Contribution of process-technology fit to IT business value : the case of BIM in the construction industry

Abstract

Delivering construction projects often requires a large amount of information to be processed, which needs the support of information technologies, e.g., BIM (Building Information Modelling) facilitates information processing in construction processes, including business process of construction organisations and construction project process, to deliver IT business value for construction organisations and projects. However, the adoption of BIM cannot always guarantee the achievement of desired IT business value of BIM. The extent to which the information processing capability provided by BIM can match the requirements of construction processes plays an important role in influencing IT business value of BIM. Therefore, there is a need to investigate whether and how process-technology fit between construction processes and BIM influences IT business value need to be investigated. In responding to the research questions, three objectives are put forward: (1) To investigate whether process-technology fit between business process and BIM influences IT business value of BIM in construction organisations; (2) To investigate whether process-technology fit between project process and BIM influences IT business value of BIM in construction projects; and (3) To investigate how process-technology fit between business process and BIM influences IT business value of BIM in construction organisations through appropriation of BIM and standardization of project management information flow. Quantitative research approach combining questionnaire survey and case study are adopted in this research to fulfil three research objectives under two research questions. The questionnaire survey is conducted to achieve research objective 1 and 3, and the case study is performed to achieve research objective 1 and 2. This research mainly finds out that: (1) Process-technology fit between construction processes and BIM has a positive impact on IT business value of BIM at two levels of construction organisations and construction projects; (2) Misfits are found at two levels: between project process and BIM and between business process of construction organisations and BIM, which may undermine the IT business value of BIM. Process-technology misfits at project level are mainly caused by problems in project process, while process-technology misfits at organisational level are mainly the result of technology immaturity; (3) Process-technology fit between business process and BIM affects IT business value of BIM in construction organisations through influencing faithfulness of and consensus on appropriation of BIM; and (4) Standardization of project management information flow has a positive impact on IT business value of BIM in construction organisations, which supplements the effect of process-technology fit on IT business value. In the case of BIM implementation in construction processes, it is found that there is empirical support for the contribution of process-technology fit to IT business value. This study also offers practical implications for BIM implementation through identifying misfits between construction processes and BIM, which highlights the need for construction process reengineering.