Nor, F M and Egbu, C (2010) An insight into knowledge sharing practices in quantity surveying firms in Malaysia. In: Egbu, C (ed.) Proceedings of 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2010, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Knowledge is increasingly being recognized as a vital organizational resource that provides competitive advantage. Managing knowledge assets can be a challenge, especially in the construction industry, where short-term working contracts and temporary coalitions of individuals can inhibit knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing in organizations is the act of making knowledge available to others within the organization. It is the process by which knowledge held by an individual is converted into a medium that can be understood, absorbed, and used by other individuals. Knowledge sharing is important as it provides a link between the individual and the organization by 'moving' knowledge that resides within individuals to the organizational level, where it is converted into economic and competitive value for the organization. This degree of importance attached to knowledge sharing is heightened in a knowledge economy, where knowledge is seen as a valuable resource for innovation and for gaining competitive advantage. However, increasing evidence points to a paucity of research that has investigated the nature of the different approaches to improving the effectiveness of knowledge sharing, the appropriate organizational factors at play for knowledge sharing to be fully exploited, and its benefits to Quantity Surveying (QS) Firms. Therefore, this paper purports to provide an insight into knowledge sharing in Quantity Surveying (QS) Firms in Malaysia. Through literature reviews the key issues associated with knowledge sharing in organizations were listed and opinions on these were sought from quantity surveying firms from Malaysia. The paper presents some key aspects of the findings and offers targeted conclusions and recommendations for the benefit of organizations, industry and academia.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | knowledge management; knowledge sharing; quantity surveying; Malaysia |
| Index terms: | organizational factor, quantity surveying firm, Malaysia, competitive advantage, surveying, literature review, knowledge sharing, academia, effectiveness, evidence, construction industry, knowledge management |
| Subjects: | profession, evaluation and assessment methods, business, data analysis and analytics, knowledge management, health monitoring assessment and metrics, Geography, professional development, performance management, industry analysis, market analysis, educational institutions |
| Topics: | Education, Organizational Design, Quality Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Information Management, Health and Safety |
| 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