Collaborative Knowledge Management: an Emerging Theme among Construction Firms in Nigeria

Abstract

The increasing pressure of cost and time reduction, delivering better projects and fighting ever-increasing environmental challenges has made the effective use of intellectual capital even more important for construction firms. With these growing complexity comes an increasing need to understand how disciplines relate to each other and the value of collaboration. This research is aimed at assessing the drivers and barriers to collaborative knowledge management' as an emerging theme among construction firms in Nigeria. The research is an investigative study, in which a quantitative research method was used. The research used a purposive sampling technique that considered large building construction firms that captured in its management structure, the responsibilities of the key knowledge professionals at unit and departmental levels. These knowledge professionals were identified as Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Land Surveyors, Builders and Engineers, who are unit/departmental heads. Twenty eight (28) firms involving the five (5) knowledge professionals in each firm participated in the research, giving 140 respondents. The Cronbach's coefficient alpha was used to check the internal consistency of the data, hence ascertaining the reliability of the instrument (above 0.8), while the content validity was conducted to ascertain the relevance of the research questions as well as the tools. The Kruskal-Wallis test which is the nonparametric equivalent of a one-way ANOVA was used for testing whether samples originate from the same distribution. The availability of Collaborative KM Software was identified as the most significant driver (MS=4.31). The research also classified the barriers of CKM into process and technological barriers, with the lack of awareness of Collaborative KM practices as the most significant process barrier (M=4.21) and Poor Internet Connectivity as the most significant technological barrier (4.26). The research concludes that that all the factors (drivers and barriers) identified have significant effect on the emergence of CKM as agreed by the various professional's groups that all the drivers identified have significant effect on the emergence of CKM. The research recommends the need for a nationwide public and professional awareness of the need for collaboration as well as CKM, which can begin from involvement of professional bodies to the enforcement of construction firms and other relevant key stakeholders. It also recommends that firms should create of a dedicated collaborative knowledge management software/platforms as well as the availability of good internet services as most collaborative activities are executed over the web.