THÈSE EXECUTIVE DOCTORATE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DE L’UNIVERSITÉ PARIS-DAUPHINE ELIE KARAM DESIGNING A GENERAL CONTRACTOR BUSINESS MODEL FOR SMART CITIES JURY Directeur de thèse EDBA : Monsieur Lionel GARREAU Maître de Conférences à l’Université Paris Dauphine – PSL Rapporteurs : Monsieur Xavier LECOCQ Professeur des Universités, Université de Lille Monsieur Claude ROCHET Professeur Émérite, Chercheur au Centre Robert de Sorbonne Suffragants : Monsieur Sébastien DAMART Professeur des Universités, Université Paris Dauphine – PSL Madame Marie Luce GODINOT Directrice Générale Adjointe ‘Transformation Numérique, Systèmes d’Information, Innovation et Développement Durable,’ Bouygues Construction Soutenue le 06 Juillet 2020 This page was intentionally left blank DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my family who supported me in both the good and bad times. Above all, I bestow it to my wife, who cheerfully sacrificed time, energy and bread so I could fulfill my dream. Her infallible love and absolute backing allowed me to get to the shore when I was drowning in doubt. Not to forget my beautiful little four angels, Gabrielle, Daniel, Diane and Ellie ― my raison d’ȇtre. I would also like to spare a few words to my parents, including my brothers and sisters, and their respective families; I am truly grateful for all the encouragements you have given me and the love you have showed me. Though it has been a long road, together, we have made it through. No words could truly express how appreciative I am. This success is for you ― you were part of it ― you will always be ― now and in the future. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of my thesis was only possible thanks to the unwavering support of several people. Without their help, I would have never been able to succeed this lifetime project. Now that I am at the gates of defending my E-DBA thesis, I would first like to thank Pr. Lionel Garreau ―my thesis director for his constant support, his continuous availability, and his unrestricted patience. Moreover, I would like to express my gratitude to Pr. Xavier Lecocq for having made me the honor of being the rapporteur of my thesis. His directives and remarks have been invaluable in so many ways. I would also like to thank those university professors and industry experts who agreed to evaluate my research work, the jury members, among which I cite Pr. Sébastien Damart and Mrs. Marie Luce Godinot. On a separate note, I would like to mention Pr. Claude Rochet who I sincerely thank for taking the time to meet with me on several occasions. In addition, for criticizing my work and encouraging me to focus on certain aspects of the research and to contemplate things from changing angles. To all those ― I am sure they recognize themselves ― who helped me gather primary and secondary data, which I later used in my empirical analysis, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Special thanks go to Sébastien Duizabo who encouraged me to follow this route. In finale, I would like to show my genuine gratitude to my dear colleagues from cohort ten for the quality times spent together, namely: Guido, Arnaud, Ivan, and Zulkani. ii ABSTRACT This thesis embarks upon three subject themes: smart cities ― general contractors ― and business models. The smart city notion is on the rise today and cities around the world seem to be in a race to become smart, fast. Converting big cities into smart cities is a call that almost all cities around the globe have already made or would undoubtedly make in the near future to be able to cope with the various repercussions of urbanization. Smartness is a vague expression that could relate to anything and everything (e.g. infrastructure, people, governance, etc.). In the present study, we focus our attention on smart constructions, large and smart ones in specific ―and endeavor to decrypt the key problems encountered today by France based construction companies ―and suggest plausible solutions for their resolve. Our research findings showed that there is no single business model that could fit all smart cities around the world, as smart cities should account for the particularities of both people and territories. The GC BM (General Contractor Business Model) for smart cities ― inspired from Copenhagen’s experience in this domain (the need of a strategi for the successful building of smart cities) ― was built using the Triple Layered Business Model Canvas. Succinctly, the GC BM is a dual- use (a business model within a piloting tool), stage- and solution-based, multisided, six- stratum business model. It exhibits the dynamics of problems faced in construction over the course of a construction project lifecycle ― from initiation to closure ― down to upstream the value chain ― and puts a question mark on the usefulness of generic business models in construction. In our opinions, business models in construction are destined to fail ― until stratified. iii KEYWORDS Connectivity, human centricity, urbanization, big city, sustainable city, smart city, city- as-a-platform, construction industry, general contractor, strategi, central operator, construction project lifecycle, technology lifecycle, value chain management, value creation, value networking, business model, strategy, tactic, business model innovation. iv ACRONYMS AIIB Asia Infrastructure & Investment Bank AMT Additive Manufacturing Technology ART Augmented Reality Technology BIM Building Information Modelling BM Business Model BMI Business Model Innovation BT Business Technology CCTV Closed-circuit TeleVision CLD Causal Loop Diagram CM Construction Manager CPLC Construction Project Lifecycle CVP Customer Value Proposition DSR Design Science Research EU European Union GC General Contractor GDP Gross Domestic Product GHG Greenhouse Gas ICT Information & Communication Technology IDI In-Depth Interview IoT Internet of Things IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IS Information System IT Information Technology LCA Life Cycle Assessment MIS Management Information System MSP Multisided Platform PM Project Manager R&D Research & Development ROI Return on Investment TLC Technology Lifecycle U- Ubiquitous- UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization USA United States USD United States Dollar VRT Virtual Reality Technology WW World War WWW World Wide Web v CONTENTS INTRODUCTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 RELEVANCE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 IMPORTANCE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 MANAGERIAL QUESTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 OUTLINE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 CHAPTER I. FROM THE BIG ISSUE TO THE MANAGERIAL QUESTION ------------------------------------------- 16 SECTION A. ON SMART CITIES: A LITERATURE REVIEW -------------------------------------------------------- 18 PARTIAL CONCLUSION A --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 54 SECTION B. A GENERAL CONTRACTOR: A MAVEN, A CONNECTOR ----------------------------------------- 55 PARTIAL CONCLUSION B --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 88 CHAPTER II. ON BUSINESS MODELS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 89 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 153 CHAPTER IV. THE DESIGN PROCESS OF THE GENERAL CONTRACTOR BUSINESS MODEL ------------ 173 CHAPTER V. RESEARCH FINDINGS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 214 CHAPTER VI. DISCUSSIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 307 CONCLUSION --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 316 REFERENCES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 321 LIST OF FIGURES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 338 LIST OF TABLES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 340 vi This page was intentionally left blank FOREWORD he WWW (World Wide Web) ― the internet ― and the ICT (Information & Communication Technology) ― are all key, fairly recent, and successive T inventions that have substantially altered and shaped the world we live in (as we know it!) ― turned our existence upside down, and affected each aspect of our lives, even the tiniest ones. Having said that, let us now reconsider how life is organized on earth. For this, let us simply think of the planet like an inhabited human body (― an interlocked system). It is the transit system of roads and railways, bridges and tunnels, as well as air and seaports that enable our mobility across the continents ―that is the vascular system that powers the human body. Likewise, it is the oil and gas pipelines and electricity grids that distribute energy and ensures the unblemished work of the