THE ROLE OF DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS IN FACILITATING ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Digital technologies are gaining widespread acceptance in engineering and offer opportunities for collating and curating knowledge during and beyond the life cycle of an engineering product. Knowledge is central to strategy and operations in most engineering organizations and digital technologies have been employed in attempts to improve current knowledge management practices. Yet many knowledge management practices have not achieved the desired results and eventually been ignored. The reasons behind this involve both social and technical factors. To understand current knowledge management and digital adoptions in the engineering sector, a systematic literature review was conducted to address the question: how do digital technologies influence knowledge management in the engineering sector? To further investigate engineering knowledge management, two case studies were conducted in two contrasting engineering organisations. Mixed method Social Network Analysis (SNA) were used which analysed different levels of knowledge communication networks. It is further proposed that social networks could be used as an indicator of the knowledge communication performance. Thematic analysis of the semi-structured interview data has identified four themes, specifically: types of knowledge in knowledge communication, challenges in knowledge management, current digital applications, and anticipated digital applications. Examination of the collected data provided insights into the performance of engineering knowledge management, the maturity of the knowledge management culture, and how this can be linked to digital environments and their take-up. A novel evolutionary model of knowledge management is proposed, supported by the development of a new knowledge management awareness model, working as diagnostic tools and knowledge management framework for engineering knowledge management. A knowledge eco-system is defined as an ultimate goal of a mature engineering knowledge management.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Richard Taylor (Supervisor)