Capturing Knowledge in Construction Projects: Knowledge Platform for Contractors

TLDR

Managing knowledge effectively is critical for companies, especially in construction, yet capturing it is tedious because it is experience‑based, tacit, and hard to transfer. The study aims to uncover how tacit and explicit knowledge are captured, stored, shared, and used in construction projects, to identify drivers and barriers, and proposes a conceptual framework and a web‑based Knowledge Platform for Contractors (KPfC) to manage this knowledge effectively. The authors surveyed eight leading Turkish construction contractors, proposed a conceptual framework for knowledge capturing, and presented a web‑based Knowledge Platform for Contractors (KPfC) to implement it. The survey revealed that most firms lack a knowledge management strategy and a systematic method for capturing and storing tacit knowledge.

Abstract

Managing knowledge effectively is critical to the survival and advance of a company, especially in project-based industries such as construction. However, capturing knowledge in construction projects is a tedious task, as knowledge is usually experience based, tacit, and hard to pass on to others. In this study, a survey was carried out among eight leading Turkish construction contractors that are operating within the international construction market. The specific objectives of this survey are to find out how the tacit and explicit knowledge are captured, stored, shared, and used in forthcoming projects, as well as major drivers and barriers for knowledge management. Based on the survey, it was determined that most of these firms do not have a knowledge management strategy and a systematic way of capturing and storing tacit knowledge. A conceptual framework is proposed to formalize the knowledge-capturing process within construction companies. To demonstrate how the conceptual framework can be implemented in practice, a Web-based system, namely, Knowledge Platform for Contractors (KPfC) is presented. It is hypothesized that KPfC can be used to manage both tacit and explicit knowledge effectively in construction projects.