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.

Purpose Contingency studies within logistics and supply chain management have shown a need for longitudinal studies on fit. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the logistics strategy from a process of establishing fit perspective.

Design/methodology/approach A large Swedish building contractor's logistics strategy process was analysed using a longitudinal single-case study for a period of 11 years (2008–2019).

Findings The case study reveals three main constraints to logistics strategy implementation: a dominant purchasing organisation, a lack of incentives and diverging top-management priorities. This suggests that logistics strategy fit is not a conscious choice determined by contextual factors.

Research limitations/implications Establishing fit is a continuous cycle of regaining fit between the logistics context and logistics strategy components. Fit can be achieved by a change to the logistics context or to logistics strategy components.

Practical implications Logistics managers may need to opt for satisfactory fit in view of the costs incurred by changing strategy versus the benefits to be gained from a higher degree of fit.

Originality/value This paper adopts a longitudinal case design to study the fit between the logistics context and strategy, adding to the body of knowledge on organisational design and strategy in logistics and supply chain management.

Purpose This paper aims to study the effects of different weather conditions on typical concrete work tasks productivity. Weather is one important factor that has a negative impact on construction productivity. Knowledge about how weather affects construction works is therefore important for the construction industry, e.g. during planning and execution of construction projects. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey method is used involving means to perform pairwise comparisons of different weather factors according to the analytical hierarchical process (AHP). The survey also contains means to enable assessment of the loss in productivity for typical work tasks exposed to different weather types. The survey targets practitioners involved in Swedish concrete construction projects, and the results are compared with previous research findings. Findings The survey covers responses from 232 practitioners with long experience of concrete construction. The pairwise comparisons reveal that practitioners rank precipitation as the most important followed by wind and temperature. The loss in productivity varies significantly (from 0 to 100%) depending on the type of work and the type of weather factor considered. The results partly confirm findings reported in previous research but also reveal a more complex relationship between weather and productivity indicating several underlying influencing factors such as type of work, type of weather (e.g. rain or snow) and the intensity of each weather factor. Originality/value This paper presents new data about how 232 practitioners assess the effects of weather on construction productivity involving novel means to perform objective rankings such as the AHP methodology.

Performance management systems (PMS) are essential instruments for the evidence-based management of on-site production within the industrialized housebuilding (IHB) sector. The information required for more evidence-based decision-making is determined by the business strategies and should be reflected in the design of the PMS. The aim of this study is to clarify, report on and analyze the influence which different strategic orientations have on the PMS. For this purpose, a multiple case study was conducted within the IHB sector of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The findings revealed those business strategies which led companies to develop specific features within their PMS and showed which specific indicators are relevant for managing on-site performance. In addition, the findings identify weaknesses in performance measurement but also best practice examples. Based on the findings, a differentiated approach towards the ongoing refinement of PMS is suggested, allowing management to be more focussed on strategic objectives.

On-site activities are typically performed when the end-product is immovable once it has been assembled and/or due to weight and space constraints in the production and transportation system. It is primarily a customer order driven type of production with a high level of customization. However, some customer order driven and/or customization activities can, or should, be performed off-site, but these aspects are typically treated in isolation of each other. There is therefore a need to make a combined assessment of on-site activities, customer order driven production, and customization activities. The purpose of this paper is thus to develop a typology that provides a holistic view of on-site activities in relation to customer order driven and customization activities. A flow-based three-dimensional typology is developed to assess combinations of three dimensions: flow driver, flow differentiation, and flow location. The property of each dimension is determined using decoupling points. The typology represents how on-site activities impact the feasibility of customer order driven and customization activities. “On-site” is defined as pursuing activities at the site where the final delivery is made. The findings show that forecast driven activities are risky to perform on-site and these should instead be performed before delivery to the site (off-site). The typology is applied to three case companies to illustrate its applicability to building construction. Future studies should extend the typology application to other types of construction and ETO industries to enable benchmarking of site-based production to other contexts with similar challenges related to on-site/off-site production.

The purpose is to investigate the use of digital tools to mitigate risks and increase worker safety at construction sites. Construction is one of the most dangerous industries to work in with relatively high numbers of injuries and fatalities. At the same time there is an ongoing trend of digitalization of construction, and digital technologies, including, i.e., electronic tools, systems, devices, embedded sensors, that generate, store, or process data, are introduced to the construction sites, also for safety applications. Based on five case studies, this study investigates the use of digital technologies for improving site safety. All cases are a part of a larger project where digital technologies, including sensors, edge cameras and computers, object recognition, AI, cloud computing, etc., are tested in a “real environment”, on-going construction projects. The analysis focuses on three areas: the technical feasibility, user acceptance, and the possibility to scale-up and commercialise the digital technologies. The results show that the construction context puts extra demand on development when it comes to technical feasibility, whereas the user acceptance is generally good. The main challenge is, however, to show commercial benefits and scale-up the technology for broader implementation in the industry.

Third-party logistics (TPL) arrangements are becoming a regular occurrence in urban construction projects. The industry is, however, still apprehensive regarding the effects that TPL arrangements bring. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate the effects that can be realised when employing a logistics arrangement in construction, including possible benefits, concerns, and effects on cost elements. The purpose is fulfilled through a case study of a large construction project in Sweden that has employed a TPL arrangement. Results show that there are positive effects to achieve in terms of logistics performance and project performance, but that the main challenge to achieve these effects is to include all supply chain actors to reach a higher level of SCM maturity. This inclusion can be achieved through a better dialogue amongst supply chain actors to create an understanding for why TPL is employed and why policies and regulations needs to be followed.

Previous research indicates that the success of logistics solutions in building projects depends on how they are organized in accordance with the logistics context, which is determined by building contractors’ competitive priorities, product characteristics, and production process choices. Taking a configurations approach, the purpose of this paper is to describe the fit between the logistics context and the organizing of logistics at a strategic level. A conceptual research framework is derived from literature postulating an influence of the logistics context on the organizing of logistics. The framework is applied to four cases by the means of strategic profiling, which provides a snapshot of the fit in the cases’ logistics configurations. The findings indicate that the type of production process influences the degree to which logistics decisions should be made centrally and that the degree of standardization and pre-engineering influence the degree to which logistics processes should be formalized. The main contributions are the identification of logistics configuration variables and the description of the fit between building contractors’ logistics context and the organizing of logistics. For managerial practice, a logistics configuration profiling template was developed that can be used as a tool in the logistic strategy process.

Measuring the performance of construction site processes is an essential for the continuous improvement in building production efficiency. However, little is known about how this is done by industrialized housebuilding (IHB) companies. The purpose of this paper was to extend the body of knowledge of IHB to on-site performance measurement and management (PMM), thereby identifying reference practices and potential areas for improvement in order to prepare the field for the further development of significant performance management systems (PMS). A multiple case study by means of semi-structured interviews with company managers of eight companies within the IHB sector from three Central European countries has been conducted. The results show that the companies, to a greater or lesser extent, collect data on: customer satisfaction, environmental protection and CO2 emissions, operating efficiency, productivity, quality and work safety. The data can be used to perform performance measurements that provide feedback on these criteria. Reference practices of performance measurements and their benefit are identified. Digital tools are increasingly being used for data collection on construction sites, although paper-based tools such as site and working time reports are still in use. The findings establish a basis for the further development of PMS within the IHB sector.