Abstract

PurposeDespite the wave of enthusiasm for building information modelling (BIM) as a platform for information sharing, issues from the context of information-sharing behaviours still exist. The purpose of this paper is to explore the behavioural factors for successful information sharing in BIM projects in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachBased on a literature review, a questionnaire was designed containing seven identified behavioural factors and their sub-elements. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey with 42 experienced BIM practitioners. In addition to that qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine construction practitioners in the Malaysian construction industry. Initially, a descriptive statistical analysis was adopted, followed by multivariate analysis that was employed to examine the possible effect of demographic attributes (i.e. nature of organisation and work experience in BIM) on the behavioural factors.FindingsThe analytical results indicated that communication, accountability and trust were the top three behavioural factors influencing successful information sharing. Additionally, the majority of the behavioural factors on information sharing were found to be not significantly dependent on both, the nature of organisations and the level of BIM experiences. Overall, the success of information sharing in the digital environment (i.e. BIM) depends on organisational behaviour supported by the collaborative constructs.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the fact that BIM implementation in Malaysia is still in its infancy, this study was limited to local context with small-scale BIM practitioners. Therefore, their views may not represent all BIM-related stakeholders in the industry.Practical implicationsThe success of information sharing in BIM projects is a result of a combination of various factors, and this study provides construction practitioners with information on the behavioural factors, which could assist them in creating collective and collaborative information sharing in a digital environment.Originality/valueDespite the fact that this study is country specific, the paper presents a new perspective on the behavioural context of information sharing in BIM projects. The findings further extend the current BIM literature by providing an insight into what it takes for project teams to reinforce their information sharing in the Malaysian digital environment through improvements in behaviours.

Highlights

  • In today’s era of digitalisation, the subject of information sharing grows proportionately with the progress of information and communication technology (ICT) adoption in various industries (Leidner, 2010)

  • The findings indicate that fostering behavioural attributes are seen as key, as they have a direct influence on the information sharing between project teams

  • This research explored the behavioural factors for successful information sharing in Building Information Modeling (BIM) projects in Malaysia

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Summary

Introduction

In today’s era of digitalisation, the subject of information sharing grows proportionately with the progress of information and communication technology (ICT) adoption in various industries (Leidner, 2010). The benefits include delivering precise project information with greater visualisation via multi-dimensional modeling capabilities that enhance the quality of communication on projects (Hosseini et al, 2012). The possible reasons contributing to this issue is the complexity of the current technology ecosystems such as design authoring tools, lack of collaborative working approach and scarcity of knowledge among project teams. The existence of information fragmentation between individuals is because most of them work in silos and they do not have a precise knowledge on the potential value of BIM philosophy (Liu et al, 2017). Akponeware and Adamu (2017) described that the existing culture of isolated working practices in BIM projects inhibits the potential to innovate and foster the processes of information exchange, subsequently depreciating the collaborative benefits of BIM (Zheng et al, 2017)

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