Causal mechanisms in the transition to construction ecosystems and implications for the role of infrastructure owner organisations

Taking an ecosystem perspective in the construction industry presents an opportunity to “rethink” systemic features of the industry that frequently lead to “cooperation failures” (Jacobides et al., 2024: 1), but it is essential to understand why there would be a shift towards this form of organising and the implications for the roles of the actors. Viewing the shift to construction ecosystems as a form of transition, this paper studies firstly the manifestation of the core constructs of the ecosystem concept in a rail infrastructure programme, before analysing the forces that influence the development of this transition and the implications for owner organisations in different contexts. This paper applies an Intervention-Based Research (IBR) method based in a two-year case study of a national rail infrastructure owner authority. The case study data primarily consists of two workshops with key actors, and validation of findings with key actors in the organisation. The IBR approach is applied for the capacity to engage with the context, iteratively develop and generate both theoretical and practical insights. This study finds that the role of the owner organisation is to provide momentum to the ecosystem through the value proposition and contextual embedding. Acting as ecosystem lead, the owner organisation must also intervene to create balance between centralising and decentralising forces in the ecosystem, which are summarised as specialisation and co-specialisation, perceived uniqueness and modularity, and complexity of coordination and market orientation. By viewing the shift towards an ecosystem form as a transition, this paper identifies these forces as causal mechanisms that influence the change, presenting a theoretical contribution to the concept of construction ecosystems as a dynamic structure. Further the “orbital” model of owner organisations acting as ecosystem leader (extended from Holgersson et al., 2022), provides a dynamic perspective that can be applied to diverse construction contexts.