Developing Cross-Project and Corporate Learning Capabilities via Knowledge Management Infrastructures: Case Study of a Major Construction Firm in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper addresses knowledge management (KM) in a project management organisation through a case study.The case study organisation is a small-medium sized Taiwanese-owned construction company (staff size of approximately 50) with an annual turnover of approximately TWD50 (AUD$1.85) billion. Approximately one half of the company comprised project-related staff (e.g., construction project management, project documentation, estimation, procurement, and design), while the other comprised administrative and business-related staff (e.g., office administration and management, business development, and finance and accounting). The researcher undertook a series of surveys and one-on-one interviews whilst ‘embedded’ for several months within the organisation. This study is part of an on-going international comparison involving major construction organisations in Singapore, Australia, and Taiwan.This study examines the recognition, importance and commitment of organisational culture to KM, and the effects the knowledge management initiatives have on the organisation’s ability to manage knowledge across its projects and deliver the projects at various ‘levels’ of the organisation (individual, project, departmental, and corporate). It concludes that a technologically and functionally sound KM infrastructure did not necessarily assure that an organisation had a capability to manage knowledge. Organisations need to ensure that their KM repository is made up of relevant and quality contents (not just quantity), and that corporate culture (especially the willingness of individuals to share what they know) is a critical determining factor to the organisation’s ability to share, apply and create knowledge (i.e., low sharing capability leads to low application and creation capabilities). Also, by proposing models for managing data, information and knowledge, and taking into consideration the structure of the case study organisation, recommendations are made to improve the organisation’s capability to manage the knowledge and experiences from its past projects for future application.