Maqsood, T; Walker, D H T and Finegan, A (2004) Project histories and project learning: A knowledge management challenge. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 20th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2004, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
With the advent of information and communication technologies (ICT), some construction organisations have endeavoured to develop and maintain project history systems. These are generally repositories that contain the data from previous projects. However, they are often poorly designed, implemented, managed and applied. We argue in this paper that a key reason for this situation is lack of senior management support and a need for the proper integration of project histories into a company's overall strategy and vision. However, recent interest in organisational learning and knowledge management appears to have a positive impact upon management practice in the construction industry. Management in major companies are now incorporating these emerging business philosophies into their overall strategy and vision. With the adoption of knowledge management strategies into construction companies, it will be possible to access project histories and conduct project learning in an efficient way. This paper provides an interpretative investigation of the issues concerning project histories for one leading construction company in Australia. A systems approach is used in this study as a tool to comprehend the underlying processes and to highlight the related issues.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | project histories; repositories; project learning; knowledge management; learning organisations |
| Index terms: | strategy, construction company, Australia, philosophy, construction organization, organizational learning, information and communication technology, construction industry, history, knowledge management, integration, management practice, investigation |
| Subjects: | architectural and construction history, organization, data collection methods, computing systems, organizational analysis, philosophical studies, industry analysis, management, professional development, Geography |
| Topics: | Information Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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