Developing a business case for knowledge management: the IMPaKT approach

There is a wealth of literature on the role of knowledge management (KM) in business improvement. Those with responsibility for implementing KM in organizations are often required to demonstrate its benefits. The need to convince senior management and other stakeholders about the business benefits is increasingly recognized as crucial in justifying a KM strategy and the resources to support its implementation. A three-stage approach (the IMPaKT framework) - underpinned by an industry survey and case study findings - is presented for developing a business case for KM. The framework facilitates: (1) an understanding of the strategic context of business problems and their knowledge management implications; (2) the planning and alignment of KM strategy to address business problems or objectives; and (3) an evaluation of the impact of KM on business performance in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Key findings based on industrial application and further development of the framework are discussed. Evaluation shows that the framework could significantly facilitate the implementation of a KM strategy in construction organizations.Knowledge Management, Business Performance, Construction Organizations,

Lessons learned practices in the UK construction sector: current practice and proposed improvements

Many construction companies in the UK engage in formal and informal lessons learned practices. However, such lessons learned are not always used to the best advantage to improve future projects; there is a disjoint in the effort spent obtaining lessons learned and their dissemination and use. This paper reports on research aimed at improving lessons learned practices in construction organizations. The paper investigates the gaps in current construction contractors’ practices for recording and disseminating lessons learned. A questionnaire survey of top UK construction contractors was conducted to understand current lessons learned practices; this included what the processes were, why they were used and how they were carried out. The research also investigated lessons learned content, its usefulness and the perceived barriers to dissemination. The main findings were: (1) organizations need to collectively identify the lessons needed and target those to specific audiences; (2) the content and format of the lessons learned dictate the way in which the lessons should be captured, stored and disseminated; (3) there is a gap between the tools used for obtaining lessons learned and those found to be useful; and (4) the type of lessons required changes with the context, e.g. organizational priorities and external pressures on the construction environment. The next stage of the research will be to develop these outputs to create a roadmap for the improved dissemination and use of lessons learned in construction organizations