Barriers to the digital transformation process in the Turkish construction industry

Abstract

Keywords: Digital adaption; digital technology; digital transformation; construction sector; barriers.

Introduction

Patel and McCarthy first mentioned digital transformation in 2000. The most accepted definition of digital transformation in the literature is “digital transformation can be understood as the changes caused or affected by digital technology in all areas of human life.” [1]. Digital transformation does not just mean keeping up with technology; customer satisfaction will also increase while adapting to technology. The main purpose of the transformation is to create digital business models that focus on organizational processes that will increase the agility, revenue, and cost of the business [2]. Digital transformation will help organizations become more efficient and productive and keep up with competitive market conditions (Fig. 1). The construction industry is showing a new trend toward digital information exchange from the traditional written information exchange method that other sectors such as aviation and banking adopted and benefited from long ago. While this process was going on, it was observed that the construction and real estate sector was one of the lagging sectors in terms of digital maturity [4]. Therefore, the construction industry needs to change the way it works to compete in the digital age. Professionals in the construction industry, which has become a digital organization, will need to completely restructure the industry and processes in terms of customer engagement. In addition, it will be necessary to define and scope the digital strategy, which determines the structure of the transformation and the goals to be achieved, and to determine the progress processes, because the real strength of the digital strategy lies in its scope and goals [5]. The main purpose of this study is to determine the barriers to the digital transformation process in the Turkish construction industry. The results presented in line with the information obtained from the literature review, frequency analysis, and pilot study surveys are intended to help develop effective digital strategies.

The Concept Of Digital Transformation In The Construction Industry

The concept of Industry 4.0 is a strategic plan that aims to bring information communication technologies and industries together on a common ground and work together. It aims to incorporate technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors, and cloud computing into industrial processes. Construction can already be said to be Industry

Methodology

The research methodology of this study involved 1) conducting a comprehensive literature review for determining the barriers to the digital transformation process in the construction industry and 2) conducting pilot study with experts who have expertise in digital transformation and building information modeling applications in order to validate the suitability of determined factors for Turkish construction industry. Details for each stage can be found below. Literature Review for Identifying Barriers to the Digital Transformation Process in the Construction Industry To determine the factors that hinder digital transformation in the construction industry, publications were searched in Scopus and Google Scholar databases using the keywords “digital adaptation, digital technology, digital transformation, construction industry, barriers”. From the results, those that were not related to the construction industry were eliminated, and then 38 sources with publication dates between 2013 and 2023 were identified. Thanks to this approach, relevant and up-todate sources related to the subject were provided to guide the study. The factors that hinder digital transformation in the construction industry in these determined sources and the frequency analysis results of these factors are presented in Table 1. In the study, the high cost of the digital transformation process stands out as the most prominent barrier, being mentioned in 28 out of 38 sources. This barrier is followed by the barrier of the team working in the construction industry not accepting the digital transforma-

Pilot Study The factors shown in Table 1 include the barriers to digital transformation processes in different countries. However, since each country must be evaluated within its conditions, the determined factors should be validated in terms of their suitability for the Turkish construction industry. For achieving this, a pilot study was carried out with a total number of six participant who have expertise in digital transformation and building information modeling applications. The demographic structure of the participants is presented in Table 2. While five of the six experts who participated in the survey are civil engineers, one of them is an architect. In addition, five of these six participants are academicians and one of them works as a project manager. The participant with the least professional experience has been working in his current position for four years, while the participant with the longest professional experience has ten years of experience. The average age of the people participating in the survey stands out as 32 years, and the average professional experience is 6.58 years. In the pilot study, participants evaluated the suitability of determined barriers to the digital transformation process for the Turkish construction industry and expressed their opinions on why they did not find them suitable. In line with the evaluations and comments from experts, the barriers to the digital transformation process in the Turkish construction industry were identified.

Results

As a result of the literature study, the participants expressed their opinions about the suitability of the barriers to digital transformation in the construction industry for the Turkish construction industry. Participant No. 1 stated that the barrier “Lack of competition and motivation for digital transformation in the Construction Industry” and the barrier “Lack of models that can exemplify digital transformation” overlap with each other. He also said that the barrier “The government’s lack of support for digital transformation” was not appropriate but did not express any opinion and stated that other barriers were appropri-

The construction industry, with its traditional structure, has been left out of technological developments and has not been able to follow the digital developments in different sectors. Industry stakeholders do not have sufficient information about the benefits and innovations that new technologies can bring to the construction industry. Adapting to the use of digital developments and taking part in new training processes requires extra work and effort for team members. In addition, the belief that the human factor in business processes will decrease with the use of new technologies causes employees to be reluctant about digitalization. The construction industry is highly competitive. To increase company success, it becomes necessary to transition to innovative technologies. The sooner adaptation to this transition process is achieved, the easier it will be to keep up with the competition. To increase the adaptation and skills of employees, the adaptation skills of employees should be kept at the highest level by providing qualified trainers and appropriate motivation management. However, the number of competent technical personnel who will provide the necessary training to employees is limited. Digital transformation processes of companies require high financial investment, a new organizational structure, and training processes. Therefore, transformation processes must be carefully planned and carried out down to the smallest detail. It is very difficult to find a manager who is qualified to lead this process. The high budget to be allocated to the training of employees in the digital transformation process and the uncertainty about the estimation of financial returns in response to high investments such as technological infrastructure costs cause companies to refrain from transforming their organizations. For a digital structure to operate smoothly, employees within the organization must receive qualified training. Since digital structures are not easy to understand, the training to be provided will require a certain process. The fact that this process is not short causes a distant attitude toward transformation in the construction industry, which is already racing against time.

The team working in the construction industry does not accept the digital transformation process

3. Lack of competent technical personnel

Lack of effective leadership in the digital transformation of companies

6. Length of personnel training processes

Lack of information about digital transformation in the construction industry

Table 1. Barriers to the Digital Transformation Process in the Construction Industry

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14. Lack of competition and motivation for

Table 1. CONT. The inadequacy of policies to encourage companies by the state constitutes a barrier to accelerating the transformation process. Particularly in developing countries, governments’ positive approach to innovative technologies is rarely encountered. This distant attitude towards new technologies also delays the change process of legal regulations. For digital transformation to occur, compliance with legal processes is required. In particular, rules regarding privacy and confidentiality pose a barrier to transformation. The inclusion of new technologies in organizations also brings cybersecurity concerns. Especially in a sector such as the construction sector, which is constantly progressing actively and constantly producing data; Storing all this accumulated data and the concern that anyone can access the stored data constitute a barrier to technological transformation. To get full efficiency from the implementation of digital transformation, all levels of the organization must be involved in the change. Any error occurring at any lower level during the transformation process will affect the entire structure. It is very difficult to predict the loss of time and money that possible disruptions will bring. Digital structures are systems that directly interact with all employees. Therefore, it is more important than ever that all participants are aware that they are part of a whole. Incompatibilities between participants will completely affect the functioning of the digital system. The number of companies going through digital transformation processes in the construction industry is quite low. Therefore, it is not clear how to complete the digital transformation phases most efficiently. The lack of a model that sets an example for the sector causes companies to take a distant attitude toward digital transformation. Hardware and software errors that occur in digital technologies are not the type of errors that can be easily intervened. The problem should be resolved by experts on the subject. The time it will take for the solution process and the fact that things will not proceed manually throughout the process make companies think about the approach to digital transformation. There is a need for organizations that have completed their digital transformation in the construction industry and will set an example for other companies that benefit from the benefits of the transformation. However, since the number of companies involved in the digital transformation process is low, there is a lack of competition and motivation within the sector.

Recent Adv Sci Eng, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 58-69, December, 2023

Recent Adv Sci Eng, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 58-69, December, 2023

4. Years

ate. Participant No. 5 stated that the barrier of “Lack of effective leadership in the digital transformation of companies” is that although managers have shortcomings, they can take an active role in the processes due to the benefits they can bring and stated that this barrier is not suitable for the Turkish Construction industry. He stated that the barrier of “length of personnel training processes” is not appropriate because it is a factor affecting the motivation of the personnel to receive training. He also stated that the barrier of “Lack of models that can exemplify digital transformation” is not suitable, stating that there are exemplary models that can be taken from developed countries and that the other barriers are suitable for the Turkish Construction industry. Participant No. 6 stated that the barriers of the “High cost of the digital transformation process”, “Lack of support from the government for digital transformation”, “Lack of current legislation and standards for digital transformation”, “Data security concern” and “Lack of a model to exemplify digital transformation” are suitable for the Turkish Construction industry. He expressed his opinion that it was not. However, he did not share any opinion as to why he found it inappropriate. Participants No. 2, 3, and 4 stated that all the determined barriers are suitable for the Turkish Construction industry. The answers given by the participants are presented in Table 3. The participants’ opinions, it was observed that two out of six participants stated that the barrier of lack of a model that could exemplify digital transformation was not appropriate. In addition, considering the opinion of another participant that this barrier is similar to the barrier of lack of competition and motivation for digital transformation in the construction industry, the barriers of “lack of competition and motivation for digital transformation in the construction sector” and “lack of models that can exemplify digital transformation” were combined into a single barrier. It was concluded that it should be evaluated. The opinion stated that the barrier of “lack of effective leadership in the digital transformation of companies” is that even though managers have shortcomings, they can take an active role in the processes due to the benefits they can bring, the comment was made considering that the de-

sire of the managers to take an active role in the process does not compensate for their shortcomings in leading the process was not found valid, and considering the decision of the majority, the barrier Turkish construction industry It has been accepted as valid for. The comment that the “length of personnel training processes” barrier is a factor affecting the motivation of the personnel to receive training was not found to be meaningful, considering that the same barrier would also affect the ideas of the management staff in the transformation processes, and considering the decision of the majority, this barrier was accepted as valid for the Turkish construction industry. The comment stating that the barrier of “lack of models that can exemplify digital transformation” is that there are exemplary models that can be taken from developed countries shows that the participant thinks that there is a lack of models in the Turkish construction industry. The comment received is a solution proposal to this barrier, therefore, considering the decision of the majority, this barrier has been accepted as valid for the Turkish construction industry. Since there were no comments regarding other barriers, they were accepted to be valid in the Turkish construction industry, considering the decision of the majority. The results identifying the barriers to the digital transformation process in the Turkish construction industry are presented in Table 4.

Conclusion

This study aims to identify barriers to the digital transformation process in the Turkish construction industry and to support initiatives aimed at developing digital transformation strategies. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted to determine the barriers to the digital transformation process in the construction industry, and fourteen barriers were identified. Barriers selected from international studies were presented to experts in the field in Turkey along with their frequency analysis, and a survey was conducted to evaluate the validity of the barriers for the Turkish construction industry. As a result of the study,

Lack of information about digital transformation in the construction industry

The team working in the construction industry does not accept the digital transformation process

Lack of effective leadership in the digital transformation of companies

Lack of current legislation and standards for digital transformation

Uncertainties arising from the complete restructuring of the company structure

Lack of models that can provide examples of digital transformation

Lack of competition and motivation for digital transformation in the construction industry

Table 3. Participants' responses regarding the suitability of Barriers for the Turkish construction industry

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Employees are reluctant to digitalize due to the belief that the human factor in business processes will decrease with the use of new technologies. The limited number of technical personnel competent to provide the necessary training to sector employees. The difficulty of finding a manager who will carefully plan and carry out the transformation processes down to the smallest detail and lead this process. During the digital transformation process, high investments such as the high budget to be allocated to employee training and the cost of technological infrastructure cause companies to refrain from transforming their organizations. The training process to be given to personnel for the use of digital technologies is long.

5. The high cost of the digital transformation process

To achieve full efficiency in the implementation of technological transformation, all levels of the organization must be involved in the change and the uncertainties that come with it. Since digital structures are directly active interactive systems with all employees, incompatibilities between participants completely affect the functioning of the digital system The number of companies going through digital transformation processes in the construction industry is very low and therefore there is a lack of a model that can set an example for the sector An error that occurs in digital systems can only be corrected with the intervention of experts in the field and work cannot proceed manually in this process.

13. Hardware and software errors in technological structures

As a result of the government's lack of a positive approach to innovative technologies in developing countries, their distant attitude towards new technologies delays legal regulations.

8. Lack of current legislation and standards for digital transformation

Insufficiency of policies to encourage companies by the state.

Industry stakeholders do not have sufficient information about the benefits and innovations that new technologies can bring to the construction industry.

1. Lack of information about digital transformation in the construction industry

Table 4. Barriers to the Digital Transformation Process in the Turkish Construction Industry

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Recent Adv Sci Eng, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 58-69, December, 2023

it was concluded that the barrier of “lack of competition and motivation for digital transformation in the construction industry” and the barrier of “lack of a model that can exemplify digital transformation” should be combined and evaluated as a single barrier. Thus, the number of barriers, which was initially determined as fourteen, decreased to thirteen. This study only aims to identify the barriers to the digital transformation process in the Turkish construction industry. Based on the study results, the relationship between barriers can be examined and prioritized in order of importance. In addition, the relationship between barriers and their order of importance may vary among companies, so the relationship between barriers can also be evaluated on a company scale basis. Survey results can still help determine priority steps by shedding light on future studies on developing digital transformation strategies.

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Data Availability Statement

The authors confirm that the data that supports the findings of this study are available within the article. Raw data that support the finding of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Conflict Of Interest

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethics

There are no ethical issues with the publication of this manuscript.

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