Managing construction project change: a knowledge management perspective

In the information age, organization theories have addressed problem-solving as an information-processing activity. However, in this era, with the realization of knowledge-based views of the organization, shared problem-solving is increasingly recognized as a knowledge creation trigger. During shared problem-solving, stakeholders bring different types of knowledge into the problem situation and it is captured, created and shared by the team members. In construction projects, shared problem-solving often takes place through pragmatic problem-solving on site, in particular, through managing project changes. However, this significant role of knowledge in managing project change is not well appreciated in the extant literature. Accordingly, to explore how knowledge is created during project changes in construction a case study approach was adopted using two change events in two collaborative settings within the UK construction industry. The case study findings revealed that different forms of knowledge are created during the project change process within construction projects. However, this knowledge remains largely tacit and does not disseminate to the wider organization due to imbalanced codification and personalization strategies existing in such settings. A knowledge management perspective is introduced to manage project change so that construction project teams can successfully resolve and learn from change events.