Integrating information technology in the construction industry: Technology readiness assessment of Malaysian contractors

Innovation with emphasis on information technology (IT) is becoming a major issue in the construction industry worldwide. As a result of new technological advances, all businesses including those in the construction industry are on the thresholds of a major revolution [Arslan G, Tuncan M, Birgonul MT, Dikmen. E-Bidding proposal preparation system for construction projects. Build Environ 2005. Available from: www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv]. In line with the aspiration to be industrialised by the year 2020, the Malaysian government has been strongly pushing for the Malaysian construction industry to enhance the use of IT. Technology readiness index (TRI) which measures people’s propensity to embrace and use technologies for accomplishing goals in home life and at work was developed by Parasuraman [Parasuraman A. Technology readiness index (TRI): a multiple-item scale to measure readiness to embrace new technologies. J Serv Res 2000;2(4):307–20]. We adopted this measure to assess the readiness of construction firm managers in terms of technology. The overall TRI score (mean = 3.18, SD = 0.23) of the surveyed managers suggests that they were moderate in terms of their technology readiness. Furthermore bigger firms were found to be more optimistic compared to smaller firms but with no significant difference in the overall TRI. The research findings are discussed in relation to the IT changes that the Malaysian government is trying to impose on the nation and the construction industry.