Understanding radical innovation: A case example from the Turkish housing market

Product differentiation is amongst the essentials of meeting customer needs and gaining competitive advantage over the rivals in highly dynamic markets, while efficient management of the resources in accordance with corporate strategies is key to successful outcomes. This paper focuses on the innovative business and design initiative of a Turkish company, NEF, which introduced the concept of Foldhome to the housing market. NEF describes this patented concept as "ensuring the inclusion of all rooms, which cannot fit into one house, by means of folding." Foldhome allows the users and their guests to access various spaces and facilities on a 'pay-per-use' basis, in addition to using their standard accommodation units. Foldhome's radical departure from the status quo in a conservative industry, along with its attractive potential for further innovation suggests that it can be classified as a radical design and business innovation in the housing sector. The paper presents the story of Foldhome as part of an integrated innovation process and calls for a wider lens to look at innovation in the building industry. The resource based view of the company (RBV), combined with strategic entrepreneurship perspective, provide the theoretical framework of the analysis.