GEM 801-1

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS AND METHODOLOGIES

RESEARCH PAPER #1

MALIG, JOSE RAPHAEL V.

MASTER OF ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED TO:

DR. RONALD A. TAN

JANUAR 6, 2021
Research Case Paper #1
Instructions
Instructions:

• Write a research paper following the IMRAD format that focuses on the use of technology
• The research paper can either be a developmental, meaning you develop your own research
project and determine if this will be useful, helpful, usable, workable etc.
• It can also be using review of related literature, meaning you will use the available literatures
and related information to show what you have in mind will work and benefit the majority.
• The research paper you will be writing should be an idea that will improve the operation or
produce information that can be used by companies organizations, or any group of people.

Requirements:

• Using the attached IMRAD format complete the process and the paper.
• Submit your paper in a PDF file format following the IMRAD template.
• Do not forget to include your summary, conclusion and recommendation in your paper.
• Always end the paper with a list of references used in the paper.
• Prepare a slide presentation that will summarize your paper and include a voice over in your
presentation
 Integrating a Social Application and Web-Based Database
System for Construction Project Knowledge Management

Abstract
The construction business is one of the largest in the world, it has a wide range of applications and
techniques that are used in a wide range of projects. The transmission of data from previous to present and
future initiatives is slowed by a lack of cooperation and communication. The greatest impediment to
companies using their knowledge in new environments is project complexity. This paper presents review
of related literatures that provides a study about the following integration of a social application and
developing a web-based database system for construction companies. The main objective is to show how
these technologies effectively manage construction project knowledge and if these technologies are possible
to be integrated in one system.

I. Introduction
Knowledge is increasingly being recognized as a vital organizational resource that gives market leverage
and competitive advantage (Nonaka and Taekuchi, 1995, Leonard-Barton, 1995). The success or even the
survival of any organization depends on how effectively it manages the knowledge present internally and
externally (Switzer, 2008, Drucker, 1994). Reuse of existing organizational knowledge gained via past
experience can greatly reduce the time spent on problem solving and increase the quality of work (Newel
et al., 2006).
Construction is a project-based industry where each project is unique and brings a number of stakeholders
who collaborate with each other at various stages during the project lifecycle. Each construction project can
be considered a multidiscipline organization which may or may not continue to work together once the
project is completed (Kamara et al., 2002). This temporary nature of construction and heavy fragmentation
makes construction a significantly complex process. Construction is also an information intensive industry
where stakeholders communicate a large amount of information across various stages of the project
lifecycle. The combination of the two makes information management and knowledge management a very
difficult task for the construction industry, resulting in poor efficiency of the overall process (Dave &
Koskela, 2009).
A considerable proportion of the rework, delays, mistakes and cost overruns on construction projects can
be attributed to poor knowledge management. While many organizations have some elements of knowledge
management practice, which are not necessarily labelled as such, there is much more that can be done to
improve the construction project delivery process through better management of the knowledge generated
on projects and in individual firms (Egbu, 1999).
II. Methodology
The information presented in this article has come from three main sources.
Firstly, some of the materials presented are based on a journal from Salford Centre for Research and
Innovation authored by Bhargav Dave and Lauri Koskela entitled ‘Collaborative Knowledge Management
– A Construction Case Study’. The paper discusses a range of information and communication technologies
solutions and presents a case study where a collaborative knowledge management solution is implemented
across a multi-functional construction company. In which, a social web application was implemented to
solve a particular knowledge sharing problem within the organization’s concrete pumping business.
The second source is a research study entitled ‘A Web-based Database System for Managing Construction
Project Knowledge’ authored by Beliz Ozorhon, Cenap Karatas and Sevila Demirkesen from the
Department of Civil Engineering from the Bogazici University. The study proposed a web-based database
system to aid construction companies in capturing, storing, sharing, and using project and corporate
information. In this respect, a tool named WEB-CONS is developed and tested within a construction
company.
Lastly, a thorough review of the relevant literature on innovation, knowledge management, learning
organizations and intellectual capital assets has also informed this paper.

III. Review of Related Literatures (Results and Discussion)

Construction projects are of unique and dynamic nature where each step in the project lifecycle presents a
number of potential opportunities to capture knowledge. If this knowledge can somehow be captured and
reused it will reduce the waste caused by of “reinventing the wheel” and improve the process efficiency in
general (Woo et.al, 2004)

Collaborative Social Application

In the case study of Bhargav Dave and Lauri Koskela, a company call Pochin Construction Services
encourages innovation in the workplace, which is reflected in their business approach. In 2001, they
launched "Pochinet," an intranet solution built from the ground up with ASP (Active Server Pages) as the
scripting language and MS Access databases for data storage. Daily announcements, contact lists,
standard forms, health and safety information, QA papers, normal work practices, and other routinely
used information are all available on the Pochinet. Pochinet has established itself as a popular information
exchange platform within Pochin that is updated on a regular basis over the years. Pochinet is accessible
to all Pochin employees through the company's local and wide area network, which covers all offices,
depots, workshops, and the bulk of construction sites.
Although Pochinet was currently used to post interesting documents and links containing knowledge, the
following issues were identified, which limited its use in this context:
• Knowledge is only captured in form of documents, which are static in nature and don't support
the knowledge creation lifecycle
• Operators, other than who created knowledge, can't comment or update documents
 • Rich content (i.e. picture, multimedia) is not easy to embed or associate with knowledge
• Searching within the knowledge base is not efficient
• Multiple versions of same documents exist leading to confusion
• Social interaction is important aspect of knowledge creation, this is not supported by the
existing platform
According to the literature study, social contact amongst knowledge workers is a more essential factor
than the technology or tools utilized, and it should be considered when choosing or implementing a new
solution.
In this reason, the authors held workshops and interviews with the operators to greater grasp of consumer
needs was required to figure out what the best option was for the particular scenario.
The following are the results of the workshops and interviews:
• Real-time idea sharing
• Ability to work together on a same platform
• Ability to communicate a concept in a straightforward manner
• Display documents and other media, such as photographic proof, on the bulletin board.
drawings, and so on
• To look for information in past exchanges/documents and solutions.
• Due to the hectic nature of the situation, the solution should not take too long.
of labor
Collaboration work is of iterative and unstructured nature; hence the technologies suitable for such
environments are knowledge repositories and collaboration aids, which have to be used voluntarily.

The above table shows that the discussion board and Wiki are both used. There are two technologies that
meet the majority of the requirements. These two technologies have been chosen for further consideration.
Internet forum was chosen as a collaborative knowledge management solution inside Pochins due to its
simplicity of use and minimal resource requirements. Following an initial review of available options, it
was discovered that the vast majority of Internet forum software is created by the open source community,
with the bulk of them employing php (a scripting language) and mySQL (open source database engine).

The ultimate goal of the work carried out was to provide an effective way to share knowledge between the
operatives carrying out maintenance work at geographically dispersed depots. This objective was satisfied
by the solution implemented. The solution also provided a searchable knowledge repository capturing both
tacit and explicit knowledge and requiring minimal maintenance. The exchange of explicit knowledge could
have been possible without implementing any new solution by simply creating a new space on the existing
Intranet system where documents could be exchanged. However, this would not have made it possible to
exchange ideas and create knowledge by taking these ideas through an iterative cycle of discussion. Web
2.0 solutions such as blogs, wikis, and one described here, can be applied in a general context within other
organizations in the AEC sectors to suit variety of situations to enable knowledge capture and reuse.

Web-Based Database System

Web-based database systems are currently in use in most of the construction companies. However, only
some of them are quite popular and widespread by means of their applicability. Zhu (1999) presents three
types of webbased applications namely; the fee-based project management service, the build it yourself
solutions and the webenabled software for the construction industry.
According to Ozorhon et. al, WEB-CONS is primarily designed as a web-based construction project
management and monitoring solution. Users with accounts associated with the firm and construction
projects are able to use the system from anywhere in the globe.
In explanation, a page showing the lists of current tenders sorted by their locations appears where the
tenders are linked to a detailed tendering department page. The main headings and their subtitles of the
tendering management database page.
The users of WEB-CONS have several degrees of authorization. According to the fact of authorization
levels, the material of each area can be posted. The submitted documents can be viewed or downloaded by
another authorized user who has access to the page. A user can either upload or download the accessible
documents depending on their authorization level. An accessible user, for example, can upload or download
a master plan revision as needed under the "master plan" subsection of the project database.
Due to the fact that there is need for a common platform to share and store the data, WEB-CONS acts as a
database for the tendering departments of construction companies.
Tendering projects database part of the system is the section where the coordination of the tendering
works between offices can be performed. As projected above:
1. Basic tender information, at the head of the page presents the general information about
the tender by representing the region, type and company specific code.
2. This part is prepared to inform the accessed users. Announcements about the tender can
be made by the accessible members of the tender to attract the attention of other
personnel on a general or specific point about the specific tender.
3. Received information folder contains documents that come from the client such as;
Instructions to Bidders, an empty Bill of Quantities, Specifications and Drawings, which
should be kept in a systematic order for the ease of the activities carried out by tendering
teams.
4. Correspondences are also important for the management of the tendering stage, since
there may be different offices of the same company or external parties involved in the
process of tender preparation.
5. Prequalification documents are the documents sent to the potential tenderers at the pre-
qualification stage of the tender.
6. Cost analysis studies are one of the most important activities which is carefully carried
out throughout the process of tender preparations.
Because it necessitates the use of the WEB-CONS system, it is recommended to help firms improve their
OL competency obtaining many data sets, interpreting data, converting data into information, storing data
in a database, and Knowledge is put to use during the decision-making stage. The system is developed as
a web-based software utility. At the same time, you may use apps and a database.
The following are some noteworthy aspects of the system:

• WEB-CONS is a web-based database solution that aids enterprises in project management.

• Using the codified information from their previous experiences, they make managerial judgments.
• According to those who tested the system, it is a solid option for project management assistance.
• Its user-friendly design and documentation system have issues. The system has been proven to be
useful in the following areas:
• With its capabilities that promote document exchange, tender’s management operations are made
easier. As a result, the system is inefficient.
• Because of its web-based nature, people found it to be very appealing and beneficial, although they
feel it will take some time.
• to put this system in place and establish a database based on previous company initiatives
• As the number of projects in the database grows, the system's performance may improve.
• As the number of projects in the database grows, the system's performance may be improved.
• Project-related data is constantly saved, exchanged, and used.
• At both the project and corporate levels, communication between members of the organization may
be improved.
• The usage of news and announcements, as well as communications technologies, has expanded.
• There are other systems that are comparable to WEB-CONS in certain areas, but WEB-CONS has
a major advantage.
• The advantage it has over other systems is due to its comprehensive document categorization.
• The system will be further enhanced with the addition of instant messaging, which will allow for
faster communication. Between the adopting organization's members

Conclusion
These two approaches of integrating a collaborative social application and developing a web-based
database system used to aid decision-making in the construction industry on corporate and project
management. These solutions are designed to help construction businesses improve their
organizational learning competency by providing all knowledge management tasks that should be
performed in construction companies.
More advanced tools for construction enterprises' usage can be created in the future. Incorporating
both of this solution which both effective, we can facilitate online contact among the organization's
members, an instant messaging service might be provided. Video-conferencing may also be
incorporated to the system, which would help with visual communication between project team
members in different places. The system may also be used in conjunction with a decision-making
program or software to aid not just knowledge management but also the company's strategic
decision-making process.
References:
1. B. Dave, L. Koskela, Automation in Construction 18 (2009) 894–902
2. C.O. Egbu, The role of knowledge management and innovation in improving construction
competitiveness, Building Technology and Management Journal 25 (1999) 1–10.
3. C. Switzer, Time for change: empowering organisations to succeed in the knowledge
economy, Journal of Knowledge Management 12 (2) (2008) 18–28.
4. J.H. Woo, Mark J. Clayton, Robert E. Johnson, Benito E. Flores, Christopher Ellis,
Dynamic Knowledge Map: reusing experts' tacit knowledge in the AEC industry, Journal
of Automation in Construction 13 (2004) 203–207.
5. J.M. Kamara, G. Augenbroe, C.J. Anumba, P.M. Carrillo, Knowledge management in the
architecture, engineering and construction industry, Construction Innovation 2 (2002) 53–
67.
6. P.F. Drucker, Post-capitalist society, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 1994.
7. S. Newell, M. Bresnen, L. Edelman, H. Scarbrough, J. Swan, Sharing knowledge across
projects: limits to ICT-led project review practices, Management Learning 37 (2006) 167–
185.
8. Ozorhon, B., Karatas, C.G., Altun, H. (2012). Effectiveness of knowledge management
activities in the Turkish construction industry, 10th International Congress on Advances in
Civil Engineering, Ankara, Turkey, paper #859
9. Zhu, Yimin (1999). Web-based Construction Document Processing through a Malleable
Frame. Ph.D. thesis, University of Florida. UMI, Ann Arbor, USA.