Jayasena, H S; Thurairajah, N; Perera, B A K S and Siriwardena, M (2019) Promotion of diffusion of innovation: A study of BIM adoption in construction industries. In: Gorse, C and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 35th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2019, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Productivity improvement potentials by adopting Building Information Modelling (BIM) are already well established. In fact, the benefits of BIM adoption are not limited to higher productivity. While there are clear and well-established benefits, the 'natural diffusion' of BIM in construction industries is low. The critical shortfall in BIM adoption rates between regular construction industries compared to those with 'mandated diffusion' of BIM like that of the United Kingdom is clear evidence for this hindrance. Poor rates of adoption lead to a loss in receiving potential benefits brought in by BIM. In this paper, we first show that theories of diffusion of innovations (DOI) clarify how such poor adoption rates occur but that they fail to fully explain why such hindrance occur. This gap in knowledge, in fact is a major barrier in promoting successful BIM diffusion because it limits the rationality of management strategies. This primary gap can be narrowed down to limited knowledge on how 'spatial characteristics' and features of BIM artefacts affect the adopter decision. Affordance is a concept used to explain how such features define possible uses of BIM or how BIM can be used. Several Affordance related theories were found to be able to bridge Affordance with DOI from knowledge, behavioural, social and technological perspectives. In this paper, through a critical review of literature we present a theoretical framework that can be used to analyse and explain how BIM affordances affect the diffusion of BIM. The application of this framework can help in devising strategic packaging of BIM that can effectively promote its natural diffusion. The framework is also usable in many other contexts where the diffusion of technological innovations is studied.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | affordance; building information modelling; diffusion; innovation |
| Index terms: | affordance, construction industry, diffusion of innovation, artefact, evidence, technological innovation, United Kingdom, productivity, management strategy, building information modelling, rationality, promotion |
| Subjects: | evaluation and assessment methods, innovation and technology management, decision-making and reasoning, management, professional development, Geography, sociology, information systems, behavioral psychology, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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