The influence of using mobile technologies during project execution on perceived managerial competencies of emerging construction firm owners/ managers in the Free State province

Abstract

The exponential growth in the utilisation of mobile technologies (MTs) for cost reduction and improving organisational efficiency is widely acknowledged in entrepreneurship literature. Despite this promise, the exact effect of MTs on the managerial competencies of small, micro, and medium enterprises is yet to be fully comprehended by emerging construction firms (ECFs). To address this gap, the current study drew on a quantitative approach and survey conducted on 252 emerging construction firms' owners/managers in the Free State province of South Africa to establish how mobile technology adoption during project execution impacted the perceived managerial competencies (MCs) of these entrepreneurs. The results indicate that the adoption of MTs during project execution has a positive and statistically significant effect on the communicative and social competencies of ECF owners and managers, with MT adoption during project execution explaining 65.1% of the variance of communicative competencies and 71.2% of social competencies. The results further demonstrate that the type of device used (laptops and tablets) used moderated the strength of the MT adoption-MC relationship. The study recommends the wider rollout of other mobile technologies to improve managerial competencies in ways that optimise the efficiency of project-related operations. The study contributes to the broad project management theory and literature, especially project execution, by exploring how mobile technology adoption facilitates enhanced communication and social competencies that improve organisational efficiency of ECFs.