Digital prototype framework for understanding building information modelling adoption: Nigerian small and medium architectural firms

Globally, Building Information Modelling (BIM) has solidified its position in bringing efficiency to the construction industry. However, the shift to its adoption and implementation in emerging markets such as Nigeria has brought distortion to both the business processes and the environment of Small and Medium Architectural Firms (SMAFs) in the construction industry. This is due to their limited understanding of the BIM adoption process and their limited resources to absorb the costs associated with such a shift. Therefore, it is important to understand the BIM adoption process and the key factors that influence this within Nigerian SMAFs in order to understand where to focus their limited resource. Thus, this research seeks to develop a framework to understand the BIM adoption process within Nigerian SMAFs. To achieve this, a three-step process was designed, namely: a theoretical phase, empirical phase and framework phase. Firstly, the theoretical phase was based on a review of extant literature, the formulation of theory and its conceptualisation. In the theoretical phase, the current state-of-art of the Nigerian construction industry (NCI) and BIM were explored. This was crucial in identifying the factors that influence BIM adoption within SMAFs, and in understanding the theories that revolve around the subject area. As a result, the study utilised and built upon the theories, frameworks and models related to BIM to conceptualise the factors identified and develop a conceptual framework. Thus, four distinct key factor categories that influence BIM adoption success within the SMAFs emerged, namely: organisational compatibility, individual competence, environmental control, and technology quality. Secondly, the empirical phase comprised of the data collection, analysis and synthesis. In this phase, the empirical enquiry or fieldwork was conducted, which provided empirical evidence of the relationship between the key factors and BIM adoption success within the context of Nigerian SMAFs. The data collection was conducted through a sequential mixed method combining both quantitative (questionnaire survey) and qualitative study (semi-structured interviews) with professionals from Nigerian SMAFs. Finally, the framework phase, consisted of the framework development, prototype development and the validation. It was achieved by synthesizing the findings based on the results and analysis of both the theoretical and empirical phases. However, to establish the priorities of the identified categories and their associated factors, the Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) method was employed. The framework was further utilised to develop a digital prototype application, which has both mobile and web-based versions. The developed framework was validated through a small-scale interview with experts based on criteria such as comprehensiveness, usefulness, feasibility and generality. Fundamentally, there are two contributions of this study to the existing body of knowledge: (i) the theoretical contribution is demonstrated by providing empirical evidence that establishes the relationship between key factors, which have been clustered into four main categories (i.e. organisational capability, individual competence, environmental control, and technology quality) and the BIM adoption process within Nigerian SMAFs; and (ii) the practical contribution is evidenced by developing a digital prototype of the framework to facilitate an understanding of BIM adoption process amongst Nigerian SMAFs and inform their decision-making on how and where to invest their resources.