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Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 89 94

The 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering Forum (EACEF-5)

Knowledge management maturity in construction companies

Mochamad Agung Wibowoa,*, Rudi Waluyob
a
Civil Engineering Program, Engineering Faculty, Diponegoro University, Jl. Prof.Soedarto, Tembalang, Semarang 50275, Indonesia
Civil Engineering Program, Engineering Faculty, Palangka Raya University, Jl. H. Timang, Tunjung Nyaho, Palangka Raya 73112, Indonesia

Abstract
Knowledge management is a concept of managing of knowledge in the company. The implementation of concept has different
levels in each company. Knowledge management maturity is a guide or measure of the company's position in managing of
knowledge. The objective of the study is to identify knowledge management maturity in Indonesian construction companies. This
study used a survey method and conducted by distributing questionnaires to large construction companies that implement
knowledge management activities. Four level of knowledge management maturity was proposed on this study. The results show
that 29 contractors at the practiced level, 20 contractors at managed level and 5 contractors at continuously improved level.

by by
Elsevier
Ltd.Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
2015
2015The
TheAuthors.
Authors.Published
Published
Elsevier
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of The 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering
Peer-review
under responsibility of organizing committee of The 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering
Forum (EACEF-5).
Forum (EACEF-5)

Keywords: Knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge management maturity, construction companies

1. Introduction
Competition among companies in the construction business is growth. It is characterized by the increasing
requirements of the customers desired, limited resources, environmental stewardship and increasing competition [1].
Now, construction companies must have ability to compete and create new business opportunities [2]. Competition
between construction companies is more increasing. So, every company is expected have ability to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness so that success can be achieved. For long term success, all of construction companies
depend on the performance improvements made by absorbing and applying new sciences continuously [3]. It is
reinforced by [4] which states that success in business, including the construction business, is highly depend on the
quality of human resources. Human resources are unique production factors, if it managed properly so that can

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: agungwibowo360@gmail.com

1877-7058 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of The 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering Forum (EACEF-5)

doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2015.11.014

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Mochamad Agung Wibowo and Rudi Waluyo / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 89 94

generate added value to other resources. Another resources are very important too, but many companies are not
managing it well is knowledge. Management of knowledge in Indonesian construction companies especially in
contractors is unknown. There are some levels in management of knowledge and it called maturity. This study aims
to know knowledge management maturity in contractors.
2. Literature review
2.1. Knowledge
Knowledge is an information that completed with relationship mode comprehension from information with
individual and group experience. Combination of information, context and experience, looked as a core competence
of organization that can captured, shared and utilized for business aspects [5,6]. In general knowledge divided into
tacit and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is a human knowledge that can be a intuition, judgement, skill,
experience, body language, values, belief and tule of thumb. It is very difficult to be formulated, communicated, or
shared with other people. Explicit knowledge is a knowledge that can be expressed in words, numbers. It can be added,
transferred, distributed and gave in systematic and formal way in data, knowledge formula, product specification,
manuals and universal principles [7,8,9,10].
2.2. Knowledge management
Knowledge Management is a term applied to techniques used for the systematic collection, transfer, security and
management of information within organizations [11]. Knowledge management is an organization way to manage
knowledge, create values and improve competitive advantage or firm performance [12]. Knowledge management have
activities and we can call it knowledge management processes, i.e. knowledge creation, knowledge sharing,
knowledge acquisition, knowledge documentation, knowledge application, knowledge transfer, responsiveness to
knowledge, and knowledge dissemination [8,13,14,10,15].
2.3. Knowledge management maturity
In general, maturity is the state of being complete, perfect, or ready; fullness of development. On the contrary,
immaturity is the state of being unripe, imperfect or incomplete [16]. Applying the concept of maturity to a person
it might refer to the state of being physically, emotionally and mentally mature. Personal maturity can be defined in
terms of a persons experience, wisdom, independence, willingness and ability to take responsibility, to work towards
achieving the goals, to be serious and emotionally stable. Just as personal maturity means the perfection of an
individual, organizational maturity might be similarly conceptualized, underlying the state of perfection of an
organization.
Thus the concept of maturity can be used for defining the state of effectiveness of an organization or the state of
its capability and competency in managing the processes, programs or projects effectively. While maturing, the
performance of an organization is becoming better, and an organization is becoming more productive and effective,
more competitive and profitable. In the case of knowledge management, the maturity might refer to the state of
organizations effectiveness at managing and leveraging its knowledge assets through performing the effective
knowledge management processes. [17] note that the knowledge management maturity of an organization is the extent
to which that organization consistently manages its knowledge assets and leverages them effectively. [18] define
knowledge management maturity as the extent to which knowledge management is explicitly defined, managed,
controlled and effected. Thus organizational maturity in the context of knowledge management is achieved at the
advanced level when knowledge management processes are managed well and performed effectively.
The maturity of knowledge management therefore is defined as the state of development of knowledge
management. It identifies the quality and effectiveness of knowledge management process and the appropriateness of
socio-technical environment for managing knowledge in an organization at the moment. In order to assess the progress
of knowledge management development, a maturity modeling can be effectively used. Maturity modeling is a generic
approach which describes the development of an entity over time progressing through levels towards an idealistic

Mochamad Agung Wibowo and Rudi Waluyo / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 89 94

ultimate state [19]. According to Klimko [19], in general, maturity models have the following properties: 1) the
development of a single entity is simplified and described with a limited number of maturity levels; 2) levels are
characterized by certain requirements, which the entity has to achieve on that level; 3) levels are ordered sequentially,
from an initial level up to an ending level (the latter is the level of perfection); 4) during development, the entity
progresses forward from one level to the next. The levels of maturity represent a developmental continuum arranged
from initial, or beginning, condition to mature, or fully developed, condition. Knowledge management maturity model
can be defined as a model that shows the level of qualitative development of knowledge management, and the
parameters that outline this level of development. While some maturity models in the field of knowledge management
have been proposed in the literature, many of them are still debated. Researchers assume that no generally accepted
methodology exists for assessing the maturity of an organization with respect to knowledge management [17].
There are several levels or stages in the knowledge management maturity. [19] stated that there are four stages in
the KMM, namely phase of initiation, propagation, integration and linking KM with external partners (networking).
[20] argues that there are five stages of maturity in KM, i.e. stage 1 initial, stage 2 awareness in the development of
knowledge management, stage 3 formation established, there has been a structured process, stage 4 quantitatively
managed or knowledge management performance has been measured , stage 5 optimizing or knowledge management
has been awakened and continuously improved. [17] agree there are 5 levels of knowledge management maturity,
which is level 1 (possible) at this stage there is a desire to make sharing, level 2 (encouraged) at this stage there is
recognition of the sharing of knowledge, level 3 (practiced) in this phase, sharing of knowledge assets put into practice
and is a formal activity, level 4 (managed) at this stage, employees can easily share knowledge assets or there is a tool
that supports KM activities, level 5 (continuously improved) at this stage. Mechanisms and tools to leverage
knowledge assets are widely acceptable.
According [21], there are six levels of knowledge management maturity, namely: level 0 (non-existent) or no
awareness, level 1 (initial) or there is awareness, level 2 (repeatable but intuitive) or partially identified, level 3
(defined process) or there is a standard procedure, level 4 (managed and measurable) or no tool support, level 5
(optimized) or comprehensive and sustainable. [22] mentions that there are 5 levels knowledge management maturity
is level 0 (the default) or no organizational support for knowledge management, level 1 (chaotic) or still chaotic, level
2 (fragmented) or early stage of knowledge management practices, level 3 (coordinated ) or the development of
knowledge management has been well coordinated, level 4 (proactive) or an increase knowledge management
processes continuously. While opinions [23] says there are 6 levels in the knowledge management, namely: level 0
(default) is the basic level, level 1 (initial) is the initial level, level 2 (qualitative development) is measured
qualitatively knowledge management activity, level 3 (quantitative development) is knowledge management activity
measured quantitatively, level 4 (maturity) at this stage there is increasing continuously knowledge management, level
5 (extended) at this stage knowledge management integrated with external partner organizations.
Various studies of knowledge management maturity above confirm that the knowledge management is divided into
several levels. In knowledge management mention that there is no fixed standard for the level of maturity, various
researchers assign different levels. Although generally knowledge management maturity is divided into six levels,
from level 0 to level 5, but when viewed more deeply then there are only four levels of maturity in KM. In this study,
reviewing knowledge management maturity based on four levels, namely: 1) initial (identified but not regularly), 2)
practiced (had practiced formally), 3) managed (has been well managed and supported tools), and 4) continuously
improved (has been carried out thoroughly and do continuous improvement).
3. Research methodology
A questionnaire survey was used to elicit the attitude of contractors towards knowledge management maturity.
Questionnaires were sent to selected contractors purposively. Contractors were identified based on contractors that
implement knowledge management and just large contractors implement it formally. 100 questionnaires were
distributed toward large contractors that implement knowledge management formally. Respondents are first line,
middle and top managers of the large contractors. The respondents were asked to indicate by giving a checklist based
on their experience toward knowledge management activities that implemented in the contractors. There are 38
activities of knowledge management maturity and divided into 4 stages, i.e. stage 1 initial has 11 activities, stage 2

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Mochamad Agung Wibowo and Rudi Waluyo / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 89 94

practiced has 10 activities, stage 3 managed has 9 activities, and stage 4 continuously improved has 8 activities. The
questionnaire has been validated by four managers who understand about the implementation of knowledge
management in CIMB Niaga, Bank Indonesia, Adhi Karya and Wijaya Karya.
The respondents were experienced first line, middle and top managers (with average experience of 15 years in the
construction companies). 38 activities of knowledge management believed to affect business process in large
contractors. In total, 60 large contractors have completed the questionnaire survey, but only 54 completed forms were
further analyzed. The others were rejected because of the following reasons: 1) the form was not fully completed; 2)
the form was completed not by leading executives; 3) the form was completed by managers not from business
companies; 4) the company may not be defined as a knowledge organization. Activities of knowledge management
that implemented in large contractors were summarized and collected according to stages of knowledge management
maturity.
4. Research results and discussion
Data of knowledge management maturity analyzed descriptively. Descriptive analysis is intended to provide an
overview of the number of activities carried out contractors in each stage of knowledge management maturity. Number
of activities that implemented by large contractors at each stage of knowledge management maturity is different. Total
of activities of knowledge management maturity that implemented by contractors at each stage and the maturity that
can be reached by contractors can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1. Knowledge Management Maturity on Contractors

Contractor

Contractor Maturity on KM

(1)
K1
K2
K3
K4
K5
K6
K7
K8
K9
K 10
K 11
K 12
K 13
K 14
K 15
K 16
K 17
K 18
K 19
K 20
K 21
K 22
K 23
K 24
K 25

(2)
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced

Stage 1
Initial
(11 Activities)
(3)
10
9
8
7
8
9
7
9
7
9
9
7
10
8
7
7
9
7
8
9
9
9
8
8
8

Stages of Knowledge Management Maturity

Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Practiced
Managed
Continously Improved
(10 Activities) (9 Activities)
(8 Activities)
(4)
(5)
(6)
7
1
0
6
0
0
6
1
0
7
0
0
8
1
0
7
0
0
6
1
0
9
0
0
7
1
0
8
0
0
8
1
0
6
0
0
8
1
0
5
1
1
6
1
1
7
0
0
8
1
0
7
0
0
8
1
0
9
0
0
8
1
0
7
0
1
8
1
0
8
0
1
6
1
1

Mochamad Agung Wibowo and Rudi Waluyo / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 89 94

Contractor

Contractor Maturity on KM

K 26
K 27
K 28
K 29
K 30
K 31
K 32
K 33
K 34
K 35
K 36
K 37
K 38
K 39
K 40
K 41
K 42
K 43
K 44
K 45
K 46
K 47
K 48
K 49
K 50
K 51
K 52
K 53
K 54

Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Practiced
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Managed
Continously Improved
Continously Improved
Continously Improved
Continously Improved
Continously Improved

Stage 1
Initial
(11 Activities)
8
7
7
7
9
8
7
6
9
9
8
7
6
7
8
9
7
6
8
9
7
8
8
8
8
9
8
7
7

Stages of Knowledge Management Maturity

Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Practiced
Managed
Continously Improved
(10 Activities) (9 Activities)
(8 Activities)
5
0
0
6
1
0
7
1
0
5
0
0
7
7
1
7
6
1
6
7
0
5
5
0
8
7
0
8
7
0
7
7
0
7
7
0
6
6
0
7
7
1
7
7
1
7
7
1
7
7
1
6
6
1
5
6
0
5
5
0
6
6
0
7
5
0
7
7
0
7
6
0
8
7
5
8
7
6
6
6
5
7
5
5
7
6
6

Table 1. indicates the number of activities carried out contractors at each stage of knowledge management maturity
(columns 3, 4, 5 and 6). Level of knowledge management maturity contractor (column 2) which can be explained as
follows:
x Contractors K1 until K29 are at knowledge management maturity practiced. Contractors K1 until K29 carry
out many activities of knowledge management in stages 1 and 2. There are 7 until 10 activities carried out from
11 activities in phase 1 and 5 until 9 activities carried out from 10 activities in phase 2, while on stage 3 and 4
only 1 activity carried out and there is not. This shows that the contractor K1until K29 in carrying out the
activities of knowledge management only up to the stage 2 or stage practiced and 29 contractors are at knowledge
management maturity 2 'practiced'.
x Contractors K30 until K49 are at knowledge management maturity 'managed'. Contractors K30 until K49 carry
out many activities knowledge management from the stage of 1 until 3. There are 6 until 9 activities carried out
from 11 activities in phase 1, 5 until 8 activities carried out from 10 activities in phase 2, and 5 until 7 activities
carried out from 9 existing activities stage 3, stage 4 while the few activities that are carried out at only one
activity. This shows that the contractor K30 until K49 in carrying out the activities of knowledge management
only up to the stage 3 or stage managed or as many as 20 contractors are at knowledge management maturity 3
'managed'.

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Mochamad Agung Wibowo and Rudi Waluyo / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 89 94

5.

Contractors K50 until K54 are at knowledge management maturity 'continuously improved'. Contractors K50
until K54 carry out many activities knowledge management from the stage of 1until 4, there are 7 until 9 activities
carried out from 11 activities in phase 1, 6 until 8 activities carried out from 10 existing activities phase 2, 5 until
7 activities carried out from 9 existing activities stage 3, and 5 until 6 activities carried out from 8 activities in
stage 4, or in other words all the stages in the knowledge management maturity properly implemented. This
shows that the contractor K50 - K54 implement all stages in knowledge management is to stage 4 or stage
continuously improved and 5 contractors are at knowledge management maturity 4 'continuously improved'.
Conclusion

The results of this study show that 29 contractors at the practiced level, 20 contractors at managed level and 5
contractors at continuously improved level. There are 29 contractors implement activities of knowledge management
until stage 2, 20 contractors implement activities of knowledge management until stage 3 and 5 contractors implement
all activities of knowledge management in four stages.
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[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
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