The impact of human resource policies and practices on knowledge management in the construction industry

In recent times, there has been increased awareness that organisational knowledge might be the key to organisation success. In most construction organisations such knowledge is dispersed and fragmented, since much of it exists in diffuse social networks. To prevent failure, knowledge management (KM) has to be properly implemented in organisations. This invariably implies that construction organisations must address the needs of workers who supply this knowledge if they are to successfully exploit their skills. The extent to which organisations will be willing to co-operate in this process would depend to a great extent on the nature of human resource management (HRM) policies and practices. This paper, which is based on an empirical investigation of the role of HRM in KM, analyses the problems related to KM and the probable solutions through HRM. It argues that since knowledge is the unique human capability of making meaning from information, employees should be the focus of any KM initiatives. The consequences of poor HRM practices on KM initiatives are discussed and some observations are made about the importance of a 'no-blame' culture and trust to effective KM within construction organisations.