Integration of Knowledge Sharing Into Project Management

Introduction

An increasing number of organizations have implemented their business operations through projects (Todorović, et., 2015). Projects that can be defined as a temporary effort to create a specific product or service (PMI, 2017). Temporary, in the sense that a project has a defined beginning and end, and unique, in the sense that the product/service is different in some way, distinct from other products/services (Owen & Burstein, 2005; PMI, 2017). Projects are collective endeavors with goals based on the development of common understandings, which generate personal and group knowledge that contributes to their own success (Sankarasubramanian, 2009).

For many organizations, knowledge is the most important asset and its survival depends on the organization's ability to effectively use existing knowledge and to effectively create, develop and use new knowledge (Pascoe & More, 2005). Proper knowledge is a basic prerequisite for effective project management (Gasik, 2011) and the knowledge management is vital factor to successfully undertake projects (Sokhanvar, 2014). According to Koskinen and Pihlanto (2008), projects are often dependent on knowledge that is not in their possession. Within this context, the integration of knowledge management in project management is necessary to share information and knowledge to solve problems effectively and efficiently (Yeong & Lim, 2010). Knowledge, defined by Gao et al (2018) as the practical and theoretical understanding of a subject, is considered as an essential organizational resource (Buvik & Tvedt, 2017; Hanisch et al., 2009) and its management is considered as a fundamental tool for the success of the projects (Romani, 2017).

Generically knowledge management represents the set of processes and practices carried out in organizations with the objective of increasing intellectual potential, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the management of organizational knowledge resources (Heisig, 2009; Andreeva and Kianto, 2012). The basic purpose of knowledge management is to create and share knowledge within organizations (Chen et al., 2018). Knowledge sharing is especially important in a project environment and contributes significantly to the performance of organizations (Buvik & Tvedt, 2017) and to understand the best way to share knowledge between teams and between members of a project (Fernie et., 2003). Further, Al Ahbabi et al. (2019) conclude that the dimensions of knowledge management had a positive impact on innovation, quality and operational performance of employees. Gürlek & Çemberci (2020) shows that firms under the leadership of knowledge-oriented leaders have high knowledge management capacity, innovation performance and firm performance. Also, due to the temporary nature of projects, knowledge management in project-based organizations is not like functional companies (Kasvi, Vartiainen, & Hailikari, 2003). Project team members split up or leave after project completion and this poses several challenges to projects and project-based organizations (Ajmal, Helo, & Kekale, 2010)

Through a case study approach, it is proved that team members use different knowledge sharing practices, in addition to recognizing its importance for the most successful management of their projects.