Readiness of organisations to implement a knowledge management strategy: A construction industry overview

Many organisations are now looking towards knowledge management (KM) initiatives to address some of the challenges brought forward by marketplace pressures and the nature of the workplace. Organisations in the construction industry are no exceptions. Such initiatives are often started with the development of a KM strategy. A common short-sight for KM implementation is the readiness level of organisations to adopt KM strategies. KM readiness presents a measure of the degree to which an organisation may be ready, prepared or willing to obtain benefits which arise from KM implementation, specifically focussing on the ‘soft’ people issues, process and technology. In this context, an advanced state of organisational KM readiness is needed for business to expand domestically and internationally; and to compete readily in the global open market. This paper reviews available literature on KM strategies and attempts to reconcile these strategies with what pertains in the construction industry. It also discusses the pervasiveness or otherwise, and importance of ‘organisational readiness’ in KM strategy implementation. The paper also argues of the importance of a KM strategy to be linked to the wider strategy of the organisation. Lessons learned from the literature review have led to some conclusions and recommendations which are presented for the benefit of academia, organisations and for the Malaysian Construction Industry