Chapter 2 Literature Review and Synthesis
2.4 Conceptualisation of knowledge mapping within construction project
2.4.1 Knowledge and its effective transfer
Knowledge is a complex and multifaceted concept. Polanyi (1958) and Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), for example, argued that knowledge can be classified into tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge.
In essence, explicit knowledge can be typically well-documented and visualised, while tacit knowledge is usually difficult to be codified and visualised. Gupta (2000), for example, argued that tacit knowledge is in the domain subjective, cognitive and experiential learning, whereas explicit knowledge is objective, rational and technical knowledge like data, policies, procedures, manuals, documents and lists.
On the one hand, according to Bhatt (2001), knowledge must be divided into individual knowledge and organisational knowledge for effective knowledge management. Within this perspective, Bhatt (2001, 2002), for example, agued that organisational knowledge is necessarily based on individual knowledge, but it is
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not a simple sum of individual knowledge and also, organisational knowledge can be shaped through interactions between techniques, technologies and people, which can not be easily imitated and used by other organisations because the interactions are formed by their unique history and culture in organisations. Therefore, it can be said that knowledge must be mapped according to the differences of individual knowledge and organisational knowledge for successful knowledge management in projects and organisations, but it has been argued that it is in fact difficult to be classified and transferred (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995, Herschel et al., 2001, Daghfous, 2004, Foos et al., 2006).
In the construction industry, it has been argued that knowledge must be managed according to the nature, type and shape of knowledge (Robinson et al., 2001,
Kamara et al., 2002, Egbu et al., 2005, Pathirage et al., 2007). For example, the
term “project-based knowledge” has been used as a type of knowledge in the construction industry because construction is project-based. In this regard, it has been argued that project-based knowledge must be managed for construction projects and organisations (Kamara et al., 2002, Egbu, 2004, Maqsood et al.,
2006). Furthermore, it has been argued that knowledge must be classified into tacit and explicit knowledge and individual and organisational knowledge according to its nature for effective knowledge management in the construction industry (Carrillo et al., 2002, Kazi, 2005, Egbu, 2006). As has been mentioned in
Section 2.2 and 2.3, construction project-based knowledge enables to improve project performance, to form core competencies and to continuously sustain competitive advantage of construction organisations.
Therefore, it can be argued that construction projects and construction actors’ ability can be improved by effective construction project-based knowledge transfer in construction project organisations. However, the importance of project- based knowledge and its effective transfer in construction projects and organisations have been argued by a number of researchers (Sexton and Barrett, 2003, Egbu, 2006, Lu and Sexton, 2006, Maqsood et al., 2006).
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Arguing further, it has been emphasised that in order to gain its benefits with managing knowledge, systems and mechanisms for effective knowledge transfer are necessary (Shariq, 1999, Albino et al., 2004, Hustad, 2004, Sun and Scott,
2005). According to Dougherty (1999) and Maier (2002), knowledge transfer is an increasingly popular phrase in the literature as practitioners attempt to stress importance of human resource in the knowledge management area. In the construction industry, it has been argued that knowledge transfer is a key process to effectively achieve project performance improvement on innovation (Wright, 1993, Koch, 2003, Sexton and Barrett, 2004, Egbu et al., 2005).
Based on effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge transfer, technologies and systems have been argued as being key supporting tools in industries (Skinner, 1982, Abecker et al., 1998, Fernandes and Raja, 2002, Foos et al., 2006). In this
regard, information and communication technologies (ICT) have been emphasised as key knowledge transfer technologies (Kautz and Thaysen, 2001, Koch, 2003, Hustad, 2004, Barber et al., 2006), which is an umbrella term that includes any
communication devices and applications, such as radios, televisions, telephones, mobile phones, computer and network hardware and software and satellite systems, as well as the various services and applications associated with information and communication technologies (ICT), such as video conferencing and distance learning. It has been argued that knowledge transfer technologies are critical tools to effectively enhance learning and to improve project performance (Santos and Powell, 2001, Love et al., 2004, Maqsood et al., 2006, Raidén and
Dainty, 2006). Therefore, it can be said that technologies for effective knowledge transfer must be researched and developed to improve project performance through effective knowledge management.
2.4.2 Organisational networks within construction project
organisations
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functioned departments for effective project performance. In each construction project organisation, it has been stressed that its organisational network is composed of all the departments required by the company in order to effectively produce its products or services (Jones et al., 1998, Levy, 2000, Fryer, 2004,
Jabnoun, 2005).
Anumba et al. (2002), for example, defined an organisational network as being a
formal and structural system of task and management reporting relationships between actors and departments that coordinates and motivates organisation members so that they work together to achieve requirement of clients and objectives of projects. It has been agreed that structuring a organisational network is necessary for good communication between construction actors (Day, 1994, Morton and Jaggar, 1995, Griffith and Watson, 2004). Harrison (1996), for example, argued that organisational networks can be structured by grouping of roles, tasks and functions. Furthermore, it has been emphasised that organisational networks facilitate the transfer of project-based knowledge between construction actors and their organisations (Harrison, 1996, Shirazi et al., 1996, Croucher and
Druker, 2001, Loosemore et al., 2006).
As a result of, it can be said that an effectively structured organisational network can improve project performance and knowledge transfer. However, the major problem is that organisational networks have not been fully considered in the knowledge management literature. Loosemore (2006) and Harris and McCaffer (1996), for example, argued that well-developed organisational networks are particularly useful for effective access to relevant knowledge and knowledge owners at the right time. Therefore, organisational networks must be deliberately integrated into an appropriate knowledge mapping approach.