Zin, I N M and Egbu, C (2010) Readiness of organizations to implement a knowledge management strategy: A construction industry overview. In: Egbu, C (ed.) Proceedings of 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2010, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Many organizations are now looking towards knowledge management (KM) initiatives to address some of the challenges brought forward by marketplace pressures and the nature of the workplace. Organizations in the construction industry are no exceptions. Such initiatives are often started with the development of a KM strategy. A common short-sight for KM implementation is the readiness level of organizations to adopt KM strategies. KM readiness presents a measure of the degree to which an organization may be ready, prepared or willing to obtain benefits which arise from KM implementation, specifically focussing on the 'soft' people issues, process and technology. In this context, an advanced state of organizational KM readiness is needed for business to expand domestically and internationally; and to compete readily in the global open market. This paper reviews available literature on KM strategies and attempts to reconcile these strategies with what pertains in the construction industry. It also discusses the pervasiveness or otherwise, and importance of 'organizational readiness' in KM strategy implementation. The paper also argues of the importance of a KM strategy to be linked to the wider strategy of the organization. Lessons learned from the literature review have led to some conclusions and recommendations which are presented for the benefit of academia, organizations and for the Malaysian Construction Industry.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | knowledge management; organizational readiness; strategy |
| Index terms: | construction industry, lessons learned, implementation, knowledge management, academia, literature review, strategy |
| Subjects: | educational institutions, industry analysis, management, professional development, data analysis and analytics, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Education, Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice, Procurement |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 CTA |
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