Unravelling the Factors Influencing Construction Organisations’ Intention to Adopt Big Data Analytics in South Africa

Abstract

The construction industry has been producing massive data that can be transformed for improved decision-making and better construction project delivery. However, the industry has been adjudged as a slow adopter of digital technologies such as big data analytics (BDA) to improve its service delivery. The implication of this slow adoption is the lack of innovativeness and unsustainable project delivery that has characterised the industry in most countries, particularly in developing ones like South Africa. Therefore, this study assessed the intention to adopt BDA by construction organisations using the unified theory of technology adoption and use of technology (UTAUT) model. A post-positivism philosophical stance was employed, which informed the use of quantitative research with a questionnaire designed to solicit information from construction organisations in South Africa. Data analysis was done using Cronbach alpha to test for reliability and Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation to evaluate the impact of the different constructs of the UTAUT on the adoption of BDA by construction organisations in South Africa. The study found that variables relating to facilitating conditions, performance expectancy, and social influence will significantly impact an organisation’s intention to adopt BDA. However, issues surrounding effort expectancy, resistance to use, and perceived risk cannot be overlooked as they also have high impact levels. The study provides an excellent theoretical and practical contribution to the existing discourse on construction digitalisation.