Remote working in construction: assessing the affordance of digitisation

Author:

Mokhtar Azizi ZahirahORCID,Cochrane James,Thurairajah NirajORCID,Mokhtar Azizi Nurul Sakina

Abstract

PurposeAs remote working becomes increasingly popular, remote working could unlock new ways of working through digitisation. However, the construction sector has been slow to adopt digitisation in its processes, making digitisation difficult to assess whether this affordance may be well received and the current capabilities of digitisation to achieve this effectively. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interest in remote working amongst construction sector personnel and to examine the factors affecting remote working through digitisation affordances.Design/methodology/approachBased on a case study of one of the largest contractor firms in the United Kingdom, an online questionnaire survey was used to collect responses from 125 construction professionals. Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) was used to do basic statistical analysis on the results.FindingsThe findings show that there is a general appetite for remote working on a flexible basis where a mix of “on-site” and “off-site” arrangement was deemed practical. This could potentially unlock significant time and cost savings as well as productivity gains. The main factors affecting remote working were the availability of interconnected systems allowing efficient communication and digital infrastructure that enable automated processes.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to a large contractor company and may not be appropriate for small and medium-sized companies. The findings may benefit organisations to evaluate the practical needs of ensuring effective remote working in the construction industry and unlocking efficiencies.Originality/valueThe paper adds value to understanding the affordances and constraints of digitisation for remote working from the perspective of construction professionals.

Publisher

Emerald

Subject

Civil and Structural Engineering,Building and Construction,Architecture,Engineering (miscellaneous),Urban Studies

Reference63 articles.

1. Impact of VR-based training on human–robot interaction for remote operating construction robots;Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering,2022

2. Analysing qualitative data: more than ‘identifying themes;Research Gate,2009

3. Bigagli, T., Alarcon, L. and Abboud, S. (2020), “The trends shaping the construction industry in 2020”, Plug and Play Tech Centre, available at: https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/resources/trends-construction-industry/.

4. Statistics notes: cronbach's alpha;BMJ,1997

Cited by 1 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3