Advances in information technology (IT) are promoting corporations in various industries to improve their business process. Electronic business is also a current trend for the construction industry. Before adopting more new information technologies in a construction firm, the decision maker should know the firm's present conditions of IT applications, evaluate its real needs of IT, and find its driving force. However, so far there is no specific methodology applied to measure the level of computerization for construction firms. The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology to measure the level of computerization for construction firms and apply the methodology to present findings in Taiwan construction industry. The findings show that construction firms' computerization can be divided into five levels. The evolution of five levels is related to the organizational characteristics. The factors that drive the construction firms to adopt IT in business process are also evaluated in the paper. The results of the paper will offer guidelines for construction firms to push ahead with their works of computerization, provide references for government organizations to formulate related policies, and supply a basis for software producers to adjust their R&D and marketing strategies.

Abstract:Taking advantages of the advanced information technology, more and more construction businesses begin to adopt the large scale information system, such as web-based project management system, Enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), electronic knowledge management (eKM) and so on, to improve the management efficiency and productivity. However, it seems there is no effective model for evaluating and implementing an e-Enterprise. A survey of computerization in Taiwan construction contractors shows that on account of lacking the information technology support, the traditional Nolan and technology transfer Model cannot provide a good suggestion in the process of e-Enterprises. A Three-Stage-Model of e-Enterprise, which based on the information technology, will be proposed in this paper. This model can not only evaluate but also implement an e-Enterprise. This paper also discusses about the e-Enterprise's case of Taiwan construction contractors , and give some suggestions for their e-enterprises process.