1 (a) Define the management knowledge

Knowledge Management (KM) comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an

organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and
experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in
individuals or embedded in organizational processes or practice.
KM includes courses taught in the fields of business administration, information systems,
management, and library and information sciences More recently, other fields have started
contributing to KM research; these include information and media, computer science, public
health, and public policy.
Many large companies and non-profit organizations have resources dedicated to internal KM
efforts, often as a part of their 'business strategy', 'information technology', or 'human
resource management' departments. Several consulting companies also exist that provide
strategy and advice regarding KM to these organizations.
Knowledge Management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as
improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned,
integration and continuous improvement of the organization. KM efforts overlap with
organizational learning, and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the
management of knowledge as a strategic asset and a focus on encouraging the sharing of
knowledge.

From the introduction to; "An Open Discussion of Knowledge Management", Brian
(Bo)Newman, 1991.
Knowledge Management is the collection of processes that govern the creation,
dissemination, and utilization of knowledge. In one form or another, knowledge management
has been around for a very long time. Practitioners have included philosophers, priests,
teachers, politicians, scribes, Liberians, etc.
So if Knowledge Management is such an ageless and broad topic what role does it serve in
today's Information Age? These processes exist whether we acknowledge them or not and
they have a profound effect on the decisions we make and the actions we take, both of which
are enabled by knowledge of some type. If this is the case, and we agree that many of our
decisions and actions have profound and long lasting effects, it makes sense to recognize and
understand the processes that effect or actions and decision and, where possible, take steps to
improve the quality these processes and in turn improve the quality of those actions and
decisions for which we are responsible?
Knowledge management is not a, "a technology thing" or a, "computer thing" If we accept
the premise that knowledge management is concerned with the entire process of discovery
and creation of knowledge, dissemination of knowledge , and the utilization of knowledge
then we are strongly driven to accept that knowledge management is much more than a
"technology thing" and that elements of it exist in each of our jobs.

Dr. Arthur J. Murray provides the following Knowledge Management Argot

Argot: The vocabulary used by a particular group, usually an underworld group.

Corporate Knowledge: The collective body of experience and understanding of an
organization's processes for managing both planned and unplanned situations.
Corporate Knowledge Management: The process whereby knowledge seekers are
linked with knowledge sources, and knowledge is transferred.
Corporate Knowledge Server:
Epistemology: The study of the nature and foundations of knowledge.
Etymology: The study of the history of change of a linguistic expression.
Knowledge: A set of models describing various properties and behaviors within a
domain.
Morphology: The study of patterns and structure of word formations in language.
Ontology: The study of relationships that give rise to meaning of expressions.
Taxonomy: A framework for the classification and arrangement of objects (used to
build a classification hierarchy).

Thomas Bertels provides the following definition of Knowledge Management

Knowledge management is the management of the organization towards the continuous
renewal of the organizational knowledge base - this means e.g. creation of supportive
organizational structures, facilitation of organizational members, putting IT-instruments with
emphasis on teamwork and diffusion of knowledge (as e.g. groupware) into place.
As I am a very practical person I am focussed rather more on the practical aspects, how we
can improve the reality.

Maarten Sierhuis provides the following definition of Knowledge Management and

supporting concepts.
Knowledge Management (KM): This is, as the word implies, the ability to manage
"knowledge". We are all familiar with the term Information Management. This term came
about when people realized that information is a resource that can and needs to be managed
to be useful in an organization. From this, the ideas of Information Analysis and Information
Planning came about. Organizations are now starting to look at "knowledge" as a resource as
well. This means that we need ways for managing the knowledge in an organization. We can
use techniques and methods that were developed as part of Knowledge Technology to
analyze the knowledge sources in an organization. Using these techniques we can perform
Knowledge Analysis and Knowledge Planning.
Knowledge Analysis (KA): In Knowledge Analysis we model a knowledge source in such a
way that we can analyze its usefulness, its weaknesses and its appropriateness within the
organization. Knowledge Analysis is a necessary step for the ability to manage knowledge.

Within Knowledge Analysis we can use knowledge modeling and knowledge acquisition
techniques.
Knowledge Planning (KP): When an organization has a grip on its knowledge (i.e. has
performed Knowledge Analysis), it will be able to plan for the future. An organization will
now be able to develop a multi-year knowledge plan that defines how the organization will
develop its knowledge resources, either by training its human agents, or by developing
knowledge-based systems to support the human agents, or by other means that allow the
organization to stay competitive.
Knowledge Technology (KT): This is, as the word already implies, the (application of)
techniques and methods from the field of AI, or to be more specific, the field of knowledgebased systems. KT has been around for quite some time, and most people know about the
application of KT in the form of expert systems, and decision support systems. Techniques
and methods to design these kind of systems are well known; The best known methodology
for building knowledge-based systems is CommonKADS (formerly known as KADS).
Computer Supported Work Systems (CSWS): This is a formal and informal (human) activity
system, within an organization where the (human) agents are supported by computer systems.
The application of Knowledge Technology is very helpful in such work systems, although
definitely *not* the only important factor in the analysis and design, nor in the effectiveness
of the activity system.

Denham Grey offers the following views on knowledge and knowledge management:
What is knowledge?
Knowledge is the full utilization of information and data, coupled with the potential of
people's skills, competencies, ideas, intuitions, commitments and motivations.
In today's economy, knowledge is people, money, leverage, learning, flexibility, power, and
competitive advantage. Knowledge is more relevant to sustained business than capital, labor
or land. Nevertheless, it remains the most neglected asset. It is more than justified true belief
and is essential for action, performance and adaption. Knowledge provides the ability to
respond to novel situations.
A holistic view considers knowledge to be present in ideas, judgments, talents, root causes,
relationships, perspectives and concepts. Knowledge is stored in the individual brain or
encoded in organizational processes, documents, products, services, facilities and systems.
Knowledge is the basis for, and the driver of, our post-industrial economy. Knowledge is the
result of learning which provides the only sustainable competitive advantage. Knowledge is
the next paradigm shift in computing following data processing 1945-1965 and information
management 1966-1995. Knowledge is action, focused innovation, pooled expertise, special
relationships and alliances. Knowledge is value-added behavior and activities. For knowledge
to be of value it must be focused, current, tested and shared.

What is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge management is an audit of "intellectual assets" that highlights unique sources,
critical functions and potential bottlenecks which hinder knowledge flows to the point of use.
It protects intellectual assets from decay, seeks opportunities to enhance decisions, services
and products through adding intelligence, increasing value and providing flexibility.
Knowledge management complements and enhances other organizational initiatives such as
total quality management (TQM), business process re-engineering (BPR) and organizational
learning, providing a new and urgent focus to sustain competitive position.
Why should you apply Knowledge Management?
To serve customers well and remain in business companies must: reduce their cycle times,
operate with minimum fixed assets and overhead (people, inventory and facilities), shorten
product development time, improve customer service, empower employees, innovate and
deliver high quality products, enhance flexibility and adaption, capture information, create
knowledge, share and learn.
None of this is possible without a continual focus on the creation, updating, availability,
quality and use of knowledge by all employees and teams, at work and in the marketplace.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION

2. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Knowledge management can be defined as the identification, optimisation and active
management of intellectual assets to create value, increase productivity, and gain and sustain
competitive advantage (Webb, 1998). It involves the capture, consolidation, dissemination and
reuse of knowledge within an organisation (Kazi et al. 1999). The formulation of a knowledge
management strategy involves an examination of a number of interrelated concepts and factors
(Kamara et al. 2000). However, before these are described it is needful that the meaning of
knowledge is discussed.
2.1 Meaning and types of knowledge
An understanding of what constitutes 'knowledge' is central to its effective management. For
example, if knowledge is considered to be interchangeable with information, then the focus tends
to be on the management of information systems as a proxy for knowledge management
(Blumentritt and Johnston, 1999). However, the various definitions of knowledge suggest that it
is much more than information. According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), knowledge can be
defined as a dynamic human process of justifying personal belief toward the truth (i.e. a
justified true belief). Knowledge has also been defined as 'know-why, know-how, and knowwho', or an intangible economic resource from which future revenues will be derived (Rennie,
1999). Attempts to distinguish between data, information and knowledge have also geared
towards the understanding of the latter (Webb, 1998). However, it is necessary to view
knowledge on the basis of its final use and/or on the basis of the context of its use ('wrapper'
knowledge). This underscores that fact that knowledge can be viewed as a component of a task
performing system. That is, a state of that system which warrants task completion, and the future
repetition of this task. The lack of this component implies a failure when completing a task. If this

lack is sustained over time, it means that this system ceases to exist. Knowledge is built from
data, which is first processed into information (i.e. relevant associations and patterns).
Information becomes knowledge when it enters the system and when it is validated (collectively
or individually) as a valid, relevant and useful piece of knowledge to implement in the system
(Blumentritt and Johnston, 1999).
Closely associated with the meaning of knowledge, is the identification of the kind of knowledge
that is to be managed. Various classifications of knowledge include: formal (explicit) and tacit
(expertise) knowledge; foreground and background knowledge; classifications with respect to the
role of knowledge for business relevance (e.g. knowledge of business environments), or with
respect to the functional roles within an organisation (e.g. knowledge for control activities)
(Siemieniuch and Sinclair, 1999). An understanding of the nature of these types of knowledge
contributes to their effective management. For example, tacit knowledge, which 'oils' the wheels
of formal procedures, is difficult to transfer because it is held in peoples' heads. Similarly,
foreground knowledge (defined as knowledge which has direct applicability to organisation and
its operations) relies on background knowledge (generalised knowledge) for it to be effective

2.2 The management of knowledge

The management of knowledge involves various tasks and activities that are performed to ensure
that knowledge is generated and/or captured, stored, disseminated or shared, and retired.
However, this may not necessarily be a linear process, as the context of use and supporting
infrastructure and tools also have to be considered (Laudon and Laudon, 1998; Webb, 1998).
These interrelated factors can be grouped into four main categories:
The knowledge base (used in a wider sense) that is to be managed. This includes data,
information, and knowledge. The purpose of this knowledge with respect to what it is
required for; what it contributes to; who needs it, etc., also need to be identified.
The context of use. This includes issues like the factors that initiate the need for knowledge, and
how it is applied within the organisational structure and culture.
The actual processes, procedures and tools required to capture, share and reuse knowledge.
An indication or measurement of how managed knowledge is contributing to improved business
performance, since knowledge management is not an end in itself, but a means to increased
competitive advantage.
Figure 1 is a conceptual (theoretical) framework that illustrates the interrelationships between the
various factors involved in the management of knowledge.

Knowledge

Process shaping factors

Base

Knowledge Management
processes

Performance measurement

Figure 1. Conceptual framework for knowledge management.

The 'knowledge base' refers to the kind of information, data or project knowledge that is to be
managed. 'Knowledge management processes' refer to the tasks and activities that are
implemented to manage knowledge, within the context of the project and/or organisation
('process shaping factors'). 'Performance measurement' deals with the assessment of the real-time
usefulness of knowledge management efforts, since KM is not an end in itself, but a means to add
value and increase competitive advantage.
This paper focuses on the contextual issues (process shaping factors in Fig. 1) and the tools
(particularly IT tools) for a knowledge management strategy in construction. A discussion of the
organisational context for KM in construction now follows.

1 (b) explain the method in management knowledge

(i)

Planning

In terms of project management, the concept of the planning process refers to a particular and
specific process group that is utilized by the project team leader and or the project management
team for the purposes of establishing at an early date the parameters of the project that is going to
be worked on as well as to try to delineate any specifics and or any peculiarities in regards to the
project as a whole and or any specific phases of the project. The planning process is traditionally
kicked off by the project management team and or the project management team leader as soon as
the project has been assigned in hopes of making sure that the exact parameters are known early
and that everyone is on the same page. The planning process is typically used, among other things,
to clearly specify a number of key elements that are to be expect to occur and or be undertaken as
part of the upcoming project including, but not limited to, the project scope, the project
management plan, and the specific content of and schedule for any project activities that are
expected to take place.

(ii)

Organising & coordinating

All social structures store knowledge about society, they contain a history of social
relationships, reduce the complexity of society, and enable future actions. All societies are
based on human activity that produces subjective and objective knowledge. Hence all
societies are knowledge societies. But not all societies are knowledge-based societies (KBS).
This term is reserved to characterize a social formation that is shaped by a specific type of
knowledge, scientific and technological knowledge, in all its realms. The emergence of the
knowledge-based society is a multidimensional shift that involves the rise of knowledge as
strategic resource in all societal areas. All human labour is based on a dialectical
interconnection of mind and body. Hence all labour is both mental labour and manual labour.
But nonetheless there is a difference: mental labour mainly based on cognition, reflection,
logical operations, etc., manual labour on the human production of physical energy. In the
KBS knowledge in the sense of the cognitive foundation of mental labour (subjective
knowledge) and the products of mental labour (objective knowledge) has become besides
physical labour, capital, property, and power the central productive force of modern society.
This manifests itself e.g. in a boom of service and knowledge industries, an increasing
importance of innovation, universities, expertise, research, knowledge work, knowledge
products. The first phase of capitalist development was based on extensive technological
development, the quantity of technology, labour, and capital applied in the production
process was steadily increased, but technology only changed slowly. In knowledge-based
capitalism there is an intensive technological development that is based on a series of fast
qualitative technological innovations. We today live in knowledge-based society in the sense

that knowledge products, scientific expertise and computer-based technologies as forms that
are an expression of mental labour have become immediate forces of production that
influence and change all subsystems of society. The increased knowledge-based character of
society is due to the rising importance of expertise, scientific knowledge and knowledgebased technologies.
The new principles of management refer to a new way of handling communication and social
relationships as well as their material effects in an organization. Whether decisions are made
centrally or are co-ordinated in a participatory process is a question of how communication
and social relationships are designed, whether there is discipline or self-control/central
control or joint communicative and co-operative rationality sets up the framework for the
cognitive and physical well-being of human beings.
Considering social systems as self-organizing means to acknowledge that order and
knowledge emerge in bottom-up-processes of cognition, communication, and co-operation
where the interactions of human beings result in create synergies. Such a concept of social
self-organization is based on the fact that human beings are creative, knowledgeable, active,
social beings.
For me the notion of social self-organization includes the ideas:

that systems are based on the activity and creativity of human beings

that order emerges from decentralized, bottom-up synergetic interactions

Therefore this notion shows for me the need for:

co-operation

participation

self-management

grassroots democracy

Taking this essence of social systems into account has ethical implications in so far as it
means that if order emerges from interaction and creative social relationships, all human
beings have the ability to act responsibly and the need to realize themselves and develop their
potentials, and hence should be provided with possibilities to participate in the design and
management of social systems. Hence such a concept of social self-organization puts forward
the ideas of grassroots democracy, emancipation and liberation from domination, inclusion,
sharing, and partnership. Participation is both a fundamental human right and a principle of
knowledge management that can contribute to organizational efficiency. Participation is
egalitarian: Everyone can gain design competence and take responsibility for the systems
(s)he lives in. Everyone should have equal opportunities, equal voice, and equal rights in
contributing to social systems design. Design flourishes only if there is equity among the
participants. Everyone has the same right and responsibility in making contributions. []
Liberation and emancipation from dominance become among the highest qualities to be
realized in social systems design (Banthy, 1996: 308f). Participation creates human dignity

and commitment and allows the emergence of order from creativity, the latter understood as
the innovative, novelty-creating use of knowledge.
Human emancipation aims to ensure the well-being of all individuals and the full
development of their human potential. The Total Systems Intervention approach (also known
as Critical Systems Theory) fosters critical awareness, social awareness, commitment to
human well-being, and emancipation (Jackson, 1992: 272; cf. also Flood, 1990;
Flood/Carson, 1993; Flood/Jackson, 1991a, 1991b; Flood/Romm, 1996) as fundamental
human values. We all want to be involved in making decisions that influence our lives. And
we accept and feel good about implementing a solution we help to devise (Nadler/Hibino,
1990: 225). Participation is the best strategy if you want long-term dignity, meaning and
community (Weisbord, 1992: 109). Banathy (1996) argues that ethical values that a system
design should reflect are authenticity, sustainability, realization of ideals,
multidimensionality, multiperspectiveness, user-friendliness, uniqueness (design qualities),
responsiveness/responsibility, diversity, design culture, acceptance/respect, aesthetics
(community qualities), complexity, systemic worldview, dynamics, robustness/flexibility,
coevolution, self-organization (systemic qualities), creativity, development of individual and
collective potential, design competence, liberation, learning, individual and collective
intelligence (individual and collective qualities). Such ethical design principles would be a
foundation of an efficient and humane design. Checkland/Scholes (1990) argue that a design
should comply to five ethical principles (the 5 Es): efficacy (does it work?), efficiency (are
minimum resources used?), effectiveness (does it attain the goals and expectations?),
ethicality, elegance (is it aesthetically pleasing?).

(iii)

Leading

Knowledge management means transforming your business productivity I have

realized that transforming knowledge management requires a solid business case to
justify business productivity. All of our effort was geared towards improving the
discoverability of people and content which enhances productivity. In this, Search,
Navigation and Content Management became an essential focus for transforming the
overall knowledge management.
Effective management of knowledge requires hybrid solutions involving both
people and technology. This was a very tough one. I spent so much time on trying to
figure out what we needed to deliver and what an experience to manage and share
knowledge would be but in the end, the most progress came from working closely
with IT partners and business stakeholders to define and agree upon business
requirements and business processes. Only through this joint collaboration were we
able to build an experience that would deliver the effective management of
knowledge.

(iv)

Knowledge management is highly political: Everyone in the company owns

knowledge and their perspective is the right one. If you dont manage expectations
correctly, you will be dealing with strong pushback every step of the way. My
recommendation is to build a strong coalition. It is especially important to include
those that are providing the strongest pushback, once those individuals are involved
and share the weight of the change; they will understand the importance of
collaboration and moving forward with solutions that meet all expectations. Pushback
is always a strong indicator that something needs to be heard, if you start listening,
youll find that everything will start to fall into place and your stakeholders will
respect the process that much more. A knowledge management council is the perfect
chance for this cross collaboration and it will inevitably guide the evolution of the
experience.
Sharing and using knowledge are often unnatural acts. The different needs for
knowledge vary by different roles in the company. By enabling technology that
allows for precisions, you add value to everyones daily productivity. In order to
accomplish this, you have to define a process where users can easily get engaged,
download the information they need, when they need it and also share their
perspective on the content and their experience
Knowledge management means improving knowledge work processes.
Knowledge worker processes are rarely addressed in process improvement initiatives.
We hear challenges as Unable to find information or people, Search is not
working and Navigation is very difficult. All these challenges are addressed by
implementing better technology and stronger taxonomy. The root cause of these
challenges can often be the poor segmentation of employees and their workload. Once
you segment the employees into their appropriate workloads, you will be able to
define a solution that will deliver knowledge in a way that can help them quickly
accomplish their task.

Controlling

Control refers to a specific technique that involves making measured and deliberate
comparisons of the actual resultant performance with what was expected to be the planned
performance. Control also refers to a systematic method of analyzing the variances that develop
as a process unfolds. Control can also refer to the technique of assessing the trends that may
develop during a specific activity or task or that begin to unfold during the broader time frame of
the entirety or a project, as well as a thorough evaluation of all possible alternatives and a
determination as to what corrective action should be taken to help turn a project back into a
direction that is more conducive to the attainment of whatever ultimate goals and results are
expected and/or anticipated. Control can also refer to a fixed point during the course of variant
activities, such as utilization of the same type of machines to develop different types of products

The project management term action of monitoring and controlling processes refers specifically
to those particular processes that are implemented by the project team and/or the project team
leader for the sole and explicit purposes of taking a careful and thorough measurement of and
to complete a through monitoring of the teams project execution to date. The purposes of the
project teams implementation of monitoring and controlling processes include a retrospective
view in hopes of potentially implementing corrective action in the event that any action of this

type is deemed necessary. This can be the case when any particular phase of the project has
taken a wrong turn or has possibly fallen behind schedule in regards to the execution elements.
The act of monitoring and controlling project processes is essential to maintaining an efficient
and effective workflow throughout the project. At the onset of the project, the project team
leader may assign one or more project team members to be responsible for this activity.

http://www.project-management-knowledge.com/definitions/c/control/
http://project-management-knowledge.com/definitions/m/monitor-andcontrol-project-work/
http://project-management-knowledge.com/definitions/p/projectmanagement-process-group/
http://chaitrav.com/2011/03/top-5-insights-leading-knowledge-managementtransformation/