Organisational learning of risk management for Chinese contractors

China's economic reforms and openness not only brought about a huge demand for infrastructure and housing, but also lifted the construction industry to a new strategic stage. The changing business environment requires Chinese construction contractors to improve their competitiveness to compete with international contractors, and to manage their own risks rather than to rely on the government. However, the knowledge and practice of risk management are still very limited in China's construction industry. This research found that the fast development of construction insurance as an important risk-transfer tool has brought an opportunity to increase awareness of risk management in China. It also investigated and assessed the attitudes to risk management in terms of opportunity, motivation and obstacles. The research aimed to develop a solution to enhance the knowledge and practice of risk management of Chinese contractors. There was no history of risk management in China's construction industry. Without knowledge and expertise, contractors could not recognise the importance and benefits of risk management. The research proposed that the level of risk management of contractors could be increased in the form of organisational learning through collaborative teamwork. The Organisational Learning of Risk Management (OLRM) model was established with two parts. Model ? developed a survey to investigate the level of risk management of China's construction industry, and found that the perception and attitude of contractors played an important role in developing risk management. Model ? implemented an organisational learning process through collaborative teamwork not only to improve risk management but also to create a learning organisation. Effective organisational learning could be achieved with the collaborative teamwork of governments, the construction and insurance industries, and academia, and help each party to keep pace with the competitive environment. This research is the first attempt to move risk management from theory into practice by developing a realistic organisational learning model. The collaborative teamwork in the organisational learning can contribute to the joint working among different parties in the future.