C. P. Pathirage

Tacit knowledge and organisational performance: Construction industry perspective

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of tacit knowledge in construction and to underline the significant contribution of tacit knowledge towards the organisational performance. Design/methodology/approach - Includes a review of literature on principal insights of dominant views on knowledge and organisational resources to highlight the strategic nature of tacit knowledge. Further, intrinsic characteristics of the construction industry are discussed to underline the people factor and the role of the tacit knowledge. Findings - Valuable human and knowledge resources will be wasted unless organisations make better use of these prime resources. Tacit knowledge in particular is still considered to be relatively unexplored and proper understanding and management of this resource are of immense importance for better organisational performance. In this context, this paper reveals the labour and knowledge intensive nature of the construction industry and highlights the importance and the significant role of people factor and tacit knowledge in construction. Originality/value - Owing to paucity of literature and inadequate empirical research done, this paper provides the basis for more empirical research on finding importance of tacit knowledge towards organisational performance in the construction industry.

Knowledge management practices in facilities organisations: A case study

Purpose – The papers purpose is to identify the key knowledge variables within a facilities management (FM) environment and to develop an understanding of how FM knowledge is generated and utilised within FM organisations.Design/methodology/approach – The paper includes a review of literature on, underlying trends in FM, knowledge management (KM) in general, and current status of KM in FM and outcomes of three expert interviews with two academics and a practitioner who had extensive knowledge and experience with FM organisations. A case study approach was followed in order to apply the intellectual capital framework to map the knowledge variables within the FM context.Findings – This paper highlights the main findings of the literature, expert interviews and the case study. The research recognised the intellectual capital framework as the means of identifying KM variables within the FM context. It reported the current practices of the case study organisation, strengths and weaknesses in relation to manag...

Critical success factors for community‐based post‐disaster housing reconstruction projects in the pre‐construction stage in Indonesia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical success factors (CSFs) of community‐based post‐disaster housing reconstruction projects (CPHRP) during the pre‐construction stage.Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review and interviews were undertaken to establish selected factors contributing to the success of community‐based post disaster housing reconstruction projects. Following this, a questionnaire survey was administered to key stakeholders in order to perceive their view on CSFs of CPHRP. Data were analysed by deploying statistical software.Findings – It was found that 12 factors are considered to be the CSFs: transparency and accountability, appropriate reconstruction policy/strategy, an understanding of the community‐based method, gathering trust from the community, facilitator capacity, good coordination and communication, sufficient funding availability, implementer capacity, having a significant level of community participation/control, government support,...

Managing disaster knowledge: identification of knowledge factors and challenges

Purpose – Knowledge management can play a vital role through ensuring the availability and accessibility of accurate and reliable disaster risk information when required and through effective lesson learning. Identification of key disaster knowledge factors will be an enabler to manage disasters successfully. The purpose of this paper is to present key knowledge factors relating to disaster management cycle, and explore a few challenges relating to identified disaster knowledge factors.Design/methodology/approach – A list of disaster knowledge factors was first identified through a comprehensive literature review and later semi‐structured interviews were conducted among few disaster management practitioners to explore the influence and challenges relating to identified knowledge factors.Findings – Technological, operational/managerial, economic, social, legal and environmental factors seem to have direct influence over the disaster management cycle, while the influence of institutional and political facto...

Vulnerability of the Emirati Energy Sector for Disaster: A Critical Review

Infrastructure in all its forms is a valuable asset and vulnerable to any natural or manmade hazard. The protection of infrastructure is thus one of the most important and difficult tasks for any government. The energy sector dominates in the UAE and consists of various assets - electricity, oil and natural gas that are geographically dispersed and connected by systems and networks. The protection of these systems and assets and within the energy sector especially, the safeguarding of oil and gas infrastructure from any and all internal and external threats should become top priority in the UAE. Threats to geopolitical and economic stability that need to be considered and prepared for include tectonic activity, climate change, nuclear energy, terrorism and war. This paper explores the disaster vulnerability of the Emirati energy sector with specific focus on Abu Dhabi and Dubai cities. It is based on secondary data, taken from various academic and professional sources, and primary data from a questionnaire survey administered on site at two electricity-generating plants in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Forty questionnaires were distributed and 35 were returned back- 20 Abu Dhabi and 15 Dubai. Oil and gas sectors were identified as the most vulnerable energy sources in both Abu-Dhabi and Dubai. Risk from terrorism was thought to be the greatest hazard with every single respondent choosing it. This was despite the fact that respondents believe it to be one of the threats that the energy sector is prepared for.

Using the skills and knowledge of built environment professionals to strengthen the capacity of vulnerable communities

The worlds exposure to hazards, whether of natural or man-made origins and impact on communities is ever rising as evident from recent disasters. Increasing frequency and intensity of disasters have also resulted in severe disruptions of built environment facilities. This reality will inevitably require the frequent reconstruction of communities, particularly buildings and infrastructure. As we have seen in the past, built environment facilities are becoming more vulnerable to disasters due to growing population and their inherent features such as location specificity, immobility, durability and stability. However, the protective characteristics of the built environment offer an important means by which humanity can reduce the risk posed by hazards, thereby preventing a disaster. How those buildings and infrastructure are designed and built, and where they are located, is critical to their ability to withstand different types of natural or man-made hazard. This, therefore, highlights the growing recognition the construction industry and built environment professions have to play in contributing to a communitys improved resilience to disasters. The importance of built environment professional expertise in disaster management seems obvious on the face of it. It is sometimes said, for example, that earthquakes don’t kill people, but buildings do. As it was evident, with increased vulnerability of built environment facilities to hazards the call upon built environment professionals to extend their role to disaster management has gained its momentum. Consequently the number of new disaster management related degree programmes, specifically at postgraduate level, introduced by built environment higher education institutions around the world has increased significantly. However, the active role that built environment professional institutions could play on regulating disaster management education and research is yet to achieve its potential.

Construction work and the worker : a comparative study of craft & mass scale technologies in building construction

During the twentieth century the construction industry, its products and technology have changed drastically. Studies carried out on the same or equivalent products of construction have showed clear differences in the nature of technology used in the production process. The construction industry is inherently labour intensive and many challenges arise through a need to maintain a skilled and competitive workforce. Two distinct forms of construction, the ancient craft-oriented form and modern mass scale form are commonly deployed within the construction industry. This comparative study, in respect of these two technologies, upon the nature of work and the worker, has revealed some differences in number of parameters such as skills, experience, supervision, rules and regulations, autonomy, deference and aggression. For these parameters there is a close relationship between the nature of work and the worker personality. Craft workers have more autonomy, which result in more skill, experience and responsibility in the work process. The dominating personality traits of deference and aggression in Mass Scale technology facilitate more management influence through supervision and rules and regulations.