Formal and Informal Practices of Knowledge Sharing between Project Teams and Enacted Cultural Characteristics

Discussões sobre aprendizagem em projetos: um estudo bibliométrico

O objetivo dessa pesquisa é apresentar o que está sendo estudado sobre aprendizagem em projetos. Nesse caso, utilizamos a base de dados Scopus para levantamento dos estudos, considerando as principais revistas da área de Gerenciamento de Projetos. A pesquisa se iniciou a partir de uma análise bibliométrica, com levantamento de 256 artigos e, após filtros e ajustes, foram considerados 48 artigos na amostra final. Após análise fatorial exploratória, chegamos a cinco fatores, relacionados à aprendizagem em projetos, o que indicou as frentes de pesquisas para revisão sistemática. Como resultado, identificamos que a aprendizagem individual, a aprendizagem entre projetos e a aprendizagem em organizações baseadas em projetos foram os tópicos de concentração abordados nas pesquisas nos últimos dez anos. No que diz respeito à contribuição desta pesquisa, entendemos que esses temas ajudam pesquisadores e a comunidade de Gestão de Projetos na compreensão das bases teóricas e suas relações com a aprendizagem em projetos, indicando, assim, novas possibilidades de estudos. 

Corporate memory dynamics in project-based organizations (PBOs): multiple case study in Brazilian engineering design firms and a framework proposal

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how the processes of memory acquisition, retention, retrieval and application occur in project-based organizations (PBOs). In this kind of organization, the nature of corporate memory is influenced by the transience, uniqueness and independence of the project portfolio. Such understanding may help practitioners to mitigate the effects of project transience and promote knowledge sharing among project teams.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical and qualitative study was carried out through a multiple case study approach conducted in three Brazilian Engineering Design Firms, which are organized by projects. Document analysis, direct observation and semi-structured interviews with engineers, project managers and executives were conducted.

Findings

The memory acquisition process takes place in five forms which have different sources and destinations when comparing PBOs with traditional organizational settings. Memory retention in PBOs crosses organizational boundaries and establishes a knowledge network of former employees and third parties. The PBOs project memory can be divided into volatile and perennial memory, where the former can be lost throughout project execution and the latter is internalized, becoming an inseparable part of the corporate memory. Memory retrieval in PBOs is also distinct since it has particular mechanisms depending on whether the knowledge is technical or administrative.

Originality/value

The research investigates the corporate memory processes within the volatile context of PBOs in a Latin-American developing country whose culture favors tacit knowledge exchange. The paper proposes a framework that unveils different patterns of knowledge acquisition, temporary and perennial retention structures, intensive usage of external knowledge in memory retrieval and particular memory applications in PBOs. The framework may guide scholars, project managers, engineers and practitioners in navigating through the uniqueness of organizational learning flows and structures in PBOs

Project‐based work in times of COVID‐19: A dynamic framework for knowledge exchange

Knowledge exchange is the key to help knowledge‐intensive firms (KIFs) innovate and communicate with their clients. However, during the COVID‐19 pandemic, many assumptions have been challenged, and as a consequence, this study aims to investigate the effect of the pandemic on knowledge exchange processes in KIFs and how firms responded to the pressing challenges that consequently emerged. This study illustrates how KIFs managed to navigate through the pandemic and exchanged knowledge with their clients in a new dynamic landscape despite the challenges that affected their client base and knowledge workers alike. Using multiple data sources, including 27 interviews, observation, informal conversations, and virtual guided tours, the article provides a three‐phase framework with the assistance of a simplified process lens. The framework phases (disharmony, normalisation, and harmony) illustrate how KIFs responded to the challenges, developed capabilities, and provided support.

The influence of supervisor proactivity on perceived job demands and job outcomes among information technology subordinates in IT-related service projects

Purpose

This study explores how the relationship between supervisor's proactivity, job demands and job outcomes is based on dyadic interpersonal interaction based on the literature of the job demands-resources model and conservation of resources theory.

Design/methodology/approach

In this work, valid data from 272 participants (241 information technology subordinates and 31 project managers) in professional service firms are used in measurement and structural analyses based on a cross-level research framework. Additionally, the hierarchical linear modeling technique and a cross-sectional dataset were used to evaluate the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The results reveal that supervisor proactivity is a critical resource during the execution of professional service projects and is significantly related to perceptions of job demands on the part of subordinates while positively moderating the relationship between job demands and job satisfaction and job demands organizational commitment.

Originality/value

The answer to the question as to whether extensive use of job resources (i.e. supervisor proactivity) in service projects is beneficial and inconclusive in the current information technology (IT) industry literature. Currently, the IT industry continues to experience rapid growth and is a dynamic sector in the global economy that results in increased demands on supervisors because of the specific characteristics of their positions. Consequently, it is necessary further to examine both the direct and moderating effects of resource crossover driven by supervisor proactivity on subordinate behavior, including job demands, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Although proactivity is a relatively mature concept, some issues related to the negative effects of proactivity on factors, such as job demands, technostress and addiction, need to be further addressed. However, studies specifically focus on investigating this issue are missing from the literature. The findings of this paper thus address these research gaps by validating the direct and moderating relationships of such factors using the proposed cross-level research model.

Team learning in interdisciplinary research teams: antecedents and consequences

Purpose

Team learning is critical to interdisciplinary research teams (IDR teams) to use heterogeneous knowledge effectively. Nevertheless, team learning is rarely addressed in the IDR team literature. Also, few studies investigate the antecedents and consequences of team learning in IDR teams, leading to a lack of guidance for management practices. This study aims to investigate how team learning can be developed and how team learning influences team outcomes in IDR teams.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey on 304 members of 37 IDR teams in a research university in China is conducted. Data are analyzed using a partial least square structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results support most hypotheses in general. For the antecedent variables, task interdependence, trust and constructive conflict positively affect team learning. For the outcome variables, team learning improves shared mental models, coordination quality and team performance significantly. Additionally, task uncertainty positively moderates the team learning-coordination quality relation and team learning-team performance relation. However, this paper does not find support for the moderating role of task uncertainty on the team learning-shared mental models relation.

Originality/value

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study investigating the antecedents and consequences of team learning in IDR teams. A multidimensional measurement of team learning for the IDR team context is developed. This study investigates how team behavioral factors influence team learning and the effect of team learning on shared mental models, coordination quality and team performance. This study also explores the contingency role of task uncertainty in the effects of team learning.

Demystifying the differences in the impact of training and incentives on employee performance: mediating roles of trust and knowledge sharing

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the differences in the mediating roles of trust and knowledge sharing (formal vs informal) in the process by which training and incentives influence organizational performance (sales increase and labor productivity).

Design/methodology/approach

The data from an online survey of Senior Managers from 119 firms in Hong Kong’s clothing industry (HKCI) was analyzed using SmartPLS software.

Findings

Trust has a stronger mediating impact in the effects of incentives (vs training) on both formal and informal knowledge sharing. Informal (vs formal) knowledge sharing has a stronger mediating impact in the effects of trust on sales increase and labor productivity.

Research limitations/implications

Future research may consider different dimensions such as knowledge donating and collecting behaviors, as well as motives, such as self-enjoyment, reciprocity or social interaction ties to study knowledge sharing behavior.

Practical implications

This study shows that incentives are more likely than training to help build a trusting environment in an organization and that informal knowledge sharing has a stronger influence on organizational performance than formal knowledge sharing.

Originality/value

The study’s distinctive contribution is the under-researched context of HKCI for investigating the mediating effects of trust and formal and informal knowledge sharing between ability and motivational practices on performance.

Context matters: enablers and barriers to knowledge sharing in Australian public sector ICT projects

Purpose

This paper aims to extend the theory relating to knowledge sharing barriers and enablers in the public sector information and communication technology (ICT) project context.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study method was used whereby project managers from each of the seven departments of the Victorian Public Sector in Australia were interviewed about their knowledge sharing practice. A semi-structured interview instrument based on Riege’s (2005) barrier framework was used to explore the barriers to knowledge sharing that they experienced as part of their work.

Findings

The study found that many of Riege’s (2005) barriers did not apply in the public sector ICT project environment, demonstrating that context matters. In addition, five enablers were identified, resulting in a new model of enablers and barriers to knowledge sharing in public sector ICT projects.

Research limitations/implications

This study focuses on a single case, the Victorian Public Sector, and consequently the results are not generalisable. Future research should explore the applicability of the model in other public sector ICT project contexts.

Practical implications

The study highlights the relationship between knowledge sharing and the project manager and the role it plays in project delivery. The model presented provides a starting point for public sector practitioners to develop their knowledge sharing practice, potentially enhancing project outcomes in the process.

Originality/value

This study examines barriers to knowledge sharing in an under-researched context, that of the public sector ICT project environment. It builds on current theory and provides insights for practitioners in the public sector.

Knowledge transfer for occupational health and safety: Cultivating health and safety learning culture in construction firms

Within the last decades the incidence of workspace injuries and fatalities in the UK construction industry has declined markedly following the developments in occupational health and safety (OHS) management systems. However, safety statistics have reached a plateau and actions for further improvement of OHS management systems are called for. OHS is a form of organizational expertise that has both tacit and explicit dimensions and is situated in the ongoing practices. There is a need for institutionalization and for the transfer of knowledge across and along construction supply chains to reduce OHS risks and facilitate cultural change. The focus of this article is the factors that facilitate OHS knowledge transfer in and between organizations involved in construction projects. An interpretative methodology is used in this research to embrace tacit aspects of knowledge transfer and application. Thematic analysis is supported by a cognitive mapping technique that allows understanding of interrelationships among the concepts expressed by the respondents. This paper demonstrates inconsistency in OHS practices in construction organizations and highlights the importance of cultivating a positive safety culture to encourage transfer of lessons learnt from good practices, incidents, near misses and failures between projects, from projects to programmes and across supply chains. Governmental health and safety regulations, norms and guidelines do not include all possible safety issues specific to different working environments and tied to work contexts. The OHS system should encourage employees to report near misses, incidents and failures in a 'no-blame' context and to take appropriate actions. This research provides foundation for construction project practitioners to adopt more socially oriented approaches towards promoting learning-rich organizational contexts to overcome variation in the OHS and move beyond the current plateau reached in safety statistics.

Are we in this together? Knowledge hiding in teams, collective prosocial motivation and leader-member exchange

Purpose

Although organizations expect employees to share knowledge with each other, knowledge hiding has been documented among coworker dyads. This paper aims to draw on social exchange theory to examine if and why knowledge hiding also occurs in teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Two studies, using experimental (115 student participants on 29 teams) and field (309 employees on 92 teams) data, explore the influence of leader-member exchange (LMX) on knowledge hiding in teams, as well as the moderating role of collective (team-level) prosocial motivation.

Findings

The results of experimental Study 1 showed that collective prosocial motivation and LMX reduce knowledge hiding in teams. Field Study 2 further examined LMX, through its distinctive economic and social facets, and revealed the interaction effect of team prosocial motivation and social LMX on knowledge hiding.

Originality/value

This study complements existing research on knowledge hiding by focusing specifically on the incidence of this phenomenon among members of the same team. This paper presents a multi-level model that explores collective prosocial motivation as a cross-level predictor of knowledge hiding in teams, and examines economic LMX and social LMX as two facets of LMX.

Project Lineage Management and Project Portfolio Success

Project portfolio approaches consider various concurrent project interdependencies but typically neglect longitudinal interdependencies. These are important for exploratory projects, which create strategic options. If these options are not exploited in successive projects they become lost opportunities. This study analyzes 138 firms regarding their extent to consciously manage project sequences. We differentiate between proactive lineage (planning a roadmap of future projects) and reactive lineage (using learnings from past projects). Results show that both practices are positively and independently related to portfolio success. We derive suggestions for future research and discuss which theoretical foundations could be used to better understand the impact of lineage management.

Leading by limitation? Language and communication within the workplace

Purpose

Language and how it is communicated within organisations is a complex situation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective on the practice of issuing style guides and restrictive word lists as highlighted in the recent media through the case of Leader of the House of Commons, Mr Rees-Mogg.

Design/methodology/approach

A key focus is the question whether the approach of limiting language and guiding communication through such a directive is effective in developing understanding amongst work-based learners and facilitating both consistency and quality of communications. The paper looks to draw upon both educational and psychological perspectives to underpin the discussion of how such an approach has been implemented and the resulting impact upon those working with such rules of guidance.

Findings

Conclusions drawn highlight that professionals learning at work may fail to understand the rationale for why guidelines have been issued to them. Subsequently, the work-based learner may feel othered by the process thus effecting motivation and well-being.

Originality/value

The paper offers a perspective on an approach utilised by a leader within the UK Government, exploring it through the lens of education and English Language development to discuss the potential impact upon employees within the workplace.

Does humility facilitate knowledge sharing? Investigating the role of humble knowledge inquiry and response

Purpose

Despite the strong focus on virtues in firms, humility is little recognized in the management literature and, more particularly in the literature about knowledge sharing (KS). Despite efforts to foster KS among employees in firms, the effectiveness of this process narrows down to the dyadic relationship between the knowledge seeker and provider within firm. This paper aims to investigate the role of humility in the KS process in dyadic activity.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors undertake an exploratory investigation to fill some of the gaps found in the literature. The paper draws insights from psychology, history, religion, current events and management literature.

Findings

The authors identify several individual propensities that help predict humility towards sharing knowledge from seeker (humble knowledge-inquiry) and provider perspectives (humble response). They propose a new conceptual process model of KS with humility as an important variable to consider. This work highlights several promising directions for future research.

Originality/value

As per the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the role of humility in knowledge sharing from dyadic perspective. The authors also introduce concepts of humble knowledge inquiry and humble response in a dyadic context for effective knowledge sharing process.

Systemic View to Understanding Design Change Causation and Exploitation of Communications and Knowledge

Frequent changes pervasively undermine project schedule performance. Despite voluminous research into project delays, however, the persistence of the problem demands that a systemic approach be adopted to investigate design change causation and to explore the efficacy of communications and knowledge as strategic project controls. Drawing on a hybrid research design, the critical variables are identified and mapped onto causal loop diagrams to enable practical holism. The findings indicate that effective project communications engenders collaborative team dynamics and collective learning, whereas project learning contributes to knowledge reuse and the improved expert judgment needed for transforming design change management and schedule control.

Critical factors for knowledge sharing in technology-intensive organizations: evidence from UAE service sector

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical factors that impact knowledge sharing (KS) and their importance in technology-intensive service organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Design/methodology/approach

An extensive literature review was conducted to identify the critical factors for KS in technology-intensive organizations. Then, an analytical hierarchical process (AHP) was applied to prioritize the primary criteria and sub-criteria. This study consists of nine primary criteria and 34 sub-criteria that are relevant to KS in technology-intensive organizations.

Findings

The results show that organizational leadership (OL) is the most important factor that impacts KS in technology-intensive organizations, which is followed by organizational culture (OC), organizational strategy (OSY), corporate performance (CP), organizational process (OP), employee engagement (EE) and organizational structure (OST). According to the results, the least impactful factor is human resource management (HRM).

Research limitations/implications

Because the results in this study were only obtained from service organizations, future studies can include manufacturing organizations from different countries and additional success factors. Future studies could also use structural equational modelling methodology for better understanding the relations among these critical factors for KS.

Originality value

This paper is one of the first in the UAE to examine the broad range of critical success factors for KS in technology-intensive organizations.

G. Team boundary activity: a review and directions for future research

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is an examination of the literature on team boundary activity to trace how team boundary activity has evolved as a construct and examine the dimensions of team boundary activity and their relationships. It highlights the need for a deeper examination of the dimensions of buffering and reinforcement, and why buffering and reinforcement are required. It presents the case of why it is important to study this topic and maps out areas for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews conceptual and empirical papers published on team boundary activity in reputed journals between the years 1984 and 2016.

Findings

The focus of research in team boundary activity has been on external interactions of the team (boundary spanning), and very few papers have studied the activities through which the team defines and defends its borders (boundary strengthening). These boundary-strengthening activities can be equally important for innovation and learning in externally dependent teams. Further, there is a need to clearly distinguish these constructs from other variables like team identification. Another area that has here-to not been researched is the relationships between the dimensions of team boundary activity. Last, there is a need to consider a wider range of antecedents, outcomes and moderators of team boundary activity.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is based on past empirical and conceptual papers, identified using search terms such as team boundary activity, team boundary spanning and external communication. Other related areas can also be explored for identifying variables of interest.

Originality/value

As opposed to previous reviews which focused mainly on team boundary spanning, this paper considers all dimensions of team boundary activity, with special focus on buffering and reinforcement. It proposes a 2 × 2 framework to explain the effect of boundary-spanning and boundary-strengthening activities on the achievement of team objectives. It examines the cyclical nature of relationship between team boundary activity and team performance. It highlights measurement issues in the area of team boundary activity.

Balancing Open and Closed Innovation in Megaprojects: Insights from Crossrail

We studied the interplay between open and closed innovation at Crossrail, Europe's largest civil engineering project—aiming to build a suburban railway system in London. Our findings suggest that open and closed innovation can be combined by creating an appropriate communication and exchange environment, whose elements include organizational arrangements (e.g., team organization and task assignment) and methods and rules of communication. We also found that innovation in megaprojects can be successfully driven when the contractors are encouraged to search for and implement incremental solutions to minor problems, not just radical and strategically relevant innovations.

Knowledge Sharing in Cross-Functional Teams and its Antecedents: Role of Mutual Trust as a Moderator

Growth and success of an organisation are primarily dependent on its ability to develop, leverage, and utilise its knowledge base. This study developed a model to test the impact of antecedents of knowledge Sharing (KS) on team performance. The antecedents were classified as organisational characteristics (structure, learning culture, employee training, reward system, top management support) and individual characteristic (emotional intelligence). The study is based on data collected with the help of structured questionnaires from 582 team members working under 69 teams in 26 surveyed organisations in India. Results suggest that high emotional intelligence increases the extent of KS and hence, has positive impact on team performance among cross-functional team members. Moreover, mutual trust among team members moderates KS behaviour and team performance. Thus, findings confirm the applicability and predictive power of the proposed model. Furthermore, this model contributes to the literature of predicting KS practices in cross-functional projects.

Innovation for Multiproject Management: The Case of Component Commonality

To attain benefits and value, multiproject R&D management seeks synergy between projects. Selecting or inventing appropriate end-product components within R&D programs is a concrete example of the synergy between projects. Lowering the number of different components used across projects (i.e., increasing component commonality) can lower end-product costs, which can contribute to firm-level profitability. Prior research, however, shows component commonality as a limitation of innovativeness in multiproject R&D. Conversely, this article shows that component commonality can also serve as the source of innovation, making component commonality an area of special interest to multiproject R&D management and research.