A CONTEXT WIDE REVIEW ON BUILDING TRUST THROUGH DIGITAL APPROACHES

Abstract

Common to the construction industry, distinct parties of different backgrounds and disciplines were assembled to complete a project. Despite being unfamiliar and sharing little in common except the project’s goal, this ad-hoc syndicate was expected to effectively communicate the expectation of the project’s stakeholders. While it was possible for project parties to get along and gradually form an effective relationship, contrasting interests and values were the norms, which resulted in conflicting attitudes and behaviour. Among the most critical constituents of a successful relationship, trust was identified as the fundamental building block to allay conflict or cushioning its impacts it. Through advancements in project management thinking in recent times were able to offer pragmatic solutions to relationship issues in construction, it appeared that digital transformation was not widely inculcated in the approaches. Against this backdrop, this paper aimed to gain insightful disclosure on digital development that promotes and accelerates trust-building in different contexts. This is methodically carried out by identifying and reviewing 100 pieces of relevant literature from the Scopus database, followed by deductive content analysis to observe the interplay between digital development and trust in a wider context. The analyses revealed two types of digital approaches having bright prospects for infusion in construction which are Gamification and Virtual Reality (VR). The outcome from this analysis provides the much-needed departing point for humanizing digital development in construction and signifies a paradigm shift in dealing with trust issues in construction.