Digital Transformation and Organizational Learning: Situated Perspectives on Becoming Digital in Architectural Design Practice

Abstract

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is negotiating a slow and fragmented shift toward digital transformation (DT). To identify the drivers and barriers to DT in the AEC industry, this article draws on organizational learning theory. More specifically, it investigates learning dynamics related to digital technology knowledge and skills development in organizations in the architecture sector. Adopting an empirical approach, the research has collected data through a series of semi-structured interviews (n = 17) with employees from four large-scale architecture organizations in Sydney, Australia. The article conceptualizes the interviewees’ experiences of engaging with digital technology knowledge and skills in their workplace along a learning loop continuum and in relation to modes of single-, double-, and triple-loop learning. It finds that organizations are primarily fostering modes of single-loop learning and potentially missing opportunities to innovate. The research highlights the hybrid, extensible, and platform nature by which individuals “learn” digital technologies and computational systems in the architecture workplace and identifies opportunities for intervention. The research demonstrates the utility of organizational learning as a method to rethink approaches to DT in the AEC industry.