施工组织外文文献资料.docx

1、施工组织外文文献资料文献信息Henderson J R, Ruikar K. Technology implementation strategies for construction organizations J. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 2016, 17(3): 309-327.原文Technology implementation strategies for construction organizationsHenderson, J R; Ruikar, K1 IntroductionThe c

2、onstruction industry, more so than any other industry, is subject to high degrees of fragmentation (Skibniewski and Nitithamyong, 2004). This lack of unity has been highlighted by many authors as a fundamental obstacle to be overcome in order to achieve the successful implementation of new technolog

3、ies (Anambah and Rucker, 2002; Skibniewski and Nitithamyong, 2004). It is also said to have led to the construction industry lagging behind other industries in the uptake of new technologies (Skibniewski and Nitithamyong, 2004; Marsh and Flanagan, 2002; Anambah and Rucker, 2002). It is evident that

4、other industries have been able to discover competitive advantage through the absorption of technologies enhancing their processes; however, the extent to which the construction industry is able to do this, or is willing to do this, appears to be significantly reduced. Nevertheless, environmental fa

5、ctors including the ever increasing globalization of the industry and the fierce economic climate, combined with technological factors such as the progression of technology infrastructures and applications over the past decade, as well as the growing cultural dependence on technology in everyday act

6、ivities, has called for a need now, more so than ever, to be proactive in the seeking of new initiatives in order to remain competitive. There has been a tendency in the past to blame the technology itself when desired results have not materialized. This, combined with the difficulty of quantifying

7、the impact of technology within the construction industry due to the degree of fragmentation, can be attributed to a slower uptake in new technologies than in other industries. However, there is evidence that the future of construction is one that embraces technological advances, and therefore the t

8、ime has come where a strategic adoption of technology is required in order to extract its full potential. Accordingly, this study explores the current strategies of construction organizations in an attempt to identify ineffective or under-performing practices, as well as the drivers and barriers to

9、technology implementation. This is in order to develop recommendations to the industry which achieve a move towards the successful strategic implementation of technologies. 2 Methodology outlineIn order for all issues regarding technology implementation to emerge from this research, a macro-level in

10、vestigation was undertaken. In addition, to ensure the identification of the industry-specific factors that influence the success of technology implementation in construction organizations, the research adopted a two-phase approach, as follows: Semi-structured interview process. The initial literatu

11、re review phase enabled a broad range of scientific literature to be assessed in order to gain a full understanding of previously discovered issues. These included: Benefits and drivers of information technology (IT); Reasons that affect the uptake of information technologies in construction organiz

12、ations; How IT investments are evaluated; Barriers to implementation; Resistance to change(s); In addition, it also formed the basis for the second phase of research, when semi structured interviews with industry practitioners were conducted. The semi-structured interviews focused on investigating a

13、nd ascertaining the key issues identified during the initial review stage. Topics covered in the interview questionnaire reflect this. Broadly, the questionnaire covered aspects of: the decision-making process, implementation process, how and by whom the need for a new initiative is identified and t

14、hen proposed, how benefits of new IT initiatives are identified and evaluated, how implementation strategies are formulated, what evident implementation barriers there are, and how change is managed. A random sample of large construction companies was approached for interviews. These represented a b

15、readth of construction disciplines, including construction, building services, engineering, building maintenance, and consultancy organizations. Interview participants were identified on the basis of their positions being either senior management level and therefore actively involved with the formul

16、ation and implementation of strategic management, or at a level that was directly exposed to the consequences of the strategies implemented. This was recognized as critical, as 2 Creswell (1994) states that when selecting participants for sampling, it is essential that all participants experience th

17、e phenomenon being studied. An overview of the participants background and their organizations disciplines are presented in Table I All interviewees were sent a predefined interview questionnaire prior to the interview so that they were able to fully understand the questions, as well as prepare answ

18、ers. Face-to-face interviews were conducted where possible in order to establish a stronger rapport with the interviewee, as well as to benefit from being able to assess additional, non-verbal communication such as body language (3 Hakim, 1997). Telephone interviews were conducted when the location

19、of the interviewer and interviewee as well as their individual time demands were not complementary. All interviewees were encouraged to divulge their experiences and real-life examples, whilst the semi-structured interview format facilitated additional probing to extract further information where ne

20、cessary. Analysis of the data was mainly carried out qualitatively; however, for illustrative purposes, quantitative representations supplemented the findings where appropriate. The next section presents the main findings from the interviews. 3 Main research findingsIt was observed that varying form

21、s of decision-making methods were adopted within the interview sample. It was regarded by the interview sample that differing decision-making variables - for example the size of the investment involved, or the array of interest areas and/or employees to be affected - may determine the suitability of

22、 the decision maker, (senior management, lower levels, or a combination of levels). For example, Interviewee D stated that: It is different depending on the size of the budget or the degree of risk of the project. If it is a very large project it will go to the top of the organization for their appr

23、oval. However, if it is not a very large project then it will stay at the level of the budget holders responsibility. This being said, it has been highlighted throughout this study that transparency of the entire decision-making process is vital in order to overcome many apparent barriers to impleme

24、ntation, with the need for this to stem to as many areas of the organization as reasonably possible. Through the incorporation of more extensive multiple-level involvement as well as improved two-way communication media in all stages of the implementation process, benefits including the reduction of

25、 barriers such as resistance to change can be experienced. This is due to the reduction in the levels of uncertainty surrounding any impending changes that is experienced by employees due to their increased involvement and therefore awareness. In addition, Interviewee J suggested that the decisions

26、were not made at the level to be affected within their organization, as this can cause compatibility issues to the rest of their organization. Similarly, Interviewee G dismissed the use of top-down decision-making methods because if decisions are imposed on people they will get rejected. The implica

27、tions of these findings is a need to move away from the decision-making procedures of decisions being made by senior management and then imposed onto the organization (top-down), or decisions being made at the level that will ultimately be affected. Alternatively, a move towards the adoption of deci

28、sions being made by conducting discussions between the various hierarchical levels should be sought. Although this process may reduce some of the short-term benefits experienced, such as the speed at which decisions can be made, it was shown to result in far greater long-term benefits. These include

29、: Ensuring the long-standing compatibility between decisions; Enhancing the degree that the decision has been well informed (through gaining the perspectives of participants from multiple levels of the hierarchy); and Most importantly, improving the levels of understanding into decision-making ratio

30、nale, and the levels of involvement or representation each employee has in the overall process. These latter two benefits heighten the likelihood for successful implementation to be experienced through the reduction in prominence of the most significant barrier to implementation - resistance to chan

31、ge. Barriers to implementation are covered in more detail later in this paper. 4 Implementation processFigure 2 has been generated to illustrate how this widely adopted implementation process consists of an upward progression through the organizational hierarchy. Through initially evolving as the id

32、entification of a need (which was found usually to be provoked by low or middle levels of the hierarchy), middle level management then discuss, outline and mutually agree this need with the initiator(s). Once an agreement of the need is found, the middle level is solely responsible for conducting re

33、search into the benefits and potential impacts of any identified solution(s). This identified solution, combined with the researched benefits and drawbacks, therefore forms the basis of a formal proposal that will ultimately be assessed by senior board members. In some instances, at this stage in the process,