Organisation Profiling and the Adoption of ICT: e‑Commerce in the UK Construction Industry

Abstract

This paper outlines the application of a model of business that has been developed from an amalgam of sources covering a wide range of research literature concerned with the relationship between electronic communication and the business. This model outlines what is termed an "organisational profile" profile and allows the analysis of the business with respect to its ability to perform in four distinct quadrants: management, processes, organisational culture and human resources. It is then applied to the adoption of ICT in the business and the supply chain using a case study of the UK construction industry. The results are analysed to show which elements of the model are important for success. The model shows that to be successful in the adoption of ICT a business must have threshold scores in each of these quadrants that show its make‑up or "organisational profile" (OP). It is this OP that is the most interesting point of the research. It has been found that certain OPs are more likely to succeed in this adoption than others and that the likelihood of success can be shown by the movement of the business in the four quadrants: thus the model can provide a rough prediction of the future success in various activities — such as adoption of ICT but can also be extended to other activities because of the widespread nature of the model developed. It is also planned to apply the model to different problems in the same domain in the near future so that further insights can be gained from the model and its application.