Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(2): 215-221, 2011 ISSN 1991-8178 Managing Organisation/ Business Readiness towards IT/IS Implementation: A Model Comparison Nur Mardhiyah Aziz and Hafez Salleh Faculty of the Built Environment, Universiti Malaya,50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Abstract: Phenomenal growth of the internet has revolutionized business processes, leading to the development of IT-based technologies such as e-commerce. Proven benefits of the applications of e- commerce tools in industries including construction had encouraged organizations to invest in IT/IS. However, there is also ample evidence that showed failure of IT/IS to deliver the expected return. The main attributes of the high percentage of IT/IS failure was found to be the ‘soft issues’ that involves people and their readiness prior to the implementation of IT/IS in an organization. As such, failure of IT/IS implementation in current evaluation models may be due to its focus on the ‘hard issues’ aspect such as speed and profit instead of on the ‘soft issues’ aspect. It is therefore important to assess the readiness level of the organization prior to planning and adopting IT/IS. Hence, this paper will review and comment on the current available readiness model highlighting their suitability to the construction industry. It is anticipated that review and recommendation from this research will create awareness among the construction industry players on the importance of assessing their readiness level in order to successfully implement IT/IS in their organizations. Differences between the models/tools discussed in this paper are expected to enrich knowledge, thus broadening the area of readiness research in construction industry. Key words: IT/IS, readiness model, construction INTRODUCTION Impact of the internet revolution is being felt by industries all around the world today. Its application has transformed the business process in the form of managing information that is how information is being saved, retrieved and exchanged. Business opportunities which were previously beyond imagination are now possible with the application of internet. International transaction became common as the transaction can be done in shorter time and is inexpensive. Benefits of the technology in the business world are undeniable thus encouraging the business sectors to adopt it, including construction industry. This leads to the existence of the e-commerce tools. The application of these e-commerce tools has changed the traditional business pattern into a modern way which is much more simple and effective, making achieving business target no longer impossible. The benefits of using these tools have been documented in several publications, among others Berning & Flanagan, 2003 and ITCF, 2004. Demands for the application of e-commerce tools have lead to the growth of IT/IS investment, which had been recorded by many researchers throughout the years. For example, in the U.S. IT capital investment has reached an estimated 50% of nominal business capital spending (Kasi, Keil, Mathiassen, & Pedersen, 2008) and despite the economic downturns, it was reported that IT/IS investment had kept on increasing in the year 2008 (Kanaracus, 2008; Petter, Delone, & McLean, 2008). In addition, Gartner Group had forecasted a 2.3 percent increase in IT/IS investment for the year 2010 (Franklin, 2009). In spite of the huge organisation investment in IT/IS and the commitment to adopt it, the limited success that had been achieved in real business environments is disappointing. Over the past 30 years, estimates of the level of failure had stayed uncomfortably high (Ashurst, Doherty, & Peppard, 2008) which had motivated researchers to identify the key reasons of failures. Lyytinen and Hirschheim (1987) identified four major types of failures; that are correspondence failure, process failure, interaction failure and expectation failure. Lou & Alshawi (2009), on the other hand, stated that the main reasons for the high percentage of systems failure are related to the organisational “soft issues”, which underpin the capability of the organisation to successfully absorb IT/IS into its work practices. Factors that contribute to failure of IT/IS implementation had been analysed in order to formulate successful strategies for planning, development Corresponding Author: Nur Mardhiyah Aziz, Faculty of the Built Environment, Universiti Malaya,50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Email: nurmardhiyah@gmail.com 215