A Consultancy Project for A U.K Organisation: David Ashley Construction Ltd - Literature review Example

A Report on a Consultancy Project for A U.K Organisation: David Ashley Construction Ltd. Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 How we found the client 3 Proposal agreed with the client 4 Terms of reference and Objective of the consultancy 5 Background to the organisation 5 Literature review 6 Research approach adopted 7 Findings 7 Conclusion / Summary of findings 12 Range of alternatives or options for the client 13 Recommendations 13 Implementation strategy 14 References and Bibliography 15 Appendix 17 Executive Summary There is an increase in the attention level paid to knowledge management in big mutli-national enterprises, with lesser importance given to small and medium enterprises and even less importance being paid to the construction industry that are part of the SMEs. The MNE are technologically more superior to the SMEs, they have the finance to invest in research and development. However the story is very different in case of SMEs which rely on less technological innovations and more formal way of managing their knowledge. They have a limited resource of manpower and the staffs are required to have a wide range of skills and knowledge to perform multiple tasks. Our client David Ashley Construction Ltd. is one such SME that faces the problem of knowledge management. The methods of knowledge management in MNEs are not suited for the SMEs, so a different approach has to be taken for SMEs in construction industry. Sharing and tapping the pool of knowledge is the simple and efficient way of encouraging the employees to optimise the use of knowledge management in the company. Methods like audio diary and debriefing can help the company to effectively share knowledge among its employee. How we found the client The company in consideration, David Ashley Construction Limited has its mission as providing quality service to its clients at reasonable cost. One underlying corollary of the mission is also to ensure that workers are safeguarded while carrying out construction works. The present economic recession has hit prices across all industries. Being an SME with not so large cash reserve, the company desperately needed to be in the business. In addition to this, it had to arrange for better techniques that would be at par with contemporary safety measures. At the core of the solution to all these problems was the long term plan of the company to sustain its business and grow to a bigger stature. Since construction is a core manufacturing industry and required specific domain knowledge, it was evident that the company would have to 'import' knowledge. It could be either through appointment of an engineer would has wide experience to his name or else, making a collaboration with foreign based construction company that would share its technical know how with the company. The management also felt that they needed to do 'something' in order to upgrade themselves as a green company. Effective knowledge was a prerequisite to design and achieve environmental benchmarks that would be a bold step in making the company socially responsible. We were appointed as consultants Proposal agreed with the client The consultancy firm would be doing an overall basic analysis of knowledge management in context of construction industry and companies and present a broad understanding of the subject to the client, that is David Ashley Constructions Ltd., which would form the basis for the initiation process for knowledge management in the company and also for further reports and analysis in future. Terms of reference and Objective of the consultancy Terms of reference are the 'proposal agreed with the client'. The consultancy's objective is to ensure that it present a broad understanding of knowledge management in construction industry to the client, so that the latter could initiate the process of implementation of knowledge management in the company. Background to the organisation David Ashley Construction Ltd was established in the December of 1990. Since then it has continued to grow and establish itself within the construction industry as a responsible and well established organisation by continuously serving and satisfying the respected clients. The company is headquartered in Alfreton in Midlands, and operates locally as well as nationally. It specialises mostly in Reinforced Concrete Structure however it has also in the recent times taken up groundwork and drainage work in order to offer their clients a complete package by eliminating the middle contractors. The company has successfully carried out a various number of projects in Reinforced Concrete Structures which includes contracts of Reinforced concrete frames of multi storey buildings, Highways and bridges, Water treatment in plants, Power Stations, Football Stadiums and Gas Storage facilities. The company has a strong workforce of highly skilled labourers in Shuttering Joiners, Steel Fixers, Concreters, and Scaffolders. All the employees are CSCS cardholders. The company also has a dedicated support staff offering professional services the clients from its head quarters (Company profile, n.d.) Literature review The knowledge management is a complex issue that includes managing explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be recorded in terms of sentences using manuals, expression and directions that can be shared by other individuals. On the other hand tacit knowledge is hard to capture with the help of language, it refers to individual's experience and their perception and understanding of an event. It has been proved that tacit knowledge is the key to an organisation's innovativeness. The problem facing the SMEs is that how to have an efficient yet cost effective method of knowledge management. Due to their financial constraints they are limited to investing huge amounts in technology as a result the Kolbe's learning cycle can be an effective solution for a construction company like David Ashley Construction Ltd. A method that can capture, structure and share knowledge in a comprehensive yet simple manner is an effective tool for the knowledge management. According to Kolbe's learning cycle, capturing knowledge based on an experience has two processes. The first process involves recording an event followed by personal opinion of the situation. The processes are termed as audio diary and debriefing respectively. Contemporary research in this field of knowledge management has proved that the SMEs and in particular the construction industry has been a pivotal force in building up of the economy of a country. Lee and Egbu in their research paper titled Information Technology Tools for Capturing and Communicating Learning and Experiences in Construction SMEs in developed and Developing Countries holds the view that developing industries must capture foreign knowledge along with their indigenous knowledge base to develop themselves. According to them, Knowledge is defined as "entirety of cognitions and abilities, which are used by individuals to solve problems" (Lee C.C., Egbu C.O., March 2007). Research approach adopted Research methods which have been adopted are primarily focussed on secondary sources like, research papers, articles, books and periodicals on this subject and the construction industry in this context. Findings It is important to have a well structured plan for inculcating knowledge management in the organisation. In context of a construction SME, three issues have to be kept in mind before the initiation of the knowledge management process. These are: projects, which the company deals in, personnel or people and finally the processes which are needed to deliver the ultimate project. Figure.1 Three Pillars of a Construction Company in Context of Knowledge Management Source: (Anumba C J., et al., 2005) Product shaping factors are those which deal with the kind of product which is to be developed and delivered. This might be standardized or might be according to client specifications. Client specification is a very important part of construction industry as it generally deals with varied need and wants of equally varied and different clients; from small to big and medium. The prevailing market dynamics would also be guiding the choice of project the client wants. The amalgamation and interplay between market realities and clients and resources. Process shaping factors are those technological and managerial capabilities which are required for the project delivery. These consist of drawing the initial plan, plotting the step-by-step plan, infusing the required machines, tools, people, procedures into it. As there are so many variables to be taken care of and as an improper functioning of any one of these would jeopardize the whole system. These processes could be fixed at times while at other times they would have to be flexible enough to be considered befitting to a changed scenario. The third factor or the people shaping factor deals with management skills, abilities of solving problems and other allied points. Any project to be delivered properly has to have a seamless integration of different skill sets of different professionals. While the highly technical personnel would deal with technical nuances, the interpersonal management problems need to be solved by the managerial team. It is also extremely important to understand the process of creation of knowledge in the construction industry. It has been seen that knowledge is created through interaction between three groups; the construction company, teams working on the project and individuals. These interactions might be of two types, tacit or explicit. But through these kinds of interactions, the knowledge pertaining to the construction sector is created. There are also different factors which are involved in the management of knowledge. These are the knowledge base, the contextual base for use of knowledge, the procedure, tools and also the different processes involved and finally performance appraisal system. There is an interplay between these factors which ultimately lead to the Figure.2 Knowledge Management Framework Source :( CarillioP.M., et al., n.d.) Knowledge base forms the crux of this system and it deals with the context in which the knowledge is to be used, for what purpose it is to be sued and also the kind of knowledge (data and information) is required. Then it leads to the specific purpose and context of using this knowledge. This also deals with inculcating the knowledge into the company's functioning and processes. The next step is to deal with the specific procedures and steps which are a part of the processes. Finally all these lead to the performance evaluation or appraisal. Especially in context of the construction industry in the UK it can be said that various factors have made it look inside its processes and procedures as well as the overall functioning and to look for ways of improving them. Reports have pointed out various shortcomings in this industry which has led to the influx of management practices along with knowledge management tools and procedures into the industry. But this concept of knowledge management being new to this industry there are still some quarters from where occasional aspersions are cast at its effectiveness. But bigger companies value knowledge management as they are competent and matured enough to understand the quantum of positive change it could bring to their organisation. Implanting knowledge management in to any organisation's prevalent procedures and processes need a strategic approach. This strategic approach should have a step by step plan. The first step would be to specifically decide why there is a need for inculcating knowledge management in the organisation in the first place. Then it leads to mapping the existing processes and procedures. Then it is the time to interact with various departments and levels of the organisation to find out exactly what they expect from the new knowledge management system in terms of serving their particular processes. This would lead to plotting the knowledge management architecture and the ecosystem which is required to solve the existing problems or accentuating the present level of performance. Then the next step is to arrange for resources, financial and other for the plan to be implemented properly. An evaluation system would have to be structured next, which would keep track of the happenings and provisions for corrective actions should also be there (Anumba C J., et al., 2005; CarillioP.M., et al., n.d.) Figure 3. Steps of Inculcating Knowledge Management Conclusion / Summary of findings A holistic approach has to be applied while initiating knowledge management practices in an organisation. The different pillars like people, process and product have to be looked into and the knowledge management practices have to be in complete coherence with all of these and there should be an seamless integration. It is also important to have checks and balances which would work simultaneously to keep track of the processes and whenever required corrective action has to be taken. Range of alternatives or options for the client Knowledge management being a relatively new concept and being based on IT there are not many alternatives for the company, if it wants to reap the benefits of technology in this context. But if it is comfortable with old methods and pace, then it might stick to them, though that would mean the company falling behind its competitors who are also looking at knowledge management with an enthusiastic approach. Recommendations For a SME like David Ashley Construction Ltd, to move to the next rung in terms of growth it would have to do certain things on a priority basis: Integrate the different processes and practices under one knowledge management base. It would also have to take care of the different segments like, people, process and product in an integrated manner while giving specific importance to their specific problem areas. It would have to have a broad knowledge base of its market and the position of its competitors in it. For the knowledge management part to be successful and its smooth implementation it would have to take the departments and employees on board as there might be cases where certain employees try and form obstacle in the path of its integration and implementation. Costs It could go for local (UK) experts or if it wants to save cost, it could go for outsourcing it to companies in India, where software and other allied knowledge management services expertise are available at a lower cost. Benefits Knowledge management would ensure an integrated approach in the company's operations which would further help it achieving its functional and strategic objectives in a more coordinated manner along with viable check-points for rigorous evaluation at every step. Timescale Timescale would depend on the phases of implementation which again includes; planning, plotting the real world problems into those plans, procedural strategies and methods to be implemented for giving shape to those plans, training session for employees, implementations, evaluation and finally corrective measures. Implementation strategy Implementation strategy would be holistic; beginning with gauging the present situation in terms of process and procedures and people and projects in hand. Then these would be plotted into the knowledge management framework. Required fine tunings would be done and training would be provided. Evaluation would go on simultaneously with necessary corrective actions being taken. References and Bibliography Anumba C.J., Egbu C.O. & Carrillo P.M., 2005. Knowledge Management in Construction, Willy Blackwell. Bellinger G., 2004. Knowledge Management-Emerging Perspectives, [Online], Available: http://www.systems-thinking.org/kmgmt/kmgmt.htm [July 21, 2009] Carrillo P.M., Anumba C.J. & Kamara J.M., No Date. Knowledge Management Strategy for Construction: Key I. T. and Contextual Issue. [Online], Available: http://itc.scix.net/data/works/att/w78-2000-155.content.pdf [July 21, 2009] Company Profile, No Date. [Online], Available: http://www.davidashleyconstruction.co.uk/profile.php [July 21, 2009] Fryer M., Egbu C., Ellis R. & Gorse C.A., 2004, The Practice of Construction Management, Willy Blackwell Introduction to Knowledge Management. No Date. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. [Online], Available: http://www.unc.edu/'sunnyliu/inls258/Introduction_to_Knowledge_Management.html [July 21, 2009] Lee C.C., March 2007. Information Technology Tools For Capturing and Communicating Learning And Experiences In Construction SMEs In Developed And Developing Countries, [Online], Available: http://www.itcon.org/data/works/att/2007_11.content.00267.pdf [July 21, 2009] Walker D.H.T. & Hampson K., 2003, Procurement Starategies,Willy Balckwell Appendix 1) Figure.1 Three Pillars of a Construction Company in Context of Knowledge Management...................................................................................................................Pg.7 2) Figure.2 Knowledge Management Framework.........................................................Pg.9 3) Figure 3. Steps of Inculcating Knowledge Management..........................................Pg.11 Read More