Exploring the Factors That Influence Active BIM Use by Employees Using a Configuration Perspective: An Empirical Study in China

Abstract

Despite the widespread promotion and adoption of technology, such as building information modeling (BIM), the level of employee enthusiasm for its use varies significantly. Active BIM use by employees is influenced by multiple factors that reside in different aspects and have complementary and substitutive relationships. These complex causal relationships have not been fully understood. This study, from a configuration perspective, investigates how institutional pressures (coercive, normative, and mimetic), organizational factors (management support and colleague opinion), and personal innovativeness with information technology (IT) impact active BIM use by employees. Using data from 250 employees with BIM work experience, this study employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to reveal four configurations that achieve active BIM use by employees. By comparing and contrasting these configurations, three theoretical propositions are offered. The findings reveal that personal innovativeness with IT is a core condition, yet it requires the supplementation of institutional pressures and organizational factors. Among institutional pressures, mimetic pressures have a more significant impact compared with coercive and normative pressures, which function complementarily in fostering active BIM use by employees. When the three types of institutional pressure are not uniformly high, management support and colleague opinion manifest more complementarity in enhancing active BIM use; however, when all institutional pressures are high, they exhibit more substitutability. The results uncover the complex relationships among these factors, advance understanding of their influences on individual active technology use, and provide practical guidance for enterprises to effectively encourage active technology use by employees.