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The issue of low productivity has remained a very stern and chronic problem in construction projects. Previous studies have found poor communication as one of the leading causes of low-construction productivity. Recent advances in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to enhance communication and access to information in construction projects. However, the implications of the use of mobile ICT on construction productivity have not been investigated in sufficient depth, especially from the perspectives of its users, i.e. construction management (CM) professionals. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A focus group session involving ten experienced CM professionals from different organisations of the South Australian construction industry was moderated by a group of four researchers to gather data on mobile ICT usage and its implications for construction productivity.

Lack of training and guidelines on effective applications of these technologies to construction projects is a major bottleneck. Results indicate that despite noticeable advances in mobile ICT, differences in usage style and user attitude have limited their overall impact on productivity.

This paper is based on data gathered from CM professionals working in the South Australian construction industry.

The study highlights the importance of strategising the use of mobile ICT to achieve the desired productivity rates through policy, training, work-life balance, and deeper and wider understanding of these technologies.

The study examines the perceptions of CM professionals on the usefulness of mobile ICT in construction projects and its implications for construction productivity.

Although communication is of vital importance in construction projects, the construction industry is confronted with great communication difficulties and an ineffective use of information and communication technology (ICT) systems. In this study, the objective is to analyse obstacles and preconditions for an effective use of ICT by focusing on characteristics of interorganizational communication in construction projects. Interorganizational communication and ICT are studied by elaborating on these phenomena from the perspective of two paradigms – the traditional functionalist and the radical humanist – and theories representative for these paradigms – the agency theory and Habermas’ critical social theory. By using the method of metatriangulation, it is shown that in addition to the functionalist perspective, the critical social theory of Habermas is an appropriate theory for analysing obstacles and preconditions for an effective interorganizational communication and use of ICT. Based on this analysis, a critical research agenda on communication and ICT in construction is formulated. It is concluded that this type of research will lead to a more articulated view on the alignment between ICT applications and communication in construction projects and will show new directions for ICT development in the future.

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) for business processes has witnessed exponential growth over the past two decades. This paper aims to explore the level of use of ICT infrastructure in the Nigerian construction industry and analyse the implications for construction management practice.

Using quantitative questionnaire survey, data from 148 respondents were analysed with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics as well as multiple regression analysis.

Findings establish project managers, site managers and quantity surveyors as the primary users of ICT with regards to the variety of ICT devices in the Nigerian construction industry, while the foremen are the least users. Besides, word processing/accounting systems, electronic communication systems and project management systems are the three top rated in terms of frequency of use, while quality as well as cost impacts of ICT infrastructure use are established as the most important factors contributing to overall project performance.

The study establishes causal relationships between ICT infrastructure use and project performance within the context of Nigeria’s construction industry.

While mobile Information and Communication Technologies (mobile ICTs) have been adopted by many construction organisations, research on the usage of mobile technologies in the context of construction project management has been scarce. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of how Construction Management Professionals (CMPs) currently use mobile ICTs at work and the factors affecting their usage of mobile ICTs in the context of the Australian construction industry.

In this research, the aim is addressed by a survey-based empirical research approach. A questionnaire was used to collect data about CMPs’ current mobile ICT usage and the factors affecting the usage. Then, relative importance index, factor analysis and χ² test were used to identify the most significant factors affecting their mobile ICT usage.

This research found that user characteristics such as age or years of experience are not the major factors affecting CMPs’ mobile ICT usage. The research also found that there are several barriers hindering an effective usage of mobile ICTs, namely work-family spillover, system quality issues, inconsistency in the way of using mobile ICTs among CMPs and the lack of organisational support.

The results of this research imply that to fully reap the potential benefits of mobile ICTs in construction projects, those barriers need to be addressed appropriately at the individual, organisational and industry levels. Also, this research informs construction organisations of how mobile ICTs can be deployed and used in the most cost-effective way in their projects.

To address the critical issue of how best to adopt and diffuse information and communication technology (ICT) into organisations.

During April and May 2002, a survey of ICT diffusion of ICT users from three construction organisations was conducted.

Results from an earlier phase of this study indicated that 11 factors influence ICT diffusion. The aim of this paper is to report on phase 2 study results within three construction organisations based on the 11 factors found to influence ICT diffusion. Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with five to six ICT users and an implementer for each of the case study companies.

Three factors were found to have a weak influence on ICT diffusion, while eight have a strong influence. These influencing factors may be grouped into four interrelated categories: management, individual, technology, and work environment. Their inter‐relationship should be coherently and comprehensively addressed.

The paper discusses the potential impact of videoconferencing on practices and processes within the construction industry, based on analyses carried out on its use and impact in the healthcare sector – which like construction involves technology‐intensive processes which are dependent upon cross‐professional and cross‐disciplinary relationships and communications, operate within an increasingly regulatory and litigious climate, and involve organizationally fluid, virtual, teams spanning several subindustries. Recently published research evidence from the healthcare sector suggests that whilst videoconferencing and other advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) have pervasive capabilities, successes in their application may be shortlived and modest in achievement. In use, their actual uptake and application have been found to be fundamentally affected by a range of social and operational issues, such as fears over a new formalization and trackability of previously informal conversations; a rebalancing of power relationships (between professionals using the ICTs as well as between doctor and patient); pressures on social/cultural and procedural alignment between participants; and personal and corporate attitudes to the technologies (including simply disliking the ICT). There is also evidence from the healthcare sector to suggest that ICTs increase the complexity of the delivering healthcare, and that the limitations of the technologies emphasise an existing dependency of communications and processes on tacit knowledge which is not readily formalized for communication via ICTs. However, the paper also notes an increasing pressure on the construction industry to respond to the globalizing potential that ICTs offer for the supply and delivery of knowledge‐based services, and discusses the implications of the issues found in the healthcare sector for the use and potential abuse of ICTs in the construction industry that will have to be successfully addressed in order to avoid ICTs being perceived as threatening and to allow their use to help organizations address the globalising marketplace.

This paper assesses the awareness and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) systems within the Turkish construction industry. The findings will assist in identifying the future directions and priorities for how to use ICT as an enabler in this country. The research has been carried out via 22 semi‐structured interviews with senior construction professionals within government and private organizations. It investigated the usage and applicability of current information systems and technologies. The interviews then explored the appropriateness of some of the newly emerging technologies to the industry in Turkey. The findings are reported under three categories of: ICT infrastructures and strategies, the use of information systems, and views on emerging technologies. The last item has been expanded and discussed in more detail, in the paper.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges faced with mobile information communication technology (M-ICT), more specifically tablet software, in the construction phase of UK infrastructure projects. Quality assurance in the context of passive fire protection is scrutinised, where M-ICT use is prevalent, to provide an industry perspective.

The research design is founded on exploratory multiple case study approach. Specific themes are developed, based on a critical review of previous ICT studies. The themes identified are used to inform a qualitative interview protocol for investigating three large UK infrastructure projects. Each project is at different stages in the construction phase, with varying examples of M-ICT implementation in use. Participants are interviewed regarding their experiences of the implementation of M-ICT on each project.

Findings identify diverse experiences across each project. Single and multiple M-ICT platforms are currently being used, with individual stakeholders using ICT in isolation, and in some instances, multiple project stakeholders are using it together. Complete replacement of paper-based processes is evident in one case study, but more commonly, digital technology is being used in parallel to traditional paper-based processes. The challenges, although varied across each case study, can be categorised under the themes of Technology (IT support, ICT infrastructure, IT security, contractual, software), People (social aspects, user competency, safety), Technical Compliance (technical compliance evidence) and Process (conventional processes).

It is recommended that each theme be reviewed at project commencement, with all key stakeholders, to ensure key aspects are considered prior to M-ICT deployment. This will ensure avoidance of challenges reported and maximise the opportunities that are available through M-ICT in a multi-stakeholder infrastructure project.

The purpose of this study was to explore and identify factors affecting adoption and implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in large ICT‐experienced Australian construction organizations. During 2002 the researchers undertook an online survey, supplemented by a hardcopy collection option, to gather data from three major construction organizations with many years experience with implementing and adopting IT. The analysis concentrated on a common class of ICT adopted across the three organizations so that factor analysis could be validly undertaken. Results identified 11 factors that were found to influence ICT diffusion and adoption by the organizations that were grouped into management, individual, technology and workplace environment categories. These concurred with theory from the change management, innovation diffusion and organizational learning literature. Further, in‐depth qualitative analysis through case studies (beyond the scope of this paper) also helped to explain and make sense of the results. The results help to better explain human related factors in particular in terms of the broader and emerging literature of organizational learning and innovation adoption with a clear focus on how the people‐side of ICT diffusion and adoption is undertaken. This ICT diffusion and adoption study is undertaken at the firm‐level (micro analysis) as opposed to the industry level (macro analysis) and so provides insights into the interplay between diffusion and adoption concepts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and occurrence, and peculiarities and dynamics, if any, of perceived challenges to the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in construction site management; using South Africa as context for empirical study.

Literature on the constraints to technology transfer and ICT adoption in construction is used as basis for the study. A national survey of registered persons in South Africa was used to collect qualitative data. A robust multi-stepped analytical approach was used to derive results.

Findings suggest appreciable similarity between literature and primary data, in types of individual challenges and their categories. Lack of technology and management support, and knowledge and information related issues, are relatively more prevalent in site management. There is a fair level of commonality in perception of technical barriers among the various categories of respondents who are active in site management. However, project managers seem to be more sensitive to some inhibiting factors, more than other respondent groups.

Inherent limitations of survey strategy were experienced, but highly qualitative data were collected at a national level. The study highlights the range of barriers to ICT in site management, and compounding effects of technology-, knowledge- and management-related constraints.

The possibility of knowledge-based factors remotely manifesting in other categories was highlighted. There is need to consider all challenges in planning for ICT in projects, and prioritise technology-, knowledge- and management-related challenges. A classification for exploring challenges to ICT in the site management process is also proposed.

Appreciable paucity remains in research focused on ICT in the site management process, as opposed to the popular operations/application focus of IT/ICT studies. Furthermore, there is still scarcity of ICT research in Africa, with regard to the built environment and specifically site management.

This study contributes to research in ICT innovation adoption in the construction industry, by developing a better understanding of the dynamics of perceived challenges to ICT adoption in the site management process; according to types and classifications of challenges, and roles and age groups of stakeholders. The study further sets a baseline for future studies in this area by proposing a frame of categorisation that is focused on site management.