Organisational Ambidexterity for Radical Innovation Adoption in Built Environment SMEs

Built environment organisations adopt innovations to address complexities and uncertainties within built environment operations. However, some innovations are too radical to master due to changes they bring, especially to the built environment Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The built environment SMEs do not possess enough personnel with adequate competences in adopting radical innovation. Organisational ambidexterity is a possible solution, especially in the phenomenon of Building Information Modelling (BIM), a radical innovation adopted amongst built environment organisations. Using case study methods and BIM adoption among built environment SMEs as the research setting, the study looks into Project-Based learning (PBL) mechanisms of project team to investigate how organisational ambidexterity can assist built environment SMEs in radical innovation adoption. Through ambidextrous PBL mechanisms, radical innovation-related knowledge can be simultaneously learned by individuals, as well as refined cross-projects and within organisations. The paper also highlights the importance of having personnel with adequate competences of adopting radical innovation to assist others and the creation of a knowledge sharing culture in project teams. The study is ongoing. Practically, the study recommends project managers and senior managerial personnel to place more attention towards the adjustment and creation of ambidextrous PBL mechanisms. Theoretically, the research expands on current BIM, organisational ambidexterity,
PBL, and radical innovation adoption researches.