Responsiveness to knowledge and organisational performance of listed-companies in the construction sector

Abstract

In order to improve performance, the place of tangible and intangible resources deployed in operations has become critical. However, reliance on tangible resources as the bastion of better organisational performance seems to be waning; partly due to the ease with which these are copied. This implies that reliance on intangible resources, of which knowledge is a prime component, becomes inevitable. Rather than take on the titanic knowledge management construct holistically, the interest of this study is in the sub-construct of responsiveness to knowledge (RTK) largely because of its relevance in the construction sector in South Africa where client expectations, work methods and indeed, project employees are in a constant state of flux. Empirical in nature, the study uses a census of construction companies listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange (JSE) and focussed on the issue of responsiveness to knowledge and its association with the organisational performance (OP). Quantitative data collected from employees in a cross-sectional manner, were analysed. In terms of results, the study points to a positive association between RTK and OP in construction companies. Despite this finding, it would appear that companies undertake knowledge management on an ad-hoc and informal manner rather than by following a systematic process. Consequently, the study contends that attention, investment and institutionalisation of a mechanism for responding to knowledge as an integral part of the knowledge management bouquet, can enhance organisational performance.