ITcon Vol. 25, pg. 325-341, http://www.itcon.org/2020/19

Change management practices for adopting new technologies in the design and construction industry

DOI:10.36680/j.itcon.2020.019
submitted:March 2020
revised:April 2020
published:June 2020
editor(s):Kumar B.
authors:Omar Maali, Graduate Student,
Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas, KS, USA;
Maali@ku.edu

Brian Lines, Associate Professor,
Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas, KS, USA;
Brianlines@ku.edu

Jake Smithwick, Assistant Professor,
Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management, University of North Carolina, NC, USA;
Jake.smithwick@uncc.edu

Kristen Hurtado, Research Professor,
Del E. Webb School of Construction, Arizona State University, AZ, USA;
Kristen.Hurtado@asu.edu

Kenneth Sullivan, Professor,
Del E. Webb School of Construction, Arizona State University, AZ, USA;
Kenneth.Sullivan@asu.edu
summary:The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has often been accused of being slow to adopt change. Yet the breadth of available technology solutions in the modern AEC industry continues to grow. Companies therefore must be adept at organizational change management; otherwise, the full benefits of technology solutions may never be realized when a company fails to achieve successful change adoption. The objective of this study was to identify the relationships between specific change management practices and organizational adoption of new technology solutions. An industry-wide approach was taken, wherein an online survey methodology was used to collect 167 cases of organization-wide change from AEC firms across the United States and Canada. The method of analysis included a correlation analysis between change management practices and change adoption. Reliability testing and principal components analysis were used to extract a single construct measure of change adoption. Rank-based nonparametric testing investigated if there are statistically significant differences between different groups of participants and technologies. Results include a rank-order of specific change management practices most associated with successful technology adoption. Change-agent effectiveness, measured benchmarks, realistic timeframe, and communicated benefits are the four change management practices that had the strongest association strength with successful change adoption. The discussion addresses how these leading change management practices compare with previous literature. Also, it was found that organization type and job position were correlated with the levels of change-adoption success compared to other listed factors. This study contributes an industry-wide view of change management practices within the context of technology-based change adoption and may assist practitioners to better manage technology adoptions in their organizations.
keywords:IT, Adoption, Technology, Best Practices, Organizational Change Management, Architecture, Engineering and Construction
full text: (PDF file, 0.429 MB)
citation:Maali O, Lines B, Smithwick J, Hurtado K, Sullivan K (2020). Change management practices for adopting new technologies in the design and construction industry, ITcon Vol. 25, pg. 325-341, https://doi.org/10.36680/j.itcon.2020.019
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