Learning organizations in construction

Learning organizations in construction

Chinowsky P., Molenaar K., Realph A. ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering, January 2007, Vol. 23 No. 1, Start page: 27, No. of pages: 8

The transformation of organizations from production-oriented entities to proactive learning entities that continuously leverage the knowledge of the workforce is a primary objective of management researchers. This focus has significant relevance to the construction industry where production-related research has predominantly overshadowed organizational development research. As one effort to change this emphasis, the writers present a research effort designed to study current organization learning techniques and technologies fielded by organizations both inside and outside of the construction industry. Through a series of exploratory case studies, the writers developed a maturity model together with the Construction Industry Institute that provides construction organizations with a framework for developing a learning organization culture. The maturity model focuses on learning organization characteristics of leadership, processes and infrastructure,communication/collaboration, education, and culture at the organization,community, and individual levels. This paper introduces the results of that effort including a presentation of the learning organization maturity model,framework application, and the overall characteristics of a learning organization.ISSN: 0742-597XReference: 36_3182

Keywords: Construction industry, Education, Learning, Professional development