e-Business in Construction (PDF)

With a number of disparate, often geographically distributed,
organisations involved in the delivery of construction projects,
there has been considerable interest in e-business tools within the
construction industry. These tools open up a range of possibilities
for the industry to rethink existing processes and working methods,
so their use is increasingly common. Nevertheless, there has been
little definitive guidance for practitioners, researchers and
students on the major issues in electronic business from a
construction perspective.

By bringing together 16 contributions from research and industry
covering theory, technological issues, practical implementation and
legal matters, and illustrated with a number of case studies,
e-Business in Construction fills that gap. Starting with the
theoretical aspects of e-commerce and moving on to consider the
specifics of the construction context, it includes a mechanism for
the assessment of the e-readiness of construction sector
organisations. The middle part of the book focuses on the role of
various technologies in e-business, with examples included as
appropriate. This is followed by a discussion of practical, legal
and trust issues. The potential of next generation of information
and communication technologies is also addressed.

With a fine blend of theoretical and practical aspects of
e-commerce in construction, and well illustrated with a number of
industrial case studies, e-Business in Construction will
find an appreciative audience of construction practitioners,
researchers and students at all levels.