Transformação digital na construção civil: lições e desafios a partir da jornada de construtoras do nordeste brasileiro

Abstract

Digital transformation (DT) has brought new perspectives to the market and is considered a strategic challenge to maintain relevance and competitiveness in companies, including the construction sector. As a sociotechnical aspect, DT challenges the assumptions of innovation management, constituting a profound change in business processes, operational routines, and organizational capabilities. As a source of competitive advantage, digital transformation has received a lot of attention in organizations, including in the construction industry, which, compared to other sectors, is progressing slowly. In view of this, this work had the general objective of analyzing the Digital Transformation process in construction companies. To this end, a survey was carried out based on two cycles of field studies. The first consisted of a diagnosis of the actions developed by 17 companies associated with INOVACON (Institute of Innovation in the Construction Industry) in their digital transformation journeys thatparticipated in a Working Group (GT) on the subject during the year 2022. The data were collected through interviews and submitted to content analysis. For this first stage, barriers were identified, as well as problems related to the technical room, the construction site, the supply sector and technical assistance that the TD must address. After the conclusion of the WG, three case studies were conducted with companies that demonstrated that they were undergoing a structured digital transformation process. Fourteen interviews, two observations and nine documents were found as sources of evidence. These data were also subjected to content analysis and triangulated with each other. As a result, it was possible to characterize the TD journey of these companies, verify the objectives of this transformation, the strategies for implementation, facilitators and barriers, as well as the benefits. These aspects collectively provide a detailed diagnosis of the companies' actions and allow us to conclude that the digital transformation process is still in its initial stages, with some experimentation with different technologies taking place to improve construction efficiency. Even so, digital transformation is not just a matter of adopting new technologies, but of organizational and cultural restructuring. In this sense, the main challenge is to overcome resistance to change, especially in construction companies, which are seen as traditional. This resistance is a reflection of the lack of understanding about the long-term benefits and the difficulty in adapting to new ways of working. This diagnosis is the main contribution of the work. Limitations and future studies are planned.