The governance of knowledge in project-based organizations

This research investigates patterns of knowledge governance practices in project-based organizations (PBOs). Five propositions about knowledge governance in PBOs were deductively and empirically tested using qualitative data from 82 interviews. The results were triangulated with those of prior studies. Results indicate that knowledge governance practices in PBOs are impacted by structural and situational factors, such as being a subsidiary or standalone PBO, a PBO striving for excellence or not, as well as some preconditions, such as the executives' competence in project governance. The results show that informal governance mechanisms are more useful than formal when it comes to knowledge creating processes. Governance of informal knowledge creating mechanisms appears to be complex for executives and their preconceptions showed either to be enablers or barriers to productive knowledge governance practices. Executive's competence and preconditions, concerning aspects like human capabilities and attitudes to professional ethos, seems to impact knowledge governance strategies. In subsidiary PBOs knowledge governance provides practitioners with proper assistance to avoid unbeneficial situations of having knowledge silos among loosely coupled islands.     

Social capital in project-based organizations: Its role, structure, and impact on project performance

The aim of this study is to provide evidence about the role of social capital within project-based organizations. Our assumption is that the social capital of project units increases knowledge integration, producing in turn high levels of performance at the project level. We collected primary data via sociometric questionnaires on 54 projects in the construction field. The analysis has been conducted to study the distinctive structural configuration of projects' social capital, among which we emphasize the role of network cohesion and network range. Our results provide evidence that levels of project performance are significantly associated with the particular structure of projects' social capital.     

Project management office a knowledge broker in project-based organisations

Current research into project management offices (PMOs) has stressed the PMOs' potential to act as knowledge brokers between projects, and between project and top management. Nonetheless, the literature does not provide sufficient evidence of the brokering role of PMOs. The research reported here aims to examine PMO's functions from a knowledge sharing perspective and explore whether or not these functions reflect the knowledge sharing needs of project managers (PMs). These issues are investigated through a cross-case analysis of seven organisations. The main contribution is insight into how PMs share knowledge and awareness of the need to structure PMOs to align with PMs' nature, needs and expectations in order to improve knowledge sharing in PBOs. Finally, some practical steps for helping PMOs to better adapt their functions to the needs of PMs and their learning and knowledge sharing style are proposed.     

Knowledge management and project-based knowledge in it projects: A model and preliminary empirical results

In this research, we investigate how IT-enabled business projects can be managed to contribute value to the client organization. We take a knowledge view of this issue, and conceptualize knowledge management as a three dimensional concept comprising knowledge stock, enabling environment and knowledge practices. We suggest that knowledge management enables the creation and alignment of three types of project-based knowledge that are critical to achieving desired business outcomes: technical design knowledge, organizational change knowledge and business value knowledges     

Learning in project-based organizations: The role of project teams' social capital for overcoming barriers to learning

It is a major challenge for project-based organizations to learn across project boundaries by making project-level knowledge available to the organization as a whole. This study argues that project teams' social capital is conducive to overcoming barriers to learning in project-based organizations. Based on a large-scale analysis of engineering projects in Germany, the study shows that project teams' social capital, i.e. the intra-organizational social ties of project teams with their colleagues outside the project, compensates for project teams' lack of opportunity, motivation, and ability to make project-learnings available to the organization as a whole. By contributing to overcoming barriers to learning in project-based organizations, social capital represents an important driver of organizational learning about market conditions, products and technologies as well as project management.     

A configurational explanation for performance management systems' design in project-based organizations

This paper investigates what configurations of organization-level contingencies explain different performance management system (PMS) designs in project-based organizations (PBOs). By studying organization-level contingency factors – perceived environmental uncertainty, organizational size, innovation strategy, and opportunity strategy – this paper extends prior literature on PMSs in PBOs, which predominantly focused on project and portfolio level contingencies. In addition, while prior literature studied the contingency factors separately, this paper argues that it is the configuration of contingencies that matter for PMS design choices. Data on 15 PBOs in the management consulting industry reveal that PBOs combine various controls into performance management systems that are either predominantly mechanistic or organic in nature. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) points to four configurations of organization-level characteristics, two of which are associated with the PBO's choice for mechanistic performance management system, and two that are related to organic performance management system.     

Success factors of knowledge management in temporary organizations

The prevalence of temporary forms of cooperation and project-based work is increasing. Likewise, the knowledge-intensity of work contents is growing. However, the unique and temporary nature of projects and programs does not support knowledge transfer from, between and within projects.This research aims at spotting success factors of knowledge management in temporary organizations. Based on a cross-industry sample with 414 organizations, we apply the partial least square (PLS) method to test the influence of cultural, organizational, structural, and process-related factors on knowledge management effectiveness.Besides IT-support and formal elements of the organization, it is cultural factors that strongly influence knowledge management success. In temporary organizations they compensate for the lack of organizational routines and organizational memory. Our results contribute to a more differentiated understanding of knowledge management in project environments.     

The impact of a delivery project's business model in a project-based firm

If projects are independent business organizations having goals of their own instead of being direct subordinates to the parent firm, then project-level goals might contradict those of the parent firm. This raises an empirical question on the impact of delivery projects in a project-based firm. We use the business model concept to study the mechanisms of generating revenues in five delivery projects in a case firm from the mining and metallurgical industry. Our findings suggest that although project-level business models are often derived top–down from firm-level business models, projects also create autonomous business models that have a bottom–up effect on the firm by shaping the existing business models or creating completely new ones. These results strengthen the understanding of the dynamic relations between a project-based firm and its delivery projects.     

The linguistic turn in project conceptualization

Prior and conflicting stakeholder concerns can make projects complex. Listening to, and integrating, this concern into the project is easier said than done. However the pragmatic ethics of the Australian ‘fair-go’ argues long term success requires an attempt be made. This pragmatic philosophy provides a solution by explaining the relationship between community, conceptualization and agreed reasonable action. After introducing pragmatism, this paper uses an Australian based re-organization project to explain why linguistic concepts might be used to conceive projects made complex by conflicting stakeholders. The philosophy is made operational by using idea networking to reveal the concepts underpinning stakeholders' comments. This method clusters similar statements to enable exposure of these underlying concepts (themes, meta narrative), which are named. It was found that using this concept driven method provides an internally consistent means of conceptualizing projects with conflicting stakeholders' concerns.     

Integrating services into solution offerings in the sales work of project-based firms

Project marketing and sales are the key activities at the front-end of solution delivery projects. Effective sales are a prerequisite for successful solution delivery in project-based firms, but little is known about the requirements for sales practices, particularly when the firm integrates services into solution offerings. The purposes of this study are to explore the integration of services into the sales of solutions and identify the needs and practices of service-related sales in project-based firms. The implications of integrating services into the solution offering are discussed based on a qualitative interview-based case study in two engineering industry firms. The findings suggest the use of business-level integration practices to facilitate the integration of sales and services at the project level. The results also indicate the importance of cooperation-oriented practices during a project in both interpersonal and group collaboration. The findings highlight the role of integrative people to manage collaboration and information flows at the front-end of projects. The findings contribute to the evidence on the requirements of sales work in integrating services with solutions by showing the complementarity of system and cross-functional integration in service-related solution selling as well as the work of integrative people in overcoming problems arising from the increased solution orientation in project-based firms.     

A psychological contract perspective of vertical and distributed leadership in project-based organizations

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between two leadership styles (vertical and distributed), conceptualized through types of decisions made (strategic and operational/tactical), and the state of psychological contract (fulfillment/breach) at three different levels of the organizational hierarchy in project-based organizations. The explorative analysis of eight organizations from India and Australia demonstrates the prevalence of distributed leadership: operational and technical decisions are usually entrusted to the project team and project managers, while strategic decisions are made by senior management. The study suggests that three factors facilitate a specific leadership style (vertical or distributed): organizational culture, knowledge sharing and project management practices, which in turn impact the state of psychological contract (fulfillment/breach). A flexible, collaborative organizational culture supports knowledge sharing and the adoption of agile methods, enabling distributed leadership and leading to psychological contract fulfillment.     

Exploration and exploitation in project-based organizations: Development and diffusion of knowledge at different organizational levels in construction companies

Management studies highlight the importance of an organization's capability to both exploit existing knowledge and technologies for short-term profits and also explore new knowledge and technologies to enhance long-term innovation. Although this paradox recently has received escalating interest in management research, studies dealing with project-levels and project-based organizations (PBOs) are scarce. This conceptual paper discusses how PBOs in the construction industry can manage the exploration/exploitation paradox at different organizational levels. Short-term project focus and decentralization inhibits learning from one point in time and space to another, making it easier to reap the benefits of exploitation than of exploration. Current structural and sequential separation of exploration and exploitation activities at business unit, project portfolio, and project levels do not solve the paradox, due to lack of integrating mechanisms. Hence, PBOs in the construction industry may suffer from inadequate extent of exploration, while the extent of exploitation is not reaching its potential. Cooperative procurement procedures can serve as a basis for facilitating both exploration and exploitation of knowledge and technologies in construction projects.     

Organizational culture and willingness to share knowledge: A competing values perspective in Australian context

A considerable amount of research has confirmed the relationship between organizational culture and knowledge sharing behaviours. However, less research has been conducted on the impact of project sub-cultures in relation to the sharing of knowledge between projects, particularly in project based organizations (PBOs). The unique structures and contexts characterized by PBOs indicate the need to investigate further the impact of cultures present within PBOs and their effect on knowledge sharing. We report on a rich case study of four large Australian-based PBOs whereby the cultural values of these large organizations were seen to impact significantly on whether project teams were more or less likely to improve inter-project knowledge sharing. Furthermore, this research demonstrates the utility of using Cameron and Quinn's (2005) Competing Values Framework to evaluate culture in the context of PBOs.     

Managing the project learning paradox: A set-theoretic approach toward project knowledge transfer

Managing project-based learning is becoming an increasingly important part of project management. This article presents a comparative case study of 12 cases of knowledge transfer between temporary inter-organizational projects and permanent parent organizations. Our set-theoretic analysis of these data yields two major findings. First, a high level of absorptive capacity of the project owner is a necessary condition for successful project knowledge transfer, which implies that the responsibility for knowledge transfer seems to in the first place lie with the project parent organization, not with the project manager. Second, none of the factors are sufficient by themselves. This implies that successful project knowledge transfer is a complex process always involving configurations of multiple factors. We link these implications with the view of projects as complex temporary organizational forms in which successful project managers need to cope with complexity by simultaneously paying attention to both relational and organizational processes.     

InnoDiff: A project-based model for successful IT innovation diffusion

In spite of the importance of information technology (IT) for many organizations to help manage the enterprise daily transactions, IT project failure rates still remain high and are of great concern. This obliges continued exploration of new process models and organization structures to nurture strong project performance. This paper presents a new generic model for successful implementation of IT projects referred to as InnoDiff. The model uses Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as a test bed. Furthermore, the paper also presents a case study that demonstrates the detailed application of InnoDiff during the course of executing the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) within the Wide Access Network (WAN) at the National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA) in Saudi Arabia.     

Problem absorption as an organizational learning mechanism in project-based companies: Process thinking perspective

In organizations existing rules and norms are usually used as the basis for solving new problems even when this means stretching those rules. Such absorption of new problems by rules reduces the need to explore and develop new solutions and to encode those solutions into new rules. Furthermore, one way that organizational learning can occur is through problem solving, i.e. learning takes place through identifying and resolving problems that occur in the execution of projects. Thus, finding a viable perspective and approach with which project-based companies can understand how their organizational learning through problem solving activities take place in the course of time is a very important issue. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to explore the potential of process thinking to open up new ways to understand organizational learning – particularly through problem absorption within problem solving – in project-based companies. All in all, with the help of this paper we have sought to offer a brief illustration of how process thinking may help to understand this issue.     

Use of services to support the business of a project-based firm

Project-based firms that have traditionally focused on product-centric project deliveries as their core business are increasingly complementing their deliveries with different types of service offerings to create customer specific solutions. Such deliveries frequently encompass the design and delivery of a fully operational system with additional components such as maintenance and optimization of system during its life cycle. From the perspective of customer value, solution deliveries can be divided in to three elements: core project delivery, facilitating service products that are mandatory for use of the core project delivery and supporting service products that create additional value for the customer. In this paper we aim to increase the understanding on the impact of the addition of different types of services such as consultation, conceptual design, feasibility studies, training, maintenance, operation support, and production optimization may have on the business of a project-based firm. We analyze their contribution from five distinct perspectives: strategic, marketing and sales, project implementation, learning and innovation and financial. We carried out an empirical multi-case study within three large-sized project-based firms representing different industries. The results indicate that services play a versatile role in supporting the business of project-based firms — a role which goes beyond simply ensuring the short term profitability of the firm. Furthermore, delivering a specific service, such as consultation or process optimization, may often contribute favorably to more than one of the five perspectives analyzed in this study.     

Doing strategy in project-based organizations: Actors and patterns of action

In the project management literature, projects have often been conceptualized as mere implementation sites of organizational strategy. However, such rationalization seldom draws on empirical evidence of strategy as it unfolds at the micro-level and at the interfaces between projects and the organization. Drawing on rich case-study data, this article explores strategy as-it-is-practiced in a large project-based organization. Using a Strategy-as-Practice lens to identify key patterns of strategizing actions, we found that project mind-sets and skill-sets afforded project actors legitimacy to act as strategists on all organizational levels. Project actualities therefore broadly shape strategy in the organization, and play a much larger role in organizational strategizing than typically portrayed in the literature. The findings are used to suggest new perspectives regarding who are strategists and what strategy is in project-based organizations, and outline new directions for a revitalized research agenda on strategy in the project-management field.     

A framework for governance of public green spaces in cities

Public authorities that seek to transfer the cost of managing green spaces to the private sector face apprehension about the extent of community input in managing of public green spaces in cities. In practice, the governance arrangements for managing public green spaces are neither a purely private or public sector responsibility. They are part of complex and contested governance schemas that involve multiple stakeholder groups with varying interests and responsibilities. This paper proposes a simple framework to support different modes of governance appropriate for the management of public green spaces in cities. The framework classifies stakeholders’ desires for engagement based on ecosystem service characteristics defined on a spectrum of excludability and rivalry. The framework is applied to case studies in Australia and Canada. Finally, we discuss the new insights for governance arrangements for public green space management in cities.     

Business models in project-based firms – Towards a typology of solution-specific business models

Project suppliers are taking increasing responsibility for their customers’ businesses by servicing and operating their installed base of equipment. Simultaneously, the locus in value creation in the project suppliers’ deliveries and business models has changed from short-term project deliveries to also include the operation of systems. We analyze five solutions delivered by a power plant supplier firm. The term ‘solution’ here refers to an offering which includes a project component and an after-delivery service component. We assess the distinctive features in the business models of the solution deliveries. This paper contributes to the existing knowledge by suggesting use of solution-specific business models with six key business model elements and by developing a typology of five solution-specific business models. The typology can also be used for assessing the performance of individual solutions. Our suggestion of a solution-specific business model is especially novel in the research of integrated solutions and business models: although existing literature argues that on a general level a firm can have several business models, prior research has not suggested the use of project-specific or solution-specific business models. Therefore, our finding of solution specificity of business models contributes significantly to the existing knowledge.