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Wiggenhorn, 1997). A knowledge management strategy is developed by the organization
for improving the way it develops, stores, and uses its corporate knowledge. Both tacit
and explicit knowledge are important in the creation and reuse of knowledge. Organiza-
tional memory forms the basis of intellectual capital that is held in an organization.
Intellectual capital is the knowledge and capability to develop that knowledge in an
organization (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998).
If an organization is to continually change, it needs to evolve and learn continu-
ously. Kim (1993) defines learning as the acquiring of skills (know how) and “the ability
to articulate a conceptual understanding of an experience” (p. 38). Learning is a process
of continual improvement and innovation (Baldwin, Danielson, & Wiggenhorn, 1997).
Senge (2002) describes a “learning organization” as one “where people continually
expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive
patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people
are continually learning to see the whole together” (p. 3).
For a learning organization to continually learn and develop, organizational learn-
ing needs to occur. Organizational learning is the capacity or process within an
organization to maintain or improve performance based on experience (Nevis, DiBella, &
Gould, 1995).
For an organization to learn, knowledge must be created, shared, and reused
(Arygris & Schon, 1978). The learning process has identifiable stages: knowledge
acquisition, knowledge sharing, and knowledge utilization (Nevis, DiBella, & Gould,
1995).
Arygris and Schon (1978) define organizational knowledge as knowledge about the
organization that can be held in individual’s heads, files, physical objects, and embedded
in cultures and procedures. McElroy (2003) extends this with his concept of organiza-
tional knowledge production — at an organizational level, knowledge is created by
individuals and groups building on existing knowledge and creating new knowledge.
Schneider (2002) argues that the new or emerging model of an organization is where
organizations are characterized by fuzzy organizational boundaries, flattened hierar-
chies, and work relationships sometimes brought about by contracts (alliances and
contingent workers). Knowledge is predominantly created and used across social
networks. It could be argued that knowledge creation and sharing at the organizational
level relies on a combination of explicit knowledge and social networks.
Project management organizations are a natural arena for knowledge management
as project management staff continually interact with and build on both explicit and tacit
knowledge as they move between different projects and phases of a project.
In a project management organization, learning is important as it helps project
managers deliver not just one but a succession of successful projects, and to develop
the right sorts of capabilities, that is, the project management process, the product
development process, and the knowledge management process (Kotnour, 1999). Learn-
ing within and between projects is required for this. Organizational learning in the project
management environment involves both intra- and interproject learning. Intraproject
learning occurs within a project at all phases of the project. Interproject learning is
applying knowledge gained from previous projects so that it is reused and new
knowledge is created (Kotnour & Hjelm, 2002). Knowledge needs to be developed within
a project, where it is used and tested, before it can be transferred to other projects.