Psychology in the decision making of Industrialised Building Systems (IBS): a field of application

Research in decision making is diverse in content and perspective. There is much to be learned from more fundamental managerial disciplines. Decision making is a sub-set of human behaviour rather than a completely separate phenomenon. Currently, there are likely that few decisional issues in the application of Industrialised Building Systems (IBS) require the invention of a completely new theory. If IBS technology research bases its viewpoint only on technical and managerial issues, its development will become less relevant to the construction world at large. In order to explore decision research methods into IBS decision making, psychological elements are applied to determine their influences on the decisions of IBS technology application. This paper discusses psychological elements that are relevant to decision making and the focus is on the adoption of IBS technology in building construction. This is presented by a discussion of psychological factors influencing the decision making of construction technology application. This is followed by a review of some predictions on the future of behavioural economics in construction technology application. This paper is concluded by suggesting that the research of psychology decision making should positively contribute to decision makers' awareness, knowledge and skills, and these contributions should aim at the effectiveness of decision making in IBS technology application.