*4.3. Thematic Analysis*

As can be observed from the theme identification in Table 2, are some hot topics that are emphasized in research on the digital transformation of the construction industry. Hereafter the 12 hot topics are analyzed in turn.

1. Digital technology. In recent years, digital technologies such as 3D printing technology, robotics, Internet of Things, assembly, BIM (Building Information Model) and digital twin have been widely used in construction industry [42,43]. BIM technology, in particular, has been popularized in China's construction industry, but at present, the effect of these technologies on the digital transformation of the construction industry is quite limited. Indeed, digital construction technology in China's construction industry is used for the purpose of application, but only for the bidding of engineering projects, which fails to fundamentally improve the efficiency, quality, safety and environmental protection level of engineering projects. Therefore, and in the future, it is important to promote the innovation and development of digital scientific and technological achievements through digital technology as well as enhance the core competitiveness of construction enterprises, so as to promote the structural change and digital transformation of the construction industry.

2. Policy environment. With the deepening of the digital transformation process in the construction industry, the policies and systems for the digital transformation of the construction industry have become more and more prominent, which has become a hot topic in the research and practice of the digital transformation of the construction industry. In many cases the government is the leader and regulator of the digital transformation of the construction industry. Moreover, laws and regulations have a positive impact on the digital transformation of the construction industry [44,45]. For example, the United States, Australia, countries in the European Union as well as other countries have relatively robust legal systems in terms of protecting scientific and technological innovation, and research and development of digital technologies related to the construction industry is also at the forefront of the world. Financial policies from governments, such as loan discounts, tax reduction and exemption, and financial subsidies, can also effectively stimulate the enthusiasm of construction enterprises for digital transformation [18].

3. Financial strength. In order to truly realize digital transformation, enterprises must improve and upgrade existing equipment and introduce digital talents and technologies. However, in recent years and with the global epidemic situation, rising labor costs, slowing consumer demand, and tightening of national housing policy, the continuous operating costs of construction enterprises, especially small and medium-sized construction enterprises, are constantly rising [46,47]. Faced with the natural cost of digital transformation, unpredictable transformation cycle and uncertain transformation income, the construction enterprises, which have insufficient funds, hold a cautious wait-and-see attitude towards digital transformation. Thus, capital has become a major constraint factor in the transformation of most construction enterprises.

4. Enterprise management level. Under the tide of digitalization, the market always completes self-renewal and upgrading in the process of constantly eliminating those enterprises that are inefficient and ineffective in providing value to users. The deep integration of digital technology within the construction industry is not only beneficial to the quality change, efficiency change and power change of the construction industry, but also related to the competitive advantage of enterprises in the market [34,48]. Therefore, with the full application of digitalization in the construction industry, construction enterprises are required to make adaptive management changes and adjustments to their internal organizational structure, marketing mode, product design and employment mode [49]. There is also a need to continuously improve the efficiency of value creation and supply and achieve the deep integration of digital technology and construction industry.

5. International digital environment. Nowadays, the world has entered the digital age, and the data resources provided by digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and big data have replaced the dominant position of old production factors, such as coal and oil. The production process is more dependent on capital investment and technical support, which adversely affects the traditional resource-intensive and labor-intensive construction industry. For the traditional Chinese construction industry, this means that the low-cost dividend disappears, and the industrial space is squeezed, which potentially leads to the decline of the position of China's construction industry in the

world. On the contrary, countries with advanced technology, intensive capital and a higher education level will have more advantages over the competition [50]. Therefore, China's construction industry must seize the opportunity in the process of digital transformation and improve its position in the global value chain.

6. Scientific and technological innovation ability. With the advent of the digital age, the capabilities afforded by scientific and technological innovation has become the foundation for the survival and steady development of construction enterprises [51,52]. The economic benefit brought by scientific and technological innovation is not only a symbol to measure the survival and competitiveness of enterprises, but also a core factor to measure the market position and growth potential of enterprises. Although construction enterprises continue to increase the intensity of scientific and technological innovation, most of them are still at the level of imitation learning and technology introduction, as well as lacking core technologies with independent intellectual property rights. Indeed, the contribution rate of scientific and technological innovation has been at a low level [53], and the core technology "card neck" problem has not been alleviated. This is accompanied by the acceleration of economic globalization, the influx of internationally renowned construction contractors, the increasingly fierce competition in the construction market, and the unsustainable traditional development mode of the construction industry. Under the new situation, China's construction enterprises must adapt to the market changes and the demand of engineering science and technology and improve the level and ability of scientific and technological innovation, so as to gain the initiative in market competition and realize the high-quality development of the construction industry.

7. Ordinary labor force. In the context of an aging population and declining demographic dividend, the construction industry, as a labor-intensive industry, has received a huge impact [52]. On the one hand, existing construction workers are becoming older. On the other hand, as an important source of labor in the construction industry, the new generation of migrant workers are less and less willing to enter the construction industry [54]. As the main part of the labor force, the middle-aged and elderly workers often update their skills slowly with sometimes limited adoption of digital knowledge and technology, and often can't adapt to the mechanized and intelligent construction environment [55]. In order to alleviate the pressure of an aging construction industry, construction enterprises must speed up digital transformation, promote the transformation of production mode and the adjustment and optimization of industrial structure.

8. Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a key driving force for economic development, and it has an important influence on the practical effect of digital transformation [56,57]. Some researchers have divided entrepreneurship into two types, namely innovative entrepreneurship and arbitrage entrepreneurship [58]. Driven by innovative entrepreneurial spirit, construction enterprises actively explore the path of deep integration of digital technology and the construction industry, overcome the difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of digital transformation of construction industry, promote the cooperation efficiency of digital supply chain among construction enterprises, and continuously improve the performance of construction enterprises. In addition, by exerting the diffusion effect of entrepreneurship in management practice, it is helpful to improve the risk-taking awareness of construction enterprises, speed up the effective transformation of knowledge and information acquired by construction enterprises through the external network to the inside, and exert the knowledge spillover effect to achieve enterprise performance growth.

9. Social responsibility. As far as construction enterprises are concerned, there is a need to express a social responsibility to employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, government and other stakeholders, which is an effective way to shape the firm's corporate image and potentially improve financial performance [59,60]. So as to better promote the digital transformation of enterprises. As far as the government is concerned, it is also willing to encourage construction enterprises to actively undertake social responsibilities and form positive feedback through financial subsidies and loan interest subsidies. In addition, enterprises' active social responsibility can not only enhance consumers' internal

perception, which has a positive effect on the digital reform of enterprises, but also enhance enterprises' external perception. Consequently, the positive response of enterprises' internal mechanism to digital reform will also be strengthened [61].

10. Green buildings. The proportion of carbon emissions in China's construction operation stage accounts for 22% of the total carbon emissions in the whole society. Therefore, energy conservation and carbon reduction in the construction sector is crucial to the realization of China's "30.60" double-carbon strategic goal [62]. In the era of the digital economy, digital technology is the best tool to achieve China's double-carbon goal [63]. In this context, it is urgent for the construction industry to step up the rate of digital transformation to achieve the goal of double carbon. In addition and according to the goal of digital transformation, green upgrading has become an important supporting force for high-quality economic development and securing people's happy and content life [64]. The demand for green upgrading of the construction industry has also forced enterprises to pursue the road of digital transformation.

11. Business model. It can be observed that innovation through digital technologies (such as the Internet of Things, big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence as well as cloud computing) continuously promote the high-quality development of China's economy, and correspondingly the traditional business model of enterprises has undergone subversive changes [65,66]. The construction industry is no exception. Facing the uncertainty and complexity of the development of the digital economy, construction enterprises must innovate their business models to identify the direction of digital technology change, secure industrial policy orientation, find competitors' threats and catch customers' demand trends, as well as quickly search for exploratory knowledge that matches the development orientation through environmental insight [67]. This is required to successfully realize the process of digital transformation, otherwise, the opportunities arising from digital transformation may not be effectively identified and eventually pursued [68].

12. Digital talents. Digital talents are an important factor of production for digital transformation. There is therefore a need to upgrade the level of talents in the construction industry, which is related to the development of digital science and technology capabilities in the construction industry [69,70]. With the development of digital theory and technology in the construction industry, the demand for talents who have a good understanding of both information and communications technology (ICT) as well as engineering technology is huge. In this context, the shortage of digital talents is one of the main factors that restricts the digital transformation of the construction industry [71]. Only by enhancing the mechanism of talent development, improving the quality of talents, and building the digital innovation mechanism of cooperation between companies and scholars under the government, equality and Industry-University-Research, can the successful digital transformation of the construction industry be realized [72].

#### *4.4. Determination of the Relationship of Indicators Based on the DEMATEL Method*

There is a mutual influence relationship among the impact indicators of the digital transformation of the construction industry. The influence relationship and degree can be determined by DEMATEL, and the indicators are recorded as Si{i =1, 2, J ... 11, 12} in order. First, 30 experts in the construction industry were given questionnaires to collect the mutual influence among the indicators of digital transformation of the construction industry judged by each expert. The 30 experts have been engaged in construction and management related work in the construction industry for many years. All of them have senior engineer and above titles, and there are many senior engineers at the level of chief engineer and professor, with rich professional experience and high credibility. The questionnaire uses the scale of 0–3 to indicate the degree of influence among indicators. See Table 3 for the scale and corresponding meanings. After calculating the arithmetic average of data from the 30 experts, the direct influence matrix *A* is obtained.

**Table 3.** Scale and meaning.


The maximum method is used to standardize the direct influence matrix *A*, and the standardized direct influence matrix X is obtained. Where *aij* is the value of the *i*-th row and the *j*-th column in *A*.

$$\chi = \frac{A}{\max\_{1 \le i \le 12} \sum\_{i=1}^{12} a\_{ij}} \tag{3}$$

The comprehensive influence matrix is calculated with the help of MATLAB software. The Formula (4) is used to calculate the comprehensive influence matrix, where T is the comprehensive influence matrix and E is the identity matrix.

$$\mathbf{T} = \mathbf{X}(\mathbf{E} - \mathbf{X})^{-1} \tag{4}$$

In order to remove the less influential values in the digital transformation index system of the construction industry, a reasonable threshold λ is selected to process the comprehensive impact matrix T, and the processed comprehensive impact matrix D is obtained. When *aij* ≤ λ in the comprehensive influence matrix T, *aij* = 0 is taken as the comprehensive influence matrix D after treatment, which indicates that Si has no influence on Sj or the influence degree is negligible, otherwise *aij* = 1 is taken, which indicates that Si has influence on Sj. The value of λ is usually judged according to the experience of experts, which also makes its value subjective. In order to effectively reduce the influence of subjective experience on the results, this paper chooses the sum of the mean and standard deviation of each value in the comprehensive influence matrix T as the value of λ.

$$\mathbf{D} = \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 1 \\ 1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ \end{pmatrix} \tag{5}$$

#### *4.5. ANP Calculation Index Weight*

The process of calculating index weight by ANP is extremely complicated, and it is difficult to calculate by manual method. Therefore, this study uses ANP programming calculation software Super Decision (SD for short) to calculate the index weight by ANP.

The twelve key influencing factors from the LDA theme model are summarized as follows:


According to the comprehensive influence matrix d obtained by DEMATEL, the ANP network structure for digital transformation of the construction industry is established, as shown in Figure 5. In the figure, the two-way arrow indicates that the indexes in two element groups influence each other, the one-way arrow indicates that the indexes in the tail element group influence the indexes in the head element group, and the circular arrow indicates that the indexes in the element group influence each other. Among them, the comprehensive evaluation system of the key influencing factors of digital transformation of construction industry is the control layer; Enterprise resources A1, enterprise capabilities A2, enterprise spirit A3, macro environment A4 and industry environment A5 are the firstlevel indicators in the network layer; Resources A11, human resources A12, management ability A21, scientific and technological innovation ability A22, organizational change ability A23, entrepreneurship A31, social responsibility A32, policy environment A41, technical environment A42, market competition A51, aging workforce A52 and green requirement A53 are secondary indicators, that is, A = (A1A2A3A4A5); A1 = (A11A12); A2 = (A21A22A23); A3 = (A31A32); A4 = (A41A42); A5 = (A51A52A53).

**Figure 5.** The ANP network structure.

Firstly, based on the comprehensive impact matrix D, the correlation of the first-level and second-level indicators is listed. Due to the limited space, only the correlation of the first-level indicators is shown in Table 4. Then, the 30 experts were invited to fill out the questionnaire by using the nine-level scale method. The scale and meaning are shown in Table 5. The data were averaged and rounded to form a judgment matrix, which was input into SD. After passing the consistency test, the unweighted hypermatrix, weighted hypermatrix and extreme hypermatrix were calculated by SD. See Tables 6–8 for the comprehensive weight of each secondary index. Finally, comprehensive weights of the secondary indicators were sorted, followed by calculation of the weights of the primary indicators, and formation of the index weight table of the comprehensive evaluation system for digital transformation of the construction industry, as shown in Table 9.


**Table 4.** The correlation of first-level indicators.

**Table 5.** The scale degree and meaning of the nine-grade scale method.


**Table 6.** The unweighted hypermatrix.


**Table 7.** The weighted hypermatrix.



**Table 8.** The weighted limit hypermatrix.

**Table 9.** Index weights of the comprehensive evaluation system for digital transformation of the construction industry.


#### **5. Conclusions and Discussion**

*5.1. Main Conclusions of the Study*

Based on the LDA-ANP model, this study determines the key factors influencing for the digital transformation of the construction industry. The study systematically explains the key factors and the theoretical logic of digital transformation of the construction industry and constructs a comprehensive quantitative evaluation system. The specific conclusions arising from the empirical research study are as follows:

Firstly, the study identifies the key factors for the digital transformation of the construction industry. Among them, enterprise resources (capital resources, human resources), enterprise capabilities (management capabilities, technological innovation capabilities, enterprise transformation capabilities) and enterprise spirit (entrepreneurship, social responsibility) are internal influencing factors, whereas macro-environment (policy environment, technical environment) and industry environment (market competition, aging labor force, green requirements) are external influencing factors.

Secondly, the study establishes a comprehensive evaluation system for digital transformation of the construction industry through ANP and reveals that the five elements have different levels of influence on digital transformation in the construction industry. Among them, enterprise capability has the most significant impact on the digital transformation of the construction industry. In the era of the digital economy, organizational boundaries have been broken. Therefore, only by actively integrating digital technology with building related entities and making adaptive adjustments to management methods and internal

functions can construction enterprises effectively enhance their competitiveness and occupy a competitive advantage in the era of the digital economy.

#### *5.2. Theoretical Contribution*

This study gives rise to a number of theoretical contributions to the body of literature, which are summarized as follows.

Firstly, the LDA theme model is applied to the construction industry, and based on Wos and Cnki databases, the frontier hotspots of digital transformation in the construction industry are deeply excavated, which to some extent avoids the limitations caused by insufficient samples. For example, Yiyue Wang et al. studied the influence of human capital, management level and technical ability on the transformation of construction industry [73], but they lacked the factors influencing the transformation of construction industry from the perspective of entrepreneurs' own characteristics and international competition. This study discusses the key influencing factors of the digital transformation of the construction industry as a whole, and clarifies the key factors affecting the digital transformation of the construction industry. However, the existing research results mostly explore certain influencing factors from a limited perspective, lacking the overall perspective achieved in this study.

Secondly, the comprehensive evaluation system of key influencing factors for digital transformation in the construction industry is constructed by ANP, and each key influencing factor is systematically analyzed and quantitatively evaluated. This approach provides theoretical support for digital transformation of construction industry, and also provides a reference for management decisions in construction enterprises to adapt to the digital economy era.

Thirdly, based on the fusion method of machine learning and network analytic hierarchy process, the key influencing factors of digital transformation in the construction industry are excavated and analyzed, and the comprehensive evaluation system of digital transformation of the construction industry is obtained, which represents an innovation application of the research method.

#### *5.3. Management Implications*

With the rapid development of the global digital economy, the need to understand how to carry out digital transformation is a challenge that every enterprise in the construction sector needs to face. According to the current situation in the construction industry, addressing this question has become an urgent problem to be solved. Therefore, this study provides guidance for the construction industry and corresponding management functions to devise effective digital transformation strategies according to the following directives:

Firstly, there is a need to establish an improved awareness of digital transformation. Traditionally, construction enterprises mainly focus on the quantity, quality and the price of products and services. Whereas in the digital economy, the management of construction enterprises will be integrated with users, and the corresponding models of products and services are centered on the creation and supply of value. Digital transformation is not only the use of digital technology to improve efficiency, but also represents a potential change of competition mode, as well as the change of enterprise management thinking and internal organizational structure. Therefore, if an enterprise wants to secure a competitive advantage in the new era of the digital economy, such an enterprise must establish a sense of transformation as soon as possible, fundamentally change the traditional management concept, and accelerate the deep integration of digital technology and architectural entities.

Secondly, there is a need to formulate a digital transformation strategy suitable for the context of the construction enterprise. In regard to the general trend of digital transformation, construction enterprises urgently need to formulate digital transformation strategies. According to the internal strategic management elements and external environment of the enterprise, there is a need for enterprises to analyze their strengths and weaknesses and devise a feasible digital strategy and corresponding implementation plan. Although

there is no universal digital strategy, "successful enterprises are the same, and failed enterprises have their own misfortunes" [49], which requires enterprises to meet the key requirements of digital transformation in advance according to the concept of "system determines success or failure", and at the same time, to "make up for shortcomings" in time according to the characteristics of "taking one lead and moving the whole body". Although in reality, the process of digital strategic transformation is a complex system engineering, which requires not only the focus of construction enterprises at the technical level, but also adequate consideration by management functions, system implementation as well as careful consideration and effective engagement of various interest groups.

#### *5.4. Shortcomings and Prospects*

Although the study seeks to develop a reliable model through rigorous verification, there are some research limitations: (1) The number of samples selected in this study is large (articles), which has certain practical significance, but only papers and meeting are taken into account, and patents, corporate reports and other contents are not taken into account. In the future, we can consider expanding the sample size to fully understand the development state of the digital transformation field of the construction industry; (2) The labels of each theme are summarized by the author according to the key words and their own subjective judgment, which has a certain level of subjectivity. Therefore, future studies are proposed that would adopt methods to reduce the impact of such subjectivity.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, H.L. and J.Z.; formal analysis, Z.H., D.L., S.P.P. and Y.K.; methodology, Z.H.; project administration, H.L. and S.P.P.; resources, Z.H. and S.P.P.; software, Z.H., D.L. and Y.K.; supervision, J.Z., S.P.P. and Y.K.; validation, H.L., J.Z., S.P.P. and Y.K.; visualization, J.Z. and D.L.; writing—original draft, H.L. and Z.H.; writing—review & editing, H.L., Y.K. and S.P.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by [National Social Science Fund projects] grant number [No. 20BJY010], [National Social Science Fund Post-financing projects] grant number [No. 19FJYB017], [Sichuan-tibet Railway Major Fundamental Science Problems Special Fund] grant number [No.71942006], [Qinghai Natural Science Foundation] grant number [No. 2020-ZJ-736], [List of Key Science and Technology Projects in China's Transportation Industry in 2018-International Science and Technology Cooperation Project] grant number [No. 2018-GH-006 and No. 2019-MS5-100], [Shaanxi Social Science Fund] grant number [No. 2017S004], [Xi'an Construction Science and Technology Planning Project] grant number [No. SZJJ2019-15 and No. SZJJ2019-16] and [Fundamental Research for Funds for the Central Universities (Humanities and Social Sciences)] grant number No. 300102282601].

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The National Social Science Fund projects, National Social Science Fund Postfinancing projects, Sichuan-tibet Railway Major Fundamental Science Problems Special Fund, Qinghai Natural Science Foundation, List of Key Science and Technology Projects in China's Transportation Industry in 2018-International Science and Technology Cooperation Project, Shaanxi Social Science Fund, Xi'an Construction Science and Technology Planning Project and Fundamental Research for Funds for the Central Universities enabled this research, for which the authors are most grateful.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
