Analysing the Knowledge Management Culture of Construction Firms in Abuja

Abstract

Construction projects are temporal in nature and involves project managers assembling construction professionals that are often disbanded immediately a project is completed. This disbandment causes construction knowledge that firms accumulate from the experience of teams to be lost or go uncaptured. This is a concern for firms that need to retain knowledge to remain competitive and often compete for limited contracts. Research into construction knowledge tends to focus on the relationship between the culture of organisations and construction knowledge. A second piece of the literature focusses on the nexus between construction knowledge and organisational performance. However, investigations that examine the knowledge management culture in construction firms with a view to analyse various issues and factors involved is limited. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the knowledge management culture within organizations in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. A descriptive survey approach is adopted, and data is obtained through questionnaires in Abuja. The results showed that many construction firms struggle or fail to formally capture/share construction knowledge because many employees have little or basic knowledge of knowledge management techniques or tools and often rely heavily on face-to-face interactions to share knowledge. The study argues that a superior knowledge of as well as an increased adoption of knowledge management techniques and tools by employees can significantly enhance the ability of an organisation to share and capture construction knowledge to minimise knowledge loss.