Culture dynamics of information and communication technology (ICT) adoption in construction companies

Abstract

Innovation is essential in enhancing organizational efficiency and performance, particularly in a rapidly globalizing market. Substantial hidden innovations exist in the construction sector, such as information and communication technology (ICT), which has been identified as a key to enhance information processing in construction. However, technology does not necessarily bring success to an organization. Innovation adoption processes are embedded in organizational culture, which varies from organization to organization. Due to the dual nature of technology and the dynamic nature of culture, the relationship between technology and culture is bidirectional. The technology interacts with organizational culture when an individual attempts to perform their tasks by adopting the technology. This sheds light on the importance of investigating the fit between technology, culture, person and task in ICT adoption in construction. Based on the literature review, a conceptual framework is developed for the interaction between technology, culture, task and person. The framework includes two levels: organizational level and individual level. The organizational level interaction is technology centered, focusing on the fit between the values embedded in organizational culture and in the technology. The individual level interaction is task centered, which focuses on the fit between the technology and task requirements, and the fit between competency of an individual and the task requirements. The various key constructs are also identified: i) culture–technology fit, ii) task–technology fit, iii) person–task fit, iv) person–culture fit and v) information behavior. Based on the study, a subset of empirical framework is developed for further analyses, and two propositions are put forward based on the framework: i) Technology-culture fit at organizational level is associated with task-technology fit at individual level, and ii) Individual value preference, information behavior and person-task fit influence task-technology fit.