Many scholars have denounced innovation in construction as problematic. Existing work processes and routines may resist or even block the adoption of new technologies. Unravelling how new technology interferes with organizational processes could facilitate a more mindful innovation process. This study, therefore, conceptualizes how technology pilots influence early change of existing practices. Five utility localization projects were studied, in which ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology was introduced. The researchers observed existing practices onsite, demonstrated and moderated the use of GPR, and conducted semistructured reflective interviews. Based on the concept of routine dynamics, selective and axial coding resulted in the identification of two types of mechanisms: (1) change triggers occurred when routines fell short and practitioners started favoring the GPR, and (2) stabilization occurred when routines proceeded as expected and shielded GPR from being considered. Objecting linear innovation adoption, the findings contribute an empirical conceptual model of earlystage innovation adoption dynamics. This model aids decision makers in timely identifying (1) whether routines are receptive to the uptake of new technologies, and (2) how new technologies may advance these routines. Additionally, this study demonstrates the merit of using practice-based studies to conceptualize in rich detail how innovation processes are shaped in situated construction contexts.
Standardization is believed to be a driver for adoption and integration of digital practices. Beyond the standardization at the level of technology application lies potential for standardization in the higher-order formalized knowledge bases; the so-called ontologies. Ontologies need to abstract and integrate knowledge from disciplines and industry standards. From a philosophical perspective, ontologies can be seen as social constructs and part of the shared social context in which practitioners work. If they do not contain an adequate representation of a community's shared reality, they may delimit sector-wide unified digital practices. Following the interpretive approach of technological mediation, the objective of this study is to explain why the development and use of a sector-wide domain ontology in construction are not always as effective and efficient as they could potentially be. Which obstacles hamper the creation of a sector-wide domain ontology and how can these be overcome? We apply the technical mediation perspective to assess how coexisting different standards complicate the development of a shared domain ontology. Additionally, a collaborative end user-based design approach is applied to address ontology development complexities. It is shown that a digital modeling standard mediates a specific view or model of reality by amplifying certain aspects of the world at the expense of other aspects. The heterogeneity of existing standards makes it difficult to develop a shared and sector-wide domain ontology because different utility owners model different representations of the world. A collaborative user-oriented development approach is a means to elicit these differences more adequately, and to develop shared conceptualizations about the domain of the utility sector. The domain ontology serves here as mediator between the different digital standards that capture the distinctive modeled realities of utility owners.
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