Flanagan, R and Marsh, L (2000) Measuring the costs and benefits of information technology in construction. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 7(4), pp. 423-435. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Information technology (IT) has been widely applied across many economic sectors in order to increase competitiveness and reduce costs. This paper identifies that uptake of IT within construction is low. It is argued that significant barriers preventing construction organizations from investing in IT include uncertainty concerning the identification and measurement of benefits associated with applications. In particular, it is argued that difficulties in quantifying benefits associated with improved information availability and decision making prevent effective IT cost/benefit analysis. Existing approaches to evaluating IT within construction are reviewed. A framework is presented which identifies metrics by which IT impacts both management and operational processes within construction in order to deliver value. An evaluation methodology tailored to one specific IT application, high-density bar coding in maintenance management, is presented to illustrate the quantification of both the costs and benefits of applying IT.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bar coding; benefit; cost; evaluation; information technology; probabilistic modelling |
| Index terms: | information technology, methodology, decision-making, modelling, competitiveness, maintenance management, density, construction organization, quantification |
| Subjects: | organization, computing systems, analytical methods, research methods, maintenance engineering, decision analysis, measurement and scaling, market analysis |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Risk Management, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Research Practice |
| 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