Each matrix was computed in three steps as shown in Figure 1. The first step involved forming an “Applicable/Not Applicable” matrix where every column represented a factor f), and every row represented a response r). The maximum number of factors F) was F = 22, and the maximum number of responses R) was R = 61. The response for every factor was “Applicable” if the survey respondent selected the factor, or “Not Applicable” if the survey respondent did not select the factor. For example, Response 3) shows “Applicable” for Factor 2), Factor 3), and the very last Factor (22) (i.e., Factor F)), while it shows “Not Applicable” for Factor 1). This indicates that the survey respondent who answered Response 3) selected Factors 2, 3, and 22 as factors that are driving the change efforts in their organization but did not select Factor 1. The next step involved forming an (FxR) matrix where “Applicable” values were changed to 1, and “Not Applicable” values were changed to 0. The matrix was then transposed to an (RxF) matrix where the columns reference responses and the rows reference factors.

After forming the (RxF) matrix, every factor received a score by adding all the cells for every row using Eq 1. Then a normalized score was calculated for every factor by dividing the score of the factor by the maximum score among all factors inside the matrix using Eq 2. The normalized score was calculated to standardize the comparisons between factors and ensure accurate comparisons and reliable conclusions when comparing the three matrices for the years of experience matrices (Contemporary–transitional–legacy) and comparing between the three matrices for the types of experience (owner–contractor–service provider). The calculation process is illustrated in Figure 2. S c o r e f = ∑ r = 1 i . e .   f i r s t   c o l u m n i . e .   l a s t   c o l u m n R t f , r (1) N o r m a l i z e d   S c o r e f = S c o r e f M a x i m u m   S c o r e f   i n   t h e   M a t r i x (2)

Changes in domestic and international trade policies, such as the wave of tariffs that recent US administrations imposed on importing materials like steel, aluminum, and lumber, can have indirect and unintended consequences on industries including construction (Regan, 2019; 2021). Examples of such consequences include an increase in material costs that the buyer of imported material needs to pay, volatility in pricing which negatively impacts project contracts and budgets, delays in receiving material as processing time at ports of entry become longer and thus delaying project schedules, and disruption of the supply chain when looking to new vendors for lower prices and changing projects’ types of material to lower costs (SmithSchafer, 2021). Such consequences worsen project cost estimation for an industry that already struggles with cost estimation, budgeting, and overruns (Oparin et al., 2016; Bou Hatoum et al., 2021b).

Workers in capital projects notably those in construction are highly susceptible to fatal hazards, excessive work hours, heavy workloads, and mental health problems like depression and anxiety (Bou Hatoum et al., 2021a; Pamidimukkala and Kermanshachi, 2022). Moreover, various human rights violations are being documented in major capital projects such as mistreatment and discrimination against migrant workers, forced resettlement of communities, and negative environmental impacts including noise emissions, waste, and pollution (UNEP, 2017). Such ongoing problems have enhanced government efforts to structure corporate governance and created political establishments that are pushing organizations for accountability, transparency, and development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Petrovic-Lazarevic, 2008; Xia et al., 2018; Lim et al., 2021). Through CSR organizations can develop multiple strategies with a notable focus on critical issues such as safety, health, welfare, ethics, discrimination, harassment, bullying, racism, sexism, ageism, and corruption (Loosemore and Lim, 2017; 2018).

Labor unions play a critical role in providing workers with job security, proper compensation and benefits, appropriate training, and fair treatment in the workplace (Walsh, 2018). The labor-intensive nature of the capital projects industry provides unique labor forces for union representations such as laborers, electricians, and steel workers (Walsh, 2018). Recently, the general public’s approval of labor unions is at its highest since the 1960s, notably after the COVID-19 pandemic were more non-union workers lost their jobs compared to union workers (Phillips, 2022). This is accompanied by reintroducing legislation such as the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act” (PRO Act) that redefines the terms “employers” and “employees”, protects workers who are seeking to form a union from firing, and increases the government’s legislative power to penalize employers who violate workers’ rights (Phillips, 2021). One of the effects of the PRO Act on capital projects is that independent contractors would qualify for union representation and their unique status while working on construction projects would make contractors more liable and responsible for them (Phillips, 2021).

Globalization is one of the most important dimensions of the economy in the 21st century, where most industries experience high capital mobility with trillions of dollars moving around the world each day (Winters, 2014). The capital projects industry is no stranger to globalization, as capital projects can be considered an “engine of growth” in many countries due to their size, contribution to economies, strong industrial linkages, and service-oriented nature (Lewis, 2007; Tetteh et al., 2020). Capital projects organizations can take advantage of the opportunities offered by the global economy and expand their business into international markets for several reasons including stagnant domestic markets, spreading risk through diversification into new markets, competitive use of resources, and finding opportunities in emerging countries with population growth and greater urbanization and concentration in megacities (Gunhan and Arditi, 2005; Deloitte, 2021b). While globalization increases access to other markets, it also increases direct competition with multi-billion dollar companies (Darwish et al., 2012). To face competition, organizations need to be proactive by using reliable project management capabilities and committed resources, building strong networks to improve their supply chain, investing in the latest innovative technologies and start-ups, ensuring compliance with regulations, and promoting sustainability practices (Gunhan and Arditi, 2005; Deloitte, 2021b).

The world’s supply chain is unpredictable as it can always be subjected to major disruptions, especially with recent major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the US-China trade war, Brexit, and armed or military conflicts (Auberger et al., 2020; Huthwaite and Ward, 2022). Such disruptions have had a major effect on the sourcing of materials including for capital projects, where organizations are rethinking their dependencies on certain international markets and searching for regionalized supply chains that allow them to keep inventories close to their areas of operations (Huthwaite and Ward, 2022). For example, the US construction industry procures around 30% of its construction materials from China, and this percentage can go up to 80% for some US firms (Mew, 2020). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in light of the reduced workforce, backup orders from suppliers, elongated lead times, and delays in shipping ports, the construction material availability wildly reduced resulting in aggressive purchasing patterns and spikes in national prices for materials like copper, aluminum, and casework (Mew, 2020). Given such major disruptions that could result from an event like the global pandemic, industries are considering regionalization as an alternative to the current model (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2020). Successful regionalization efforts require capital project organizations to become more customer-centric, optimize the sourcing/distribution footprint, understand the multimodal models of transit, digitize business models, and strengthen risk mitigation (Auberger et al., 2020; The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2020).

The technological innovations and the market shifts towards green practices and analytics have introduced non-construction players into the construction industry’s supply chain (Ribeirinho et al., 2020; Yoon and Pishdad-Bozorgi, 2022). Examples of such players include suppliers that mass produce standardized and customized modular components, software vendors, IT service providers, data aggregators, energy and Information and Communications Technologies (IVT), and utility companies (De Groote and Lefever, 2016; Aramburu, 2019; Tetteh et al., 2020).

The aging workforce is a critical demographic factor that is adding pressure to the capital projects industry. For example, according to the latest statistics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly 43% of the total workforce in the construction industry in the U.S. are above 44 years old, and the median age of the construction workforce is 42.3 (BLS, 2021). The delayed retirement of the aging workforce is mostly attributed to economic needs (Sokas et al., 2019). While research has shown that the aging workforce has caused a decrease in productivity in manufacturing and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) businesses, a different trend is observed for the capital project industry (Chengjie, 2019). For capital projects, older construction workers are a valuable source of knowledge and expertise which are a necessity in a complex industry, and retaining skilled workers is crucial for the success of capital projects as well as ensuring knowledge transfer to younger inexperienced workers (Yang and Manoosingh, 2018). However, the aging workforce poses two major challenges to the capital projects industry. The first challenge is a health concern where the older workforce is likely to get severely ill/injured causing frequent disruptions to operations, and the second challenge is the risk of talent deficit caused by the increasing number of older construction workers exiting the workforce for various reasons including retirement, stringent work requirements, age discrimination, lack of clear lifting limits, and the digital transformation (Schwatka et al., 2012; Yang and Manoosingh, 2018; Sokas et al., 2019; Peng and Chan, 2021). Capital project organizations have taken steps to retain the older workforce and fill the skills gap, but the approaches have been variable and fragmented across capital project organizations (Dickey et al., 2020). Examples of such approaches include offering flexible work hours, providing proper subsidized lodging, providing financial education and health support, creating a new strategy for recruiting older workers by revising recruitment plans, publicizing an age-diverse workforce at the organization to attract older ones, and providing better leave policies and attractive retirement plans (SHRM, 2016; Dickey et al., 2020; Skanska, 2021).

Recent EDI surveys on capital project organizations show that the majority of organizations (around 75%) consider EDI a priority area, and several organizations (around 30%) agree that not having EDI poses a barrier to organizational growth (Sethi and Goodman, 2021). It is expected that by 2025, approximately three-quarters of the global workforce will be millennials, and by 2030, almost every entry-level role will be filled by Generation Z, both of which will cause a demographic change in the workforce and give rise to a new customer base (Merriman and Valerio, 2016; Gabrielova and Buchko, 2021). This younger workforce is the most diverse workforce among any generation, and it distances itself from organizations that do not promote EDI values (Hatoum et al., 2022). Additionally, clients are also participating in the diversity and inclusion dialogue and embracing these values as they believe they are essential for growth (Merriman and Valerio, 2016). In efforts to combat discrimination and improve their reputation, capital project organizations are taking steps to promote EDI by offering mandatory training courses for their employees, supporting minorities and women in STEM education by offering student scholarships, providing platforms for employees to voice opinions within the organizations, closely monitoring their employment demographics, and advising new strategies to diversify the workforce annually (Skanska, 2021; Bechtel, 2022).

Most change is driven by changes in customer behavior and demand which can have a significant impact on how organizations operate (Gallagher, 2020). This is especially true for the construction industry and capital projects due to the fragmented nature of the industry as well as the length of such projects that can span for years between conceptualization and commission (Mohd Nawi, Mohd Nasrun et al., 2014). In fact, studies showed that the variation of customer needs over the project’s lifecycle, which can be referred to as “dynamic customer requirement”, contributes to uncertainty in the project’s success, and makes changing customer requirements a global factor that should be considered cross-functionally across all stakeholders (Chong and Chen, 2010). Thus, customer demand and needs to play an essential role in shaping change initiatives and driving the portfolio of service providers, and failure to understand or meet the change in needs can cause loss of business opportunities, financial consequences, and damaged reputation (Vennström, 2008). Organizations should thus invest in technologies that strengthen customer engagement communication, improve processes and touch points through “customer-centricity” groundwork, and proactively analyze customer needs and preferences via comprehensive research (Dworak and De Villiers, 2018).

Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGOs) power relies upon small bureaucratic apparatus that makes their decision-making processes efficient and allows them to quickly adapt to changing situations through strategic alliances, therefore “becoming catalysts with triggering effects and mobilizers and opinion makers in society” (Cooper et al., 2002; Tortajada, 2016). NGOs have the potential to engage corporations in change efforts through effective nonmanagerial stakeholder engagement that extends to a complex network of organizations including global suppliers, NGOs, distributors, and public servants (Ceesay, 2020). Such change efforts can be related to different critical aspects including accountability, conducts, labor and human rights, health and safety, environment and sustainability, communities, products and projects, and the supply chain (Moodley et al., 2008; Hamid and Tutt, 2019). NGOs can force organizations to change their practices in two ways: either confrontational practices like name shaming, protesting, and calling for boycotts, or collaborative practices like negotiations, sharing expertise, and funding research (Winston, 2002; Ceesay, 2020). Thus, with the threat of NGOs slowing or halting the construction of critical capital projects that can raise environmental or social impacts, capital project organizations have been developing transparent corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and establishing partnership initiatives to manage social risks and enhance project delivery (Spence, 2011).

According to the latest statistics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the younger construction workforce (age 16–25) composes around 10% of the total construction workforce (BLS, 2022). According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), more than half of young adults (63%) said that there is no or little chance they would consider a career in construction trades mainly due to wanting less physically-demanding jobs or believing that construction work is difficult (Quint, 2017). Moreover, despite raising wages and expanding benefits, the majority of construction organizations are considering filling open positions a “major challenge” (AGC, 2022). This is attributed to the change in the needs of the young workforce who care about respect, honesty, safety, growth, and professional development when looking for employers, while the industry suffers from a poor reputation in different aspects including unclear career advancement opportunities, poor health and safety records, corruption, and high sensitivity to economic conditions (Haupt and Harinarain, 2017; Hatoum et al., 2022). As such, organizations need to undergo changes that can allow them to attract and hire the younger workforce and find the right skills to enhance the construction of capital projects. Examples of change efforts include collaborations and partnerships with educational institutions to support STEM education, expanding internships programs, offering various professional development camps, building campus-like environments similar to those offered by Google and Facebook, adopting and promoting new technologies, and re-skilling their workforce in critical and emerging technologies for future visions such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) for green energy (Ainsworth, 2017; Caminiti, 2020; Ernst and Young, 2020).

Infrastructure projects are the backbone of a country’s economic stability and growth, and with most infrastructure projects currently operating beyond their presumed lifetime, governments will be investing trillions of dollars in replacing and repairing these projects (Breugel, 2017). For example, in the USA, failing to act on the aging infrastructure will cost every American household approximately $3,300 in annual disposable income and $10.3 trillion in GDP losses by 2039 (ASCE and EBP, 2021). Thus, governments will have to make optimized replacement decisions and increase infrastructure investments (Boomen et al., 2019). In turn, the demand for capital projects and capital organization services is expected to significantly increase (Carson, 2021). To keep up with the investments, traditional business-as-usual methods will not work, and capital project organizations will have to integrate technologies in their projects and invest in sustainable material research (Breugel, 2017; Lawrence, 2022). Examples of major technologies for smart infrastructure projects include artificial intelligence (Darko et al., 2020), cloud computing (Zou et al., 2017), drones (Hatoum and Nassereddine, 2022b), digital twins (Ammar et al., 2022; 2023), and wireless and sensing technologies (Hatoum et al., 2023c).

A construction capital project is built on reams of data generated from various sources throughout the project lifecycle, making data a critical element as the capital projects industry progresses into the future (Bou Hatoum et al., 2020). With the rapid advances in computing and data science, data analytics can have major use cases such as designing projects, selecting materials and resources, streamlining construction processes, optimizing resource management, scheduling and applying predictive maintenance, mitigating risks, simulating activities and performance, balancing emissions and monitoring the performance of projects in real-time (Nagy et al., 2014; Bilal et al., 2016; Kusimo et al., 2019). Such use cases can translate into major benefits in terms of productivity, safety, cost, sustainability, and quality (Yousif et al., 2021). Capital project organizations can adopt a combination strategy to leverage big data for transformation that involves developing an in-house data management policy, collaborating with external firms for resource development, and outsourcing big data services to address any capability gaps that may hinder digital transformation (Atuahene et al., 2023).

Offsite construction can significantly impact projects, stakeholders, and the environment by improving project metrics like cost and time, enhancing sustainable approaches through reducing waste and establishing end-of-life recycling potential, and boosting societal impacts like workforce quality of life and stakeholder collaboration (Hao et al., 2020; Jansen van Vuuren and Middleton, 2020). Studies showed that offsite construction could claim $130 billion in the U.S. and Europe markets by 2030 delivering cost savings that exceed $22 billion annually (Bertram et al., 2019). Moreover, future off-site construction operations in industrial, residential, commercial, and infrastructure projects are expected by 2030 to move from single-trade fabrication to modularization, transition from customized offsite construction components to standardized ones, shift from permanent offsite construction structures to portable or relocatable ones, and rely on multi-skilled labor instead of single-skilled labor (Assaad et al., 2022). To achieve the shift toward industrialization and digital manufacturing in construction, several capital project organizations have used “different forms of mirror-breaking” to deviate from the traditional project-based nature of the industry such as vertical integration to enable a streamlined process of acquisition, design, engineering, offsite fabrication, and assembly, and use of relational contracts like IPD to break the supply chain liability fears and costs of innovation and co-create a knowledge transfer for fabrication (Hall et al., 2020).

The large scale and complexity of capital projects and the misalignment of project goals can make it difficult to incorporate new technologies without significant planning and coordination among organizations and project partners (Rose and Manley, 2012). With new technologies flooding the construction market, capital organizations need to develop digital teams to test and deploy technologies such as data professionals for analytics and data management, technology engineers to identify and deploy solutions, and process developers to develop work processes and bridge the gap between the digital team and the field (Fuchs et al., 2018). Organizations should also partner with start-ups to explore new business models, foster research innovations, and collaborate with vendors to provide technology solutions, get licenses and partnering arrangements, and track the value of the adopted technologies (Arabshahi, 2021; Hatoum and Nassereddine, 2022a).

Advances in 3D printing have been changing the landscape of the capital projects industry and setting the stage for a major shift as the global size of the 3D printing market is expected to increase to $1.5 billion by 2024 (Markets and Markets, 2019). The growth is considered a promising investment even though it has not been fully commercialized on a large scale, where responding to the lack of skilled labor shortage, attracting the younger workforce, and the need to overcome supply chain variability are mainly driving capital project organizations to invest in 3D printing solutions (Vazquez et al., 2016). By properly considering the technological, organizational, environmental, and cost-associated factors related to adopting and implementing 3D printing, the use of 3D printing can enable faster construction, allow for geometrics and design freedom, shrink supply chain and material demand, enhance construction productivity, reduce safety hazards, and embrace sustainable practices (El-Sayegh et al., 2020; Umar, 2021). 3D printing is also expected to eliminate the cost of formwork which accounts for 25%–35% of the total building cost, reduce construction waste by 30%–60%, labor cost by 50%–80%, and construction time by 50%–70% (Markets and Markets, 2019; Hossain Md. A. et al., 2020).

Environmentally aware clients and owners play a significant role in promoting sustainable and environmentally conscious design and construction in their capital projects (Murtagh et al., 2016). Throughout the lifecycle of the project, owners can have decisive roles such as choosing sustainable designs and concepts, prioritizing low-carbon building materials, and utilizing renewable energy (Agung Wibowo et al., 2018). Such decisive roles can impose pressure on project parties to adopt environmentally conscious practices or rethink existing ones. This is also accompanied by different investor-led initiatives such as Climate Action 100+ and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) where hundreds of major investors pressure major companies to disclose environmental information including climate change, water security, and deforestation, and take the necessary actions to meet carbon neutral goals (CDP, 2021; Climate Action 100+, 2022).

The commitment to limiting carbon emissions and increasing circular economy practices has increased the attention to resource efficiency and utilization, notably with the increasing demand for construction materials and the scarcity of raw materials supply (Hossain M. U. et al., 2020). This is leading the industry to investigate and invest in utilizing sustainable materials that can be re-used at the end of the project lifecycle, developing material stocks models that can profile and estimate the quantity and quality of reusable materials across projects and regions, advancing lifecycle assessments and carbon footprints, and developing “building material passports” that can store data on material components across the project lifecycle (Benachio et al., 2020). With the increasing goals to reduce resource usage and waste generation, capital project organizations will need to strengthen resource efficiency efforts and thrive for waste reduction during the design, construction, and operation of capital projects (Hong et al., 2011; Andersson and Buser, 2022).

As climate change constitutes a threat to the planet and the prosperity of nations, governments continue to lead efforts that decrease carbon emissions and pledge zero-emission visions (Lebling et al., 2020). Capital projects are at the forefront of this pledge, especially as global capital spending is expected to reach $130 trillion by 2027 to decarbonize and renew critical infrastructure (Fuchs et al., 2022). With the built environment generating almost 40% of the annual global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, projects need to be developed using green construction methods that limit carbon emissions and support global sustainability objectives (Chen et al., 2023). Capital project organizations should also initiate efforts that allow them to use green and sustainable materials (Anupoju, 2020), invest in green technologies and methods like carbon capture and utilization (Abdelshafy and Walther, 2022), and operate renewable energy generations like wind energy solutions (Dadhich et al., 2015).

The gaining building stock and the urgent need to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings and assets have increased the attention on sustainable renovation (Jensen et al., 2022). Renovation efforts aim to optimize energy performance, upgrade the quality of life, and achieve carbon neutrality and recovery (European Commission, 2020; Jensen et al., 2022). Examples of common construction practices include replacing equipment with fossil-fuel equipment with electric ones to cut emissions, utilizing green materials like low-carbon concrete, applying better insulation, renovating heating systems, installing better-glazed windows, using renewable energy sources, and controlling ventilation (Jowkar et al., 2022; Pourmokhtarian et al., 2022). The trends toward renovation projects bring new opportunities to the industry through the millions of projects that need renovation and the hundreds of thousands of green jobs that will be created (European Commission, 2020; Guettler, 2021).

Traditional project delivery systems have had negative consequences such as inhibiting coordination, hindering cooperation, limiting innovation, and promoting the rewards of one stakeholder at the expense of the other (Asmar et al., 2013). By contrast, new delivery systems such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and most recently Integrated Project Delivery for Industrial Projects (I2PD) have emerged (Matthews and Howell, 2005; Franz and Leicht, 2016; CII RT-341, 2019). IPD gained popularity notably with complex healthcare projects achieving major benefits in terms of cost, safety, and quality through promoting trust, communication, information-sharing, confidence, conflict resolution, and no-blame culture (Mesa et al., 2016; Dargham et al., 2019). Moreover, building on IPD, I2PD aims to achieve the objectives of industrial construction projects by implementing collaboration and integration principles such as continuous communication, jointly developed targets, early stakeholder involvement, collaborative decision-making, financial transparency, shares of risk and rewards, relational contracting, and negotiated risk distribution (CII RT-341, 2019).

New project development models such as Design-Build-Own-Operate-Maintain (DBOOM) and Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM) have been gaining popularity notably in energy, infrastructure, and utility construction projects (Prabhu, 2017; FHWA, 2022). These models offer integrated project delivery, external capital, and operational efficiencies whereby the owner organization assigns expertise, ownership, and performance incentives to the project party that is best suited to address them (McKay, 2015). These models also combine the responsibility for different functions that are usually disparate under a single entity that takes full responsibility for defining scope, detailed design, construction, asset ownership, operation, and maintenance (Nyquist, 2018; FHWA, 2022).

Political factors do not drive organizational change for contemporary organizations. This could be explained by contemporary organizations’ focus on surviving the market by executing the work and basing any decisions on political implications on their known knowns. Contemporary organizations do not have the same maturity level as transitional and legacy organizations to base their decision on the long game of political situations. In fact, the political environment regulating contemporary organizations should provide such organizations with enough flexibility to encourage innovation and improvisation in products services, and processes (Zahra, 2014).

Moreover, the organizations that are mostly driven by the political environment are the organizations that own projects–i.e., owners, and want to set the tools and processes for their projects (owners are mostly transitional and legacy organizations). Owners also own the capital, which subjects them more to government policies such as taxation and trading (Bastani and Waldenström, 2020). Service providers, on the other hand, provide specific valuable and professional services that are needed for capital projects (Chih et al., 2019). In other words, such organizations “sell a widget”, and political factors would not have an impact on their operations. An exception can be where a service provider’s headquarter is located, as this location can shape taxation, debt, and market operations (Arena and Roper, 2010).

Economic factors and economic components such as globalization of the market, increasing competition, and increasing regionalization are important drivers for non-contemporary organizations to expand their business (El Jazzar, 2022). Furthermore, legacy organizations are not as susceptible to the direct implications of non-construction factors entering the construction value chain as legacy organizations are well-formed within the market and with their established network of collaborators (Suddaby et al., 2010).

Different economic factors drive organizations differently based on the markets in which the organizations operate. First, global expansion is essential to all organizations as they look for opportunities in different markets (Sun et al., 2023). Contractors, for example, need to expand globally, as the capital projects that they can develop in a certain area are very limited. The same applies to owners who want to spread their portfolio and service providers who want to expand their business. Contractors also need regionalization, especially for supply chains, as they need to secure materials and services for their projects, and keep inventories close to their areas of operations (Huthwaite and Ward, 2022). While owners can have the power to push new technology, contractors are more hands-on with non-construction actors entering the supply chain such as technology vendors. Contractors look for technologies that can help them develop projects faster, and vendors need construction sites to test their products (Hatoum and Nassereddine, 2022a; Dadi et al., 2022). This allows for a strong relationship between the two parties that can drive change for contractors more than other project stakeholders.

Customers and clients usually drive the business of capital organizations. Thus, the strong effect of customer needs and preferences on change in all organizations is not surprising, and organizations should integrate customer portfolios into their project portfolio management (Voss, 2012). In other social aspects, talent availability and management can contribute to organizational success (Collings, 2014; Ramadan et al., 2022). Legacy organizations have working systems and embedded processes in place that allow them to decrease their dependency on company players and actors. In contrast, contemporary organizations are not able to withstand a loss of talent, as they are predominately reliant on key players to track information, save knowledge to develop strong systems and embed them into their scope of work. Additionally, the reliance on ‘tribal knowledge’ is prevalent and visible when considering transitional organizations when accounting for the focus on an aging workforce as the results show this factor as a significant factor. Moreover, when people join contemporary organizations, they know that their decision could come with extra pressure and risks that they are willing to take (Specht, 2022). This can in turn decreases the impact of social factors like EDI and the pressure of non-government organizations on the business of contemporary organizations.

Each company has a customer or works for a capital project owner, and once that owner or customer demands a particular change, every within the value chain falls in line with this change (Gallagher, 2020). The same applies to industry problems such as an aging workforce or reduced flow of young workers, as this affects projects and in turn, affects how owners and contractors–i.e., the two major players, can develop the capital projects, invest in future developments, and innovate dynamic solutions to new opportunities (Hatoum et al., 2023b).

Technological factors like off-site construction and data analytics play a crucial part for transitional organizations, especially as they want to remove existing barriers and transition to strong legacy organizations (Kopalle et al., 2020). For example, tracking and analyzing data would be an integral part of this transition, as it can detect old trends and predict future trends to allow the organization to make sound decisions using new technologies such as cognitive computing. As for contemporary organizations, they will tend to take more risky decisions such as investing in disruptive or innovative technologies, especially since being innovative can help them survive new markets, gain shares, and compete with incumbents (Pellegrino and Piva, 2020). Compared to transitional and legacy organizations, contemporary organizations have more flexibility in adopting new technologies because of the absence of historical, traditional, or heritage processes, technology, and tribal knowledge which may prevent technology adoption when present. Such organizations are relatively new to the business, and taking a risk with technology can bring much-needed long-term benefits as well as unique services to grow their business.

Technological factors are important for organizations regardless of their type, notably due to the disruption potential that technology can create (Adekunle et al., 2021). For example, data analytics is more organization-oriented as it can allow organizations to understand where they are and where they are headed, while off-site construction is more industry-oriented, as it is a trend that the entire industry is implementing. Moreover, owners play an important role in pushing technologies as contractors and suppliers are seeking their business. If they demand a technology or force it into their projects, child organizations will typically follow, unless they have a disruptive solution.

Aging infrastructure is another factor that will mostly drive owners to change, as they would require more technology to help them monitor, assess, and repair the status of existing infrastructure projects (Tripathi et al., 2023). However, when legacy organizations straddle this paradigm and integrate new technologies, they have the propensity to navigate and become an agile solution-oriented, and extremely dynamic leader toward the next evolution.

Similar to political factors, contemporary organizations are new to the business, and they will already implement or at least understand the nature of the business and the best practices needed to improve their services (Freeman and Engel, 2007). Moreover, factors such as gas emissions and resource efficiency have gained momentum and made consumers environmentally conscious and aware, which will therefore have an impact on legacy and transitional organizations to change their existing practices and adhere to the relatively new events (Furlow, 2010). Contemporary organizations, on the other hand, will have such factors “built-in”, as they were formed after climate change discussions gained momentum. Further, the adoption of new technologies is more readily available as the framework being implemented is relatively new in origin to the organization.

Environmental factors and regulations regarding capital projects will no doubt affect owners and contractors (Chowdhury et al., 2020). For example, the renovation trend can generate major profits for contractors, and would, in turn, affect their business. On the other hand, owners will be affected by the climate policies to be environmentally cautious in the projects that they own or want to develop. Both parties, however, will be affected by legislation related to resource efficiencies and greenhouse emissions, as contractors are developing the projects and owners are paying for this development.

While contemporary organizations are driven by new delivery systems that promote collaboration, legacy organizations will seek new business models that will maintain their market share in the industry. Contemporary organizations would benefit from collaborative delivery systems such as IPD, Advanced Work Packaging (AWP), and Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI), as collaborating on such trending delivery systems would provide them with the opportunity to gain experience and get exposure to more complex heritage knowledge. On the other hand, legacy organizations would prioritize finding or developing new project business models that would allow them to reinvent their status quo, especially when they understand the need for change and recognize its importance for maintaining their business utilizing technologies with a wealth of historical data (Nassereddine et al., 2022).

Capital project organizations understand the need for change, which empowers drivers such as new delivery systems and new project development models for project stakeholders (Chandrasekaran et al., 2021). Traditional models and delivery systems have a long history of causing losses and poor performance, which cause legal factors to drive organizations regardless of type. This is especially true for owners, who look for capital projects that can be completed with faster schedules and lower budgets while maintaining quality and generating profits.