Capture and Reuse of Project Knowledge in Construction

Contents......Page 6
Author details......Page 10
Foreword......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 14
1.1 Background......Page 16
1.2 The need for live capture and reuse of project knowledge......Page 17
1.3 The objectives and contents of the book......Page 19
2.1 Defining knowledge......Page 22
2.2.1 Functionalist vs. interpretivist......Page 23
2.2.3 Interdisciplinary perspective......Page 25
2.2.4 Combined soft and hard approaches......Page 26
2.3 Benefits and barriers to KM......Page 28
2.4 KM processes......Page 29
2.4.1 Knowledge capture......Page 30
2.4.2 Knowledge sharing......Page 31
2.5 KM in construction......Page 32
2.5.1 Shortcomings of current practice......Page 33
2.5.2 KM research projects in construction......Page 35
2.6 The importance of 'live' capture and reuse of project knowledge......Page 38
3.1 Reusable project knowledge......Page 44
3.1.1 Types of reusable project knowledge......Page 46
3.1.2 Characteristics of reusable project knowledge......Page 47
3.2.2 Ad hoc learning situations......Page 50
3.3.1 Post project reviews......Page 54
3.3.2 Communities of Practice......Page 56
3.3.3 Training......Page 58
3.3.4 Recruitment......Page 59
3.3.5 Face-to-face interaction......Page 60
3.3.6 Mentoring......Page 61
3.3.7 Succession planning and management......Page 63
3.3.9 Knowledge bases......Page 65
3.3.10 Intranets......Page 66
3.3.11 Groupware......Page 67
3.3.12 Project extranets......Page 68
3.3.13 Case-based reasoning......Page 69
3.3.14 Text mining......Page 70
3.4.1 People issues......Page 71
3.4.2 Organisational issues......Page 73
3.4.3 Cultural issues......Page 74
3.5 Summary......Page 76
4.1 Introduction......Page 78
4.2 Collaborative learning......Page 79
4.3 CL in construction......Page 81
4.4 Previous research in CL......Page 83
4.5 Implementing CL in construction projects......Page 88
4.6 Summary/conclusions......Page 90
5.2 Findings from the case studies......Page 92
5.2.1 End-users' requirements for knowledge capture and reuse......Page 93
5.2.2 Analysis of the end-users' requirements for knowledge capture and reuse......Page 94
5.2.3 Current practice for the capture of reusable project knowledge......Page 98
5.2.4 Analysis of current practice for the capture of reusable project knowledge......Page 105
5.3 Structure of the 'live' capture and reuse of project knowledge methodology......Page 111
5.3.1 Integrated workflow system......Page 113
6.2 Development of the Web-based knowledge base......Page 118
6.2.1 Selection of development environment......Page 119
6.2.2 User interface and programme codes development......Page 121
6.2.3 Database design......Page 134
6.4 Operation of the prototype application......Page 135
6.4.2 Browsing the Summary Page......Page 136
6.4.3 Exploring the content of the system through the 'Index Page'......Page 139
6.4.4 Exploring and validating the details of a knowledge item......Page 140
6.4.5 Add and Edit project details......Page 144
6.4.6 Adding new knowledge category and type......Page 146
6.4.7 Create account for new user......Page 147
6.4.8 Add New Knowledge......Page 149
6.4.9 Conducting a search......Page 151
6.5 Testing and evaluation of Capri.net......Page 154
6.5.1 Prototype testing......Page 155
6.5.2 Prototype evaluation......Page 158
7.1 Summary......Page 164
7.2 Conclusions......Page 168
7.3 Limitations of the research......Page 169
7.4 Further work......Page 170
7.5 Concluding remarks......Page 172
Appendix A. Table Comparing the Various Knowledge Management Process Models......Page 174
Appendix B. Details of the Types of Reusable Project Knowledge Identified......Page 176
Appendix C. Additional Learning Situations Related to Change Management, Problem-Solving and Innovation......Page 182
Appendix D. Companies' Practice and Requirements on Knowledge Representation......Page 184
References......Page 186
C......Page 202
F......Page 203
K......Page 204
O......Page 206
R......Page 207
S......Page 208
V......Page 209
W......Page 210