Messages in bottles: the fallacy of transferring knowledge between construction projects

Although learning from projects in construction has gained much importance in research and practice, progress in understanding and improving inter-project learning appears to be slight. We argue that the adoption of a sender/receiver approach limits the learning effectiveness in construction. Drawing upon the notion of learning as social activity embedded in organisational context, we develop the argument that learning from projects takes place within projects rooted in the historical, organisational and cultural context of previous and current projects. We underpin our argument with results from a multiple-case study on learning in construction organisations