Factors influencing the diffusion of innovative products in North American home building firms

This report examines the diffusion of innovation to North American home building firms. Innovation is defined as new technologies in the form of new products and techniques.;The organizational structure of the home building firm and the unique mindset of builders/developers running these firms are examined in order to understand the firm and its leader. Technology diffusion theories are then explored to comprehend how innovation reaches the marketplace. Through research, evaluation criteria are established which builders/developers use when adopting innovation. These criteria are tested by interviewing twelve selected builders/developers in the Montreal-Ottawa region and by recording their responses to thirty innovative products.;The study demonstrates that all factors comprising the evaluation criteria are important to different builders/developers at different times. Furthermore, builders/developers cannot be treated as a homogeneous group since their backgrounds are not similar. Accordingly, no model depicting a builder's/developer's decision-making process can guarantee the successful diffusion of an innovation. The author therefore suggests certain guidelines to help innovators diffuse innovation to home building firms.