Research On Quantitative Assessment Method And Decision Support System Development For Construction Project Blockchain Technology Adoption Decision

With the development of information technology,a new generation of information technology represented by blockchain technology is gradationally piercing in colorful diligence,driving a new generation of artificial revolution and technological invention.Especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19,how to use the arising information technology to reduce enterprise operating costs and ameliorate functional effectiveness has come a crucial concern for colorful diligence.And this has also promoted the position of informationization in the construction assiduity.The technical advantages and features of blockchain technology have a natural fit with the painful problem of low trust among all participants of construction projects,which is conducive to the construction of a highly trusted network.The role of blockchain technology in enhancing trust among the participants of construction projects has attracted the attention of researchers and has been recognized in some studies.However,despite the relatively promising application of blockchain technology in construction projects,the construction industry is still at the initial stage of blockchain technology adoption,and most of the studies are qualitative.The existing literature on the adoption of blockchain technology in construction project contexts is scarce,and most of the existing studies focus on analyzing the prospects and advantages of the technology and remain in the conceptual stage.The difficulty for construction project practitioners to make reasonable quantitative decisions on blockchain adoption is an important reason that hinders the application of blockchain technology in projects.For specific construction project scenarios,construction companies often rely on the empirical judgment of management personnel in the decision-making process of adopting blockchain technology and are unable to make scientific and quantitative decisions.Therefore,a quantitative tool is needed to enable owners and contractors to evaluate the suitability of blockchain technology with a specific project at the investment decision stage,so as to scientifically and rationally support the decision-making behavior of blockchain technology adoption.To address the aforementioned issues,this paper proposes a quantitative assessment method for blockchain technology adoption decisions in a construction project context and develops a blockchain technology adoption decision support system.The quantitative assessment method is formed through a combination of expert scoring method and empowerment,while the decision support system is developed using the VBA(Visual Basic for Applications)programming language based on the Excel platform.Specifically,this study aims to(1)identify the key factors that influence blockchain technology adoption decisions,(2)propose a scoring method to assess the feasibility of adopting blockchain technology in a given project,and(3)develop a blockchain technology adoption decision support system to assist construction project participants in making decisions to adopt blockchain technology or not.To achieve these research objectives,this paper first collects the relevant literature on blockchain technology in the construction context and summarizes the decision factors for blockchain technology adoption.These decision factors are then used to create a scoring methodology.Subsequently,a blockchain technology adoption decision support system is developed using the created scoring method.Finally,an illustrative case demonstration is performed.To the best of the authors’ knowledge,little existing literature addresses the study of quantitative assessment methods and decision support systems for blockchain technology adoption decisions based on specific construction project contexts.Therefore,this study fills a gap in the existing knowledge.Moreover,the developed decision support system will be beneficial to industry practitioners as it can help owners and contractors to provide guidance on whether to adopt blockchain technology,enabling them to make informed decisions on the issue of blockchain technology adoption and contribute to enhancing the benefits of construction projects.The development of this decision support system adopts modular programming and object-acquainted design ideas to design the composition of the system and the design of each functional module with the factual requirements of construction enterprises as the starting point.In addition,this system has a user-friendly interactive user interface that can be easily used even by people who are not proficient in computers.It incorporates multiple influencing factors for blockchain technology adoption decisions and uses scoring techniques to support project practitioners in making effective decisions in complex scenarios.The system is based around the concepts of ease of use,functionality,friendliness,and performance,with a balance of aesthetics.The system was tested using a black box testing approach.By analyzing the test results,the blockchain technology adoption decision support system developed by this research can meet the practical needs of construction project managers.By using the system,decision makers can clearly weigh the applicability of specific project contexts and blockchain technology,clarify the pros and cons of the technology,and assist decision makers in making decisions under complex scenarios.Overall,the design of the blockchain technology adoption decision support system developed in this paper basically meets the requirements.In summary,the quantitative evaluation method and the blockchain technology adoption decision support system designed and developed in this paper provide decision makers with rich decision information,reduce the blindness of blockchain technology adoption decision,and can make realistic guidance for decision makers’adoption decision,which is of great significance to enhance the effectiveness of construction projects.