Abstract:
Knowledge management (KM) is now becoming a vital issue in the business strategies of any construction organizations and it is a complement to the organizational business activities. Lessons learned from the construction industry have proved that reusing and sharing knowledge can enhance building projects successfully by decreasing cost and time of completion and improving the whole competitiveness of the organization. The challenge to KM implementation in construction organizations is the lack of systematic procedures for developing and applying knowledge management systems (KM System). Various KM models have been developed to support KM activities. However, the existing KM models and tools may have some problems in many circumstances, which cannot be used efficiently and effectively. This research aims to implement KM model that overcomes such problems and provides an effective and efficient way for managing knowledge in the building projects.
An extensive review and analysis of KM models has been carried out and a KM model was developed to fill the gaps and overcome the disadvantages of previous KM models used for construction projects. Interviews with KM practitioners have been conducted to evaluate and enhance the KM model. A questionnaire survey has been conducted to improve the developed KM model by investigating KM initiatives, activities and tools of current KMSystem in construction organizations and exploring environmental factors and activities that can be critical for successful implementation and application of KM in the building project. A final KM model has been set to provide an effective solution and useful guidance for successful implementation and application of KM in the building projects.
