Learning techniques employed by construction contractors' organisations

This paper describes current research within the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University into learning practices within UK Construction Companies. The need to understand how companies learn and accelerate the learning process is greater today than ever before. Companies that stop learning, also stop improving and may run the risk of eventually going out of business. As such, organisations are paying more attention to the concept of corporate learning in order to increase their competitive advantage, and ability to innovate so that they can sustain continuous improvement. The research forms part of a larger theme of improving strategic management practices of construction organisations. By focusing on the organic learning styles and learning mechanisms, the research addresses how construction organisations can employ these options to enhance the strategic process. The paper suggests that continuous improvement in construction companies requires a learning culture.