Critical success factors for knowledge management studies in construction

Knowledge management (KM) is the organization, creation, sharing and flow of knowledge within organizations. The reuse of information and knowledge minimizes the need to refer explicitly to past projects; reduces the time and cost of solving problems, and improves the quality of solutions during the construction phase of a construction project. The knowledge can be reused and shared among the involved engineers and experts to improve the construction process and reduce the time and cost of solving problems. This paper identifies Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for implementing knowledge management in construction projects from the Taiwan perspective in particular. Through the questionnaires and interviews geared toward project participants on enterprise knowledge management experience, the opinions of various parties - general contractors and subcontractors were sought and evaluated in relation to critical success factors for knowledge management in construction phase. The relationship between the perception of knowledge management success and a set of success factors hypothesized in the study was derived using factor analysis and multiple regressions. The results indicated that certain requirements must be met for knowledge management implementation to succeed. In particular, the establishment of a reward strategy, a willingness to share knowledge, a clear definition of rules, a friendly and satisfied knowledge exchanging system, and well-function knowledge management organization were believed to be the significant underlying factors for knowledge management success. Such an identification of success factors could well formulate effective strategies for enhancing knowledge management in construction and improving project performance.