Knowledge managementl - Essay Example

Construction Industry has begun to realize that it makes sense to find sub-contractors for parts of their work and leverage on their work to roll out a finally bundled up product. Outsourcing of manufacturing can help companies concentrate of areas of competence whilst a the same time ensuring that the other related tasks are being attended to with necessary know how and skills. A lot of innovative skills are required in order to achieve successful networks of competence that deliver a high cost and long duration construction project.

The innovation is almost needed at each point a problem is encountered in a complex construction project. Knowledge and its appropriate management contributes to the cause of innovation on the simple logic that a better knowledge brings forth better solutions. This paper examines these both aspects in UK construction industry milieu at some length. . In order to serve as an illustration a large sized state construction effort in US can be cited as below: "In most cases, the Department of Finance and Administration's Bureau of Building serves as the construction program manager for state construction projects in Mississippi.

The Bureau of Building represents the interests of the entity and exercises independent oversight of the professional contractor and constructor team (i.e., general contractor and sub-contractors). The Bureau of Building, professional team, constructor team, and a building commissioning agent, when applicable, enter a contractual relationship for a project. The Bureau of Building exercises direct oversight of architects, engineers, building commissioning agents and other contract professionals, while it performs indirect supervision of the construction contractors through the primary professional contractor and the building commissioning agent.

Because the bureau does not have the in-house capability to perform some of the design and construction tasks that some private construction program managers can provide, it may employ engineers, contract analysts, architects, or construction project administrators to manage and monitor projects. The bureau has authority to compel adherence to contract specifications and schedules, applying sanctions to firms or individuals within the constructor team that do not fulfill their responsibilities"(Joint,2005).

The above is a typical example of a construction management situation in rather sedate and structured governmental situation whereas the US construction industry's private sector was far more dynamic and innovative. Construction management had a real early start in the US. In the system of procurement under