IT and the design and construction process: A conceptual model of co-maturation

Abstract

This paper considers the maturation of organisational capability, specifically in relation to construction industry organisations involved in the process of designing and constructing buildings. It discusses how the maturation of construction information technology, and its application, co-exists and co-operates with process capabilitymaturation. The result is a co-maturation of organisations and their processes. A new model to explain the integration of IT and the design and construction process is proposed.

A model for a multiplier phenomenon occurring at the interface between Process maturationand (information) technological capability maturation is presented. The model adopts the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), developed at Carnegie Mellon University, in order to describe a co-maturation phenomenon involving (a) the design and construction process for new building work and (b) the use and development of information technology to support this activity. The paper builds on the CMM approach and adapts it for developing scenarios of the design and construction process and supporting use of information technologies.

The major contributions of this paper are to define a potential synchronisation mechanism for IT and Process and to present it as a vehicle for discussion. This can firstly help orientate individual organisations and the entire construction industry (in terms of capability maturity). Secondly, the paper describes the scope for strategically planning the evolution of individual organisations and the broader Construction Industry via the managed harmonisation of capability maturity of IT and Process. The authors also outline how the capability maturation modelling approach could be developed as a strategic tool for planned organisational capability maturation facilitated by IT and based on a philosophy of continuous improvement.

Keywords: Construction Information , Technology, Constructing buildings ,Designs.