A new perspective to evaluate the antecedent path of adoption of digital technologies in major projects of construction industry: A case study in China

Abstract

The adoption of digital technologies is key to the digital transformation of the construction industry. However, the current adoption of digital technologies is limited. This study uses China as a case, combines the DOI and TOE theories to identify impact factors of the adoption of digital technologies in major projects. The configuration analysis is complemented with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. As a result, the study constructs the “TOE-D Technology Adoption Antecedent Framework”, including 11 antecedents, and identifies three distinct configurations types, namely: “Needs-Resource-Collaboration”; “Resource” under high competitive pressure; and “Resource” under low competitive pressure. Comparing the configurations horizontally, the core or edge characteristics of factor in configurations are analyzed. The results can help major projects in the construction industry to ascertain a combination of elements, which promote the adoption of digital technologies so that project practitioners can make targeted and precise adjustments to enable digital transformation of the construction industry.

Keywords

• Major projects
• Digital technologies
• Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fs QCA)
• DOI (diffusion of innovation)
• TOE (technology-organization-environment)