Cultural Practices in the Project Based Construction Companies: Its Impact on Information System Implementation.

Research on information system implementations in construction industry, rarely focused on culture. The impact of sub cultures on information system implementation is not reviewed in detail. This research aims at increasing the empirical and theoretical understanding of the key sub cultural practices and their influence on the information system implementation in project based construction companies. This research creates awareness on the sub cultures that impact the individual stages of planning, development, installation, and maintenance of the information system implementation process. Past research on information system implementation in the construction industry was reviewed. Based on this review the sub cultures of senior management staff, project management staff, and the information management staff were identified as crucial for the successful implementation of the information system. A conceptual framework for studying the sub cultural practices present in each stage of the information system implementation was developed. Empirical data was collected in two project based construction companies that implemented an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Collected data was analyzed with the help of the conceptual framework. Results of the empirical analysis identified key cultural practices of senior management staff, project management staff, and the information management staff that were influential in the information system implementation process. Results further identified how each of the stages of planning, development, installation, and maintenance was impacted differently by the sub cultural practices existing in the construction industry. The revised conceptual framework was presented incorporating all the cultural practices that were influential in each of the individual stages of the implementation process.