INVESTIGATION INTO THE ADOPTION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM) IN THE NIGERIAN INDUSTRY CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
ABSTRACT
The main Aim of this research is to investigate the Adoption of knowledge management in the Nigeria construction industry. The research examined the area of the construction industry that will improve as a result of the contribution of knowledge management. Data for the analysis were collected through questionnaire Administration on construction professionals. 60questionnaires where administered, 50 were retrieved and analysed using simple percentile and relative Important index. The study revealed that the knowledge management adoption is being hindered the most in Nigeria by some major barriers which include funding with relative important index of 0.83, lack of cooperation among professionals with relative important index of 0.81, difficulty in generalizing and sharing knowledge with relative important index of 0.81 and the least barrier being difficulty in locating knowledge which have index value of 0.65.As there is no Adequate fund to carry it out in construction organization in conclusion it was observe that colleagues experience is the major source of knowledge available to construction professionals in Nigeria as most construction professionals in Nigeria don’t read much and not exposed to other methods of acquiring knowledge within the organization and fund is also the major problem hindering the adoption of knowledge management among professionals. It was recommended that project managers, Architects, Quantity surveyors supervisors, contractors and engineers should improve in the level at which they transfer and share knowledge with other construction professionals and that the federal government of Nigeria should inject more fund to the construction industry of the country as this is a very productive sector of the economy.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Â Â Â Â Â Background of the Study
According to Botha, D.F (2004) knowledge management is a process of systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated process of creating, gathering, organizing diffusion, use and exploitation. It requires turning personal knowledge into corporate knowledge that can be widely shared throughout the organisation. Projects are typically delivered by a temporary organisation comprising designers, consultants, contractors, supplier and others. The need for knowledge management (KM) is particularly relevant to the construction industry which now faces many challenges. These include economic swings, new markets emerging in the global economy, increasing competition, the impact of technology, new and increasing demands from clients, customers and society, and the requirement to maintain a highly skilled workforce at all levels (Egbu and Robinson 2005). Contracting firms are becoming increasingly involved in challenging and complex, knowledge-intensive procurement routes such as management contracting, design and build, joint ventures, public private partnerships as well as the traditional procurement route. According to Quintas (2005) there are two potentially conflicting objectives of Knowledge Management, to build knowledge bases cumulatively and to learn from past experience; and to ensure learning beyond core areas, generating the capability to assimilate new knowledge in order to be able to respond to change. In a study of American contractors, Fisher et al. (1998) identified a number of reasons for implementing Knowledge Management practices as: high staff turnover leading to loss of experience; and large size of organisations make sharing knowledge difficult.
