Effect of Firm Size on Technology Adoption for Construction Purposes

Tan, Yee Teng (2019) Effect of Firm Size on Technology Adoption for Construction Purposes. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

In this era of advanced technology, the construction industry is repeatedly criticised of being inefficient and slow in productivity. Currently, there are several studies addressing the modern technology applications for construction purposes but many of them are limited to research studies and are not really adopted by construction companies. Reviewing of the past researches, there are many factors that have a great impact on the technology adoption for construction purposes. Thus, the main aim of this research is to study the effect of firm size on technology adoption for construction purposes. Besides that, this study aims to investigate where construction industry stands right now in the way of using technologies for construction purposes. Moreover, it identifies the benefits of adopting modern technologies for construction purposes. In addition, it also investigates the barriers that affecting Grade 6 and Grade 7 contractors to apply or refuse a new technology for construction purposes. Furthermore, this study assesses the differences between Grade 6 and Grade 7 contractors in term of effect of firm size on technology adoption for construction purposes. At the beginning, the literature review gives a summary of different types of modern technologies as well as benefits associated with it used for construction purposes. And point up the barriers companies may face while adopting new technologies. Based on the literature review stated, a questionnaire survey is constructed, and quantitative research is adopted for this study due to less time consuming. The questionnaire prepared is then distributed to Grade 6 and Grade 7 contractors within Klang Valley area in Malaysia. There were 81 respondents from Grade 6 and Grade 7 responded to the questionnaire survey. The data collected is then analysed using SPSS Statistics and Independent Simple t-Test in order to achieve the objectives. Both descriptive analysis and inferential analysis is used to analyse the result from the questionnaire survey. The results obtained provide a big picture on the current practices of technology adoption for construction purposes and also the benefits and barriers that affect the Grade 6 and Grade 7 contractors in applying modern technologies for construction purposes. Based on the results obtained, the top four modern technologies that are used mostly by Grade 6 and Grade 7 construction companies are Safety Vest (Wearable technology), AutoCad, Microsoft Project, and Primavera. In general, this study reports that provide better reporting and accountability provide better project updates and enhance high level of communication between all the parties involved are the top three benefits obtained from applying new technologies for construction purposes. Moreover, the most significant barriers for technology adoption were identified, including: high cost of acquiring modern technologies, budget constraints, lack of awareness, resistance to change and incompatibility of the technologies with existing practices and current construction operations. Overall, the Grade 6 and Grade 7 construction companies have not much significantly difference on adopting modern technologies for construction purposes. In short, it can conclude that the effect of firm size will not affect the adoption of modern technologies. Thus, this research acts as a useful reference not only to industry players but also technologies developer.