Löfgren, A (2008) Making mobile meaning: Expectations and experiences of mobile computing usefulness in construction site management practice. PhD thesis, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
Abstract
During the last decade, anticipated and realized benefits of mobile and wireless information and communication technology (ICT) for different business purposes have been widely explored and evaluated. Also, the significance of 'user acceptance' mechanisms through 'perceived usefulness' of ICT applications has gained broad recognition among business organizations in developing and adopting new ICT capabilities. However, even though technology usefulness is regularly highlighted as an important factor in ICT projects, there is often a lack of understanding of what the concept involves in the practical work context of the actual users, and how to deal with the issues of usefulness in organizational ICT development processes. This doctoral thesis covers a 1.5 year case study of a mobile computing development project at a Swedish international construction enterprise. The company's mobile ICT venture addressed the deficient ICT use situation of management practitioners in construction site operations. The study portrays the overall socially shaped development process of the chosen technology and its evolving issues of usefulness for existing construction site management practice. The perceived usefulness of mobile computing tools among the 'user-practitioners' is described as emergence of 'meaningful use' based on initial expectations and actual experiences of the technology in their situated fieldwork context. The studied case depicts the ongoing and open-ended conversational nature of understanding adequate ICT requirements in work practice, and the negotiation of mobile computing technology design properties between users and developers over time towards the alignment of diverse personal, professional and organizational needs and purposes of ICT use. The studied introduction of mobile computing technology in construction site management fieldwork practice serves as an illustrative actual example of how to interpret, understand and approach issues of usefulness and user acceptance of ICT resources in operative work contexts when managing ICT development processes in organizations.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Wikforss, Ö |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | communication; computing; construction site; information and communication technology; site management; site operations; emergence; case study |
| Index terms: | negotiation, operative, international construction, site operation, site management, mobile computing, case study, emergence, computing, practitioner, work practice, management practice, construction site, perceived usefulness, meaning, information and communication technology |
| Subjects: | computing systems, practitioner, data collection methods, strategic management, construction operations, work location, operations management, digital technology, management, behavioral psychology, systems engineering, sociology, conflict resolution |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Site Management, International Construction, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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