Technology Adoption Within UK Retail Construction: An Analysis of the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) on Addressing Barriers Preventing Technology Adoption as a Solution to Productivity
Creators: name: Elliott, Joseph
Publisher: name: 1 University of Westminster
Year: 2023

description: The UK construction industry has long been discussed for its low productivity rates and its slow adoption of technologies. This thesis looked to analyse key barriers that are preventing UK Retail Construction organisations from successfully adopting new technologies, in order to find a resolution to the productivity issues faced by the sector. The research utilised the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework to explore relationships between the primary data and the literature review and provide recommendations to contractors and organisations in practise within the specific sector. Research was undertaken using an extensive literature review and primary data gathering to establish correlations between the two and understand the key barriers and potential solutions to the problem. The literature review found that productivity levels within the sector have continued to fall short against other sectors and industries, and using information from other industries, identified that technology adoption is a key solution to overcome productivity shortfalls. It then identified that within the UK Retail Construction sector, technology adoption also lags behind the industry curve. The research used a mixedmethodology approach to the primary data; using a quantitative online survey questionnaire and qualitative semi-structured interviews, with a triangulation method of data review. The findings from the primary data, aligned with the TAM framework and literature review, highlighted that within the sector, the key barriers to technology adoption are individuals preconceived perceptions of technology usefulness and ease of use, influencing the attitude towards technology and its adoption success rate. It was also found that external factors not directly considered within the TAM model and outside of individuals behaviours, impact the success of the technology adoption (heterogeneous constraints, costs, time, client influence). The review of the data against the TAM framework has provided the basis for recommendations that can be used in practise to improve technology adoption success rates.Such as the need to produce a clear business case for each technology adoption and communicate the business problem and technology solution with the stakeholders, to influence the attitude through the process. It also identified the need for organisations to identify the external constraints (time, cost, repeatability) on each case study and limit the adoption aspirations within these constraints. The research looked to impact existing literature by critically analysing the TAM framework against the findings from this specific field of research and has identified the need to consider such external factors. The conclusion chapter provided recommendations on ways in which policies and research can be addressed to overcome the barriers identified and provided considerations for organisations in practice and research academics for any future works.