Indigenous Contractors' Knowledge Management Maturity Level for Construction of Healthcare Vaccines Cold Store in Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluates the level of knowledge management maturity (KMM) of Nigerian indigenous contractors for the construction of vaccine cold stores in line with the World Health Organization's (WHO) best practices. This study identifies the significant factors influencing contractors' KMM for the construction of vaccine cold stores. The study adopted a quantitative research approach, and the comparison methodologies between the contractors' KMM and WHO's practices were achieved through ANOVA with Post Hoc. The study respondents were mainly the project managers working with contractors and the ones working with the public sector in Nigeria. The total population of the project managers was 2150 which 322 respondents were selected for the analysis. The results indicated that the level of the contractors' KMM is "Knowledge Quantitative Managed Level" against WHO's "Knowledge Optimization Level". The contractor's level of KMM was found to be at the quantitative knowledge-managed level. Meaning i.e., the organizational standard level which is less than the recommended WHO's optimization level. This research work establishes a new KMM level for Nigerian contractors which was based on the perception of project managers in the Nigerian construction industry. The findings from this study create awareness of the process of KMM measurement in healthcare facilities in developing countries like Nigeria. This implies that the Nigerian indigenous contractors are at a level of knowledge quantitative managed. Hence, the knowledge-quantitative managed level is the technical requirement level. This implies that the Nigerian indigenous contractors fall short of the WHO's recommended level of KMM optimization level. Therefore, there is a need to improve KMM practices for the indigenous contractors in Nigeria.