Videnledelse i Bygge- og Anlægsbranchen: Nonakas Teori om Organisatorisk Videnskabelse i et Praktisk Perspektiv

Porsgaard, Lee

4. semester

Byggeledelse (cand.tech.), Kandidat

2012

2012-01-11

105 pages

Dette speciale tager udgangspunkt i Nonakas teori om organisatorisk videnskabelse. Formålet er at undersøge, hvordan denne kan anvendes til skabelse af ny viden i virksomheder, der opererer i bygge- og anlægsbranchen. Emnet er valgt på baggrund af den stigende interesse for videnledelse samt branchens nuværende situation. Flere teoretikere mener, at samfundsudviklingen bevæger sig fra det postindustrielle til et vidensamfund, hvor viden er virksomhedernes mest værdifulde ressource, hvilket betyder, at ledelse af viden er yderst interessant. Mange ansatte er siden 2007 blevet afskediget fra deres arbejde, grundet den økonomiske nedgang. Ud fra den præmis, at mennesker er lig med viden, kan det udledes, at mange virksomheder således har mistet en del af sine ressourcer. Det er relevant at undersøge, hvordan disse videnressourcer kan genopbygges og derfor er hovedspørgsmålet i dette projekt formuleret som: • Hvordan kan Nonakas teori om organisatorisk videnskabelse operationaliseres således, at den bliver anvendelig for virksomheder i den danske bygge- og anlægsbranche til at skabe og udbrede ny viden, som kan implementeres i produkter, ydelser og procedure med det formål at skabe større konkurrenceevne? Dette spørgsmål er udledt af en gennemgang og kritik af Nonakas teori om organisatorisk videnskabelse, som er foretaget ud fra den førnævnte interesse for videnledelse samt bygge- og anlægsbranchens nuværende situation, hvor det har været nødvendigt at afskedige mange medarbejdere. Teorien kritiseres i denne rapport for at mangle konkrete værktøjer og metoder således en praktisk anvendelighed er mulig. Derfor foretages der på baggrund af problemformuleringen en analyse af den generiske fem fase-model, som Nonaka fremfører som en model, der inkorporerer de i teorien nævnte krav til videnskabelse med henblik på at opstille en praktisk anvendelig model til bygge- og anlægsbranchen. Teorien arbejder med to former for viden som betegnes eksplicit viden og tavs viden. Eksplicit viden er viden, som let kan udtrykkes gennem ord, tal og billeder, hvilket vil sige, at den kan overføres fra et individ til et andet gennem eksempelvis tale og dokumenter. Tavs viden er derimod dybt forankret i hvert individ og er derfor vanskelig at overføre til en anden. Samtidig udgør denne form for viden dog langt størstedelen af menneskers samlede viden, hvilket gør den til en vigtig faktor i skabelsen af ny viden. Teorien siger at viden skabes når den konverteres i mellem de to former tavs og eksplicit i fire konverteringsprocesser kaldet socialisering, eksternalisering, kombinering og internalisering. Disse fire processer indgår i SEKI-modellen, som er omdrejningspunktet i teorien. Den generiske fem fase-model fremfører fem faser til konvertering af viden i de fire videnkonverteringsprocesser således, at der skabes ny viden. Det er en operationalisering af denne model problemformuleringen søges besvaret igennem. Første skridt mod besvarelsen af problemformuleringen foregår i analysen, som afsluttes med en opstilling af en praktisk anvendelig fem fase-model til bygge- og anlægsbranchen. Modellen er opstillet ved at drage paralleller fra hver fase til mere udbredte, kendte og gennemprøvede metoder og værktøjer, men som stadigvæk konverterer viden i de nævnte fire processer. Det pointeres i problemformuleringen at teorien skal operationaliseres, så den er anvendelig i branchen og dette indbefatter således ikke en detaljeret fremgangsmåde til skabelse af ny viden. Teorien gøres branchespecifik hvor den før var universel og det er efterfølgende op til de enkelte virksomheder at tilpasse den opstillede fem fase-model deres egne unikke vilkår. I forbindelse med udarbejdelsen af projektet er der indhentet empiriske data fra samarbejdet mellem virksomhederne Per Aarsleff A/S og Århus Vand A/S. Disse data behandles efter analysen hvor det undersøges hvorledes der i praksis skabes viden i deres samarbejde sammenholdt med den teoretiske skabelse af viden i den opstillede fem fase-model. Her ses bl.a. at elementer i den opstillede fem fase-model allerede anvendes i deres samarbejde. Rapporten afsluttet med en konklusion der sammenfatter projektet og besvarer problemformuleringen.

The point of departure for this master’s thesis is Nonaka’s theory of organisational knowledge-creation. The purpose is to examine how this theory can be applied to the creation of new knowledge in companies which operate in the construction industry. The subject is chosen on the basis of an increasing interest for knowledge management and the industry’s current situation. According to several theorists the society is developing from being post-industrial to becoming a knowledge society where knowledge is the companies’ most valuable resource. Therefore, management of knowledge is of utmost interest. Since 2007, many employees have been laid off because of the financial crisis. Assuming that people equals knowledge, it can be deduced that many companies have lost a part of their resources as a result of the many layoffs. It is relevant to examine how these knowledge resources can be rebuild which leads to the main question in this master’s thesis: • Concerning companies in the Danish construction industry, how can Nonaka’s theory of organisational knowledge-creation be operationalized in a way that it becomes applicable in the process of creating and spreading new knowledge which can be implemented into products, services and procedures with the purpose of creating greater competitiveness? This question has been made based on a study and critique of Nonaka’s theory of organizational knowledge-creation. As mentioned above, the study and critique of the theory has been conducted on the basis of an interest for knowledge creation and the construction industry’s current situation where it has been necessary to lay off many employees. In this master’s thesis the theory is criticized for lacking concrete tools and methods to make it applicable in practice and not just in theory. Therefore, an analysis of the generic five phase model of the organizational knowledge-creation process is conducted for the purpose of creating a model which is applicable in practice. According to Nonaka, the generic five phase model incorporates the demands which according to the theory are necessary for creating knowledge. According to the theory, there are two sorts of knowledge which are described as explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is knowledge which can easily be expressed through words, numbers and pictures. This means that explicit knowledge can be transferred from one individual to another through for instance speech and documents. On the contrary, tacit knowledge is deeply rooted in every individual and is therefore difficult to transfer from one person to another. Furthermore, tacit knowledge constitutes the major part of humans’ total knowledge which makes it an important factor in the creation of new knowledge. According to the theory, knowledge is created when it is converted between tacit and explicit knowledge in four different conversion processes: Socialization, externalization, combination and internalization. These four processes are part of the SECI-model which is central in the theory. In order to create new knowledge, the generic five phase model presents five phases for converting knowledge in the four knowledge conversion processes. The statement of problem is answered through an operationalization of the generic five phase model. The analysis constitutes the first step towards answering the statement of problem. At the end of the analysis a new five phase model is presented. The new five phase model is applicable in practice in the construction industry. By making parallels from each phase to well-known and thoroughly tested methods and tools which still converts knowledge in the four processes, the model is made. As it is pointed out in the statement of problem, to make the theory applicable in the industry it must be operationalized. This does not include a detailed procedure of how new knowledge is created. Where the theory before was universal, the theory is now made industry-specific and it is then up to the different companies to adjust the new five phase model to their own unique conditions. In connection with making this master’s thesis, empirical data is collected from the collaboration between the companies Per Aarsleff A/S and Århus Vand A/S. After the analysis, the data is processed. It is examined how in practice knowledge is created in their collaboration compared to the theoretical creation of knowledge in the new five phase model. Among other things, it is found that elements from the new five phase model are already being used in their collaboration. The master’s thesis is finished with a conclusion that summarizes the master’s thesis and answers the statement of problem.

Videnledelse ; Knowledge management ; Vidensdeling

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