The role of Knowledge Sharing in company learning within small and micro construction consultancy companies in Ireland

The construction consultancy sector of the Irish construction industry is made up predominately of micro; less than 10 employees, and small, less than 50 employees, companies these small and micro companies (SMC's) have specific management and development issues associated with them. For SMC's to remain competitive the generation and exchange of specialist knowledge in these fields is vital. The aim of this research is to investigate the issues of Knowledge Sharing's role in company learning within a construction consultancy based SMC's in Ireland. The areas focused on in this research are: Are there specific issues relevant to Small and Micro companies in the context of Knowledge Sharing? What are the circumstances that should prevail to allow people to share knowledge? What are effective methods of facilitating company learning and how can they be developed? Using a hybrid research methodology the research tools of questionnaires and semi structured interviews, have been applied. The application of these tools will allow the accumulation and analysis of the primary data to support the discussions. Research completed to date points to lower levels of company support for company learning and knowledge sharing techniques. The results indicate some strong cultural supports towards knowledge sharing are already in place in companies but and increased application of collaborative techniques to enhance company learning are required. Ultimately the presentation of a company learning strategy to assist companies in implementing the process of knowledge sharing (KS) and company learning will be developed. The broad application of this company learning strategy among SMC's would assist company learning to become a natural and integrated process supporting their day to day work.