Thuesen, C and Koch, C (2003) Coordinating knowledge in building design. In: Greenwood, D J (ed.) Proceedings of 19th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2003, Brighton, UK.
Abstract
The concept of Community of Practice (CoP) represents a promising frame for further exploitation in understanding the handling of knowledge in construction processes. This paper follows this approach and presents a case study of a partnering project and discusses the mechanisms for coordinating knowledge in a complex construction project. As usual, the responsible group for the design counts members from different companies like architects, engineers, and contractors. This constellation is interpreted as a multiple configuration of CoPs, characterized by overlapping practises, multiple memberships and different levels of participation. The diversity of the practices is a condition of possibility of knowledge handling as it enables the synthesis of various forms of knowledge in building construct. Concepts like arenas (e.g.. meetings), brokers (e.g. design manager), and boundary objects (e.g. drawings) are discussed as means for facilitating the coordination of knowledge between practices and thereby enabling a more optimal and flexible flow and use of knowledge.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | communities of practices; culture; design; knowledge management |
| Index terms: | knowledge management, coordination, architect, configuration, construction process, construction project, boundary object, exploitation, engineer, drawing, case study, communities of practice, partnering, building design, design manager, broker |
| Subjects: | production management, professional development, management, systems engineering, collaborative management, partnership management, building construction, profession, data collection methods, knowledge management, architectural design, technical documentation |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Organizational Design, Site Management, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Project Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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