Knowledge management as an antecedent of performance in construction firms

Abstract

PURPOSE OF STUDY : In an intensely competitive business environment, the ability to leverage the value of internal and external competencies has become critical to the success of organisations. This fact is especially pertinent in the case of knowledge management (KM), given the increasing mobility of employees. It is in recognition of this situation that this study sought to explore the role of KM as an antecedent of organisational performance in construction companies. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : This empirical study utilised a quantitative research approach and examined a cohort of construction companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa. Though the JSE-listed companies were the study’s units of analysis, employees were the units of observation. Consequently, self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from 191 employees (across different managerial levels) that were selected using a purposive sampling method, and the collected data was quantitatively analysed. RESULTS/FINDINGS : The study’s findings revealed the inability of respondents to clearly distinguish between existing constructs such as knowledge dissemination, knowledge acquisition and responsiveness to knowledge, as demarcated in prior research. This fact highlighted the importance of context to the relevance of studies and exposed the effect of geographical and demographic idiosyncrasies to knowledge management research. The three constructs were consolidated, thereafter, into a unitary knowledge management construct which demonstrated a strong correlation with organisational performance. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : From a practical perspective, organisations stand to benefit by investing in knowledge management given the empirical evidence that it lends itself to organisational performance.