Koch, C (2004) Can knowledge management become global? Consulting engineering companies in the knowledge economy. Journal of Construction Research, 5(1), pp. 107-124. ISSN 1609-9451
Abstract
The paper presents different strategies for consulting engineering companies in the emergent global economy. It is a common assumption that players can obtain market gain through cross border mergers, acquisitions, or strategic alliances in synchronisation with internal organisation. Many big companies already have considerable international presence, but most of the small and medium-size still operate regional markets. The European market is on the edge of this globalisation. This article discusses corporate strategies and the role of knowledge management in European consulting engineering companies. In doing so, it distinguishes between strategies of super-companies, medium-sized and small companies. Two Danish cases are then presented where knowledge management strategies are intertwined with different responses to globalisation. The first has expanded internationally and has attempted to support this by IT as a lever for virtualisation and accessibility of company knowledge (an export strategy). The second company makes an alliance with a large global player in order to become stronger in its development of local innovative and knowledge intensive solutions (an import strategy).
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | globalisation; consulting engineering; knowledge management; knowledge import |
| Index terms: | markets, presence, export, acquisition, merger, import, strategic alliance, corporate strategy, accessibility, knowledge management, globalization, strategy |
| Subjects: | inclusive design, economic analysis, environmental science, economic factors, partnership management, professional development, management, business |
| Topics: | Sustainability, International Construction, Design Practice, Governance, Stakeholder Management, Information Management, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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