Developing an activity-based knowledge management system for contractors

Knowledge Management (KM) has become an important term in the construction industry. Knowledge management involves creating, securing, capturing, coordinating, combining, retrieving and distributing knowledge. The knowledge can be reused and shared among the involved engineers and experts to improve the construction process and reduce the time and cost of solving problems. Sharing and reusing knowledge depends on acquiring and preserving both tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge as the property of a corporation. This study addresses application of knowledge management in the construction phase of construction projects and proposes a construction map-based knowledge management (MBKM) concept and system for general contractors. This paper proposes a practical methodology to capture and represent construction project knowledge by using knowledge map. Using knowledge maps, users can get an overview of available and missing knowledge in core project areas and take appropriate management in tacit and explicit knowledge. Also, a portal system is developed to assist and present project-related knowledge by providing keyword and map search. The MBKM system is then applied in a case study of a construction precast office building in Taiwan to verify our proposed methodology and demonstrate the effectiveness of sharing knowledge special in the construction phase. By effectively using information and web technologies during the construction phase of a project, knowledge can be captured and managed to benefit future projects. The combined results demonstrate that, an MBKM-like system can be an effective tool for all experts and engineers participating for construction projects by utilizing the knowledge management concept and web technology.

Enhancing knowledge exchange through web map-based knowledge management system in construction: Lessons learned in Taiwan

Knowledge management (KM) is crucial for successful project completion in the construction industry, where tacit knowledge, embedded in individuals’ experiences, plays a critical role. However, capturing and transferring this knowledge across projects is challenging due to the temporary nature of construction teams and the reluctance of individuals to share their expertise. Traditional KM methods, such as interviews and videos, often fail to capture tacit knowledge due to various barriers, including organisational culture, limitations of technology, and individual factors like knowledge hoarding. This study investigates a novel approach to overcome these barriers and effectively capture tacit knowledge in construction. This study proposes a storytelling-based approach for capturing tacit knowledge within a Knowledge Management System (KMS). Participants contributed their knowledge directly through stories within the KMS, unlike previous studies that relied on interviews or videos. This method aims to address the reluctance to share tacit knowledge by empowering individuals to share their experiences in a comfortable and engaging format. The study’s validation methodology incorporates two elements: (1) extensive research was conducted on KM, storytelling, and existing methods for capturing tacit knowledge, and (2) issues concerning tacit knowledge capture were identified based on the research. This study contributes to the field of KM in construction by: (a) proposing a novel storytelling-based approach for capturing tacit knowledge, (b) addressing the limitations of traditional KM methods in construction, and (c) offering a framework for implementing storytelling-based KM within KMS. The proposed storytelling approach has the potential to overcome existing barriers and contribute to the effective capture and utilisation of tacit knowledge in construction projects. This can lead to improved project performance, reduced rework, and knowledge transfer across projects within the industry. Keywords: Tacit Knowledge, Knowledge Management

Integrated knowledge management model and system for construction projects

Many mobile knowledge management (KM) systems have been described in the literature having unique and interesting features, each being inserted into a specific application domain. This fragmentation in the application domain makes it difficult to compare and define a set of core features of mobile KM systems. Analysing and comparing features and strategies of several systems from different application domains makes it possible to identify the core features that form a mobile KM system. Consequently, we may use these core features to define the evaluation and comparison framework of mobile KM systems, regardless of its application domain. The purpose of this work is to define these core features and discuss their importance, through the analysis of six mobile KM systems, highlighting the positive and the negative aspects of the KM processes. The contributions of this work are the framework and the list of core features of mobile KM systems.

Many mobile knowledge management (KM) systems have been described in the literature having unique and interesting features, each being inserted into a specific application domain. This fragmentation in the application domain makes it difficult to compare and define a set of core features of mobile KM systems. Analysing and comparing features and strategies of several systems from different application domains makes it possible to identify the core features that form a mobile KM system. Consequently, we may use these core features to define the evaluation and comparison framework of mobile KM systems, regardless of its application domain. The purpose of this work is to define these core features and discuss their importance, through the analysis of six mobile KM systems, highlighting the positive and the negative aspects of the KM processes. The contributions of this work are the framework and the list of core features of mobile KM systems.

This study investigates the factors affecting the perceived usefulness of and the intention to use knowledge management (KM) systems by students. The research model posits that the intention to use KM systems in higher education depends on perceived usefulness, perceived user-friendliness, organizational rewards, and community of practice. A survey method was used to collect the data for the study. We used a convenience sample consisting of undergraduate students enrolled in various business courses in a Canadian University. The data obtained from a sample of 120 students were initially factor analyzed to identify the relevant factors. Separate factor analysis was conducted for each of three types of measures – the independent measures, the intermediate measures, and the dependent measure. In order to test the proposed hypotheses, we employed the method of multiple regression analysis. The findings suggest that organizational rewards and KM system characteristics positively impact perceived usefulness, and that user-friendliness, usefulness, organizational rewards, and community of practice are significant predictors of intention to use KM system. This analysis reveals that business schools need to focus on usefulness and practical relevance of knowledge captured in knowledge management systems. This is in line with the current debate in management education regarding the appropriateness of methods employed to teach business knowledge. Organizational rewards being a significant predictor of intention to use KM systems corroborate the expectancy theory. Therefore, it is important for business schools to communicate on the usefulness of their KM systems but also to encourage its usage through different incentives.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the knowledge management (KM) system on the hospital services performance. The hospital located in DKI Jakarta (Indonesia) that has implemented the KM system as a pilot project is the population of this research. Where the respondents are medical personnel at the hospital. This study analyzes the correlation between the use of KM systems and the performance of hospital services, using independent-samples T-tests and ANOVA tests from SPSS and R Commander programs to prove the hypothesis of the two variables, namely the use of KM systems (capabilities) and hospital services performance. The results of this research have succeeded in proving that there are significant differences between medical personnel who rarely use the KM system and who often use it, with those who often have a greater level of service performance. Thus, it can be concluded that the KM system used by hospital has a positive effect seen in the performance of medical personnel.

One of the key factors for enabling sustainable construction is facilitating the acquisition, transfer, and exchange of knowledge about sustainable construction practices (SCPs). However, knowledge about SCPs is complex, interdisciplinary, multi-faceted, and context-sensitive. Semantic modeling is a key to achieving context-awareness. The development of a context-aware knowledge management (KM) system can be successfully achieved based on a semantic (computer-understandable and meaning-rich) model. This paper proposes an epistemic model for SCPs based on epistemology (the theory of knowledge and knowing). The proposed epistemic model is a theory-based, semantic model for representing and reasoning - in a context-aware manner - about: 1) the knowledge of SCPs and 2) the process of knowing this knowledge. This paper starts by presenting our analysis of the requirements of sustainability KM in the construction domain and the limitations of existing methods and systems. It follows by presenting our modeling approach for KM system development, which is epistemology-based, context-aware, and semantic. Finally, the paper presents our initial modeling efforts towards a formal epistemology for SCPs and discusses its application as the backbone of our proposed KM system.

Discussions at previous HICSS conferences have shown that there is no general agreement on definitions of knowledge management (KM) and knowledge management systems (KMS) success. A deep understanding of these concepts would help to design and implement efficient KM initiatives and systems. We present an exploratory research study to begin and facilitate a debate that will hopefully lead to a consensus definition of KM and KMS success. We chose an expert panel approach followed by two exploratory surveys to approach the KM and KMS success definition. The research shows only a few points of consensus. We present areas of agreement as well as of disagreement, which serve as a good starting point for further discussions on KM and KMS success

Using case-based reasoning (CBR), the authors integrate the techniques of cognitive task analysis (CTA), hierarchical clustering and ontology and propose a Web-based CBR knowledge management (KM) system for investigating the construction of a KM system with multiple information techniques to support KM activity in industry. The maintenance service centres of a computer company are used as an example to illustrate extracting the maintenance knowledge necessary to construct a PC troubleshooting KM system. The effectiveness of applying a Web-based CBR KM system to support KM activities in the KM life cycle is subjected to practical verification.

Over the past years, a number of international initiatives that recognize the importance of sharing and reusing digital educational resources among educational communities through the use of Learning Object Repositories (LORs) have emerged. Typically, these initiatives focus on collecting digital educational resources that are offered by their creators for open access and potential reuse. Nevertheless, most of the existing LORs are designed more as digital repositories, rather than as Knowledge Management Systems (KMS). By exploiting KMSs functionalities in LORs would bare the potential to support the organization and sharing of educational communities’ explicit knowledge (depicted in digital educational resources constructed by teachers and/or instructional designers) and tacit knowledge (depicted in teachers’ and students’ experiences and interactions of using digital educational resources available in LORs). Within this context, in this paper we study the design and the implementation of fourteen operating LORs from the KMSs’ perspective, so as to identify additional functionalities that can support the management of educational communities’ explicit and tacit knowledge. Thus, we propose a list of essential LORs’ functionalities, which aim to facilitate the organization and sharing of educational communities’ knowledge. Finally, we present the added value of these functionalities by identifying their importance towards addressing the current demands of web-facilitated educational communities, as well as the knowledge management activities that they execute.

Knowledge Management (KM) is becoming increasingly important for construction companies in order to improve their competitiveness by reducing the cost and time while improving the quality of projects. Construction projects are in knowledge-intensive environments where many interrelated components work together in a complex manner. In many circumstances, knowledge in the construction industry is mostly tacit knowledge and highly based on individuals' experiences and perceptions. These situations call for a method of managing knowledge to solve construction problems and achieve a high quality of construction projects. Various kinds of KM models have been developed to support KM activities. However, the existing KM models and tools are far from enough, since most KM models only provide a communication platform and much creative knowledge work still depends entirely on human activities. This paper presents a new KM model that overcomes such shortcomings and provides an effective and efficient way of managing knowledge in the construction industry. A case study collected from the industry is used to demonstrate how the proposed KM model can be used to improve the industry's KM performance. The results indicate that the proposed KM model can facilitate the process of implementation, development and use of the KM system.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to examine empirically the relevance of the theory of deferred action for knowledge management systems (KMS) design in practice.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a case study approach to examine knowledge work and knowledge management in virtual teamwork in a large UK telecommunications company to understand the occurrence of emergent knowledge and how it is managed by virtual team leaders. The section in the company studied is described as a “knowledge intensive organization” dealing with the company's e‐commerce activities.FindingsThe analysis confirms the complex adaptive system hypothesis – a complex system adapts to its environment through self‐organization. The data reveal the behaviour of the virtual team to be self‐organizing and adaptive to its environment. It confirms the knowledge tacitness hypothesis and social embeddedness of knowledge hypothesis as important determinants of knowledge sharing. Specifically, the data reveal the main issues concerning knowledge sharing practices of virtual team workers and the crucial team leader's role in the effectiveness of the teams' capability to develop social links to externalise and share tacit knowledge to accomplish tasks.Research limitations/implicationsIn this paper, the authors contribute “emergent knowledge” as a third category of organizational knowledge in addition to the existing tacit and explicit knowledge that needs to be considered when designing KMS. It also derives socio‐technical systems design principles based on the theory of deferred action, and a tentative development process with metrics is then proposed for KMS design that caters for emergent, tacit, and explicit knowledge.Practical implicationsExisting models such as the SECI model do not acknowledge emergent knowledge or its conversion into explicit knowledge. The theory of deferred action is invoked to derive design principles, termed deferred systems design principles, to depict how explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge, and emergent knowledge can be represented to design knowledge management systems for “emergent organizations”.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the limited research and lack of consideration of emergent knowledge as an integral part of organizational knowledge, especially in an era of emergent organizations.

Illustrating the return-on-investment (ROI) for a portal solution or knowledge management (KM) system has proven an elusive target. This paper will demonstrate that ROI can be found for portals and KM systems in measuring the ROI on improved processes and increased economic value of employee performance. Thus, rather than employing traditional notions of value and assets as noted in standard accounting practices, KM solutions are tools managers should use to support opportunities for process improvement and redesign. ROI that measures value from this perspective creates new areas of value from an organization's existing, undervalued assets. A well-developed measurement methodology for implementing a KM system may illustrate ROI, justify expenditures for implementing the system, and provide a format to ensure that process improvement occurs. A well-thought-out KM system has the capability of becoming the “digital nervous system” of an organization, tying all areas to the strategic goals of an organization.