for the empirical work. This provided an opportunity to generate new knowledge in situ whilst at the same time shaping practice. The research brought to fore people and social sustainability related interest for change and the importance of organisational citizenship type behaviours, which these arose in stark contrast to otherwise product invention oriented mindset.