Deriving an IT-enabled process strategy for construction

This paper demonstrates that to understand the problems and opportunities facing the use of Information Technology (IT) to support process improvement in the construction sector, a dynamic perspective on how transformation takes place in the whole industry is required. Drawing on new process-based management and organisational methods used in manufacturing, an IT-enabled process strategy for the construction industry is derived. This enables the identification of: core and support processes; inhibitors to process flow; and construction-specific process improvements. It allows us to outline a workplan to implement these changes in order to achieve a consistent innovation strategy. The place of IT research within this workplan is specifically identified and compared with the current practice in IT application within the sector.