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A conceptual framework has been developed to investigate value innovations within construction companies. A visual metaphor has been defined to model the innovation system where the elements of the model are objectives, strategies, environmental barriers/drivers, and organizational factors. The major idea is that none of the elements of the model alone can explain the innovative capability, and elements as well as their interrelations should be considered concurrently to investigate how the innovation system works in construction companies. An application of the framework has been demonstrated by 11 cases taken from the Turkish construction industry. General findings of the research have been reported as well as specific company examples that demonstrate the major mechanisms of the innovation system. The research findings have revealed that environmental factors can have both hindering and supporting impacts on the innovation system, depending on other elements of the framework. The type of innovations is strongly related to company targets, strategies, strengths/weaknesses, and environmental factors. Moreover, matching of appropriate strategies with organizational properties leads to an increase in innovative capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]