Knowledge-based in-action in globally distributed advanced engineering and construction

One of the typical statements of many industries today is that they are knowledge-intensive, and that it is the thinking behind the work that separates the great from the ordinary. “Innovative”, “creative”, “skillful” and “apt” are terms that tend to be used interchangeably with knowledge as well. Hence, to manage a business well means to facilitate the development and exploitation of such knowledge, and make sure that it is not idle or hidden. This paper re-examines the idea of a structured, collaborative knowledge management and identifies gaps between its conceptualization and observable practice. Our case study has been globally distributed shipbuilding, for which we identify different variants of knowledge-based in-action that we think needs to be managed, rather than aiming to implement a repository-like organizational “memory”. This analysis is reflected in a design framework, which we aim to use for implementing flexible information architectures for knowledge management in large-scale advanced engineering and construction.