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Paper: w78-1993-2-183
Paper title: Myth and reality in the use of IT and computer based technologies inconstruction
Authors: Drewer S, Hazlehurst G
Summary: IT and computer based technologies are a catalyst for focusing attentionof managers on technical and commercial efficiency. It is sometimes arguedthat a detailed evaluation of existing practices, in itself, generates a betterunderstanding of the factors constraining efficiency. But it is also argued thatit is the computer based technologies themselves which deliver improvementsin efficiency. Because the construction process is fragmented, the overallefficiency of the process might ' a priori ' be enhanced by the use of IT andcomputer based technologies. However, this assumes that a coherent strategyfor their use is in place, both within individual companies and practices, andwithin the wider construction process.Our current research has highlighted a problem, within a majority ofconstruction engineering and design organisations, which constrains thedevelopment of 'IT' beyond that of discrete applications. The lack of acoherent strategy for the integration of these technologies within a companyis a major constraint on their effective use within the organisation. Theintegration of the use of the technologies between separate organisationswithin the construction process, posits problems of an even greater level ofcomplexity.This paper, has two primary objectives:to articulate the major constraints to the effective use of ' IT ' in orderto develop a set of relevant criteria for evaluating future investments; andto examine the rationale for, and mechanisms through which, integratedsystems, both within organisations and the construction process, may beintroduced.
Type:
Year of publication: 1993
Keywords: construction; information technology; management; technology transfer;corporate strategies
Series: w78:1993
ISSN: 2706-6568
Download paper: /pdfs/w78-1993-2-183.content.pdf
Citation: Drewer S, Hazlehurst G (1993). Myth and reality in the use of IT and computer based technologies inconstruction. Mathur K S, Betts M P, Tham K W (editors); Management of information technology for construction; Singapore, August 1993 (ISSN: 2706-6568), http://itc.scix.net/paper/w78-1993-2-183
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