Knowledge, Cultural Change in Organisations and Competitive Advantage: The Case of Construction Industry Corporations

Abstract

The paper examines the role of knowledge management in changing organisational culture. Successful organisations manage knowledge towards high market share. Corporate Governance of Construction Industry companies is under scrutiny not only for financial performance but also for ethical issues such as preserving a healthy environment. A specific approach to knowledge management helps to clarify the role of main players in corporate governance in supporting a healthy environment. The approach also identifies what is key knowledge the Australian Construction Industry corporations should pay attention to preserve their sustained competitive advantage.

The development of corporate social responsibility in the Australian construction industry

“…Although in Australia progress in safety outcomes in CI is visible (Durham, 2002), the government still pinpoints a need for the industry to improve safety management (Cole, 2003). This is because the physical nature of the construction process clearly distinguishes the industry and presents safety challenges (Petrovic-Lazarevic, 2006).…”

“…According to Yadong (2007), lack of both community and suppliers' representatives in the board jeopardizes the external aspect of a company's CSR definition. Further to that, the lack of community influence on the corporate environmental culture leaves only two out of three sources of information that are relevant to constitute the essence of ISO 14001 EMS (see Figure 2) (Petrovic-Lazarevic, 2006).…”

“…That puts pressure on CI organizations to deal not only with an effective and efficient building and constructing service, but also with effective management of their business (Price and Newson, 2003). As part of the management, companies need to pay attention to preserving a healthy environment-within the organization and its work sites and in the external environment (Petrovic-Lazarevic, 2006). Porter and Kramer (2006, p. 81) state that in 2005, of the 250 largest companies 64% published reports related 'to reductions in pollution, waste, carbon emissions, and energy use … with philanthropic initiatives in terms of dollars or volunteer spent'.…”

“…Organizational culture is the values, beliefs and norms of the organizational members (Petrovic-Lazarevic, 2006). According to Sama and Shoaf (2003), only top management can contribute to true ethical progress by communicating the value of ethics to its stakeholders and lower level managers, while outside auditors and the board of directors maintain a role in this process to attest to management integrity.…”

Good corporate citizenship in the Australian construction industry

“…Being recently targeted by the environmentalists and governments, construction industry companies are under pressure not only to provide an effective and efficient building and constructing service, but also effective management of their business (Levis, 2006; Teo and Loosemore, 2003; Price and Newson, 2003). To achieve effective management practice companies must focus on factors as diverse as finance and environment both internally and externally (Yadong, 2007; Petrovic‐Lazarevic, 2006; Szamosi and Tsolakis, 2003). In more recent times their competitive success has become more dependent on the external image of (good) corporate citizen.…”