Are Different Innovations More Challenging to Implement? A Comparison of Different Types of Changes in the AEC

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is introduced to a lot of innovations and changes in various types such as technology (software and hardware informational systems), management process (alternative project delivery, alternative procurement methods, and process improvements), and business structure (mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, prefabrication, etc.). The industry is rapidly adopting different types of changes. The objective of the study was to determine if certain types of change are harder than others to successfully adopt and implement. An industry-wide approach was taken using an online survey methodology to collect more than 500 cases of organization-wide changes from AEC firms across the United States and Canada. The method of analysis includes reliability testing, principal component analysis, and group differences. The results showed that successful adoption rates of different types of change were not significantly different for certain change types than the others. Further analysis was performed to determine if different demographical considerations of adopting organizations (type and size) had different rates of successful adoption of change. The overall successful adoption rates were generally consistent between different demographical considerations of adopting organizations, but there were minor differences. The discussion addresses those minor differences and provides possible explanations. For example, higher rates of successful adoption were found in specialized firms (roofing contractors, plumbing contractors, etc.) when compared to wide-focused firms (general contractors, EPC firms, etc.). This study contributes an industry-wide view of successful change adoption rates between different types of changes and different demographical considerations of adopting organizations in the AEC industry.