INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TOOLS FOR CAPTURING AND COMMUNICATING LEARNING AND EXPERIENCES IN CONSTRUCTION SMEs IN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING

Abstract

The cross-boundary knowledge transactions between foreign companies and local companies in developing countries can be a useful source of knowledge for both foreign companies and local companies. With the increased investments in buildings and infrastructure by developing countries, the cross-boundary knowledge transactions between foreign companies and local companies in developing countries if captured, transferred and reused will bring significant benefit to organisations and potential benefits to the wider construction industry. This paper is based on an 18-month research project funded by the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which aimed at improving knowledge management in small medium enterprises (SMEs). The research project adopts a simple and yet robust approach in assisting SMEs to capture their learning experiences, explicate the significant knowledge embedded in the participants ’ experiences and transform it into knowledge accessible to a wider audience. The objective of this paper is to show how IT can be utilised by developing countries in their knowledge management. In this paper, the challenges faced by project participants in their knowledge management process is examined and it is concluded that to build knowledge assets, developing countries can adopt a similar approach as that in this research minus the technology involved