Concerning the distribution of power through technology, such as BIM, it is has been discussed by Dainty et al. (2017) how the mandated implementation of BIM within the construction sector can lead to power asymmetries between large and small businesses. In
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fact, BIM can privilege larger organisations because they can more easily participate in public projects, and have the motivational, skills, usage, and digital access to ICT technology. In this context, SMEs can be left behind regarding the adoption of BIM because of the difficulties in possessing these elements. Hence, SMEs cannot profit from the benefits of BIM if they are not supported by the government or by partnerships with larger firms. In this study, it is clear the impacting role of the contractor TCC in establishing long-term strategic agreements with the suppliers (who have been scrupulously selected by surveys, questionnaires, and site visits) to initially help them in the learning process of designing with BIM as part of their shared strategy and goals. Moreover, being part of a long-term relationship with an innovative large contractor, and being involved in innovative projects also including BIM, help these supplier firms to gain competitive advantage and new skills, share resources, having access to technology, and also being more motivated for the fact of participating in a stimulating environment.
It has been discussed across the analysis chapters how BIM can influence CIS, particularly for its characteristics of being a fluid technology (see section 6.4). This means that BIM cannot be considered only as design software, but it is a lot more. It has been argued how BIM can be an object of collaboration, shaping the way in which actors interact, for example, during design meetings and workshops. In fact, the software influenced communication and collaboration, which mostly occurred remotely, and the relationship between TCC and the supply chain through greater communication and involvement of the suppliers. BIM can also be a learning object, since it has been recently included in the contractor’s firm and widespread to the supply chain, thus being also an innovation within these organisations. In this sense, BIM itself is not just an innovative technology, but it leads to innovation in many different ways, such as through increased predictability of time and costs for project deliveries, reduced waste, enhanced and earlier involvement of the supply chain, changed design planning, different way to design the architectural models, increased of off-site construction, and standardisation of components and products.
Hence, BIM influences innovative collaboration and the strategizing of the human actors who are using it directly, and indirectly. It mainly leads to positive outcomes (as described above), but also to ambiguity, such as during the collaborative exercise of SHT. In this particular case, collaboration did not occur as it was supposed to, but presented various issues in terms of communication and outcomes in the clash detection. The difficulty that
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the actors encountered was that the way in which most communication happened remotely and through the software represented an innovation for the actors who were new to BIM. Hence, even though they were enthusiastic of the idea of having collaborative meetings, and more easily sharing information through the software, in this case innovation did not imply effective collaboration strategizing. As the exercise continued and the actors insisted on understanding the software, they finally embraced the innovation and launch the standardised house types in BIM. Hence, too tight time schedules did not facilitate CIS, whereas more time and more learning of BIM led to the expected outcomes of the exercise. The focus on BIM in this research has been particularly important to investigate how a technological innovation has been implemented inside a construction firm, firstly through public projects, then also in private projects, becoming one of the main elements of the firm’s strategy for standardisation, collaboration and innovation. TCC, through John’s strategy, chose to invest on BIM and changed its practices and supply chain relationships to implement it across its businesses. This process is pretty recent for the contractor, who is still in the early stages of signing the supply chain agreements and moving the standardisation and CIS strategy in the residential business as well. Hence, this study has looked at the early process of implementation of BIM in residential houses (this is the reason why SHT was an exercise), and even though the results are promising by looking at the school projects where BIM was included in projects beforehand (e.g. they have already developed a large range of standardised schools), the housing sector still needs time to develop the final house types on a larger scale, producing a stable collaborative environment during design meetings, and getting the supply chain to deeply know BIM.
Hence, it has been discussed how BIM shapes CIS and it is enacted differently, and assumes different connotations in different contexts, as my sub-research question14 asks.
My contribution to the literature on BIM addresses the need for further research on BIM and its impact on collaboration with a particular focus on the individuals involved and the different organisational settings in which BIM is encountered, developed and implemented. This contrasts with previous BIM studies which have mainly focused on structural and process aspects that enable BIM-driven collaboration within an organisation (Poirier et al.
14 What is the role of innovative technologies (e.g. BIM) and practices (e.g. supply chain agreements,
workshops, meetings) in shaping collaboration between the firm and suppliers? Do they assume different characteristics in different contexts?
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2017). This research has applied a SaP and ANT, and an ethnographic approach to follow how this non-human actor influenced CIS among human actors. Particularly, its fluidity and its implementation in multiple realities showed how a single object can lead to many different outcomes in terms of collaboration strategizing, and power dynamics when BIM represents an innovation. As the implementation of BIM requires enhanced collaboration among the actors, the early engagement of the supply chain in this study was a response to this, and John’s main strategy of increased collaboration. Hence, the early involvement of the supply chain around BIM eventually led to increased collaboration and empowerment of suppliers, even though some issues and ambiguity (as discussed above) occurred along the way.