Innovation of construction in the Dutch railways: Lessons from inter-organizational co-operation

Traditionally innovation in the construction industry is analysed at an industry-level. This results in generalist observations on the low level of innovation when compared to other industries and the identification of factors that, on industry level, hamper innovation. With these factors in mind and having established a diagnosis on this level, numerous scholars, policy-makers and managers alike have prescribed therapies attempting to cure the industry as a whole. The case of the Dutch railways shows us that it is trust and loyalty between the people involved, their willingness to share knowledge and their entrepreneurship that made this inter-organizational co-operation function in such a way that innovation became possible. Trust, loyalty and entrepreneurship are primarily about people; not about organizations or about 'the industry'. The Industrial Network Approach which explicitly identifies actor bonds as an essential part of an interfirm network, and the recognition of (emotional) trust as the essential factor for creating and maintaining such bonds, give us the concepts and frameworks to see and understand these phenomena.