Influence of organisational culture on knowledge management in a BIM enabled environment

Abstract

Knowledge Management (KM) is increasingly recognized as a flourishing discipline within the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation (AECO) industry as the rapid change in the industry can only be handled through a coherent approach to KM. The enriched information and communication technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and responded soft issues as culture, people and work environment are the main approaches to KM. Hence, the research is directed at the cultural influence on the KM in a BIM based environment to embed the individual’s knowledge in projects to increasing organisational cohesion and performance. A comprehensive literature analysis was conducted on currently available scientific knowledge in reliable sources such as indexed scientific journals, conferences, edited books and the most congruent facts were constructed in a logical order to realise the influence of organisational culture on KM in a BIM enabled environment compared to a traditional construction environment. It was established that construction project activities are knowledge incentive and knowledge could be stored in databases commonly known as Knowledge Management Systems (KMS), once the subject experts validate it. The implementation of a suitable organisational culture, where knowledge sharing, shared learning and collaboration were entrenched, was acknowledged as essential to KM.