A Conceptual Model for Adopting Organizational Memory in the Construction Firms

Diverse risks involved in construction projects require a comprehensive and precise decision-making process throughout the project life cycle. Construction firms need to use their know-how effectively to make strategic decisions and gain a competitive advantage in the sector. In pursuance of this, experience gained from previous projects as well as lessons learned from success and failure are valuable resources. In this context, organizational memory (OM) can be used to improve the quality of strategic decisions in construction firms. OM can be established by utilizing knowledge management mechanisms that stay dynamic throughout a construction project’s life cycle. For construction firms, there is a particular need to integrate the tender stage and the construction stage in terms of knowledge management. This way, the outcome of decisions taken in the tender stage, which are usually unfolded after a few years and experienced by different teams, can be integrated back into the system to enhance the OM. The aim of this study is to propose a roadmap for developing an OM tool for strategic decision-making in construction firms. The stages of knowledge acquisition in the development of OM are investigated by literature review and a conceptual model is proposed that involves knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing for the tender and construction phases in the construction firms.