Data Collection

Three data collection techniques were adopted. Participants observation and documents analysis were adopted to complement the data collected from semi-structured interviews, and also, to provide stronger substantiation of the phenomenon under investigation (Eisenhardt, 1989). Participant Observation: As Bryman & Bell (2003, p.178) write on the practice of observation in research, "the aim is to record in as much detail as possible the behaviour of participants with the aim of developing a narrative account of that behaviour.” The observation affords a unique access of events/behaviour in the work place of participants to be captured. Adler (1995) advised that observation is fundamentally naturalistic in essence; it occurs in the natural context of the occurrence, among the actors who would normally be participating in the interaction, and follows the natural stream of everyday life. It also allows the capture of data which would not otherwise be recorded by semi-structured interviews alone. The strategy to be used for data collection from observation relies on incidents (Bryman & Bell, 2003, p.181). This involves

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recording significant incidents and the results that follow from it. Observations are carried out during site visits made by the researcher and in the offices of the informants. Observations are centred on the roles of the informants and oriented by recording their activities that relate to BIM. Following up on processes of BIM implementation contributes to the understanding of what work details and needs must be anticipated and thus foreseen by the implementation strategy. Document Analysis: The inclusion of documentary data provides an opportunity to both expand the empirical depth and robustness of the research. Reed-Scott (1999) emphasised that integrity of documents or “texts” should not be taken for granted. "The textual approach is based on the assumption that texts have the interpretations of their creators embedded in them (Knorr- Cetina, 1981). A second assumption is that meaning is actually "inter-textual" (Culler, 1976): a given text is constructed from, and acquires meaning through, its embeddedness in a multiplicity of discourses. The intrinsic properties of embedded interpretations of the authors of texts are used to provide substantiation and clarification of data elicited from interview and observational methods. As texts, sources of documentary data allow the researcher to interpret the meaning of events and to generate understanding of both the document and the event as contextually mediated (Gephart, 1993). The analysis of documents in this research involves the examination of all relevant printed or softcopies of company information such as BIM implementation strategy, company profile, organisational structure, mission statement and company brochures. Key issues emerging from documents analysis will be integrated with the observations and interviews data.

Semi-structured Interviews: This research is predicated on the collection of rich qualitative data. For this reason, semi-structured interview approach is selected as one of the appropriate methods for generating the necessary quality of data required. Semi-structured interview is appropriate as it affords a good level of flexibility needed in generating in-depth qualitative data (Bryman & Bell, 2003). It allows greater flexibility for the researcher to probe themes, events or phenomenon where more depth or explanation is needed than would otherwise be afforded by more structured collection methods such as questionnaire survey. A semi-structured interview is more suitable than structured or unstructured ones. As BIM is an emergent phenomenon, and manifests in a complex social setting, a fully open interview may yield a large amount of data which is irrelevant or unimportant to the understanding of the BIM implementation process. Also, as it is not yet clear which ‘variables’ are important and should be put to test in the study of BIM, structured interviews may not be appropriate at this stage.

Interview guide is prepared for the three case study organisations. It is designed for the interviewees within the case organisations (see table 4.4). The interview guide is divided into

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three parts. These are 1) the context or background information about the organisation 2) the organisation’s BIM initiatives and 3) the organisations relations with intra- and inter-level BIM constituents. The key variables used in the interviews are grounded in the theoretical insights from STS analytical frameworks (e.g., Molina, 1998; Cherns, 1987; Mumford, 1985).

Table 4.2 Themes for the semi-structured interviews

Key themes Examples of variables

Part 1 Context

Background information of organisation

• Organisational information • Technology and growth strategy • Organisation objectives

Part 2 BIM Initiatives

1. Initiatives (e.g., motivation, vision and action)

• Vision • Motivation

• Prime drivers of BIM initiative • Resources: needed and available

• Actions: including inter-level alliance and persuasion 2. Make-up (components) of BIM

(innovation assemblage)

• Technology / technical artefacts • Different actors

• Tasks / emerging roles and responsibilities • Structure / Organisational reconfiguration 3. BIM implementation plan /

strategy (Perceptions of what is required for the BIM implementation process)

• Targets: aim and objectives • Means of achieving targets

- Access to resources

- Constituency building and networking

- Technological / choice of vendor and collaboration - Other aspects of development and competitive

advantage

- Streamlining BIM competency and maximising benefits

4. BIM governance (perceptions of how things actually manifest)

• Governance: formal and informal

- Individual perceptions / personal circumstances - Organisational circumstances

5. Appraisals of BIM (perceptions of any weaknesses/problems and strengths with regards to implementation realities)

• Successes and oversights experiences

- Building depth of actors’ knowledge and relations - Process transformation/alignment to BIM concept - Strengthening/increasing technical capabilities - Strengthening the governance of the BIM initiative Part 3 Inter-organisational sociotechnical BIM constituencies

• Understanding of strategic aims BIM stakeholder organisations / construction professionals may have at inter-organisational level (micro-meso macro strategies)

• Reflections on inter-organisational strategies and relationships 1. Networking at the project level

(project stakeholders relationships and project BIM

implementation strategies)

• Nature of links and role • Any agglomeration benefits

• Any barriers to synergies/collaboration

• Organisation to project BIM implementation plan 2. Choice of BIM vendor

(technological institutions)

• Nature of links and role • Any agglomeration benefits

• Any barriers to synergies/collaboration • Any knowledge sharing or technology transfer 3. Network supporting organisations

(R&D institutions, policy

• Nature of links and role • Any agglomeration benefits

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mandates) • Any barriers to synergies/collaboration • Government’s policy mandates and impacts • Any knowledge sharing or technology transfer