Digitalization of SMEs in the construction industry: An empirical investigation of the status quo

Abstract

The construction industry is an important economic sector in Austria. However, a direct comparison with other sectors reveals weaknesses. Compared with other industries productivity per employee has stagnated in recent years, while digitalization is seen as a great source of hope. It is therefore not surprising that the construction industry brings up the rear compared to other sectors of the economy. Due to the highly individual nature of construction projects and the large number of companies involved, many construction companies face considerable challenges when it comes to digitalization. Across the entire construction industry, large construction companies tend to be rated as better than small construction companies. However, as the construction industry is predominantly made up of small and few medium-sized companies, this naturally has a negative impact on the digitalization of the entire industry and therefore also on efficiency. For this reason, the aim of this thesis is to find out how small construction companies can be supported to achieve better and more sustainable digitalization in the future. As a starting point, the resources and capabilities of large construction companies are analysed during expert interviews with regard to digitalization in order to identify what exactly these companies are doing to drive digitalization forward. Among other things, large construction companies have a clear digitalization strategy, have defined clear responsibilities and have employees with the relevant expertise who endeavour to support their own workers on the construction site with software tools. Based on these findings, the status quo of small and medium-sized construction companies is then analysed in a survey. Finally, a direct comparison with skills and resources is used to identify differences. It becomes clear that due to a lack of personnel and time, clear structures such as a strategy or responsibilities are often in place. In addition, there still appear to be some small construction companies that have not yet had anything to do with digitalization. These differences are analysed in the context of the construction supply industry, specifically the company Poloplast GmbH & CO KG. An outlook is given that construction supply companies can diversify and expand their product portfolio by offering an appropriate range of support and consulting services.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English
Supervisor	Bernhard Martin Freiseisen (Supervisor)