Sung, W-K (2017) Factors motivating construction safety knowledge sharing in online social media. PhD thesis, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Abstract
The construction industry has the highest accident and fatality rates among all industries. According to the figures collected from the Labour Department of Hong Kong, there were nearly 3500 construction-related accidents in 2014. Government and organizations have put resources into trainings, accident information dissemination, management systems, and safe equipment in order to provide a safe work environment, while researchers have integrated visualization, data mining, knowledge management systems and various technologies into reducing the number of accidents and injuries in the construction industry. There has been, however, limited research on the usage of online social media in supplementing conventional training and enhancing the tacit knowledge of construction safety shared by individuals in the construction industry. This study aims to understand the current use of online social media in construction safety knowledge sharing and the motivations for such knowledge sharing. Social cognitive theory has been adopted in developing the research model, as this study focuses on the individual learning and knowledge building processes through collaboration in the social context. The research model is constructed with eight hypotheses to test the influence of the determinants of knowledge sharing behavior: community identity, social awareness, knowledge sharing self-efficacy, altruism, overconfidence, and intention to share knowledge. Aiming to provide a current picture of knowledge sharing behavior and a practical analysis of the research model, this study undertakes quantitative research methodology using a four-page self-reflective questionnaire for data collection. The snowball sampling method was adopted and 21 companies were invited to participate in the study. Out of the 816 questionnaires collected from March to May 2015, there are 741 valid responses for statistical analysis. The statistical software SmartPLS v3.0 was used to test the eight hypotheses. The results show that five hypotheses are statistically significant. One determinant, community identity, is statistically significant in determining knowledge sharing self-efficacy and social awareness. Three determinants—knowledge sharing self-efficacy, altruism, and intention to share knowledge—have a positive influence on knowledge sharing behavior. Unlike previous research, this research reveals that factors such as ”community identity”, ”social awareness” and ”overconfidence” do not have a statistically significant relationship with the intention to share knowledge about construction accident prevention. The sample population possesses an average of 9.7 years of Internet experience and 6.2 years of online social media experience. The individuals perceive that they have discussed safety- and accident-prevention-related matters in online social media like Whatsapp, Facebook and Wechat. The exploratory questions in this study reveal that the respondents are positive in the trend of using online social media in the workplace and for accident prevention, though there is concern about confidentiality, timeliness, and credibility of the information sources. Organizations interested in using online social media for construction safety knowledge sharing to supplement existing training programs should emphasize the direct determinants, i.e., knowledge sharing self-efficacy, altruism, and intention to share knowledge. The indirect factor, community identity, can also be included in boosting the knowledge sharing self-efficacy and social awareness of the construction community.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | confidentiality; population; tacit knowledge; construction safety; equipment; collaboration; government; knowledge management; learning; safety; visualization; Hong Kong; data mining; statistical analysis; quantitative research; motivation; training |
| Index terms: | accident prevention, management system, injury, social cognitive theory, knowledge sharing, motivation, program, collaboration, population, methodology, altruism, questionnaire, confidentiality, construction accident, building process, construction safety, tacit knowledge, visualization, knowledge management, data mining, knowledge management system, Hong Kong, quantitative research, information dissemination, statistical analysis, sampling, work environment, social media, construction community, identity, prevention, construction industry, self-efficacy, determinant, internet |
| Subjects: | professional development, software systems, design practice, management, environmental health, information systems, industry analysis, sociology, health conditions and diseases, occupational health and safety management, computing systems, risk assessment, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics, data science, technology adoption, financial risk, Geography, research methods, behavioral psychology, professional ethics, building construction, demography, human factors and perception, research dissemination and communication, knowledge management, psychology |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Site Management, Human Resources, Digital Applications, Urban Studies, Design Practice, Information Management, Research Practice, Cost Management, Legal Issues, Sustainability, Risk Management, Geographical Context, Health and Safety |
| 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