A CASE STUDY ON ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE CHANGE TO SUPPORT BIM IMPLEMENTATION IN DESIGN FIRM

Abstract

This study empirically investigates organizational structure change (OSC) to support the implementation of building information modeling (BIM) in design firms. Unlike previous BIM implementation studies that focused primarily on changes in organizational configuration, this study provides a comprehensive view of changes in multiple organizational structure (OS) dimensions, including configuration, standardization and formalization, specialization, centralization, and integration. Based on Pettigrew’s contextual approach and empirical data from a case study, this study discusses and explains the processes and factors that underpin OSC. The finding shows that OSC to support BIM is a process that is directly tied to changes in the external BIM market context as well as the vision and strategy of the company’s internal BIM implementation. The outcomes of OSC result from dynamics among change context, change content, change process, and change leadership. Changes in different OS dimensions are also linked and can support one another. This study is helpful in developing an OSC framework for BIM implementation.