Avoiding stiffness: perspectives of agile technology diffusion

The increased pervasiveness of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) within the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, not only introduces unparalleled opportunities for enhancing the performance of design/engineering/construction processes per se, but also serves as a unique lever for improving and delivering overall competitiveness. However, whilst the onset and evolution of ICT keeps improving, it is also recognised that organisations often fail to match this evolution, most notably through the adoption, diffusion and dissemination of this technology. This has also been acknowledged as a barrier, particularly concerning innovation opportunities. Cognisant of this, organisations are increasingly looking to secure full advantage of emerging ICT developments. On this theme, this study identifies a series of priority areas for organisations, with the specific remit of securing agility (in the market) through ICT diffusion. A questionnaire, based on an Agile-Technology Diffusion framework, was used to capture the perceptions of management professionals working in the Turkish AEC sector. The ranking analysis of the survey results and comparison of the different management perceptions (levels) are presented for discussion. Research findings identify several priority areas that need to be addressed. These findings also uncover significant differences in the perceptions of different management levels - which can help decision makers appreciate the holistic interdependencies, especially the factors which impinge (or impede) overall competitiveness.

[1]  Anthony D. Songer,et al.  Resistance to IT Change in the AEC Industry: Are the Stereotypes True? , 2009 .

[2]  Mohamad Noorman Masrek,et al.  The Effect of Information Technology Infrastructure Flexibility on Intranet Effectiveness , 2009, Comput. Inf. Sci..

[3]  Bronwyn H Hall,et al.  Adoption of New Technology , 2003 .

[4]  Charles F. Dolan.  THE EFFECTS OF FLEXIBILITY IN EMPLOYEE SKILLS , EMPLOYEE BEHAVIORS , AND HR PRACTICES ON FIRM PERFORMANCE FORTHCOMING IN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT , 2004 .

[5]  D. Gibson,et al.  The Effects of Flexibility in Employee Skills, Employee Behaviors, and Human Resource Practices on Firm Performance , 2005 .

[6]  Roger Stuart,et al.  The trauma of organizational change , 1996 .

[7]  Yi Wang,et al.  IT capability and organizational performance: the roles of business process agility and environmental factors , 2014, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[8]  Claire V. Brisson‐Banks.  Managing change and transitions: a comparison of different models and their commonalities , 2010 .

[9]  Hossein Sharifi,et al.  A methodology for achieving agility in manufacturing organisations : An introduction , 1999 .

[10]  Steve Counsell,et al.  A meta-analysis of relationships between organizational characteristics and IT innovation adoption in organizations , 2012, Inf. Manag..

[11]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies , 2000, Management Science.

[12]  Kuldeep Kumar,et al.  Business process flexibility through the exploration of stimuli , 2008, Int. J. Bus. Process. Integr. Manag..

[13]  Omar R. Malik,et al.  Microfoundations of an Organizational Sensing Capability: A Literature Review and a Conceptual Framework , 2013 .

[14]  J. Friar,et al.  The role of technology agility on business processes and organizational agilities , 2011, First International Technology Management Conference.

[15]  Ghassan Aouad,et al.  Facilitating innovation in construction , 2010 .

[16]  Usman A. Khan,et al.  Driving business value through an effective IT strategy development , 2014, 2014 International Conference on Computing for Sustainable Global Development (INDIACom).

[17]  Gary David Holt,et al.  Asking questions, analysing answers: relative importance revisited , 2014 .

[18]  Jack Steven Goulding,et al.  Construction innovation and process improvement , 2012 .

[19]  Jose L. Fernandez-Solis,et al.  The systemic nature of the construction industry , 2008 .

[20]  Constance E. Helfat,et al.  Dynamic capabilities : understanding strategic change in organizations , 2007 .

[21]  Yong Ni.  The impact of information systems on business flexibility from the managerial perspective : multiple cases of enterprise systems enhancement and ongoing changes , 2007 .

[22]  Waldemar Karwowski,et al.  A review of enterprise agility: Concepts, frameworks, and attributes , 2007 .

[23]  Matthias Holweg,et al.  The three dimensions of responsiveness , 2005 .