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Innovation is viewed as a major source of competitive advantage and is perceived to be a pre‐requisite for organizational success and survival. The ability to innovate depends largely on the way in which an organisation uses and exploits the resources available to it. The paper explores the importance of knowledge management (KM) and intellectual capital (IC) in organisations. It also considers the critical factors that lead to successful innovations and the role of KM and IC in this regard. The paper argues that effective management of knowledge assets involves a holistic approach to a host of factors. It is also suggested that there are a host of factors that combine in different ways to produce successful organizational innovations. It recommends that more is needed on the education and training of construction personnel and that these education and training programmes should reflect the nature of innovation and KM dimensions as very complex social processes.

This paper aims to disseminate the knowledge integration process modelling throughout the phases of the early contractor involvement (ECI) procurement methodology, to optimise the benefit of ECI procurement method. The development of the model was aimed at taking advantage from the associated benefits of integrating knowledge and of ECI procurement. ECI provides contractors with an alternative means to tendering, designing and constructing projects. Thus, this paper explores knowledge interconnectivity and its integration involving numerous disciplines with various stakeholders to benefit from the collaborative environment of ECI.

The methodology implemented in the research includes a thorough literature review to establish the characteristics of the ECI tender stage as well as the characteristics of knowledge to be integrated in an ECI setting. Following this, an embedded case study research methodology was used involving three healthcare ECI projects undertaken by a Western Australian commercial contractor through 20 semi-structured interviews and project archival study, followed by the development of knowledge integration process models throughout the ECI process of the studied cases.

The research findings provide the basis to develop a knowledge integration process model throughout the ECI stages. The tender stage was found to be the most crucial stage for knowledge integration, particularly from the main contractor’s perspective to impart change and to influence the project outcome. The outcome of this research identifies the richness and interconnectivity of knowledge throughout the knowledge integration process in an ECI project starting from the intra-organisational knowledge integration process followed by the inter-organisational process of knowledge integration. This inside-out perspective of knowledge integration also revealed the need for mapping the implementation of knowledge integration from instrumental to incremental approach throughout the ECI stages in optimising the intended benefits of integrating knowledge.

This paper reports the development of a knowledge integration process model with the view to optimise the management effectiveness of integrating knowledge in ECI projects. Although knowledge integration and ECI can be considered existing and widely accepted concepts, the novelty of this research lies in the specific use of the knowledge integration process to analyse the knowledge flow, transformation and, hence, management in ECI projects. As it has been acknowledged that knowledge integration is beneficial but also a complex process, the methodology implemented here in modelling the process can be used as the basis to model knowledge integration in other ECI projects to further capitalise from ECI as a collaborative procurement method.

This paper identifies the theoretical stimulants and impediments associated with the implementation of PFI/PPP (Private Finance Initiative/Public Private Partnership)projects. A current defect of this procurement approach is the unintentional constraint upon the innovations incorporated into the development of PFI projects. A critical evaluation of the published literature has been utilized to synthesize a theoretical model. The paper proposes a theoretical model for the identification of potential innovation stimulants and impediments within this type of procurement. This theoretical model is then utilised to evaluate four previously completed PFI projects. These project case‐studies have been examined in detail. The evaluation demonstrates how ineffective current procedures are. The application of this model before project letting could eliminate unintentional constraints and stimulate improved innovation within the process.The implementation of the model could improve the successful delivery of innovation within the entire PFI/PPP procurement process.

Refurbishment is inherently more sustainable than building new. However, planned and actual costs of refurbishment projects are bound to vary due to the complex nature of most such projects. This can affect the performance of refurbishment work. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors responsible for elemental cost variations between the actual and planned costs of refurbishment projects. The study also examines factors that contribute to differences in actual and planned cost between refurbishment and new build projects.

A quantitative approach was adopted for this study. A literature review identified factors responsible for elemental cost variations in refurbishment projects, as well as factors responsible for differences in actual and planned cost of new build and refurbishment projects. This was followed by a questionnaire survey of refurbishment projects across Malaysia. A total of 55 respondents provided input through a questionnaire survey to identify these factors.

This study demonstrates that procurement strategy (PS), inappropriate contractors (IC), poor project management (PPM), availability of funding, materials and equipment, and force majeure (FM) significantly affect refurbishment cost performance. Electrical installations, firefighting equipment, and painting were the building elements most affected by cost variations. A regression model for refurbishment cost prediction indicates that PS, IC, PPM, availability of funding, materials and equipment, and FM were significant predictors of building refurbishment cost performance.

This paper provides insight into the major factors affecting elemental cost variation of refurbishment works, as well as building elements most affected by cost variations and provides a model for predicting refurbishment cost performance.

This study aims to explore the relationships between knowledge management (KM) enablers, employee innovativeness (EI) and market development performance (MDP) in architecture, engineering and construction (A/E/C) firms.

A questionnaire survey is conducted to collect empirical data from A/E/C practitioners in Vietnam. First, factor analysis is used to identify KM enablers in A/E/C firms. Then, a framework which shows the links between KM enablers, EI and MDP is proposed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to examine the proposed relationships.

This study identifies five constructs which can enable A/E/C firms to achieve effective KM implementation, including mutual trust and collaboration, organizational values and norms, information and communication systems, organizational policies and empowerment. Furthermore, the SEM results show that except for organizational policies, four remaining KM enablers significantly affect EI. It is also found that EI has a significant impact on MDP.

The findings could help A/E/C firms to know which KM enablers are critical to EI and provide a better understanding of the link between EI and MDP. Hence, they could make appropriate investments in KM practices to improve both EI and MDP.

The results of this study fill the gap in knowledge by empirically structuring the relationships between KM enablers, EI and MDP. Such results may provide A/E/C firms with useful information to enhance EI and MDP in today’s intensively competitive construction environments.

This paper aims to address the lack of previous studies and to propose a reliable and valid knowledge management performance measurement (KMPM) model for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

A survey instrument containing 13 constructs and 49 items was initially developed and posted to small and medium-sized consultancy firms in Malaysia. Reliability and validity analysis was performed to ensure the quality of the instrument.

The developed survey instrument was shown to be reliable, valid and suitable to be applied in SMEs to evaluate their knowledge management (KM) performance.

The present study is limited to SMEs in the service sector. The results are not suitable to be generalized to the manufacturing sector or larger organizations without further research.

This study would provide SMEs with a better understanding on KMPM and also a guideline to refer to when measuring their KM performance. Academics can use this study as a basic model to explore KMPM in SMEs and develop new measurement models.

This study is believed to be the first that has scientifically developed and empirically tested the constructs that represent a comprehensive KMPM model tailored for SMEs.

This article examines the effect of the customer focus (CF) group of competencies, which includes communication and negotiation skills, on project performance as measured by reaching the internal and the overall budget, the quality, and the deadline goals.

The multiple regression model was based on a dataset from Trimo, an engineering and production company of prefabricated buildings.

The inverted U-shaped relationship of the CF group has been proven to exist with all project goals.

The present study provides a starting-point for further empirical research on the international construction sector, projects, teams, and competence research.

An investigation of the importance of the knowledge of the key individuals in organisations, knowledge within organisations as well as customer capital and knowledge; and how these might impact on sustainable competitive advantage of small and medium sized enterprises. The key challenges for knowledge‐intensive SMEs are the identification, capture, storing, mapping, dissemination and creation of knowledge from different perspectives and for different purposes.

Based on a thorough review of literature and field study, this paper presents and discusses the benefits of knowledge management (KM) for sustainable competitiveness in SMEs in surveying practices. A field study was conducted, involving 12 professionals from eleven organisations, of which 2 of the 11 organisations were surveying practices.

The paper highlights the role of strategies, tools and techniques which might be of assistance. The paper concludes that managing knowledge assets in SME is not easy. It is an integrated and complex social process, which has culture, people, finance, technology and organisational structures at its core. The paper also notes that SMEs can benefit from effective KM practices for sustainable competitiveness.

Recommendations are offered to surveying practices that are already involved with formal KM initiatives and those SMEs that aspire to do so.

An innovative study applying knowledge management principles to small and medium sized surveying practices.

The purpose of this paper is to present a maturity model developed to assess knowledge sharing (KS) for the Jordanian construction sector.

The research was conducted in three stages. The first stage consisted of the review of literature and documenting variables from the literature that highlight influence on KS in organizations. The second stage was designed for maturity model development by identifying the cultural factors that affect KS in the Jordanian construction sector through questionnaires and interviews. Factor analysis was used to find possible relationships between the cultural variables followed by semi-structured interviews. In the third stage the initial maturity model was refined through another set of semi-structured interviews.

The model presented in the paper includes three levels of maturity. The first level identifies whether the variable barely exists in company’s KS practices. The second level shows the occasional techniques which the company uses to increase KS activities. The final level demonstrates the importance of the variable in affecting KS as being fundamentally ingrained in the company’s vision, mission, strategy and operations.

The research has developed a model that can be used to measure the KS in an organization. Although the model has been applied to the construction industry, it can easily be modified to fit in the other sectors.

The purpose of this paper was to examine UK shale gas viability. The recent commitment to shale gas exploration in the UK through fracking has given rise to well-publicised economic benefits and environmental concerns. There is potential for shale gas exploration in different parts of the UK over the next couple of decades. As argued in this study, if it does, it would transform the energy market and provide long-term energy security at affordable cost.

Interviews with senior practitioners and local communities were recorded, transcribed and entered into qualitative research software Nvivo. Validity and reliability were achieved by first assessing the plausibility in terms of already existing knowledge on some of the economic and environmental issues raised by participants.

Findings from this study suggest that environmental, health and safety risks can be managed effectively provided operational best practices are implemented and monitored by the Health and Safety Executive; Department of Energy, Climate Change; and the Mineral Planning Authorities. Participants further suggested that the integration of shale gas technology will protect consumers against rising energy prices and ensure that government does not get exposed to long-term geopolitical risks.

The present study corroborates the position that environmental, health and safety risks can be managed effectively provided operational best practices are implemented and monitored by the Health and Safety Executive; Department of Energy, Climate Change; and the Mineral Planning Authorities.

The present study confirms that the government is committed to ensuring that the nation maximises the opportunity that cost-effective shale gas technology presents, not just investment, cheap energy bills and jobs but providing an energy mix that will underpin the UK long-term economic prosperity.

The present study corroborates the position that environmental, health and safety risks can be managed effectively provided operational best practices are implemented and monitored by the Health and Safety Executive; Department of Energy, Climate Change; and the Mineral Planning Authorities. As shown in this study, the UK has a very strong regulatory regime compared to USA; therefore, environmental, health and safety risks will be very well managed and unlikely to escalate into the crisis being envisioned.