A readiness model for IT investment in the construction industry

Abstract

The issues of IT failures have led to wide investigations efforts over the years. Ample evidence discovered that inability to evaluate organisation readiness among the main factor contributes to the failure. Most of the current IT/IS evaluation model focused on the post-implementation which failed to address the readiness of the organisation prior to the implementation. Assessing organisation readiness is critically important as a means for planning and adopting IT in organisation. Construction industry is among the critical industry that used IT extensively to support its long production processes. However, it is noted that the failure rate of IT project in this industry was also high, and one of the reasons identified was that the IT investment decision was made through ad-hoc manner without any adequate preparation. To date, it is found that only three readiness models available for IT evaluation in construction industry. Therefore, this paper will review the current available readiness model relating to IT investment in construction industry. It is anticipated that the findings can highlight the importance of developing an IT readiness model specifically for construction industry that focus on one aspect only that is the ‘soft issue’. Key words: Readiness, construction, IT evaluation, IT construction, readiness model.