THE POTENTIAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ON CONSTRUCTION SITES

Abstract

Knowledge management is the process of creating, sharing, using, and managing knowledge, one of the most valuable organizational resources. This approach is well-known in Austria's industrial sector, but applied only in major construction companies. It is mainly used to share knowledge between different departments, but it is not commonly found on construction sites. During the construction phase a variety of separate firms build a temporary multidisciplinary organization, to produce investment goods. To show the potential of knowledge management on building sites in Austria, 78 interviews were conducted. Construction sites of different types (new construction and refurbishment of buildings) were taken into account in order to guarantee a representative outcome. The highest cost-benefit ratio for knowledge management can be seen in knowledge intensive processes. The execution phase is characterized by craftwork which often includes many routine steps. But the survey shows that almost a quarter of the daily business is about knowledge intensive processes while the amount doesn't correlate with the working experience. Furthermore, on construction sites with many trades the lack of information and knowledge transfer is the cause of nearly a quarter of the problems faced. The findings indicate the need for knowledge management on construction sites and the potential grows with the number of trades. The teambuilding process can be seen as the most important step for an efficient knowledge management during the execution phase.