Chen, L and Mohamed, S (2008) Contribution of knowledge management activities to organisational business performance. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 6(3), pp. 269-285. ISSN 1726-0531
Abstract
Purpose: Within the construction industry there is a growing awareness of the need for linking knowledge management (KM) to business strategy, organisational objectives and existing performance measures. This study was undertaken within the context of construction organisations, and attempts to provide the empirical evidence about the relationships between KM activities and organisational business performance. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was administered to a sample of construction contractors operating in Hong Kong to investigate the opinions of construction professionals regarding the intensity of KM activities and business performance within their organisations. In parallel to the survey, semi-structured interviews were undertaken to provide qualitative insights that helped to clarify and deepen understanding of the KM process within the context of the research target. Findings: The investigation shows that knowledge utilisation is the strongest contributor to general business performance. In addition, the impact of KM activities on the lagging performance indicators of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), such as "financial performance", is in an indirect manner, and through the leading indicators such as performance from "internal process" as well as "learning and growth" perspectives. Originality/value: The study empirically establishes the linkage between intensity of KM activities and business performance, and demonstrates that KM strategies need to be explicitly formulated and measured according to organisational business objectives.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | balanced scorecard; knowledge management; performance measures |
| Index terms: | linkage, construction organization, Hong Kong, balanced scorecard, construction industry, construction professional, investigation, performance measure, business strategy, strategy, survey, performance indicator, interview, construction contractor, knowledge management, methodology, financial performance, evidence, business performance, questionnaire |
| Subjects: | practitioner, evaluation and assessment methods, data collection methods, organization, business, industry analysis, Geography, professional development, performance measurement, management, performance management, research methods, business analysis |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here