An insight into knowledge sharing practices in quantity surveying firms in Malaysia

Mohd Nor, F; Egbu, CO

Abstract

Knowledge is increasingly being recognized as a vital organisational resource that provides competitive advantage. Managing knowledge assets can be a challenge, especially in the construction industry, where short-term working contracts and temporary coalitions of individuals can inhibit knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing in organisations is the act of making knowledge available to others within the organisation. It is the process by which knowledge held by an individual is converted into a medium that can be understood, absorbed, and used by other individuals. Knowledge sharing is important as it provides a link between the individual and the organisation by ‘moving’ knowledge that resides within individuals to the organisational level, where it is converted into economic and competitive value for the organisation. This degree of importance attached to knowledge sharing is heightened in a knowledge economy, where knowledge is seen as a valuable resource for innovation and for gaining competitive advantage. However, increasing evidence points to a paucity of research that has investigated the nature of the different approaches to improving the effectiveness of knowledge sharing, the appropriate organisational factors at play for knowledge sharing to be fully exploited, and its benefits to Quantity Surveying (QS) Firms. Therefore, this paper purports to provide an insight into knowledge sharing in Quantity Surveying (QS) Firms in Malaysia. Through literature reviews the key issues associated with knowledge sharing in organisations were listed and opinions on these were sought from quantity surveying firms from Malaysia. The paper presents some key aspects of the findings and offers targeted conclusions and recommendations for the benefit of organisations, industry and academia.

Citation

Mohd Nor, F., & Egbu, C. (2010, September). An insight into knowledge sharing practices in quantity surveying firms in Malaysia. Presented at 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2010, Leeds, UK,, Leeds, UK,

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2010, Leeds, UK,
• Conference Location: Leeds, UK,
• Start Date: Sep 6, 2010
• End Date: Sep 8, 2010
• Publication Date: Sep 6, 2010
• Deposit Date: Sep 23, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Publisher URL: http://www.arcom.ac.uk/publications/procs/ar2010-0779-0788_Mohd_Nor_and_Egbu.pdf
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference