Allan, B; Sweis, R and Sweis, G (2026) Assessing the challenges affecting blockchain adoption in the Jordanian construction industry: Pestel framework approach. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 16(2), pp. 357-376. ISSN 2044-124X
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to examine the challenges that the construction industry (CI) practitioners face in adopting blockchain technology (BCT) in the Jordanian CI. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory research perspective is applied to identify the challenges of BCT in the CI by conducting a bibliometric analysis. Challenges are clustered via the political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental and legal (PESTEL) framework and to investigate the inter-linkages between the challenges, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is applied. Convenience sampling is used with only first-grade classification to rank the challenges based on their importance index from the perspective of three Jordanian construction stakeholders; architects, consulting engineers and civil engineers. Findings – The study identified that the primary challenges facing CI practitioners in adopting BCT are associated with the technological cluster. These include lack of information technology (IT) infrastructure, data validation, data privacy, scalability risks, data security and hesitation to integrate the new systems. Originality/value – This paper presents a novel PESTEL framework tailored for the adoption of BCT in the CI. This paper aims to address a research gap by systematically identifying and ranking 16 key challenges based on the PESTEL framework. Moreover, it offers insights and practical guidance for overcoming the challenges.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bibliometric analysis; blockchain technology; challenges; construction industry; developing country; pestel framework |
| Index terms: | information technology, methodology, practitioner, validation, privacy, consulting engineer, face, bibliometric analysis, civil engineer, developing country, exploratory factor analysis, construction industry, blockchain, architect, sampling, exploratory research, linkage |
| Subjects: | computing systems, profession, data collection methods, business, industry analysis, statistical analysis, research evaluation and metrics, professional development, psychology, practitioner, professional ethics, development economics, research methods |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Digital Applications, International Construction, Organizational Design, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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