Hampson, K and Tatum, C B (1997) Technology strategy and competitive performance in bridge construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 123(2), pp. 153-161. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Pragmatic construction professionals, accustomed to intense price competition and focused on the bottom line, have difficulty justifying investments in advanced technology. Researchers and industry professionals need improved tools to analyze how technology affects the performance of the firm. This paper reports the results of research to begin answering the question, "does technology matter?" The researchers developed a set of five dimensions for technology strategy, collected information regarding these dimensions along with four measures of competitive performance in five bridge construction firms, and analyzed the information to identify relationships between technology strategy and competitive performance. Three technology strategy dimensions - competitive positioning, depth of technology strategy, and organizational fit - showed particularly strong correlations with the competitive performance indicators of absolute growth in contract awards and contract award value per technical employee. These findings indicate that technology does matter. The research also provides ways to analyze options for approaching technology and ways to relate technology to competitive performance for use by managers. It also provides a valuable set of research measures for technology strategy.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | technology strategy, construction professional, dimension, option, manager, performance indicator, competition, bridge construction |
| Subjects: | business, practitioner, health monitoring assessment and metrics, performance management, professional development, infrastructure engineering, market analysis, decision analysis |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here