Managing covid-19 related knowledge in the uk infrastructure sector

Abstract

COVID-19 has caused the most serious economic and health crisis globally that we have witnessed in decades. Millions of people across the world have lost jobs, while the healthcare systems are struggling to cope with the rapid increase in cases. Many sectors have been affected with this pandemic including the construction infrastructure sector which benefits from engineers and different staff members travelling to site and interacting/collaborating with peers. Infrastructure construction organisations have responded well during the pandemic in order to carry on works while minimising risks to their employees and their families, however management styles have had to be updated and the transferring/ storage and collection of knowledge has seen new processes and methods being adopted. The relationship between Knowledge and its management within the infrastructure sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic is a topic that has not been regularly researched. This paper aims to review both the impact that COVID-19 has had within the infrastructure sector and Knowledge Management during these times attempting to gain an output of how knowledge has been managed throughout the pandemic within the sector. Methodology: Given the lack of research on this topic, this study adopted and implemented a case study methodology approach. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted as well as observations with the organisations that took part on the research. A total of five organisations took part on this research and the patterns and connections were analysed during the data analysis stage to draw a conclusion from the study. Findings: COVID-19 has turned our worlds upside down with everything coming to a halt and everyone’s lives changing constantly. All sectors have had to change and adapt to this new way of life which also means working management styles are to accommodate for these new ways of working. Innovative technologies are at a rise and construction companies are aware of these advancements. However, the industry has been one of the slowest industries in adopting these advances in relation to Knowledge Management. Knowledge is a big influencer within the infrastructure sector, there is a lot of resistance in terms of adopting innovative techniques to boost KM practices positively as most companies are not fully aware of beneficial adoption practices and tend to overlook the potential benefits and instead investigate the challenges it may raise during adoption. During these difficult times, organisations within the infrastructure sector have had to become a lot more digital. Data storage environments are being heavily used as people are not travelling to work offices which gave employees the ability to use resources and data from the office itself whether it be through face-to-face communication or paper drawings and information. Some companies though have implemented some form of innovative KM processes, one which was highlighted as a trend was Big Data. The industry should enhance their awareness of these technological advances and explore more processes that could benefit the industry to explore the benefits that they can gain. Value: This study provides contribution of the digitisation of knowledge within the construction sector. The paper highlights the challenges that the infrastructure sector has faced during COVID-19 and key innovative technologies that can provide benefits to the construction industry and enhance knowledge management processes within the construction sector. It has been concluded that awareness and training of these technologies can boost coordination within companies and enables organisations to have better practices achieving goals despite these current circumstances. © The Authors, 2021. All Rights Reserved.