Information Systems in the Construction Industry

This report aims to shed light on the use of Information Systems in the Construction Industry in regards to what it adds to a given company’s “value chain” and its relationships to organisational strategy and competitive advantage.

The construction industry is one the biggest sectors in the UK economy, and the world, contributing about 10% to the UK’s GDP and continuous to grow despite the recent economic downturn. The global construction market is facing changes as various businesses are still reacting to 2008 economic crisis. The Sector itself is moving towards a period that is becoming more dominated by the digital age and centring itself more so on sustainability and greener technologies. The construction sector’s response to these changes is mirrored in strategies that various construction companies choose to employ in order to take advantage the opportunities available and will be a key factor in them remaining competitive and overall survival. (1)

The use of information systems is therefore becoming a crucial part of construction industry’s growth whereby “To improve the competitiveness of the industry through increased efficiency, communication and productivity, a strategic use of IT is suggested in delivering projects (Zhen et al., 2005). (2) The industry is very complex whereby its nature is project based with a prolonged sequence that involves planning and design, procurement, contractor selection, project management, operation and maintenance. Due the sector’s complexity it has been somewhat challenging to implement this. It is clear that construction companies today are embracing the concept of integrating IT and project-management tools in their programs. (1) These programs can be beneficial for these companies, a...

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... if they continue to invest their resources into new Information Systems like they are currently.

Bibliography

1. Porter, Michael E. Competitive Advantage. New York : Free Press, 1990.

2. Zhen, C., Heng, L. Kong, Stephen C. W. and X., Qian. A knowledge-driven management approach to environmental-conscious construction.. Construction Innovation. 2005.

3. Kenneth C. Laudon, Jane P. Laudon. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm. 12th. 2012.

4. Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. s.l. : John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 2.

5. Past, present and future of information and knowledge sharing in the. Yacine Rezgui, Stefan Boddy, Matthew Wetherill, Grahame Cooper. 2009, Computer-Aided Design, pp. 502-516.