Barriers of the Knowledge Transfer Path

The KT process tends to take place through three main paths, i.e. individual to team, team to organization and organization to inter-organization (Sun, Scott, 2005). There are of course other paths of transfer, e.g. from individual to individual, which is the focus of this study. As a result the barriers are to be found at the four levels, individual, team, organization, and inter-organization (Sun, Scott, 2005; Ruddy, 2000).

Table 3.2: Knowledge transfer barriers between individual and team (adapted from Sun and Scott, 2005)

KT Barriers from individual to team KT Barriers from team to individual

Personality differences Need to gain acceptance in the group

Skills of communication and persuasion Can the individual be trusted?

Group confidence in the individual Openness to ideas

Divergent objectives/ hidden agenda Learning aptitude of individual

Fear of loss of ownership/ control of knowledge / competitive edge

Group has other aspirations than knowledge transfer

Openness to ideas Lack of an effective communication

methodology

Afraid that knowledge may be inadequate or unimpressive

Power play and group pressure

Consolidation of group members’ perception to one message

Table 3.2 presents the KT barriers between individuals and their team identified by Sun and Scott (2005). These barriers can be mainly categorised into the various aspects discussed in section 3.4.1 on knowledge source and recipient. Hence they can be classified as ‘general actor attributes’. In addition these barriers also relate to the cooperative norms mentioned previously, and to the KT process itself.

3.4.2.5. Enhancing and inhibiting Factors of Knowledge Transfer

One of the main research objectives presented in Chapter 1, was to identify general enhancing and inhibiting factors of KT. These factors were discovered through a continuous literature review and categorized into six groups according to their nature. The results are summarised in Table 3.3. The factors contributed also into developing the conceptual framework for this research to be found in Chapter 5.

Most factors relate to source and recipient, also termed actors, according to the social network literature. Personal actor attributes are the first category, followed by job roles. As the KT context is a work environment, the job roles and levels do influence the KT in terms of e.g. power distance, as argued in section 3.4.2.1. This is followed by the actors’ perception of the knowledge itself. As for factors not related to the actual person involved, the most important one is the KT process

itself, followed by the time spent on it. IT is the last of the six categories. As previously argued IT better facilitates the transfer of explicit knowledge (McDermott, 1999; Carrillo, Anumba, 2002), thus it is not as important in the context of this study due to the significance of tacit knowledge in sustainable construction (Thomson et al., 2010). Still it is mentioned here as it represents a major knowledge source and a KT method at the same time.

As a result the following categories were developed according to these factors and represent the general KT enhancers/ inhibitors in the conceptual framework:

• Actor attributes

• Knowledge (Definition and Perception) • Job roles / level

• Training • KT Process

• KT methods/ mechanisms • Time

3.5. Conclusion

Chapter 2 concluded by revealing a lack of knowledge and awareness of practitioners in the field as one of the main barriers towards sustainable construction. Capturing and transferring knowledge from one stage of a building’s lifecycle to the next is already difficult, but sustainability issues render this even more challenging. Therefore this chapter has presented a review and discussion of literature on knowledge management and transfer. This was done in order to determine ways of enhancing the knowledge transfer between various participants on a sustainable construction project, and hence reduce the lack of knowledge and awareness of practitioners in the field. As a result this could help closing the performance gap of sustainable buildings.

In the first section different types of knowledge to be found in literature were identified and applied to the field of sustainable construction. It was argued that defining the kind and type of new knowledge that is introduced to construction industry through sustainability could provide a more purposeful research approach to the issue. Three subject areas of knowledge emerged through sustainability issues in the built environment were identified as sustainable materials, technologies and techniques. A combination of explicit and tacit knowledge as to know-what and know-how were allocated to these areas.

In line with the first research objective presented in Chapter 1 the areas of knowledge management in general and within the context of the built environment were explored in the second section in order to identify key concepts in this area. This was followed by discussing four of these concepts in regards to their relevance to sustainable construction. The study adapted several ideas of these concepts as the basis of its own conceptual framework on knowledge transfer. As a result the third and last section explored the area of KT in detail and defined vital components and preconditions of KT. It is argued that in order to be able to

make enhancing recommendations, it is important to first fully understand the knowledge transfer process. Hence the knowledge sources and recipients in a sustainable construction project were determined on three levels, inside the immediate work team, inside the particular construction project and outside of this project. Thereafter the ‘KT box’ was unpacked through identifying various methods for transferring knowledge successfully. In line with the second research objective, the chapter concludes by presenting and discussing general KT enhancers/ inhibitors.

Previous research indicated that social networks could influence knowledge transfer. Fernie et al. (2003) put forward that knowledge is personal, and therefore knowledge sharing takes place through the interaction of individuals. Hence social community plays a vital role in enhancing or inhibiting knowledge transfer (Bresnen et al., 2003). As knowledge is a set of shared beliefs constructed through social interactions and embedded within the social contexts, Fong (2003) declares that social networks are the most important vehicle for knowledge exchange, with team members deeply reliant upon colleagues, friends and ex-colleagues as resources for generating knowledge. Moreover Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) claim that social networks are a valuable source for new knowledge, as the ‘combination and exchange of knowledge are complex social processes’. Therefore the next chapter will explore the possibilities social networks offer to enhance KT on how to build sustainably, in order to overcome the performance gap between sustainable design intent and built result.