E-Business in Construction Industry: Opportunities and Challenges

Background/Objectives: Construction industries are today in faster mode with the advent of ICT and other technologies to enhance productivity and competition. The purpose of the paper is to elucidate the benefits, opportunities and challenges of Information and communication Technology (ICT) and E-Business in Indian construction industry. Methods/Statistical Analysis: This paper focuses on the theoretical framework from previous literatures, magazines, reports and books. The literatures are studied in detail to gain imminent knowledge on E-Business practices in construction industries. Findings: New technology using ICT and E-Business brings changes in construction industries. ICT applications improve work flow and communication in diverse levels of organization. ICT and E-Business are important to both large and small enterprises facilitating integration and collaboration with business partners, suppliers and customers and also to make electronic transactions. It provides service to customers, helps in delivering and receiving purchases and orders at a great speed, decreases the inventory time, cost and reduce obsolescence. In current scenario, Indian construction companies are started adopting speedy communication tools to get efficient work done. System maintenance, security and lack of software knowledge are the few challenges in E-Business usage in construction industry. Application/Improvement: Collaborative and complete coordination is required for the success of E-Business in construction industry.