Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expand understanding of the factors that affect knowledge sharing in construction organizations. The outcome of this study will enable further understanding of knowledge sharing in construction and will therefore contribute towards successful implementation of knowledge sharing as part of organizational knowledge management (KM) initiatives in construction organizations.

Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted of the 2005 Engineering News Record Top 400 US contractors to assess their perceptions of how factors such as organizational culture (OC), trust and information technology (IT) impact knowledge sharing in their construction organizations.

Findings – The survey respondents strongly agreed on the perception that a proper organizational culture will enhance mutual trust in the organization. The respondents also perceived that IT will assist but not motivate people in sharing their knowledge and that not all types of knowledge can be shared using IT.

Research limitations/implications – The results are limited to the respondents' perceptions of how knowledge is shared in large construction organizations. By encouraging the participation of a larger number of construction companies, a higher confidence level can be achieved for the responses.

Practical implications – Knowledge sharing is one of the key processes in KM and, as such, understanding the perceptions of how knowledge is shared in large construction organizations is very important in their implementation of KM.

Originality/value – Very few studies have been conducted in the USA on the perceptions of management level employees about knowledge sharing in large construction organizations. The study is an important first step in collecting such data.