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Abstract
Effective technology innovation today appears to be all about the push factors that promote comprehensive technology uptake. There are now multiple, well-established and diverse theories on how best to effect technology innovation deployment, adoption and diffusion. In practice, however, for every push factor there is a potential resistance factor. Significantly, resistance factors become increasingly problematic as the technology innovation moves from its early stages and early adopters to wider spread use by the majority. For a construction industry on the cusp of major transformation, effective integration of emerging communication and collaboration technologies is critical.
This study undertakes a comprehensive review of current innovation theory to identify and examine the particular factors that drive user resistance to technology innovation in construction organisations, most specifically user resistance to Online Project Information Management Systems (OPIMS). For the first time, multiple theoretical perspectives drawn from diffusion of innovation theory, technology acceptance models and social network theories are consolidated into a unified analytical framework of potential resistance factors: the Integrated Resistance Factor Model (IRFM). The IRFM is then tested and refined to identify the most significant resistance factors for OPIMS. Knowledge of the most significant resistance factors for OPIMS can then be used strategically to address key barriers to broader utilisation of that technology. It can also be used to better manage the deployment of emerging technology innovations, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Mobile Computing.
The study employs a mixed methods research approach. Data collection and analysis is conducted sequentially using quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) methods. Data from the survey is analysed using a novel application of the Partial Least Square (PLS) technique, more generally used in Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). All constructs proposed in the IRFM model are demonstrated to be significant, valid and consistent with the theory. IRFM is verified as an effective and appropriate model of user resistance factors. Specific results demonstrate that the most critical factors to influence technology resistance in this context are: (i) the support provided by leaders and peers; (ii) the complexity of the technology; (iii) how compatible the technology is with key work practices; and (iv) the extent to which potential users are able to pre-trial the technology before it is actually deployed. These findings are confirmed by the interviews. The key limitations of the research are specific to the formative measures used in the analysis technique and the sample size.
This research has implications for innovation theory as well as for construction organisations and software providers seeking to implement new technology innovations. For innovation theory, the IRFM represents a unified analytical framework with particular application later in the innovation cycle where resistance becomes a more particular issue. For strategic management of new technology innovations the study identifies a revised focus for learning and training, more particularly to promote user motivation, and a more active role for management in support networks and communities of practice.