施工组织外文文献资料.docx

施工组织外文文献资料.docx

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施工组织外文文献资料

文献信息

HendersonJR,RuikarK.Technologyimplementationstrategiesforconstructionorganizations[J].Engineering,ConstructionandArchitecturalManagement,2016,17（3）:

309-327.

原文

Technologyimplementationstrategiesforconstructionorganizations

Henderson,JR;Ruikar,K

1Introduction

Theconstructionindustry,moresothananyotherindustry,issubjecttohighdegreesoffragmentation（SkibniewskiandNitithamyong,2004）.Thislackofunityhasbeenhighlightedbymanyauthorsasafundamentalobstacletobeovercomeinordertoachievethesuccessfulimplementationofnewtechnologies（AnambahandRucker,2002;SkibniewskiandNitithamyong,2004）.Itisalsosaidtohaveledtotheconstructionindustrylaggingbehindotherindustriesintheuptakeofnewtechnologies（SkibniewskiandNitithamyong,2004;MarshandFlanagan,2002;AnambahandRucker,2002）.

Itisevidentthatotherindustrieshavebeenabletodiscovercompetitiveadvantagethroughtheabsorptionoftechnologiesenhancingtheirprocesses;however,theextenttowhichtheconstructionindustryisabletodothis,oriswillingtodothis,appearstobesignificantlyreduced.Nevertheless,environmentalfactorsincludingtheeverincreasingglobalizationoftheindustryandthefierceeconomicclimate,combinedwithtechnologicalfactorssuchastheprogressionoftechnologyinfrastructuresandapplicationsoverthepastdecade,aswellasthegrowingculturaldependenceontechnologyineverydayactivities,hascalledforaneednow,moresothanever,tobeproactiveintheseekingofnewinitiativesinordertoremaincompetitive.

Therehasbeenatendencyinthepasttoblamethetechnologyitselfwhendesiredresultshavenotmaterialized.This,combinedwiththedifficultyofquantifyingtheimpactoftechnologywithintheconstructionindustryduetothedegreeoffragmentation,canbeattributedtoasloweruptakeinnewtechnologiesthaninotherindustries.However,thereisevidencethatthefutureofconstructionisonethatembracestechnologicaladvances,andthereforethetimehascomewhereastrategicadoptionoftechnologyisrequiredinordertoextractitsfullpotential.

Accordingly,thisstudyexploresthecurrentstrategiesofconstructionorganizationsinanattempttoidentifyineffectiveorunder-performingpractices,aswellasthedriversandbarrierstotechnologyimplementation.Thisisinordertodeveloprecommendationstotheindustrywhichachieveamovetowardsthesuccessfulstrategicimplementationoftechnologies.

2Methodologyoutline

Inorderforallissuesregardingtechnologyimplementationtoemergefromthisresearch,amacro-levelinvestigationwasundertaken.Inaddition,toensuretheidentificationoftheindustry-specificfactorsthatinfluencethesuccessoftechnologyimplementationinconstructionorganizations,theresearchadoptedatwo-phaseapproach,asfollows:

Semi-structuredinterviewprocess.

Theinitialliteraturereviewphaseenabledabroadrangeofscientificliteraturetobeassessedinordertogainafullunderstandingofpreviouslydiscoveredissues.Theseincluded:

Benefitsanddriversofinformationtechnology（IT）;

Reasonsthataffecttheuptakeofinformationtechnologiesinconstructionorganizations;

HowITinvestmentsareevaluated;

Barrierstoimplementation;

Resistancetochange（s）;

Inaddition,italsoformedthebasisforthesecondphaseofresearch,whensemistructuredinterviewswithindustrypractitionerswereconducted.Thesemi-structuredinterviewsfocusedoninvestigatingandascertainingthekeyissuesidentifiedduringtheinitialreviewstage.Topicscoveredintheinterviewquestionnairereflectthis.Broadly,thequestionnairecoveredaspectsof:

thedecision-makingprocess,implementationprocess,howandbywhomtheneedforanewinitiativeisidentifiedandthenproposed,howbenefitsofnewITinitiativesareidentifiedandevaluated,howimplementationstrategiesareformulated,whatevidentimplementationbarriersthereare,andhowchangeismanaged.

Arandomsampleoflargeconstructioncompanieswasapproachedforinterviews.Theserepresentedabreadthofconstructiondisciplines,includingconstruction,buildingservices,engineering,buildingmaintenance,andconsultancyorganizations.Interviewparticipantswereidentifiedonthebasisoftheirpositionsbeingeitherseniormanagementlevelandthereforeactivelyinvolvedwiththeformulationandimplementationofstrategicmanagement,oratalevelthatwasdirectlyexposedtotheconsequencesofthestrategiesimplemented.Thiswasrecognizedascritical,as[2]Creswell（1994）statesthatwhenselectingparticipantsforsampling,itisessentialthatallparticipantsexperiencethephenomenonbeingstudied.Anoverviewoftheparticipant'sbackgroundandtheirorganization’sdisciplinesarepresentedinTableI

Allintervieweesweresentapredefinedinterviewquestionnairepriortotheinterviewsothattheywereabletofullyunderstandthequestions,aswellasprepareanswers.Face-to-faceinterviewswereconductedwherepossibleinordertoestablishastrongerrapportwiththeinterviewee,aswellastobenefitfrombeingabletoassessadditional,non-verbalcommunicationsuchasbodylanguage（[3]Hakim,1997）.Telephoneinterviewswereconductedwhenthelocationoftheinterviewerandintervieweeaswellastheirindividualtimedemandswerenotcomplementary.Allintervieweeswereencouragedtodivulgetheirexperiencesandreal-lifeexamples,whilstthesemi-structuredinterviewformatfacilitatedadditionalprobingtoextractfurtherinformationwherenecessary.Analysisofthedatawasmainlycarriedoutqualitatively;however,forillustrativepurposes,quantitativerepresentationssupplementedthefindingswhereappropriate.Thenextsectionpresentsthemainfindingsfromtheinterviews.

3Mainresearchfindings

Itwasobservedthatvaryingformsofdecision-makingmethodswereadoptedwithintheinterviewsample.

Itwasregardedbytheinterviewsamplethatdifferingdecision-makingvariables-forexamplethesizeoftheinvestmentinvolved,orthearrayofinterestareasand/oremployeestobeaffected-maydeterminethesuitabilityofthedecisionmaker,（seniormanagement,lowerlevels,oracombinationoflevels）.Forexample,IntervieweeDstatedthat:

Itisdifferentdependingonthesizeofthebudgetorthedegreeofriskoftheproject.Ifitisaverylargeprojectitwillgotothetopoftheorganizationfortheirapproval.However,ifitisnotaverylargeprojectthenitwillstayatthelevelofthebudgetholders'responsibility.

Thisbeingsaid,ithasbeenhighlightedthroughoutthisstudythattransparencyoftheentiredecision-makingprocessisvitalinordertoovercomemanyapparentbarrierstoimplementation,withtheneedforthistostemtoasmanyareasoftheorganizationasreasonablypossible.

Throughtheincorporationofmoreextensivemultiple-levelinvolvementaswellasimprovedtwo-waycommunicationmediainallstagesoftheimplementationprocess,benefitsincludingthereductionofbarrierssuchasresistancetochangecanbeexperienced.Thisisduetothereductioninthelevelsofuncertaintysurroundinganyimpendingchangesthatisexperiencedbyemployeesduetotheirincreasedinvolvementandthereforeawareness.

Inaddition,IntervieweeJsuggestedthatthedecisionswerenotmadeattheleveltobeaffectedwithintheirorganization,as"thiscancausecompatibilityissuestotherestoftheirorganization".Similarly,IntervieweeGdismissedtheuseoftop-downdecision-makingmethodsbecause"ifdecisionsareimposedonpeopletheywillgetrejected".

Theimplicationsofthesefindingsisaneedtomoveawayfromthedecision-makingproceduresofdecisionsbeingmadebyseniormanagementandthenimposedontotheorganization（top-down）,ordecisionsbeingmadeatthelevelthatwillultimatelybeaffected.Alternatively,amovetowardstheadoptionofdecisionsbeingmadebyconductingdiscussionsbetweenthevarioushierarchicallevelsshouldbesought.

Althoughthisprocessmayreducesomeoftheshort-termbenefitsexperienced,suchasthespeedatwhichdecisionscanbemade,itwasshowntoresultinfargreaterlong-termbenefits.Theseinclude:

Ensuringthelong-standingcompatibilitybetweendecisions;

Enhancingthedegreethatthedecisionhasbeenwellinformed（throughgainingtheperspectivesofparticipantsfrommultiplelevelsofthehierarchy）;and

Mostimportantly,improvingthelevelsofunderstandingintodecision-makingrationale,andthelevelsofinvolvementorrepresentationeachemployeehasintheoverallprocess.

Theselattertwobenefitsheightenthelikelihoodforsuccessfulimplementationtobeexperiencedthroughthereductioninprominenceofthemostsignificantbarriertoimplementation-"resistancetochange".Barrierstoimplementationarecoveredinmoredetaillaterinthispaper.

4Implementationprocess

Figure2hasbeengeneratedtoillustratehowthiswidelyadoptedimplementationprocessconsistsofanupwardprogressionthroughtheorganizationalhierarchy.Throughinitiallyevolvingastheidentificationofaneed（whichwasfoundusuallytobeprovokedbylowormiddlelevelsofthehierarchy）,middlelevelmanagementthendiscuss,outlineandmutuallyagreethisneedwiththeinitiator（s）.Onceanagreementoftheneedisfound,themiddlelevelissolelyresponsibleforconductingresearchintothebenefitsandpotentialimpactsofanyidentifiedsolution（s）.Thisidentifiedsolution,combinedwiththeresearchedbenefitsanddrawbacks,thereforeformsthebasisofaformalproposalthatwillultimatelybeassessedbyseniorboardmembers.Insomeinstances,atthisstageintheprocess,