Systemic BIM adoption: a multilevel perspective

Systemic innovations require multiple interdependent actors to change their practices simultaneously in order to realise the benefits of the innovation. Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been classified as a systemic innovation that is adopted by building projects, firms, and users. However, the slow diffusion of BIM in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector has maintained the gap between BIM visions and actual BIM practice. Some governments are planning to enact policies to promote BIM adoption in construction. However, in some countries, BIM adoption has already started with large construction organisations (i.e., the middle-out diffusion approach). To learn from previous experience and before enacting top-down interventions, policymakers require a model to stimulate systemic BIM adoption for entire supply chains with fragmented project and organisational structures. The current paper investigates systemic adoption of digital innovations in construction and is aimed at formulating a model of systemic BIM adoption (MSBA). Three primary datasets consisting of 133 BIM users, 30 chief executive officers, and 20 project managers were collected in Peru and collectively analysed using cross-classified multilevel modelling (CCMM). It was found that MSBA has five user-, three firm-, and two project-level factors, explaining 28%, 75% and 50% of variance in users’ BIM adoption respectively. The proposed model would provide useful guidance for corporate decisionmakers and government policymakers to develop BIM-diffusion policies to accelerate adoption. It would also provide a useful practical implementation framework as the industry progresses towards a digital mode of working and could underpin further digitalisation of the sector worldwide.