The influence of organizational infrastructure on organizational effectiveness in the construction industry

Abstract

Purpose – In view of the widespread cross-referencing between knowledge management (KM) and organizational effectiveness, expectations would be that there is not much left to be explored since research strands have looked in this direction. However, an exception is the synchronous study of organizational infrastructure as a KM tool and organizational effectiveness, the subject of this study in the construction industry context. Design/Methodology/Approach – This study adopted the survey methodology with a structured questionnaire distributed to Construction/Project managers, Knowledge management specialists, Quantity Surveyors, Architects and Site Engineers, all of them from the Ghanaian construction industry. Dooley (2001), posited this approach as having the ability to enhance results generalization. Findings – The study revealed that the managerial construct as an item of organizational infrastructure, had the highest impact, with a mean value of 3.9947, on organizational effectiveness, keenly followed by technological and social aspects of organizational infrastructure with mean values of 3.9652 and 3.7604 respectively. Research limitations/Implications – The study would have benefitted from a case study, so as to collect useful long-term data to better appreciate how organizational effectiveness is influenced by changes in variables under their distinctive constructs. Practical Implications – Firms in industries such as manufacturing, finance and information technology, also stand to gain, as the findings are not prescriptive in nature and allow inferences to be made in relation to such firms taking into consideration their unique characteristics and the environments in which they operate. Originality/value - The identified managerial, technological and social aspect organizational infrastructure constructs will advance the effectiveness of the KM process as well as organization performance.