Technology readiness among managers of Malaysian construction firms

The purpose of this paper is to assess the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) of the managers of Malaysian construction firms. Also, the backgrounds of the managers were examined to determine the influence of background on the TRI level.

The TRI developed by Parasuraman was adopted to measure the readiness of construction firm managers. TRI refers to people's propensity to embrace and use technologies for accomplishing goals in home life and at work. Four hundred structured questionnaires were sent out to respondents.

The overall TRI score (M=3.18, SD=0.23) indicates that the managers are moderate in terms of their technology readiness. There are no significant differences in terms of technology readiness (TRI) across various demographic variables (e.g. gender, age, etc.), except for educational level. Individual dimensions of TRI, i.e. insecurity and overall TRI, show a significant difference at p<0.05 and p<0.01 to educational level, respectively.

The findings are discussed in relation to the emerging information technology era in Malaysia. CIDB extensively promotes ICT training for managers in the CI. Research and development should be promoted to enhance the technology readiness.