Assessment of CII Best Practices usage in the construction industry

Abstract

In the increasingly competitive global environments, many organizations recognize that effective use of corporate knowledge helps improving their performance and consequently provides the competitive advantages over their competitors. This study takes a fundamental approach in the area of knowledge management by investigating the frequencies and the degrees of knowledge implementation. The Construction Industry Institute (CII) Best Practices are used as research targets which represent useful knowledge need to be effectively implemented in the construction industry. This research focuses on how widely and intensively the CII Best Practices are implemented among CII member organizations using a structured survey. It also attempts to identify the relationships between the organizational knowledge implementation and the CII Best Practices usage. In terms of the frequencies of usage, 'Pre-Project Planning' is identified as the most widely implemented Best Practice among the organizations while the usages of 'Dispute resolution', 'Design Effectiveness', and 'Materials Management' are relatively low. From the view point of the degree of CII Best Practice usage, 'Zero Accident Techniques' and 'Material Management' are the most rigorously implemented when they are in use, and the degree of usage on 'Design Effectiveness' and 'Team Building' are relatively rough compared to the others. The differences between owners and contractors are also investigated in this study and some interesting differences are identified. Research findings suggest that the level of organizational knowledge implementation is generally consistent with the CII Best Practice usage among CII member companies.