Knowledge Management in UK Construction: Strategies, Resources and Barriers

Abstract

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.

A diagnostic model for assessing the knowledge management practices of construction firms

“…This new challenge has been given priority by the social actors (i.e., firms, institutional organizations, and researchers) of the construction industry. Some construction firms have been very keen in meeting this new challenge and have opted to develop and implement a "structured approach" (i.e., formal knowledge management systems) to manage their knowledge resources, whereas most construction firms have opted to adopt the "ad hoc approach" to manage their knowledge resources (Tan et al, 2010;Carrillo et al, 2004;Carrillo and Chinowsky, 2006). Several knowledge management techniques (i.e., lessons learned systems, post project reviews, communities of practices, training, forum, reassignment of people, mentoring) and technologies (i.e., groupware, expert directory, project extranet, podcasts social bookmarks, video sharing, social networks, blogs and micro-blogs) have been used by construction firms to acquire, disseminate, share, process and create new knowledge.…”

Combating Phishing Attacks: A Knowledge Management Approach

“…Attribution, a type of extrinsic reward [22], communicates to the individual that the organization values their contribution and assigns personal credit. Public attribution is a way to build reputation [19,25] and is evidence of expertise [26]. As a result, when individuals feel that knowledge sharing can elevate their reputation, they will be more inclined to submit potential phishing attacks to the KMS [e.g., 19].…”

Knowledge discovery from post-project reviews

“…Many companies prefer to wait until all project expenses have been accounted for by which time key staff have other responsibilities (Carrillo, 2004); and • Dissemination -even though organisations may have review reports, the dissemination of key knowledge and lessons are not as expected The above challenges are not insurmountable but require resources that are not always readily available. Rather than leave these potentially useful reports untapped, text mining will be explored to gauge whether it can help to discover knowledge from PPRs.…”