Use of Electronic Document Management Systems in Turkish Construction Industry - Analysis of Contractors and Software Developers Perspectives

Inadequacies in internal and external document circulation and storage cause various problems for construction contractors in Turkey. While literature studies state that Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) solve many problems regarding document management related problems and especially provide saving opportunities in stationery costs and in end-users document processing speed, the EDMS implementation in Turkish Construction Industry has clearly not been widely spread yet. Thus the aim this study has been to determine the factors affecting the acceptance of these systems in the industry. In this context, a questionnaire survey was implemented to 150 contractors and structured interviews were conducted with 9 EDMS software providers. Survey results show that EDMS usage is low in the industry mainly due to top management lack of knowledge about the systems and its benefits as an investment. Interview results unexpectedly show that software providers are reluctant to change this situation in order to increase the demand in the industry