Knowledge Management in Project Success

This assignment delves into the significance of knowledge management for successful project completion. It examines various aspects, including integrating knowledge and processes, managing complex projects, and the impact of institutional context on knowledge sharing. The assignment encourages critical analysis through a study of real-world projects and relevant research findings.

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Swinburne University of Technology
Faculty of Business and Law
INF70005–StrategicProjectManagement
Semester 2, 2017
Assignment Three – Research and Reflective Report
Student’s name
Student ID
Date

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Name: Student ID:
Issue / Concept Specific aspect / area of
focus Your response Grade &
comments
Introduction Introduction to your project
team and your role within it.
[125 words]
Previously, I have worked with a team of five members in a project to
develop a Virtual Reality (VR) Lab in the special schools where the
Autism Spectrum Disorder children study. The names of the five
members in the group are Krupa Vipul Gandhi, Muhammad Haider Ali
Javaid, Hafiz Muhammad Hussain, Muhammad Umer and Rupali Patil.
Out of the five members, Md. Haider Ali worked as a team leader who
arranged different group meetings and planned the entire project.
However, my personal role in the group project was to develop the
project scope and deliverables after considering all constraints and
assumptions. Additionally, I also developed the quality management
plan in order to ensure the delivery of the best quality project to the
sponsor or client.
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Project management
concepts
Comment on the project
significance, aims and
objectives and what you
have learnt from this
experience.
[149 words]
 Significance: The project is significant as it delivers a plan to
develop a Virtual Reality (VR) Lab treatment for the Autism
Spectrum Disorder Children.
 Aim: The primary aim of the project is to understand the
requirement of the client and develop a project plan according to
the budget and need of the Autism Spectrum Disorder Children
School.
 Objective: The objective of the project is to develop and
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implement a new Virtual Reality Lab for the Autism Spectrum
Disorder Children to make them learn and get used to the
external environment.
 Learning: I have learned about analysing the project
requirements, observing the project constraints and develop
assumptions to fulfil the clients need. Also, I have learned to
develop project scopes and deliverables. By working with a
group, I have learned to develop a quality management plan,
project budget, communication plan, work breakdown structure
and project schedule.
Identify and explain one or
two key problem[s]/risk[s]
encountered and describe
your response and why that
approach was chosen.
[100 words]
In the project management, one process risk i.e. unidentified process
needs and one HR risk i.e. unprofessional team members have been
determined. Evidently, unidentified process needs can lead to
unexpected results or outcome. Furthermore, the risk of untrained team
members may lead to human errors that can affect the overall project
outcome. To mitigate the risk of the unidentified process, Data mining
specialist should be hired to monitor and verify the data. In addition, to
deal with the risk of unprofessional staffs, roles and responsibility of the
staff must be predetermined and training should be provided to the staff
members.
Team member
dynamics
Explain what team dynamics
worked well during the
semester and why. What
In the existing semester, communication, collaboration, experience,
talent management, and personality of the team have worked as effective
team dynamics. Meanwhile, effective communication has enabled
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insights will you take into
future projects?
[109 words]
prompt decision making. Collaboration among the team members has
advanced the project work in an effective manner. Moreover,
experiences of the team and prominent talent management have directed
the team members to follow the instructions according to the
requirement. Precisely, by drawing insights from the team dynamics,
each of the team members can increase their knowledge in project
management. In addition, influenced by the team dynamics, team
members can enhance their knowledge and competence about how to
deal with leading issues in project management.
Identify one or two key team
dynamics [positive or
negative] which impacted
your team’s performance?
Explain how these were
managed. Describe your key
learning outcomes?
[102 words]
In the project management, communication process, and personality of
team members can be identified as two key team dynamics influencing
the performance of the team. Convincingly, effective interaction and
communication set up among the team members have verified that the
flow of knowledge and information will be maintained at the highest
order. In this way, commitment of the team members has been boosted.
Secondly, the personality of the team members is another team dynamics
that has encouraged the overall outcome of the project. Standard
personality of the team has developed better understanding and rapport
build up among the members of the team.
Team composition
and process
Identify one aspect that:
1. Worked well
2. Did not work so well.
 Worked well: Planning has been the most important aspect of
the project that worked well. A proper planning has helped us to
complete the project before 3 days of the deadline. Proper
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Explain your choice using
one illustration for each
from your weekly progress
reports to support your
choice.
[131 words]
planning has helped us to organise the activities and allocate role
to each member of the team according to their knowledge and
capabilities.
 Did not work so well: However, one aspect that did not go well
is the conflict among the team members during the initial phase.
We have passed through several brainstorming sessions in order
to understand each other and decide the topic of the project. The
difference in thoughts and way of working become another
challenge for us. However, proper understand and professional
behaviour of the team members have helped us to overcome the
challenges.
List clearly the two chosen
project management issues
from the chosen
international speakers.
Explain why you choose
them.
[211 words]
 Knowledge Management: In IT-related project management,
knowledge management is one of the most evident issues to be
dealt with by the project managers. Precisely, an IT-project
management requires new methods and knowledge resources to
tackle a number of work-related challenges (Nishinaka &
Umemoto, 2015). Hence, it will be essential to share knowledge
and skills suitable for the project team members to complete the
project in a successful manner. The identified project
management issue has been chosen to argue how the issue can
affect a project management.
 Institutional Complexity: Moreover, the second project
management issue that has been identified is the challenges that
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are faced by the project management team in context to the
institutional complexity. For instance, the demand of the
organisation in regards to the utility and deliverable of the project
changes from time to time (Yung 2014). Hence, meeting the new
needs of the stakeholders is a major challenge for the project
management team. Hence, it is important for the project
management team to understand the competing demands and
develop flexible working schedule and budget to provide a scope
of making changes in the upcoming future. In other terms, the
project plan must be developed keeping in mind the scope for
unknown uncertainties that may arrive in the future.
For the first issue, identify at
least one academic theory to
deepen your insights into the
issue
Briefly introduce [and
reference] your chosen
academic theory.
Justify your choice.
[422 words]
In the information technology (IT)-related projects, knowledge
management can be identified as one of the most fundamental issues
hindering the progress of the project work. In this particular section, the
Knowledge Management (KM) Theory has been taken into account to
gain deeper insights into the issue of managing knowledge in project
teams (Saladis, Learning & Kerzner, 2013). According to the theory of
knowledge management, academic scholars and practitioners have
divided the theory into three categories i.e. organisational, ecological,
and techno-centric knowledge management (Tzortzaki & Mihiotis,
2014). By applying the Organisational KM Theory, a project manager
can utilise the organisational hierarchical model to share knowledge and
information. On the other hand, the Ecological KM Theory mainly
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focuses on the team members involved in a project work to share the
knowledge among the stakeholders. Furthermore, the interactions,
relationships within the team members, learning status, the internal and
external factors affecting the knowledge sharing have been monitored to
influence knowledge sharing. Lastly, Techno-centric KM Theory
reviews the technological implications that can increase the flow of
knowledge within the project team members during a live project.
Fundamentally, most of the IT projects have failed due to the lack of
knowledge management and knowledge sharing among the team
members (Peters, Maruster & Jorna, 2010).
Evidently, knowledge management theory can be highly essential for a
project manager to share most convenient knowledge and information to
the team members. By using the Organisational KM Theory, the flow of
knowledge can be distributed following the hierarchical model of a firm.
A project manager can identify the academic knowledge and skills of the
project team members can inspire the most experienced personnel to
influence the rest of the team members (Morey, 2011). Effectively, in
this way, inexperienced team members can be involved in the project
according to the preferences. Also, by following the theoretical concept,
a project manager can assign the right tasks to the most eligible team
members. Furthermore, Ecological KM Theory can be applied by the
project manager to improve the collaboration and knowledge sharing
among the team members. Significantly, by organising meetings,
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brainstorming sessions, and discussion sessions, team members will be
influenced to share their views and knowledge related to an ongoing
project. On the other hand, Techno-centric KM Theory can be
effectively applied by a professional IT-project manager to introduce the
most suitable technological implications relevant for knowledge sharing.
Therefore, the selection of knowledge management theory will be the
best academic theory to address the issue of knowledge management in
IT-related projects (Kasvi, Vartiainen & Hailikari, 2013).
Using your chosen theory to
explain how this helps you
to gain deeper insights into
the first issue.
[616 words]
Due to the latest development of project management practices, sharing
knowledge and information can be evident to improve the sustainability
of project works. In order to deal with the issue of knowledge
management at the different level of a project, application of KM Theory
can provide greater insights. According to researchers, KM Theory can
be introduced in project management practices to establish the most
suitable framework so that the KM process can be addressed at different
project management levels. In the contemporary business projects,
project managers and project teams have to face a number of issues
related to stakeholders, communication, and technology, etc. In order to
control and mitigate the challenges related to the adjacent issues, suitable
knowledge must be involved in the project to maintain the best practices
(Sokhanvar, Matthews & Yarlagadda, 2014). Fundamentally, by
considering the KM Theory in IT-related project management, a project
manager can recommend the most sustainable KM framework to solve
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the issue of knowledge sharing. For instance, KM Theory can bridge the
knowledge and skill gaps of the project team members according to the
requirements. At the same point in time, by implementing the theoretical
concept of Knowledge management, competencies of a project team can
be improved leading to extreme project performance (Alhawari, 2016).
During an IT-project management, knowledge management activities are
highly recommended in the stages such as project initiation, planning,
and monitoring and executions phases. Furthermore, during the project
closure, capturing the identified project knowledge has been advised to
the project leaders (Edmondson, 2012). Evidently, through the
application of KM Theory, a wide range of knowledge management
activities can be introduced into project-based environment by a Project
leader to share and transfer the most important knowledge and
information relevant to the project task (Whelan & Carcary, 2011).
Effectively, by using the KM Theory to access the issue of knowledge
management in an IT-project, the team leader can increase project
management knowledge, knowledge about project procedures, costing
knowledge, technical knowledge, and statutory knowledge, etc among
the team members. In this way, transferring and reusing of knowledge
can be influenced to commence the project in a successful manner
(Sokhanvar, Matthews & Yarlagadda, 2014). In the meanwhile, KN
Theory enables the project head to promote the best knowledge of
project management as per the PM methodology. In addition, by
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developing the most sustainable KM practices using the KM Theory can
provide detail knowledge about the deliverables and clients. Thus, any
sort of miscommunication and misconception regarding the project
management can be evaded (Disterer, 2012).
In managing the issue of knowledge management, KM Theory will
provide better awareness to the team members improving the practices of
knowledge transfer (Tzortzaki & Mihiotis, 2014). A project manager can
consider the Ecological KM Theory so that a better collaboration and
understanding can be developed among the team member to deal with
the issue of knowledge management. In any IT-project, it is the
responsibility of the team leader to influence the team to work as a unit
(Kraaijenbrink, 2012). However, lack of knowledge of project
management may lead to the unsatisfactory outcome. By showing the
maturity, suitable KM Theory can be taken into account to promote
meetings and brainstorming sessions so that members of a project team
can get a chance to show their competencies and share important
knowledge related to the project work. Affirmatively, KM Theory can
influence the four KM processes i.e. knowledge capturing, knowledge
creation, knowledge transferring, and knowledge reusing to develop the
most effective KM process model (Sokhanvar, Matthews & Yarlagadda,
2014). By offering proper knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing
methods, managing knowledge will become significantly easier for the
project leader to control the issue of knowledge management in IT-
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related project management.
Identify your new learning
and explain how this insight
will influence you in the
future.
[224 words]
From the outset of the assignment, the discussion has been mainly
concentrated on the fundamental issues related to IT-project
management. Through the identification of issue related to knowledge
management, the consequences leading to the problem can be evaluated.
Furthermore, the application of Knowledge Management Theory will
ensure each of the practices in knowledge management can be performed
according to the need so that every team members associated to the
project can be influenced. Precisely, the illustration of KM Theory has
provided a wider range of practices that can be taken into account in
further projects to handle the team members in an effective manner
(Pauleen & Gorman, 2011). In addition, the in-depth discussion on the
knowledge management process has enhanced the concept of knowledge
sharing, transferring, and reusing of knowledge in project management
practices. Evidently, KM Theory has delivered adequate insight to deal
with the challenges such as transfer of knowledge to increase
collaboration among the team members. Furthermore, the way of sharing
knowledge to the team members can be identified through the model.
For instance, a project leader can share and transfer knowledge to the
relatively inexperienced team members through organising meetings,
brainstorming sessions, and workshops, etc (Huff & Jenkins, 2012).
Conclusively, the learning of knowledge management theory will
certainly encourage the personal competency that can be utilised to
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handle future project works.
For the second issue,
identify at least one
academic theory to deepen
your insights into the issue
Briefly introduce [and
reference] your chosen
academic theory.
Justify your choice.
[420 words]
The influences of institutional complexity have emerged to be a primary
challenge for project management in innovative project. According to
Prof. Sue Newell, the issues of differences in the thought of the people
and the variances in their demand become difficult for the project
management team to consider while developing an innovative project.
The variances in the mindset of the people and resistance from the
stakeholders are primary challenges for the project management team.
Additionally, the change in the expectation of the stakeholders and their
behaviour of influencing the project management decision creates
different types of complexity for the project management team (Yung
2014). Hence, it is important for the members of project management
teams to identify the organisational complexities that main influence the
progress and completion of the project.
On the basis of the issue discussed above, two academic theories have
been discussed in this section to draw a deeper insight into the second
issue. The first one is the Institutional complexity theory and the second
one is the Paradox theory (Waldman et al. 2016). Both the theories deal
with the human behaviour of competing demands that leads to
institutional complexities and conflicts among the members of a firm
(Yung 2014). Firstly, the institutional theory presents the competing
demands emerging from different field level stresses and pressures due
to the oppositional and contradictory nature of the users or project
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stakeholders (Smith & Tracey 2016). The institutional complexity theory
states that the variances in the choice of the users occur due to the
variance in their social behaviour. The difference in the behaviour of the
people is the primary reason for the variance in their choice. Secondly,
the paradox theory finds that competing demand is a part of the
organisational system that occurs due to the variance in individual sense
making, relational dialogue and environmental conditions (Waldman et
al. 2016). The paradox theory states that the differences in the choice and
decision making of the users occur due to the environmental conditions,
relation with the developers and individual decision making attributes.
The primary reason for choosing these theories is that the theories help
to understand the factors that influence the institutional complexity. For
instance, the choice and behaviour of the users are highly influenced by
their social behaviour and environmental conditions that leads to
competing demands. In other words, competing demand of the
institutional members is the primary reason for institutional complexity
that increases the complexity of the project and leads to various types of
challenges in international project management.
Using your chosen theory to
explain how this helps you
to gain deeper insights into
the second issue.
According to Smith & Tracey (2016), the success of an organisation
depends upon the ability of the leaders to address the competing
demands simultaneously. In the same manner, it is important for the
project management team to address the competing demand of the users
or stakeholders in order to understand the uncertainties that may arrive in
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[688 words] the future and deal with the issues of institutional complexity (Smith &
Tracey 2016). Both the institutional theory and paradox theory can be
applied in order to understand the competing demands of the users and
develop necessary strategies to mitigate the issues. Hence, these theories
can be used to identify the factors that lead to competing demands and
develop strategies to complement the competing demands of the users.
According to Stukalina (2016), the complexity of the project increases
with increase in the complexity in the structure of the organisation. On
the other hand, the complicacy of the environment of the University also
leads to the increase in the complexity of the project. For instance, some
of the members of the organisation think that the project is not suitable to
meet the desired changes (Stukalina 2016). In the same manner, some
member of the organisation may think that a particular change in the
project plan can be helpful to meet the desired objectives of the project.
Hence, a contradiction in the demand of the users can be evident during
the course of the project.
According to Morris & Geraldi (2011), the contemporary project
management principles intends to conduct projects in isolation and fails
to consider the context related to organisational structure, tools and
practices, and leadership styles that are required to complement the
competing demands of the users. As per Morris & Geraldi (2011), the
institutional context must be considered by applying institution theory
and paradox theory. For instance, the institutional theory helps to know
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that the behaviour and choice of the users are influence their social
structure. On the other hand, the paradox theory helps to understand the
decision of the users are contradictory, persist over time, interdependent,
accommodating tensions but not resolves them and demanding strategies
for engaging (Morris & Geraldi 2011). Hence, it is important to
institutionalise the project management concepts and develop modern
methodologies of project management in order to deal with the
challenges of institutional complexities.
Furthermore, the understanding of the institutional complexity must be
used to develop flexible schedules and budget that can be altered in the
future to meet the competing demands of the users. For instance, a
change in the preferences of the clients must be considered while
developing the projects over international level (Marle & Vidal 2016). It
is important to note that a stagnant plan cannot be used to develop a
particular project in different region that have a diverse culture and
organisational structure (Pich, Loch & Meyer 2002). The theory of
paradox and institutional complexity teaches that the factors may vary
from one place to another and it is not possible to forecast the unknown
challenges that may arrive during the progress phase of the project
(Marle & Vidal 2016). Hence, it is important for the project management
team to focus on understanding the competing demands of the users,
choose an appropriate leadership style and focus on developing flexible
project management strategies considering the context of institution
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complexity in order to deal with the challenges of change in mind and
demand.
Finally, Prof. Sue Newell has already said that the contemporary project
management methodologies focus on managing the external stakeholders
in place of managing the progress of the project. Hence, the theories
discussed here will provide a deeper understanding of the issues of
institutional complexity that must be dealt while develop a project in
order to get proper support from the internal members of the
organisation. A proper understanding of the users’ behaviour and their
needs can be helpful in mitigating maximum level of uncertainties
(Abdou, Yong & Othman 2016). However, a scope for changes in the
future can be maintained by using modern project management tools in
order to deal with major changes in the requirement and deliverables of
the project.
Identify your new learning
and explain how this insight
will influence you in the
future.
[206 words]
While reviewing the theory of institutional complexity and paradox, it
can be seen that there are several factors that influences the demand of
the users. In the same manner, contradictions and variances in the
demand can be evident among different members of the institution that
leads to institutional complexity. Hence, there is a need of proper
leadership style in order to understand the competing demands of the
individuals and influence the members of the institution to focus on a
particular objective in place of changing their preferences from time to
time. However, the project management team must focus on
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understanding the competing demand of the users and provide a scope
for changes in the future to deal with the changing demand of the
institutions. The learning from the theories and issues identified here will
help me to apply those frameworks in the future and complete the
projects successfully. Additionally, the learning from this issue has
taught me the importance of using modern project management tools and
methodologies to manage the projects over international platform. I can
effectively utilise the knowledge derived from the analysis to understand
the behaviour of the users and utilise their preferences in developing the
project to minimise the impact of institutional complexity.
References Presented in alphabetic order
Use:
Swinburne Harvard Style
Guide
Abdou, S, Yong, K & Othman, M 2016, ‘Project Complexity Influence
on Project management performance – The Malaysian
perspective’, MATEC Web of Conferences, vol. 66.
Alhawari, S. 2016, ‘Relationship among Project Management Processes
and Knowledge Repository for Project Success’, International Journal
of Enterprise Information Systems, 12(4), pp.16-30.
Disterer, G. 2012, ‘Management of project knowledge and
experiences. Journal of Knowledge Management’, 6(5), pp.512-520.
Edmondson, A. 2012, Teaming. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Huff, A. & Jenkins, M. 2012, Mapping strategic knowledge. 4th ed.
London: SAGE.
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Kasvi, J., Vartiainen, M. & Hailikari, M. 2013, ‘Managing knowledge
and knowledge competences in projects and project
organisations’, International Journal of Project Management, 21(8),
pp.571-582.
Kraaijenbrink, J. 2012, ‘Integrating Knowledge and Knowledge
Processes: A Critical Incident Study of Product Development
Projects’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 29(6), pp.1082-
1096.
Marle, F & Vidal, L 2016, Managing complex, high risk projects,
LondonSpringer-Verlag.
Morey, D. 2011, ‘High‐speed knowledge management: integrating
operations theory and knowledge management for rapid results’, Journal
of Knowledge Management, 5(4), pp.322-328.
Morris, P & Geraldi, J 2011, ‘Managing the institutional context for
projects’, Project Management Journal, vol. 46, no. 6.
Nishinaka, M. & Umemoto, K. 2015, ‘Project Knowledge
Management’, Knowledge Management: An International Journal,
13(4), pp.15-30.
Pauleen, D. & Gorman, G. 2011’ Personal knowledge management, 1st
ed. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.
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Peters, K., Maruster, L. & Jorna, R. 2010, ‘Knowledge claim evaluation:
a fundamental issue for knowledge management’, Journal of Knowledge
Management, 14(2), pp.243-257.
Pich, M, Loch, C & Meyer, A 2002, ‘On Uncertainty, Ambiguity, and
Complexity in Project Management’, Institutional Knowledge at
Singapore Management University.
Saladis, F., Learning, I. & Kerzner, H. 2013, Value-driven project
management, 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Smith, W & Tracey, P 2016, ‘Institutional complexity and paradox
theory: Complementarities of competing demands’, Strategic
Organization, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 455-466.
Sokhanvar, S., Matthews, J. & Yarlagadda, P. 2014, ‘Importance of
Knowledge Management Processes in a Project-based organization: A
Case Study of Research Enterprise’, Procedia Engineering, 97(2014),
pp.1825-1830.
Stukalina, Y 2016, ‘Management of a Complex Research Project in the
Context of Implementing the University's Overall Strategy’, Procedia -
Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 235, pp. 12-21.
Tzortzaki, A. & Mihiotis, A. 2014, ‘A Review of Knowledge
Management Theory and Future Directions’, Knowledge and Process
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Management, 21(1), pp.29-41.
Waldman, D, Putnam, L, Miron-Spektor, E & Siegel, D 2016, ‘The Role
of Paradox Theory in Decision Making and Management
Research’, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
Whelan, E. & Carcary, M. 2011, ‘Integrating talent and knowledge
management: where are the benefits?’ Journal of Knowledge
Management, 15(4), pp.675-687.
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management’, Journal of Business Economics and Management, vol. 16,
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