ABSTRACT Building Information Modeling (BIM) is considered to be one of the most promising innovations in the construction industry, and the building industry is beginning to use and benefit from it. However, the full adoption of BIM in the construction industry is still challenging as small and medium-sized organizations (SMOs) are lagging in BIM adoption. Although existing studies have explored many influencing factors of BIM adoption, most of them are focused on a single relationship and cannot explain why certain factor that works for one organization fails in others. This study aims to respond to the research gap in previous studies on BIM adoption in SMOs by highlighting the importance of the combination of influencing factors rather than single correlations, thereby clarifying the realization mechanisms of BIM adoption in SMOs. Using the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) approach and fsQCA3.0, this study connects the factors from technological, organizational, and environmental aspects under the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, five configurations leading to the high BIM adoption and two configurations leading to the low BIM adoption are identified with 36 SMO cases through the configurational lens. As one of the earliest attempts to investigate SMOs’ BIM adoption decisions using the QCA method, this study expects to offer a holistic understanding of BIM adoption in SMOs and contribute to the full BIM diffusion in the construction industry by providing valuable suggestions to industry practitioners. Highlights BIM adoption in SMOs results from a combination of technological, organizational, and environmental conditions, and no necessary conditions lead to BIM adoption behavior. More than one configuration is leading to high or low BIM adoption in SMOs. Under specific contexts, BIM capability can substitute for financial capability, while financial capability will substitute for government pressure. When conditions are missing on both the technological and organizational aspects, government or market pressure alone cannot lead to BIM adoption behavior in SMOs.
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