Liu, Z and Wang, N (2026) The effects of emerging digital technologies on construction project resilience: The mediating role of relational governance. Building Research & Information, 54(1), pp. 118-134. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
Emerging digital technologies have significantly accelerated the digital transformation of the construction industry by reshaping production processes and delivery methods, thus attracting considerable attention from both researchers and practitioners. While these digital technologies offer substantial operational improvements that can help projects address disruptions, it remains uncertain whether they can effectively enhance construction project resilience. To gain a deeper understanding of the potential advantages of emerging digital technologies from a resilience perspective, this study examines their impact on construction project resilience and investigates the mediating role of relational governance by the Organizational Information Processing Theory (OIPT). Based on a survey of 198 contractors, empirical analysis reveals that emerging digital technologies positively influence construction project resilience across the dimensions of anticipation, coping, and adaptation capabilities. Furthermore, relational governance plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between emerging digital technologies and both anticipation and coping capabilities. Additionally, the study finds that coping capability is positively associated with adaptation capability. This research contributes to the theoretical discourse on digital transformation and construction project resilience and offers practical insights into the advantages of adopting digital technologies in the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction projects; emerging digital technologies; project resilience; relational governance |
| Index terms: | survey, production process, digital technology, practitioner, construction project, transformation, adaptation, delivery method, governance, construction industry, dimension, information processing, coping |
| Subjects: | practitioner, user focus, production management, manufacturing engineering, behavioral psychology, computing systems, business, data collection methods, health monitoring assessment and metrics, data science, industry analysis, delivery method |
| Topics: | Procurement, Health and Safety, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Governance, Business Strategy, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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