Unpacking construction site digitalization: the role of incongruence and inconsistency in technological frames

Figures & data

Table 1. Data sources.

Location	Interviews	Observations & documents
Regional department	Project developer 1 (PD 1) Project developer 2 (PD 2) Local business developer Project manager 1 (PM 1) Project manager 2 (PM 2) Customer relationship manager	Interactions before and after interviews Presentation of initial findings Project documents, timeline, customer strategy documents. 6 h observations 800 separate notes
Headquarters	R&D manager IT manager IT & business developer Design engineer Production design engineer Static engineer	Manufacturing plant tour Digital strategy documents 6 h observations 1000 words notes
Manufacturing plant	Manufacturing plant manager Manufacturing plant production manager Manufacturing plant technician manager	Manufacturing plant tour Informal conversations and observations 2000 words notes 4 h observation
Construction site	Machine and supply Carpentry firm CEO Carpenter Scaffolder Ventilation contractor (VC) Land and foundation contractor (LFC) Painter Electrician	Project meetings 7 observations at the construction site 18 h observation 1800 words notes 23 photos
Total: 23 interviews, 34 h observation, 5600 words in notes, 6 policy documents, 23 photos.

Table 2. Data analysis example.

Raw data	Thematic codes	TF domain; category
It is not good enough. We want our work orders to be there [IMS]. When you write the time on your work order, you can also change the status of that order. So, it will be like different colours with different names on it then, ongoing or ordered or executed. Then you could just change the status of the person who has received the work order. (VC, subcontractor).	IMS potential Technological constraints	Nature of technology
It [IMS] started as a publishing system, to create PDF’s of our drawings and put them somewhere that everyone knew had the latest versions […]. It has grown, and received several players, both internally and externally. (R&D manager, headquarter).	Focal point
I still think it [IMS] is good because it’s reasonably large, easy to understand, you see the information that concerns you for one project. (LFC, subcontractor).	Value creation Adaptive information	Technological strategy
I don’t need to keep track of all protocols, self-checks and documents and send out them to everyone via mail. If a document’s updated, everyone’s notified in their mail. So, if there’s a revision no-one should miss it. (PM 1, internal user).	Administrative efficiency Automatization
I don’t really know if it [IMS] is updated all the time. We builders have another communication: “Will the house be there that day? Or is there a new decision? Should we send people there yet?”. They [cCorp] must keep track of that. (VC, subcontractor).	Trust issues	Technology-in-use
It’s a bit sensitive using [smart]-phones on the construction site with customers around. (Electrician, subcontractor).	Environmental dependencies

Table 3. Observed frame incongruence between social groups.

TF domain	Groups	Frame incongruency illustrations	N
Nature of technology	Developers vs. internal users, and external users	The IMS is an evolving publishing system used by the regional office, manufacturing plant, and subcontractors with the potential to generate learning insights for next-generation IMS (Developers). It’s a standardized DMS used by all involved actors in a construction project with the potential to change communication with external actors through automated information flow (Internal users). It’s a centralized information retrieval system used by manufacturing plant and regional office staff, and subcontractors (External users).	1
Technology strategy	Developers vs. internal users, and external users	The IMS was implemented to reduce high error rates, change project workers’ behaviour, and obtain learning insights for the next-generation IMS (Developers). It was implemented to improve information exchange between project actors (by serving as a focal point for all project-related information), and the internal document system (Internal users). It was implemented to improve retrieval of information such as construction drawings, thus increasing potential to work uniformly (External users).	2
Technology-in-use	Developers vs. internal and external users	Despite the underlying platform’s technical limitations, the IMS is easy to use, platform-agnostic, and combinable, providing capabilities to rapidly publish and access mutable project information during projects (Developers). It could be used to manage project information before, during, and after a project through a self-service approach, but there are concerns about its technical performance, relationships between extant IT-systems, low adoption rate and mediocre utilization of its capabilities (Internal users). It could be used when project drawings changed during a construction project, but there are concerns about being able to use it properly due to environmental factors, unreliability of information in the systems, and its potential to generate extra work-activating information (External users).	3
	Developers vs. internal users	Mirroring information in the ERP system and IMS is necessary, but duplicates developers’ work (Developers). Mirroring information in the system has eased navigation between systems and improved transparency for external users (Internal users).	4

Table 4. Observed frame inconsistency within social groups.

TF domain	Group	Frame inconsistency illustrations	N
Nature of technology	Internal users	The IMS improves how information is written, saved and distributed (PD2) It constrains creativity especially concerning working with drawings (local business developer).	1
	External users	The IMS has fostered a more positive attitude to digitalization, and its simple functionalities are important since drawings often change during construction projects (LFC). cCorp's IMS has insufficient functionalities (less than other firms’) and unclear information about when a drawing has changed (Carpentry firm CEO).	2
Technology strategy	Developers	The IMS was implemented to improve users’ retrieval of documents whenever they wanted (Design engineer). It was implemented to decrease administrative workloads (Static engineer). It will be replaced soon (Production designer).	3
	Developers	The system’s fast implementation could generate important learning outcomes (R&D worker). Its fast implementation generated technical constraints and maintenance issues (IT-manager).	4
	Internal users	The IMS was implemented to get away from e-mailing and analogue drawings (PD 1). It was implemented to ensure that external users’ got the right drawings (PM 1). PD2 agreed with PD1, adding that the IMS allows self-service retrieval.	5
	External users	The IMS was implemented to enable retrieval of drawings online (Carpenter) Ditto, but it should work as a communication platform (LFC).	6
Technology-in-use	External users	The IMS lacks appropriate capabilities for subcontractors’ communication possibilities and provision of reliable information (VC). It’s a fast system that reaches everyone (LFC).	7
	External users	The automated push-notice function is smooth (LFC). The automated push-notices increase stress (Painter).	8
	External users	The IMS is useful for retrieving drawings and project information (Scaffolder). There is no need for the IMS (Carpenter).	9
	Internal users	The IMS clarifies uses of cCorp’s existing IT-systems (PD 2). It has made finding the right documents increasingly difficult (Manufacturing plant production manager).	10
	Internal users	The system’s capabilities could not be leveraged if external users did not adequately use it (PD1). Its capabilities could not be leveraged if developers did not adequately use it (Manufacturing plant manager).	11