Over recent decades, the integration of digital technologies has reshaped operations and business models across industries such as banking, telecommunications, and manufacturing. Within construction, a range of digital technologies such as BIM, AI, and IoT likewise have altered project-level and operational practices. Large contractors test digital technologies through testbeds, pilot projects, and proofs of concept (POCs). Yet, because construction is organised through temporary projects, decentralised decision-making, and loosely coupled structures, these initiatives often remain isolated within individual projects or business units. As a result, lessons learned and demonstrated benefits are not easily transferred, embedded, or scaled across the firm. This recurring pattern, in which one pilot is followed by another rather than being translated into broader organisational change, is framed in this thesis as the Yet Another Pilot (YAP) syndrome. The prevalence of YAP confines benefits to individual projects and inhibits scaling that would enable firms to innovate business models, enter new markets, change core firm logics, and improve operational efficiency at firm level. Consequently, many firms have digitised data and information and partly digitalised operations, while digital transformation remains nascent. Existing literature has tended to focus on technology, projects, or SMEs, leaving the digital transformation of large construction contractors relatively underexplored. Hence, it remains unclear how digital transformation evolves within large contractors and how the barriers to scaling can be overcome in this context.

The purpose of this thesis is thus to investigate digital transformation in large construction contractors, with a particular focus on how digital pilot projects and POC initiatives can be scaled beyond the project level to support firm-level transformation. The phenomenon of digital transformation is examined through three interrelated dimensions: technological innovation, business development, and ecosystem evolution. The firm constitutes the unit of analysis, while the unit of observation is at the corporate level to capture firm-level transformation associated with digitalisation. To investigate this, two research questions have been formulated:

1. What strategic approaches do large construction contractors adopt in relation to digital transformation, and what factors hinder or enable the scaling of digital initiatives beyond the project level?

2. How can digital transformation in large construction contractors be conceptualised and analytically understood in relation to the scaling of digital initiatives?

To answer these questions and fulfil the purpose, the work combines a scoping literature review, an interview study, case study research, and conceptual development, resulting in a 72-marker model. The model captures the interactions between the three dimensions and five domains: creating value, managing change, scaling pilots, innovating business models, and corporate-level engagement.

In response to the first research question, firms adopt either defensive or offensive strategic approaches to digital transformation. Defensive firms use digital technology primarily to improve existing operations and strengthen current business structures. As a result, scaling beyond the project level remains limited, leaving these firms more constrained by the underlying barriers to innovation in construction. Offensive firms, by contrast, use digital technology not only to improve existing business, but also to extend current offerings and create new business opportunities. This allows digital initiatives to support new business creation, business model innovation, and ecosystem development. As a result, these firms are better positioned to address the barriers to innovation in construction and to scale digital initiatives beyond the project level.

In response to the second research question, digital transformation within large contractors is conceptualised as evolving through three sequential steps: alignment, reconfiguration, and adaptation. At an analytical level, firms’ strategic approaches can be compared using the 72-marker model, which reveals three distinct profiles: the operationally oriented digitalisation profile, the internally orchestrated transformation profile, and the advanced transformation profile. The operationally oriented digitalisation profile describes firms that recognise the value of becoming more data-driven, but where most efforts remain focused on internal efficiency, specific tools, and local business-unit initiatives. This profile is therefore associated with firms adopting a predominantly defensive approach. The internally orchestrated transformation profile describes firms with well-defined structures for innovation and change, prioritised innovation funding, and stronger capability-building efforts, where scaling is prioritised mainly within the firm rather than through business model innovation or ecosystem repositioning. This profile is associated with firms that remain mainly defensive but are beginning to develop a more offensive approach. In the advanced transformation profile, digitalisation extends beyond isolated technologies and is strongly linked to customer value, organisational change, scaling mechanisms, business model innovation, and corporate-level management. This profile is associated with firms that adopt a clearly offensive strategic approach.

The main theoretical contribution is the 72-marker model for studying digital transformation through the interactions between the three dimensions and the five domains. From a practical perspective, the contribution is an assessment model that enables managers to classify their firm’s approach to digitalisation, identify its strategic position, and prioritise actions towards specific business, technical, and ecosystem goals. The thesis is limited by its reliance on mainly qualitative interview data and corporate-level focus, with limited depth at the project and business-unit levels. In addition, the focus on large construction contractors constrains the generalisability of the findings to other firm types, such as SMEs. On this basis, future research could further test the model using a survey-based approach, as well as through more in-depth and longitudinal studies of construction firms of different sizes and in different geographical contexts. It could also extend the empirical scope to include more organisational levels.

This study investigates how large global construction firms pursue digital transformation at the corporate level. Drawing on a multiple-case study of seven firms, it explores how digitalisation creates new value and drives business model innovation. The findings reveal stark differences in strategic posture, organisational structures, and value orientation, with only a few firms moving beyond operational efficiency toward broader transformation. The study contributes to research on digital transformation in project-based industries by linking digitalisation to business model change and organisational ambidexterity, offering both theoretical insights and practical guidance for scaling digital initiatives beyond isolated pilots.

Digital transformation (DT) in a dynamic and project-based construction industry faces barriers, particularly for large contractor firms. This study investigates the status of DT in these firms, identifying potential drivers and barriers; through a scoping literature review and semi-structured interviews with digitalisation experts in the construction industry. Findings indicate that contractor firms are uncertain about the long-term benefits of DT, with a significant barrier being the absence of enough drivers of DT. The client, government, and the financial sector are recognised as the potential drivers of DT, examining their ability to offset internal and external barriers of DT.