Management of Knowledge in Project Environments

Peter E.D. Love, Patrick S.W. Fong, Zahir Irani

“Projects are the way that knowledge workers do their work. This comprehensive book tells you far more about how to create, share, and apply knowledge in projects than any other source. Make it your project to read it.”Thomas H. Davenport, President's Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management, Babson College, Accenture Fellow."Management of Knowledge in Project Environments is a major contribution to effective project work. In an excellent manner the chapters broaden the perspectives for project work from traditional information considerations to more important knowledge-related processes. A persistent problem in project work has always been the alignment of execution to the project's intent and purpose. This book recognizes the execution problem for what it is -- a "Knowledge Problem." The editors and chapter authors provide excellent and well-founded knowledge management approaches for practitioners to manage individual projects as well as building expertise and from project to project.In today's business environment project work becomes more prevalent and therefore the need for more effective project work is more important than ever. This book provides an important tool for anyone who wishes to conduct effective project work in the knowledge era."Karl M. Wiig, Chairman, Knowledge Research Institute, Inc."Management of Knowledge in Project Environments is a rich and comprehensive look at how the worlds of Knowledge Management and Project Management intersect. A must read for those who are project managers, or aspiring to be one. I especially like how the authors bring in relevant projects to make their points."Michael Stankosky, D.Sc., Associate Professor of Systems Engineering and Lead Professor of Knowledge Management, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C."Knowledge management is a tricky area, particularly in connection with projects, where by definition the organization in focus, i.e. ‘the project’ is temporary. Management of Knowledge in Project Environments can be described as a "state of the art" book covering how the environment of the projects can be set up in a way that not only concerns how learning takes place, but also how knowledge generated in projects can be collected, stored and retrieved when needed. The chapters are easy to read and should be of use to researchers as well as practitioners."Rolf A. Lundin Ph.D., Dean, Professor of Business Administration, Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University.“This is an excellent book on KM for project management students and practitioners. Its strength lies in the depth of insights in case study examples discussed, as well as the presentation of underlying theoretical concepts. Often new ways of looking at age-old problems (such as how to best learn from the past) is inhibited by a lack of common knowledge and language with which to describe and share insights. Management of Knowledge in Project Environments moves beyond an introduction to KM to discuss and develop how KM is used in practice; what KM really looks, feels and tastes like. It provides an invaluable resource for KM practitioner and students alike. It also provides perspectives from Europe, Australia and North America and so it provides a truly global picture of how the global knowledge economy is shaping the discipline of project management.”Derek HT Walker, Professor of Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne Australia.

• Introduction; Conceptualizing and implementing knowledge management; Knowledge integration process and dynamics within the context of cross functional teams; Co-creation of knowledge by multidisciplinary project teams;Influences of knowledge sharing and hoarding in project based firms; A community perspective on managing knowledge in project environments; Managing Knowledge in project-based professional services firms; Building a learning organization in a project based environment;Reflection, participation, and learning in project environments; Managing projects through reflection; Making sense of learning landscapes in project-based organizations; Learning from project failure.