Chen, L and Mohamed, S (2008) Impact of the internal business environment on knowledge management within construction organisations. Construction Innovation, 8(1), pp. 61-81. ISSN 1471-4175
Abstract
Recent knowledge management (KM) literature suggests that KM activities are influenced by the elements of the internal business environment (BE) of organisations. This paper attempts to provide some unique insights into the contextual input of the KM process through empirically identifying the major factors (i.e. “forces”) within the internal BE of construction organisations operating in Hong Kong, and investigating their impact on the intensity of KM activities. A questionnaire survey was administered to a sample of construction contractors operating in Hong Kong to elicit opinions on the internal BE and intensity of KM activities as executed by targeted organisations. A total of 149 usable responses were received from 99 organisations representing about 38 percent of the research population. In parallel, to the survey, a total of 15 semi-structured interviews were undertaken to provide more insights into the phenomenon under investigation. Supported by the empirical and qualitative evidence, this study established that firstly, both organisational and technical environments have the capacity to either positively or negatively impact the intensity of KM activities, and both environments serve as stimuli in increasing each other's dynamism; secondly, certain types of KM activities are stronger “energy receivers” and easily to be “powered up” by manipulating factors representing these two environments. Then, through interactions between KM activities, the intensity of the whole strategic KM cycle will be increased thus helping to strengthen organisational competitive advantage. The impact of internal BE on KM activities was both empirically and qualitatively investigated, from a strategic perspective, within the construction business context.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | business environment; construction industry; Hong Kong; knowledge management; organizational culture |
| Index terms: | interview, survey, evidence, questionnaire, population, organizational culture, knowledge management, construction contractor, competitive advantage, construction organization, Hong Kong, investigation, interaction, construction industry |
| Subjects: | evaluation and assessment methods, data collection methods, organization, practitioner, Geography, professional development, demography, market analysis, sociology, industry analysis, behavioral psychology |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Urban Studies, Roles and Professions, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy |
| 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