Role of KM in Project Integration and Scope Management - Example

Table of Contents pg 1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………....2 2.0 Project integration and scope management phase………………………………….3 3.0 Role of KM in project integration and scope management…………………………4 3.1 Knowledge sharing………………………………………………………...4 3.2 Interdependence between tacit and explicit knowledge…………………...5 4.0 Project Implementation phase……………………………………………………....6 5.0 Role of KM in project implementation……………………………………………..7 5.1 Information technology…………………………………………………...7-8 5.2 Web technology…………………………………………………………...9 6.0 Project Closure Phase……………………………………………………………....9 7.0 Role of KM in project closure……………………………………………………..10 8.0 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………10 9.0 References…………………………………………………………………………11 1.0 INTRODUCTION Knowledge is a dynamic field in the history of the world. Knowledge management is a relatively new branch of knowledge whose objective is to achieve a breakthrough in the performance of business through the synergy of processes, technology and people (Siemieniuch and Sinclair, 2000). Knowledge management focuses change management, complexity and uncertainty of business processes. Knowledge management serves as the stock and store of knowledge as well as the pathway of knowledge flow (Siemieniuch and Sinclair, 2000). Among the activities involved in knowledge management include the sharing, creation and application of knowledge in order to sustain the cut-throat competition that prevail in the business world. Wickramasinghe (2003) defined knowledge management as the methods used by the firm to obtain, store and apply the intellectual capital prevalent in the organization (Wickramasinghe, 2003, p.286). According to Ofek and Sarvary (2001) knowledge management refers to the wide range of practices and strategies used in the firm to represent, distribute, create, identify and enable adoption of experience and insights. Experiences and practices consist of knowledge, which is, ether held by individuals or stored in the organization in form of practices or processes (Pollard, 2005). Knowledge management may also focus not only methods that enhance competitive advantage but also methods that enhance performance improvement in the organization. In his perspective, KM may overlap with organizational learning (Pollard, 2005).However, the difference between the two is that KM focuses on sharing of knowledge in the organizational setting. Having been awarded the contract for the delivery of a framework that involve 12 schools in an eight year period, it is imperative for proper and effective knowledge management to be taken into consideration and implemented in order to ensure that all the phases of project execution are successful. 2.0 PROJECT INTEGRATION AND SCOPE MANAGEMENT According to Ferguson (2005) project integration and scope management is the beginning phase of any project. It comprises of processes required to make sure that different project elements are closely coordinated to enhance the success of the project. Ferguson (2005) held that the core activities involved in project integration include plan development, plan execution and change control. In this phase, various trade-offs among competing objectives are made in order to exceed or meet the expectations and needs of the stakeholders. In the current scenario, therefore, project integration involves activities such as development of the plan on how to successfully achieve the target spelt out in the contract that is, building 12 schools within an eight year period. Switzer (2008) defined project scope management as the processes required to ensure that the completion of the project is successful. This involves undertaking only the activities that brings the project to completion. Among the activities involved in project scope management include definition of project scope and change control. Definition of the project scope is clearly undertaken when the description of the project, constrains and assumptions as well as project charter are available (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001). Change control is an important element in scope management because it helps in managing and controlling changes in the project scope. It is evident from the above section that project integration and scope management is an important phase in the process of project execution. Failure to meet the requirements spelt out in this phase leads to ambiguity in all other phases of project implementation (Ferguson, 2005). In order to achieve success in project integration and scope management phase, knowledge management (KM) must be incorporated in the first beginning phase of the project. 3.0 ROLE OF KM IN PROJECT INTEGRATION AND SCOPE MANAGEMENT PHASE In Caledonian contractors, knowledge management involves the identification and leverage of collective knowledge available in the organization. In this regard, knowledge management will play an important role in project integration and scope management because it will help in the development of a knowledge rich culture that aggravates and encourages positive behaviors such as sharing of knowledge. 3.1 Knowledge sharing Sharing of knowledge will be instrumental in the first phase of the project because all the people involved in the project must contribute towards building a framework upon which different phases of the project should be completed. Knowledge management will therefore help in ensuring that tacit knowledge is converted into explicit knowledge (Pollard, 2005).This means that knowledge held by individuals inform of viewpoints and mental maps are translated into explicit knowledge. Additionally, through the knowledge sharing platform of knowledge management, the technical components such as crafts, skills and know-how held by individuals in the firm will be communicated into understandable form (Pollard, 2005). In other words, knowledge management will enable the firm to leverage the key knowledge and skill resources held by the individuals in the firm. Hence, in the project integration and scope management phase, knowledge management is paramount in delivering the key resources (skills, knowledge, and craft) and other mental capabilities required to successfully execute the project at hand (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001). Newell et al., (2006) noted that organizational capabilities and resources are the principal source of effectiveness and success in project execution. In this regard, identification and sharing of available knowledge available in the organization must be implemented in the beginning of the project phase in order to ensure that every stakeholder has the specific and clear details about the project (Newell et al., 2006). Knowledge management to enhance knowledge sharing can be implemented through roundtable discussions during project integration and scope management phase. This involves bringing every expert in the firm to discuss to give their input according to their expertise. 3.2 Interdependence of explicit and tacit knowledge According to Malhotra (2001), interdependence of explicit and tacit knowledge is an important factor of knowledge management that must be taken into consideration during the start phase of the project. This is because knowledge resides in the user and not in the collection of information and the way the user reacts to the collection of information matters a lot (Malhotra, 2001). Pollard (2005) observed that getting people in the firm to share knowledge is the most challenging duty that faces executives and managers in the initial phase of any project (Pollard, 2005). To implement knowledge management in the project integration and scope management phase, knowledge management systems must be deployed. A number of KM systems that can be deployed include network maps of the firm that show communication flow between individuals and departs involved in the project. Network maps would be helpful in creating a workflow to minimize work redundancy (Smith, 2001). Social computing instruments or tools such can also be deployed to enhance knowledge sharing and communication flow between individuals involved in the project (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001). Hence, the need to develop and foster knowledge networks among the departments and individuals in the firm is an aspect of knowledge management that must be taken into consideration in the firm (Smith, 2001). The key purpose of knowledge sharing and enhancing interdependence between explicit and tacit knowledge is to create a rich knowledge base that can be used for the next phase, that is, project implementation. 4.0 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PHASE Having applied knowledge management to develop and create a rich knowledge base, the next phase is to put the accumulated knowledge into practical use in the project implementation phase. The project must take shape during the phase of implementation. This phase will involve constructing the 2 schools as spelt out in the contract agreement (Smith, 2001). Hence, graphical materials will be developed by designers, encoding will be undertaken by programmers, and building of the 2 schools will be undertaken by the contractors. In other words the project becomes real. The need to maintain the momentum is important because project implementation phase is the “doing phase” (Smith, 2001). 5.0 ROLE OF KM IN PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION Knowledge management plays an important role during the project implementation phase. Construction teams are affected significantly by the flow of knowledge and hence factors that influence knowledge must be taken into consideration. The role of KM during the project implementation stage include; to identify factors of knowledge that influence construction work, enhance construction team creativity, and propose mechanisms that can help in improving the creativity of construction teams (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001). In this regard, knowledge management can be implemented through the use of information technology instruments and tools. 5.1 Information technology IT contributes uniquely to the process of knowledge creation and spreading. Hence, rich applications of technology such as application of 3D simulations must be introduced in the project implementation state in order to successfully implement knowledge management (Newell et al., 2006). During the process of constructing or building schools, people involved in the construction process such as the construction engineers will need critical information such as design of buildings, measurements required, type of materials to be used. Hence, in order to encourage knowledge flow as one major component of knowledge management, information technology systems will be required by engineers to retrieve the required information and data (Newell et al., 2006). The engineers will also require IT to incorporate their experiences to the retrieved data, and create new concepts through additional of new opportunities of sharing techniques and knowledge with each other (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001). Hence, IT networks must be incorporated into the project implementation phase in order to successfully implement knowledge management processes. It is imperative to note that the aspiration and vision held by construction managers to apply creative techniques and practices during construction contributes to the success of knowledge management. Having the required and appropriate incentives, project engineers can be brought together to initiate methods of solving problems as they arise in the construction process. One of the importances of knowledge management is to increase the visibility of knowledge to the construction workers. In this regard, information technology competency helps to covert conceptual packages and ideas into implementable and obvious activities (Ofek and Sarvar, 2001). IT helps in capturing real time knowledge and availing it to the engineers in the construction site (Newell et al., 2006). This means that during project implementation phase, deployment of IT speeds up the process of making decisions, which, in real sense reduced the life cycle of the project and improvement of the team’s performance. Construction projects are dynamic and unique. Every step of construction provides the firm with an opportunity for knowledge capturing. The purpose of capturing knowledge is to re-use it in future construction projects (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001) For example, after constructing the first 2 schools, Caledonian Contractors will need the same knowledge to construct the next 4 schools and later the 6 schools as spelt out in the contract agreement. If the knowledge applied in the construction of the first 2 schools can be captured, construction engineers will re-use it in future. This will reduce time required to “re-invent the wheel” and help in improving the general efficiency during the construction process (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001). However, as stated in the contract, each phase of construction will have a break of 24 months. Due to this fragmentation of time it is difficult to share and capture every required knowledge via round-table platforms or meetings. Hence, valuable data will end up being lost. The storage of tacit and explicit knowledge is therefore important due to the fragmentation of time through which the project phases should be undertaken (Newell et al., 2006). Thus, knowledge management during the project implementation phase will be successfully implemented through the use Web 2.0 technology. 5.2 Web 2.0 technology Web 2.0 technology will make it possible to capture relevant knowledge (both explicit and tacit knowledge) which can be used in subsequent phases of construction (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2007) The key benefit of web 2.0 technology is to reduce the amount of knowledge loss due to the loss of key personnel involved in the construction process (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001). Other ways through which knowledge can be lost include separation and deployment of teams to other construction sites during the 24 months grace period (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2007). Hence, the probability of losing the project knowledge during the 24 months waiting period is high. In order to minimize the loss of project knowledge, Web 2.0 technology will be necessary to capture and store and later help in the retrieval of project knowledge (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2007). 6.0 POJECT CLOSURE PHASE As seen above, knowledge management is important during project integration and scope management as well as project implementation phases of project execution (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2007). Similarly, knowledge management is important during the project closure phase. Just like in the above phases, to implement knowledge management during the project closure phase, it is important to understand the type of knowledge work taking place. The major activities involved during the project closure phase include; generation of final reports to the stakeholders, client and other interested parties; performing the risk assessment and organizing for a workshop to explore the lessons learned during project implementation phase; and, prepare for the presentation of results to the client (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2007). Other activities include generating feedbacks from the construction team. Knowledge obtained in form of information and data during project closure phase is important because it forms the basis for improvement in the subsequent construction contracts. In this regard, knowledge management is vital during the project closure phase 7.0 ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN PROJECT CLOSURE PHASE One of the significant roles of knowledge management in the construction industry during the project closure phase is to harness knowledge resources, develop systems for knowledge selection for future projects, provide opportunities for knowledge storage for re-use in future projects, provide opportunities for different stakeholders to generate their feedbacks regarding the manner in which the completed project has been undertaken, provide the opportunity for the client to generate his/her feedback regarding the quality of work that has been done according to the contract entered into (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2007). In order to successfully incorporate all stakeholders in the project closure phase, knowledge management can be implemented using the most common knowledge sharing platforms such as the use of internet and face to face discussions. Face to face and round table discussions is more appropriate between the client and the contractor. However, in order to keep record of information discussed as a source of knowledge in subsequent projects, the use of technologies such as share point, Lotus notes, distributed databases can be deployed during the project closure phase (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2007). These technologies help in the management, sharing, and creation of formatted documents. Additionally, the use of the internet can be used to manage knowledge derived from the feedbacks provided by the firm’s employees regarding their opinions about the project. Additionally, the use of systems that can encapsulate expertise and knowledge in symbolic or coded form are vital for implementation of knowledge management during the project closure phase. The reason for this is that such systems help in maintenance and setting up of knowledge base which can be used in future projects (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2007). They are also important for storing tacit knowledge which can be lost in case one of the team members leaves the company. Hence, artificial intelligence systems will be important during the project closure phase for implementation of knowledge management as the management seek to know the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats the faced prior construction projects. 8.0 CONCLUSION It is evident that the most important purpose of knowledge management is to provide opportunities for construction companies to better manage their knowledge resources. This is due to the complex nature of the industry. Knowledge management should be directed towards performance improvement and client satisfaction. As Caledonian contractors initiate the schools construction project, it is important to take into consideration the important of knowledge management integration in all the phases of project construction. References Ferguson, J. (2005). "Bridging the gap between research and practice". 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