Assessing Knowledge Management Processes in Nigeria Construction Industry
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives Of Study
The specific objectives are;
- To assess the importance of knowledge management practice attributes in the construction
- To assess the factors determining the capture and reuse of project
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Construction Professionals in Nigeria
The construction industry is made up of both the formal sector and informal sector, with the formal sector consisting of organized companies. Due to the multi disciplinary nature of the industry the formal sector consist of the Architects, the Quantity Surveyors, the Estate Surveyors, the Civil Engineers and the Builders. All these professionals join forces together to promote the construction industry. The informal sector consist of trades and artisans; but for this purpose, knowledge is acquired transferred and managed within the industry with the construction professionals responsible for these. The construction of a project of any kind be it building, civil or heavy engineering works involves the services of many people directly and indirectly. These are people responsible for the overall design, construction and maintenance of a construction project from inception to completion. They are even involved in the sales and/or letting of the property on practical completion. Hence they carry the course of construction industry’s workload and most of the construction project managers available today are construction professionals that have construction knowledge as background. However it is necessary to have a thorough knowledge of the professionals in the industry and the interrelationship that exist between them affirms from observation that, there seems to be confusion and misinterpretation of the roles of these professionals within the construction industry in developing countries in general and in Nigeria in particular due to many factors. One of which is lack of proper working knowledge on the part of majority of people as to the roles of each professionals in the industry. It was further that the construction industry is unique when compared with other industries in terms of design and manufacturing of its product in which case the design phase is separated from the construction phase (except for some modern procurement method). While Architect and some sections of the engineering profession (civil engineers) carry out the design of the buildings, the cost control and the construction is the role of the Quantity Surveyors and builders respectively. The Estate Surveyors on the completion of the project is responsible for its marketing through outright sales, leasing or letting as appropriate.
Definitions of Knowledge Management
KM and its various aspects have become the subject of much debate amongst philosophers and members of diverse fields (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 2000). Up to this point, there is still no one widely accepted definition for KM neither is it aligned to definite framework of any discipline. This has attributed to the plethora of definitions that abound in the literature as each author defined KM according to his or her own perspective (Egbu, 2004).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
According to Udoyen (2019), a study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitutes of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description.
This study was carried to examine assessing knowledge management processes in Nigeria construction industry. Selected construction companies in Abuja forms the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of eighty (80) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only seventy-seven (77) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 77 was validated for the analysis.
TEST OF HYPOTHESIS
H0: there is no importance of knowledge management practice attributes in the construction
H1: there is importance of knowledge management practice attributes in the construction
H0: there are no factors determining the capture and reuse of project
H2: there are factors determining the capture and reuse of project
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain assessing knowledge management processes in Nigeria construction industry. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of assessing knowledge management processes in Nigeria construction industry
Summary
This study was on assessing knowledge management processes in Nigeria construction industry. Two objectives were raised which included: To assess the importance of knowledge management practice attributes in the construction and to assess the factors determining the capture and reuse of project. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from selected construction companies in Abuja. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).
Conclusion
Knowledge management is central to the performance of construction firms. This study has presented results of a questionnaire survey with the main aim to assess knowledge management capabilities among professionals in Nigerian construction firms. Mean item score was used to explore the ten barriers to knowledge management implementation in Nigerian construction firms revealed from literature review. The topmost three barriers in order of mean item score and significance are: cultural barriers, lack of time, and trying to solve large problems. This shows that keen attention needs to be paid to culture and time in Nigerian construction firms so as to embrace the concept of knowledge management. Similarly, mean item score was used to explore the fifteen benefits of knowledge management implementation. The topmost three benefits in order of mean item score and significance are: enabling better and faster decision making, makes it easy to find relevant information and resources, and supports reusing of ideas, documents, and expertise. Finally, this study revealed the inadequate attention given to creativity among the professionals in construction firms
Recommendation
1) Stakeholders of the construction industry should be encouraged to embrace cultural diversity.
2) Construction firms should pay keen attention to time management and development of appropriate methodology that will foster knowledge management implementation.
3) Professional bodies should collaborate with government parastatals and construction firms to train professionals on knowledge management.
4) Government should introduce policies and framework that will support knowledge management implementation.
5) Construction firms and professionals should embrace the concept of creativity in knowledge management.
References
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