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Stable Social Knowledge Creation to Solve the Contract Failure Dilemma in International Construction Engineering: A Liquid Crystal Metaphor

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Haoyan Li
Haoyan Li
Haoyan Li
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Jiang Hui at University of Chinese Academy of Science
Jiang Hui
  • University of Chinese Academy of Science
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Abstract and Figures

The importance of social knowledge in the theory and practice of international construction engineering is growing, yet related contract failures are still frequent to date, and much less is known about the inner content of social knowledge and how to realize its full potential in international projects. Therefore, this study attempts to demonstrate the internal structure of social knowledge in the context of the current intercultural era to enhance the development of international construction engineering. Considering the commonalities between the social knowledge iceberg and the liquid crystal, the study regarded liquid crystal as a metaphor for the social knowledge iceberg and embodies the flow path of social knowledge from internal formations to external effects. A multiple case study was used to verify the proposed metaphorical model and visualize the internal structure of social knowledge. We find that cross-cultural leadership, which determines the stability of the social knowledge iceberg by adjusting the degree of cultural integration within the range of 20–40% and thereby promoting the catalytic effect of social knowledge for contract completion, is the core of social knowledge creation. This paper theoretically explores the structure, influencing factors, and functions of social knowledge stability and, in the meantime in practice, provides guidance for the success of international construction engineering by combing knowledge management and chemistry theory.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of the Knowledge Economy (2024) 15:6937–6968
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01142-x
1 3
Stable Social Knowledge Creation toSolve theContract
Failure Dilemma inInternational Construction Engineering:
ALiquid Crystal Metaphor
HaoyanLi1,2· HuiJiang2
Received: 22 October 2021 / Accepted: 21 February 2023 / Published online: 11 May 2023
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
2023
Abstract
The importance of social knowledge in the theory and practice of international con-
struction engineering is growing, yet related contract failures are still frequent to
date, and much less is known about the inner content of social knowledge and how
to realize its full potential in international projects. Therefore, this study attempts to
demonstrate the internal structure of social knowledge in the context of the current
intercultural era to enhance the development of international construction engineer-
ing. Considering the commonalities between the social knowledge iceberg and the
liquid crystal, the study regarded liquid crystal as a metaphor for the social knowl-
edge iceberg and embodies the flow path of social knowledge from internal forma-
tions to external effects. A multiple case study was used to verify the proposed met-
aphorical model and visualize the internal structure of social knowledge. We find
that cross-cultural leadership, which determines the stability of the social knowledge
iceberg by adjusting the degree of cultural integration within the range of 20–40%
and thereby promoting the catalytic effect of social knowledge for contract comple-
tion, is the core of social knowledge creation. This paper theoretically explores the
structure, influencing factors, and functions of social knowledge stability and, in the
meantime in practice, provides guidance for the success of international construc-
tion engineering by combing knowledge management and chemistry theory.
Keywords International construction engineering· Cross-cultural knowledge·
Social knowledge iceberg· Liquid crystal· Cultural integration
* Hui Jiang
huijiang@ucas.ac.cn
Haoyan Li
lihaoyanvip@126.com
1 School ofEconomics andManagement, University ofChinese Academy ofSciences, Beijing,
China
2 School ofEngineering Science, University ofChinese Academy ofSciences, Beijing, China
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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