Knowledge management practices in facilities organisations: a case study

Abstract

PurposeThe paper's purpose is to identify the key knowledge variables within a facilities management (FM) environment and to develop an understanding of how FM knowledge is generated and utilised within FM organisations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper includes a review of literature on, underlying trends in FM, knowledge management (KM) in general, and current status of KM in FM and outcomes of three expert interviews with two academics and a practitioner who had extensive knowledge and experience with FM organisations. A case study approach was followed in order to apply the intellectual capital framework to map the knowledge variables within the FM context.FindingsThis paper highlights the main findings of the literature, expert interviews and the case study. The research recognised the intellectual capital framework as the means of identifying KM variables within the FM context. It reported the current practices of the case study organisation, strengths and weaknesses in relation to management of facilities knowledge. Literature, expert interviews and case study findings provided the basis in developing the KM maturity stages: recognition of importance, formulation of strategy, implementation of techniques, and evaluation of performance; relating to three components of the intellectual capital.Originality/valueFM knowledge is at a primitive stage of development and its terrain is largely unexplored. While the relevancy and potential value of KM is recognised, its application to the specifics of facilities operations is poorly developed. This study explores the management of knowledge within FM considering the strategic importance of facilities operations within the core organisational setting.

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“…Maintaining and enhancing effective mechanisms of social interaction between organizations can help to avoid overlaps and the waste of time, material, and financial resources (Fengler et al 2008). Improving coordination and communication can enhance trust and team cohesion between task managers and coordinators, as well as between project owners and managers (Pathirage et al 2008;Singh and Wilkinson 2008;Chang et al 2010). Communication and coordination also contribute to other goals of PDRPM, such as transparency, accountability, participation, consensus-building, and mitigation of corruption risk (Jha et al 2010).…”

Key Drivers of an Effective Facilities Management Practice for Malaysia State Mosque

“…Thus, there is an increase in organisations' effort to purposely manage knowledge in a systematic manner [14], as it is considered critical to organisational success. Knowledge can be divided into two, tacit and explicit [15], [16] in [14].…”

“…Thus, there is an increase in organisations' effort to purposely manage knowledge in a systematic manner [14], as it is considered critical to organisational success. Knowledge can be divided into two, tacit and explicit [15], [16] in [14]. Review by [14] explains that both are different as tacit knowledge represents knowledge based on the experience of individuals expressed in human actions in the form of evaluation, attitudes, points of view, commitments and motivation.…”

“…Knowledge can be divided into two, tacit and explicit [15], [16] in [14]. Review by [14] explains that both are different as tacit knowledge represents knowledge based on the experience of individuals expressed in human actions in the form of evaluation, attitudes, points of view, commitments and motivation. Conversely, explicit knowledge is codifiable knowledge inherent in non-human storehouses including organisational manuals, documents and databases FM knowledge is very important to carry the best of FM practices [13], [14], [17].…”

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“…Researchers from the UK (Pathirage et al, 2008) deduced four generations in the development of FM: 1. FM being considered as an overhead to be managed for minimum cost rather than optimum value.…”