Diffusion of digital innovation in construction: a case study of a UK engineering firm

Shibeika, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0226-9241 and Harty, C. (2015) Diffusion of digital innovation in construction: a case study of a UK engineering firm. Construction Management and Economics, 33 (5-6). pp. 453-466. ISSN 0144-6193 doi: 10.1080/01446193.2015.1077982

Abstract/Summary

The UK government is mandating the use of building information modelling (BIM) in large public projects by 2016. As a result, engineering firms are faced with challenges related to embedding new technologies and associated working practices for the digital delivery of major infrastructure projects. Diffusion of innovations theory is used to investigate how digital innovations diffuse across complex firms. A contextualist approach is employed through an in-depth case study of a large, international engineering project-based firm. The analysis of the empirical data, which was collected over a four-year period of close interaction with the firm, reveals parallel paths of diffusion occurring across the firm, where both the innovation and the firm context were continually changing. The diffusion process is traced over three phases: centralization of technology management, standardization of digital working practices, and globalization of digital resources. The findings describe the diffusion of a digital innovation as multiple and partial within a complex social system during times of change and organizational uncertainty, thereby contributing to diffusion of innovations studies in construction by showing a range of activities and dynamics of a non-linear diffusion process.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/42952
Identification Number/DOI	10.1080/01446193.2015.1077982
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of the Built Environment > Organisation, People and Technology group
Publisher	Taylor & Francis
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item