A framework of knowledge processes for professional quantity surveying firms in Hong Kong

Abstract

Knowledge is increasingly recognised as a competitive advantage of organisations. In view of the essence of knowledge, this research seeks to explore the knowledge processes which are being undertaken in professional quantity surveying firms in Hong Kong. As quantity surveying firms are characterised by their professional identity and knowledge-driven nature, knowledge is highly crucial to their successes in the competitive and dynamics business environment. Owing to the phenomena that knowledge management is still in its infancy in the construction industry and structured knowledge management processes have probably not yet been well deployed in the surveying discipline, this research focuses on implicit knowledge management processes. A framework of knowledge processes was developed from a detailed literature review with an attempt to enhance the knowledge flow in Hong Kong professional quantity surveying firms. The applicability and validity of the framework were verified by qualitative and quantitative research methods. Three individual interviews were conducted with selected experienced practitioners in firms of different sizes with a view to reveal the prevailing implicit knowledge management processes in the surveying discipline from their perspectives. Findings of the individual interviews indicated the presence of such processes and similar practices in different firms. On the basis of these interview findings, a questionnaire survey was then conducted to study the opinion of professional quantity surveyors on the details of these processes and the questionnaire was returned with a response rate of 42.6% (111 out of 260). By these means, qualitative and quantitative approaches both reported consistent findings. Taking advantage of the findings collected in the individual interviews and the questionnaire survey, this research identifies and derives six knowledge management processes in the quantity surveying firms, namely acquisition, creation, store, distribution, use and maintaining. These processes interact with one another to form a powerful tool for sustaining the competitiveness of the firms. Moreover, this research also reveals that the awareness of managing knowledge in Hong Kong professional quantity surveying firms still remains low. In addition, results of statistical analyses suggest that firm size and experience of professional practice have some bearing on quantity surveyors' perception of how knowledge is managed in their workplace.