Impacts of IT Technology Convergence on Construction Projects - Morgan Sindall Group

This research report analyses the impact of IT technology convergence on the performance of construction projects of Morgan Sindall Group. It examines the challenges and strategies related to IT technology convergence innovations.

Research proposal

Table of Contents
Research Proposal............................................................................................................................4
Part 1- Introduction..........................................................................................................................4
Research background..............................................................................................................4
Organisational background.....................................................................................................4
Purpose of research.................................................................................................................4
Research aim..........................................................................................................................5
Research objectives................................................................................................................5
Research questions.................................................................................................................5
Rationale of research..............................................................................................................5
Scope and limitation of research............................................................................................5
PART 2- LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................................6
To analyse the impact of IT technology convergence on performance of construction
companies...............................................................................................................................6
To determine the challenges faced by Morgan Sindall Group regarding IT technology
convergence to complete their projects..................................................................................6
To identify the strategies adopted by Morgan Sindall Group to mitigate the challenges related
to IT technology convergence. ..............................................................................................7
Part 3- Research methodology.........................................................................................................7
Research philosophy...............................................................................................................7
Research approach..................................................................................................................7
Research strategy....................................................................................................................8
Choice of methods..................................................................................................................8
Time horizon..........................................................................................................................8
Data collection and analysis...................................................................................................8
Sampling.................................................................................................................................8
Ethical consideration..............................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Online.............................................................................................................................................10

Research Proposal
Research topic- Impacts of IT technology convergence innovation over the performance of
construction projects
Part 1- Introduction
Research background
IT technology is one of the most important technological form which played a important role in
the development of construction industry (Kim and Choi, 2018). Technological convergence is a
term that describes bringing previously unrelated technologies together, often in a single device.
Construction industry is one of the fastest growing industry due to the basic need of every
economy. With the help of digital convergence, construction companies are able to analyse the
basic needs of their customers by communicating them effectively. they even can build their
effective networks with each other with the help of IT technology.
Organisational background
Morgan Sindall Group plc is one of the most popular construction company in UK. this company
was founded in the year 1977 by John Morgan and Jack Lovell and it is headquartered in
London, UK. They are having more than 6,500 employees all across the world. their main
projects is to improve the infrastructure of their targeted area. hence, they build many highways,
rails, aviation, nuclear, barking riverside extension and many others (Morgan Sindall
infrastructure, 2022). This company was initially based in Soho with the capital of £1,000 from
joint savings of it's both founders. Major projects of the company includes the expansion of
Whitechapel station for Cross rail completed in 2021.
Purpose of research
The main purpose of this research is to analyse the impact of IT technology convergence on the
performance of construction projects of a company. This research project will help to analyse
scope of IT technology convergence in construction companies (He, Shi and Tan, 2022). The
topic of this research is related to most current business issue faced by construction companies.
Hence, this research report will examine the challenges as well as strategies faced by chosen
company in regard to IT technology convergence innovations.

Research aim
"To investigate the impacts of IT technology convergence innovation over the performance of
construction projects"- A study of Morgan Sindall Group.
Research objectives
 To analyse the impact of IT technology convergence on performance of construction
companies.
 To determine the challenges faced by Morgan Sindall Group regarding IT technology
convergence to complete their projects.
 To identify the strategies adopted by Morgan Sindall Group to mitigate the challenges
related to IT technology convergence.
Research questions
 What are the impact of IT technology convergence on performance of construction
companies?
 What are the main challenges faced by Morgan Sindall Group regarding IT technology
convergence to complete their projects?
 What strategies will help the Morgan Sindall Group to mitigate the challenges related to
IT technology convergence.
Rationale of research
In context of personal aspect, then the researcher will gain various skills like communication
skill, time management skill, problem solving skill and many others through this research report.
In context of professional aspect, then the researcher have the scope to attract more readers
toward this research project because the topic which is chosen for this research is one of the most
current business issues.
Scope and limitation of research
The following research is having good scope in future because most of the studies are conducted
on other industries rather than construction industry and this research report cover the most
important business issues faced by construction industry. Hence, the topic and objectives of this
research will attract the readers (Jeon and Suh, 2019). There are few limitations of this research
project such as it is time consuming. Secondly, the topic did not help the readers to clear their
concept regarding future IT technology convergence innovations within construction industry.

PART 2- LITERATURE REVIEW
To analyse the impact of IT technology convergence on performance of construction companies
As per the point of view of Dae Kim and Sang Choi (2018) it is essential for construction
companies to adopt IT technology convergence within their projects to fulfil the client's needs
and satisfaction appropriately (San Kim and Sohn, 2020). Any kind of improvement in IT
convergence innovation like collaboration IT index, strategy management IT index and many
others have positive impact on overall performance of construction companies (Kim and Choi,
2018). it further impacts improvement in financial performance, production process and
customer satisfaction level.
According to the Sanchit Gaurav (2021) the IT technology convergence impacted the
business in positive ways. It helps to mitigate the communication gap between the companies
and its customers. In context of construction companies then they are able to measure their
performance and analyse the scope for improvement for their projects with the help of IT
technology convergence (Gaurav, 2021). Internal software and its application helps to analyse
that which project task will be given to which employee to get highest perfection to accomplish
the project on time.
To determine the challenges faced by Morgan Sindall Group regarding IT technology
convergence to complete their projects
As per the perspective of Tom Lasswell (2022) there are few of the challenges related to
IT technology which is faced by construction companies like outdated technology and software,
cyber security concerns, employee adoption and productivity and many others (Diamandis and
Kotler, 2020). The company can face many issues while using outdated software like they are
unable to feed appropriate content and they will not get updated about the data and information
which they need to grow well. while using IT technology and software the security of data is also
a big concern because hacking of data can ruins the brand image of the company.
According to the Bryan Christiansen (2022) while adopting high tech tools and machines
can increase the expenditure for the company. It is essential for the organisations to work within
a fixed budget (Christiansen, 2022). Using new tools and machines will be costly for company
and this is the issue for organisations to manage their operations within a fixed budget as they are
pressurize to maintain the quality of project as well as work within the budget.

To identify the strategies adopted by Morgan Sindall Group to mitigate the challenges related to
IT technology convergence.
According to the Dennis Howard (2021) construction industry is one of the most complex
industry in terms of their operations. It is essential for construction companies to prepare
effective strategies to overcome the challenges. One of the best strategy for the companies are
"Year-end deadline favours technology investment" where the companies invest in technology at
the end of each year (Howard, 2021). the investment is based on revenue and the ability of
company to spend on technology from the part of their revenue.
As per the point of view of Nadejda Alkhaldi (2020) the construction companies can use
various ways to overcome the current challenges within their industry. It is essential for the
companies to analyse their mission and vision, and then analyse the needs of their clients
(Alkhaldi, 2020). Then they are required to use those technology only which matches their
budget and help them to fulfil the needs and wants of their customers. For data security concern,
the companies can use updated software to store and use their data in appropriate manner and the
authentication should be given to limited employees only who are trustworthy.
Part 3- Research methodology
Research philosophy
There are two main types of research philosophy, positivism and interpretivism. The following
research project is based on positivism research philosophy because it help the researcher to
investigate first hand data which is reliable and valid (Noruwa, Arewa and Merschbrock, 2022).
It further help to manage research report in structural manner. It is basically depends upon proper
investigation of the information and analyse the findings.
Research approach
There are mainly two types of research approaches, inductive and deductive. Deductive research
approach basically analyse the cause and effect of relationship between variables and concepts
(Narayanamurthy and Tortorella, 2021). On the other hand, inductive research approach is used
within qualitative research type where the researcher analyse the findings on the basis of models
and theories. The following research project will use deductive research approach because it
helps to analyse the casual relationship between variables and concepts.

Research strategy
There are various kinds of research strategy like case study, survey, interview and many others.
Interview is the research strategy where researcher ask questions from respondents in face to face
manner and survey is the research strategy where researcher distribute questionnaire to the
respondents which further answer the questions and resend it to researcher (Bairagi and Munot,
2019). The following research project is based on survey where researcher will collect first hand
data through questionnaire. The main reason to use survey over other research strategies is that it
provide the valid and reliable data and this will also help to evaluate the data in easy manner.
Choice of methods
There are mainly two choices of research method, mono and mixed. The following research is
based on mono method which states that the researcher is required to choose any one option out
of two which is either qualitative research or quantitative research. The following research is
based on quantitative research.
Time horizon
It is also essential for the researcher to accomplish the research within a set period of time. there
are two types of time horizon from which the researcher need to choose one (Snyder, 2019). The
researchers who choose longitudinal time horizon takes longer time (more than one year) to
complete their research. On the other hand, who choose cross-sectional time horizon will
complete the research in short period of time. The following research is based on cross-sectional
time horizon because it will help researcher to include updated data.
Data collection and analysis
Here, researcher is required to choose between qualitative and quantitative research as well as
between primary and secondary data (Newman and Gough, 2020). The researcher will choose
quantitative research because above chosen research methodologies suits best with quantitative
research. On the other hand, primary data is chosen because it allow researcher to collect first
hand data. The researcher will use tables, pie charts and bar graphs to interpretate the collected
data. The usage of charts and tables will help to make the report attractive and easy to
understand.

Sampling
There are two types of sampling categories, probability sampling method and non-probability
sampling method. The following research is based on non-probability method because it is cost
effective as compared to other sampling methods. Random sampling method helps the researcher
in ccomplishing the investigation of 30 people in a faster way.
Ethical consideration
It is also essential for the reseracher to conduct the research in ethical manner. There are few
ethical steps taken by the reseracher like-
 The researcher will not harm mentally or physically to any respondent while collecting
data.
 The researcher will take the consent of respondents which means the respondents of the
reserach are well aware that they are the part of a reserach and their responses will help
the reseracher to analyse the main findings of the reserach.
 The following reserach will also use Data Protection Act which states that the data which
is collected from respondents will not get leaked by the reseracher. The following data
and personal information of respondents are kept safe and secure from hackers.
 The following reserach is free of plagiarism or research misconduct.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bairagi, V. and Munot, M.V. eds., 2019. Research methodology: A practical and scientific
approach. CRC Press.
Diamandis, P.H. and Kotler, S., 2020. The future is faster than you think: How converging
technologies are transforming business, industries, and our lives. Simon & Schuster.
He, C., Shi, F. and Tan, R., 2022. A Synthetical Analysis Method of Measuring Technology
Convergence. Expert Systems with Applications, p.118262.
Jeon, J. and Suh, Y., 2019. Multiple patent network analysis for identifying safety technology
convergence. Data Technologies and Applications.
Kim, D.G. and Choi, S.O., 2018. Impact of Construction IT Technology convergence innovation
on business performance. Sustainability, 10(11), p.3972.
Narayanamurthy, G. and Tortorella, G., 2021. Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on employee
performance–moderating role of industry 4.0 base technologies. International Journal of
Production Economics, 234, p.108075.
Newman, M. and Gough, D., 2020. Systematic reviews in educational research: Methodology,
perspectives and application. Systematic reviews in educational research, pp.3-22.
Noruwa, B.I., Arewa, A.O. and Merschbrock, C., 2022. Effects of emerging technologies in
minimising variations in construction projects in the UK. International Journal of
Construction Management, 22(11), pp.2199-2206.
San Kim, T. and Sohn, S.Y., 2020. Machine-learning-based deep semantic analysis approach for
forecasting new technology convergence. Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 157, p.120095.
Snyder, H., 2019. Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and
guidelines. Journal of business research, 104, pp.333-339.
Online
Morgan Sindall infrastructure, 2022. [Online] available through:
<https://www.morgansindallinfrastructure.com/our-work/our-projects/>
Kim D. and Choi S., 2018. Impact of Construction IT Technology Convergence Innovation on
Business Performance. [Online] available through:

<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
328647992_Impact_of_Construction_IT_Technology_Convergence_Innovation_on_Business_P
erformance#:~:text=According%20to%20our%20results%2C%20it,satisfaction%20with%20the
%20services%20the/>
Gaurav S., 2021. The Impact Of Technology On the Construction Industry. [Online] available
through:
<https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-in/news-and-trends/the-impact-of-technology-on-the-
construction-industry/378727/>
Christiansen B., 2022. 5 Current Construction Industry Challenges and How Technology Can
Help. [Online] available through:
<https://www.fieldwire.com/blog/5-construction-industry-challenges-and-how-technology-can-
help/>
Howard D., 2021. 3 Ways Technology Can Overcome Construction Challenges and Where to
Start. [Online] available through:
<https://www.forconstructionpros.com/construction-technology/article/21928293/rdo-
equipment-co-3-ways-technology-can-overcome-construction-challenges-and-where-to-start/>
Alkhaldi N., 2020. 5 Challenges Facing the Construction Industry, and How Technology Helps
to Solve Them. [Online] available through:
<https://www.softeq.com/blog/5-challenges-facing-the-construction-industry-and-how-
technology-helps-to-solve-them/>