A Cross-case Analysis on the Barriers to Knowledge Sharing Practices in Construction Joint Ventures

Construction joint ventures often used as a strategic platform to facilitate learning and acquire knowledge associated with individual partner skills and capabilities, and further integrate the new knowledge into their own system and structure. Although previous literature has highlighted many benefits of joint ventures, in reality it does not work well as people are often hesitant to share their knowledge and experience. Furthermore, the nature of construction projects and temporary setting of joint venture organisations often results in difficulty to retain the knowledge of each project member once the project completed, and the joint venture dissolved. Such problems become more critical in the local-foreign joint venture projects where knowledge has to be shared across different organisations and national culture. This research paper aims to assess the barriers for knowledge sharing practices by using cross-case analysis of joint venture projects as case studies. This research took a qualitative approach with a multiple-case study method adopted to perform exploratory case studies into construction joint ventures in Malaysia. Qualitative data were collected using the semi-structured interview techniques with 20 interviewees from two case studies. The primary data was analysed using content analysis and cognitive mapping techniques. The research findings revealed several barriers to knowledge sharing practices within joint venture project settings such as the cultural barriers, lack of loyalty and project continuity, language barriers, unwilling to share and learn; and lack of time. The Malaysian construction industry is taking initiatives to improve its current project performance through capacity development which is one of the strategic thrusts outlined in CIDB Construction Revolution 4.0 (CR4.0). The capacity development can be done by encouraging the collaboration between construction participants. It gives a very significant justification for undertaking this research focusing on improving the collaboration and project performance of joint venture project settings through effective knowledge sharing.