Towards a Theoretical Understanding BIM Success in an Owner Organization: Diffusion of Innovations Theory Vs. Actor-Network Theory

Research on BIM adoption has been linked to different theories of innovation underpinned by diverging assumptions. Diffusion of Innovations theory (DIT), for example, assumes the innovation adoption process is linear, while Actor-Network Theory (ANT) assumes innovation is dynamic and non-linear. Different theoretical lenses can thus lead to conflicting conclusions about what the BIM adoption should look like, and what makes it successful. However, limited work has been done to compare the often hidden assumptions of different innovation theories, and to explore how well they suit the BIM process. This study has two objectives: (1) to conduct a comparative analysis of the contrasting conceptual foundations of DIT and ANT and (2) to build and test two early-stage analytical toolkits using the conceptual apparatus of each theory, allowing users to examine the experiences of adopter organisations using two lenses. The toolkits this study offers were developed by moving iteratively between key theoretical concepts and qualitative interview data from a single US-based owner organisation, a case study of an early adopter of BIM. The study has two contributions.. The first, a theoretical finding, is that DIT is better suited for analysing innovations that are material, stabilised and thus significantly “closed” in their early stages, while ANT is better suited for innovations that are dynamic and iteratively (re)created. The second is a set of preliminary insights for practice that help account for the success and failure of BIM adoption in an owner organisation. Future work can focus on developing and validating the toolkits further.