Knowledge management (KM) has received considerable attention in recent years. Some consider knowledge the most strategically important resource, and learning the most strategically important capability for business organizations. Major UK construction organizations have recognized the benefits that KM can offer and have thus invested in KM. This paper reports on a survey of these companies. The purpose of the survey was: (1) to examine the importance of KM to UK construction organizations; (2) to investigate the resources used to implement KM strategies; and (3) to identify the main barriers to implementing KM strategies. The survey found that the main reasons for implementing a KM strategy was the need to share the tacit knowledge of key employees and to disseminate best practice. Also, significant resources in terms of staff time and money were being invested in KM, but the main barrier to implementing a KM strategy was the lack of standard work processes.

PurposeThe paper seeks to focus on the role of knowledge management in promoting corporate sustainability in the construction industry context. It proposes a maturity roadmap – STEPS to facilitate the implementation of a knowledge management strategy.Design/methodology/approachTwo research methods were used. The first consisted of a postal questionnaire sent to the top 170 UK construction firms consisting of engineering design and construction contractor firms. The organisations were selected because they were considered the most influential organisations in the UK construction sector. The second research method involved 28 case study interviews with eight construction firms to investigate their approach to knowledge management and performance improvement. The results of the questionnaire survey and the case studies were used to develop the STEPS maturity roadmap.FindingsThe paper found that knowledge management is inextricably linked to corporate sustainability, but a methodical approach is required for successful knowledge management implementation. With this in mind, the STEPS maturity roadmap was developed to provide a structured approach to implementing and benchmarking knowledge management efforts.Practical implicationsThis will allow companies to understand where they fall within the STEPS maturity roadmap and to devise a strategy to be developed to attain higher levels of knowledge management maturity.Originality/valueThis paper provides a mechanism for organisations to benchmark their knowledge management activities and to develop a knowledge management strategy that would improve their activities.

Value for money in a PFI project depends crucially on performance monitoring to provide incentives for improvement and to ensure that service delivery is in accordance with the output specification. However, the effectiveness of performance monitoring and output specification cannot be fully assessed until PFI projects become operational. There is a need to examine the role of the performance monitoring mechanism in ensuring that 'value for money' is achieved throughout the delivery of services. Based on semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from the public and private sectors, the case studies suggest that there are low levels of performance deductions in PFI projects during the operational phase. However, the complexity of performance measurement, inadequate resources for performance monitoring and the difficulties in the interpretation of the output specification raise questions as to whether the low level of deductions truly reflect the actual level of services delivered. There is also evidence of the public sector forgoing entitled deductions in the 'spirit of partnership' and in exchange for minor contract variations in the output specification. Both the public and private sectors are undergoing a learning process which should lead to improvements in future PFI contracts.Service delivery, performance monitoring, output specification, PFI/PPP projects,

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how large UK construction organisations manage their knowledge assets. It then proposes STEPS, a mechanism for benchmarking organisation's knowledge management maturity.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a case study methodology using four large UK construction organisations.FindingsThe investigation shows that the UK‐based companies with international operations are ahead of their national counterparts in their KM implementation efforts. The paper concludes that construction organisations are likely to be successful in implementing KM if appropriate considerations are given to strategy formulation, implementation issues addressed and the link between KM and business strategy is strengthened.Originality/valueThe paper proposes a mechanism, entitled STEPS, for benchmarking the maturity of large construction organisations' knowledge management practices. It then uses case study organisations to demonstrate how the STEPS model should be used.

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Purpose -The need for performance improvement has led to the implementation of industry-specific key performance indicators (KPIs) and greater awareness of the benefits of measurement in construction engineering organisations. This paper aims to present and discuss the findings of a survey based on the practical experiences of leading UK construction engineering organisations.Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on a questionnaire survey, the findings of which are discussed and analysed. The survey focused on establishing current industry practice and forms part of a larger study, which involved detailed case studies and led to the development of an innovative framework for links knowledge management initiatives with business performance measurement.Findings -The survey shows that a significant proportion of organisations are now using a range of financial and non-financial measures to assess business performance, and a growing number are adopting the excellence model and/or the balanced scorecard to facilitate a structured approach to implementing continuous improvement strategies. The paper identifies the barriers to the use of performance measurement models and discusses the differences between the practices in smaller and larger construction engineering firms. Originality/value -The paper concludes with some practical considerations for implementing performance measurement models, which will be of value to business improvement managers and other senior managers in construction and other project-based industries.

Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects play an increasingly important role for both the UK government and the construction sector. It is still a relatively new form of procurement that requires a wide range of specialist advice during the bidding stage and in-depth knowledge of how the facility will perform in the long term. This paper investigates the level of participation in PFI projects in the UK, the opportunities available for the construction sector, the types of problems experienced and the challenges for the future. It achieves this by analyzing the results of a questionnaire survey of a large number of client and construction organizations. The study finds that there is a wide gap in the level of PFI experience between client and construction organizations, affordability of PFI projects and high bidding costs are key issues for client and construction organizations respectively and, given the nature of PFI projects, there is considerable scope for knowledge transfer both during the project and between different PFI projects.

There is a wealth of literature on the role of knowledge management (KM) in business improvement. Those with responsibility for implementing KM in organizations are often required to demonstrate its benefits. The need to convince senior management and other stakeholders about the business benefits is increasingly recognized as crucial in justifying a KM strategy and the resources to support its implementation. A three-stage approach (the IMPaKT framework) - underpinned by an industry survey and case study findings - is presented for developing a business case for KM. The framework facilitates: (1) an understanding of the strategic context of business problems and their knowledge management implications; (2) the planning and alignment of KM strategy to address business problems or objectives; and (3) an evaluation of the impact of KM on business performance in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Key findings based on industrial application and further development of the framework are discussed. Evaluation shows that the framework could significantly facilitate the implementation of a KM strategy in construction organizations.Knowledge Management, Business Performance, Construction Organizations,