Liu, Z t and Elhag, T M S (2007) Know-how transfer in construction industry: Social and economics factors. In: Boyd, D (ed.) Proceedings of 23rd Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2007, Belfast, UK.
Abstract
The importance of managing knowledge in organizations for competitive advantage has received an amount of attention in recently years. In construction industry, the transfer of tacit, non-proprietary technological knowledge often referred as know-how is critical in making knowledge actionable and operational in construction industry. The research investigates the importance of social and economics aspects in knowledge transfer. By using the concept of reciprocity, the research analyzes the economic and social perspectives on exchange, and discusses how the socio-economic context influences know-how transfer decisions within the same firm and across firm boundaries. Drawing upon a questionnaire-based survey on the construction industry, the research aims to examine the significance of social and economics factors in enhancing the capabilities of know-how transfer in such an environment. The main finding from the research is that processes of know-how transfer in project settings rely very heavily upon social and economic patterns, practices and processes. In particular, the value and importance of recognizing the dual impact of social relationships and competition is crucial to know-how transfer behaviour.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry; know-how; reciprocity; socio-economic; tacit knowledge |
| Index terms: | questionnaire, competition, knowledge transfer, boundaries, tacit knowledge, construction industry, competitive advantage, survey, drawing |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, research dissemination and communication, property law, technical documentation, professional development, industry analysis, market analysis |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Research Practice, Information Management |
| 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