Construction digital technology assimilation and absorption capability using measurement invariance of composite modeling

Digital technology is evolving, and construction companies now have various choices of these technologies to implement into daily business. This has, however, resulted in a growing argument on how digital technologies can be accepted in various contexts. However, most arguments are based on technology acceptance models with the core concept of individual behaviors, which ignores the influence of other stakeholders and organizational characteristics. This paper aims to present a novel model representing the successful practice of the assimilation process for digital construction technologies that should be considered before any technology acceptance analysis. The model was tested via empirical investigation with 372 practitioners from Australia involved in building and infrastructure construction projects. Structural equation modeling, measurement invariance of composite models, and some semistructured interviews were used to test and verify the relationships between key variables of the model. The results suggest that the capability of assimilation can be enhanced by improving innovativeness and the relevant operational processes, with a t-value of >6.27. The findings show that a project's likelihood of successful technology assimilation can also be increased if vendors are supportive and the company improves its operating performance assessment and absorption capacity. The findings clarify theoretical and practical contributions for a better understanding of critical factors of assimilation and provide a tool to potential company users for predicting the success of technology assimilation.