SUMMARY OF THE THESIS
In recent years, the Spanish Government impelled different initiatives to increase the investment in research, development and innovation (R&D&i) of the economy. Among these initiatives, the new series of standards UNE 166000 aims to systematize the management process of the R&D&i within the company. Specifically, for the construction sector, the Spanish Government elaborated new administrative clauses for the contracting of construction works and services. The implementation of innovation inside R&D&i projects of the company should be properly justified according to the standards UNE 166000. This variation in the construction market’s conditions, introduced by its main client, is an enormous challenge for a traditionally little innovative sector, which doesn't have clear innovation process models. Therefore, an investigation was carried out: firstly, to help in the understanding of the problem of the innovation in the sector; secondly, to remark key aspects for the management of the innovation in the construction companies; and, finally, to outline recommendations for the implementation of R&D&i systems in these companies. The strategy used for the investigation is the case study; when the investigation started, the number of companies certified by the standard UNE 166002 was insufficient to carry out a quantitative investigation.

The results demonstrate that the management of R&D&i in the Spanish construction companies is a process that begins with the detection of opportunities to innovate from the requirements and problems of the interested stakeholders (employees, company, clients, suppliers, environment, etc.). The organization generates innovative ideas to take advantage of these opportunities. The best ideas are selected by the company managerial staff to become R&D&i projects. The managerial staff organizes and provides the necessary resources to carry out these projects successfully. However, it is the unit responsible for R&D&i who should negotiate the resources assigned to the innovation, administrate the budget of the R&D&i projects and implement the innovations successfully. The results of the innovation projects are applied in the construction works of the company. The implemented innovations are evaluated, improved, learned and transferred to future projects. This way, the results of the implementation process and the new requirements or problems feedback and restart this continuous cycle of innovation.

The Spanish construction companies innovate mainly in their internal processes. Therefore, the adoption of a R&D&i management system obeys to the necessity of improving its score in the public bids. The existence of a R&D&i management system forces the construction companies to know its internal processes and business environment to detect innovation opportunities, as well as to develop its own knowledge management. The results in R&D&i depend on the active participation of the construction site manager and the collaboration with technological partners, such as consultants, subcontractors and specialized suppliers. The benefits obtained by the R&D&i system are: the enhancement of the companies´ technical capacity; the improvement of the companies´ public image; and the increase of their competitiveness in public bids.

Keywords:
Knowledge – Construction – Case Study – Innnovation – Management – R&D&i