This study explores how the artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities of interaction, automation, search and retrieval, pattern recognition, and reason and decision-making could address the barriers that hinder the use of the knowledge repository transfer mechanism in knowledge management. The research finds that AI technologies could directly improve the repository’s usefulness, accessibility, and interface while also indirectly boosting awareness of the repository and the motivation to use the repository. The study also highlights the need for a collaborative human—AI approach to optimise the use of the knowledge repository and to guide future knowledge management strategies.

The execution of operational improvement projects can create new knowledge that can be used to contribute to the success of future projects. A paradox exists, in that new knowledge is seldom transferred to future projects, and so the associated value-adding opportunities are lost. The objectives of this study are to determine whether lessons learned are captured during operational improvement projects, and to identify contextual factors that support or hinder the knowledge transfer processes. Through the use of interviews and subsequent data analysis, the research shows that the transfer of knowledge can be better facilitated by addressing the knowledge transfer inhibitors, recognising the value-adding potential of knowledge transfer during the execution of improvement projects, and creating a culture that is conducive to sharing knowledge – in particular, the lessons learned from mistakes and poor management practices.

Skills and knowledge gaps between senior and junior staff is prevalent in engineering projects. This study aimed to identify the factors that affect knowledge transfer and methods to retain transferred knowledge between senior and junior staff in the South African engineering environment. Although several studies have examined the factors that influence knowledge transfer, very few have studied the factors affecting knowledge transfer between senior and junior staff in engineering projects. This study found that knowledge transfer is not made a priority in projects, and that there is a lack of knowledge transfer platforms and structures in projects. Incentivising knowledge transfer by making it a work outcome would improve knowledge transfer in projects. Keywords Knowledge Transfer; Engineering Projects

Purpose This article describes advances in the study of knowledge transfer (KT) in project-based organizations (PBOs). Project management offices (PMOs) have both a moderation role and a mediation role to play in KT between projects. In order to improve KT between projects, this paper explores the mediation role of the PMO in the transfer of knowledge with different levels of articulability. The aim is to improve the usability of transferred knowledge. Design/methodology/approach The case study method was used to investigate KT in five-divisional PMOs within a multinational engineering and project management PBO. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted and the results were analysed using ATLAS.Ti (a computer-aided qualitative data analysis software). Findings The findings show that it is the way in which the PMO structures knowledge management (KM) infrastructure and processes, which determines the success of its mediation role in the transfer of tacit and explicit knowledge between projects. The articulability of knowledge influences the PMO's mediation role and the PMO's mediation role in turn improves the usability of knowledge, thereby creating a conducive environment for a competitive advantage. Originality/value This study offers a framework to assist scholars and practitioners to understand the mediation role of the PMO in the transfer of knowledge with different levels of articulability within the projects environment. Such understanding can improve the usability of transferred knowledge, thereby creating a competitive edge for a PBO. The study shows that the PMO can be used as an instrument for KT between projects, a theme that was not found in literature. The paper thus offers new empirical information.

The knowledge transfer role of a project management office in a matrixstructured telecommunication organisation was investigated by means of focus groups and interviews, and the results were analysed with ATLAS.ti software. The results confirmed the key role that the project management office plays in knowledge transfer. Corporate culture was found to have a greater effect on knowledge transfer than the type of organisational structure. Conflicts and other challenges typical of matrix structures did not necessarily hinder knowledge transfer, and even contributed to it. The knowledge transfer roles of the project management office were primarily perceived as a moderator of the transfer of technical information and a mediator of project and business knowledge.

Before any acquired knowledge is used or adds value to the receiving project (members), it must be accepted by its recipients, leading to an increase in their positive attitudes towards, and intended use of, the acquired knowledge. To be willing to accept knowledge, the receiving project's team members must perceive it to have value and be easy to use. The focus of this exploratory paper is to develop and empirically test relevant sub-dimensions of perceived value and ease-of-use. The sub-dimensions were identified through a literature review, and measurement scales were developed empirically by applying a well-established scale development methodology.

A conceptual model for the role of a project management office (PMO) in improving the usability of knowledge that is transferred between projects is proposed, and a method to investigate the role of PMOs in knowledge transfer is validated. The case of a PMO in a multinational engineering company was selected, and 24 codes within three themes were identified through qualitative data analysis of a semi-structured interview. Provisional support was found for three propositions related to three variables: the articulability of knowledge, the usability of knowledge, and the role of the PMO. The study fine-tuned a case study protocol for future investigation of the role of PMOs in improving the usability of knowledge that is transferred between projects.

The desire to gain knowledge about the quality and timing of construction projects delivered to clients has become an increased focus point in the field of construction management. Clients have expectations that are often based on their assumptions about the validity of making the learning curve theory applicable to construction projects. This research aims to determine what criteria need to be met for the learning curve theory to have some validity for construction projects. The results from the questionnaire survey, completed by professionals from the construction industry, show that several concepts were found to be of importance: project specifications, design, scope, budget, site management, planning, monitoring and controlling, and quality. If these concepts correspond between two projects, the chance of successfully applying the learning curve theory increases. Practical recommendations are made that highlight the concepts identified as critical for the successful application of the learning curve theory to construction projects, and that can be used by clients and contractors as a basis for negotiating project schedules.

Projects are unique, temporary structures that produce unique knowledge. For organisations to gain competitive advantage, this knowledge needs to be transferred effectively between projects. Knowledge transfer across projects is thus an important and decisive competitive factor. However, project teams typically focus on short-term project goals, and often fail to regard capturing and transferring project knowledge between projects as important for the long-term benefit of the organisation. This theoretical study argues that Project Management Offices (PMOs) play an important role by supporting and facilitating the flow of knowledge between projects. A conceptual framework depicting the role of PMOs in the transfer of knowledge between projects is presented here, while empirical results will be reported on in a sequel to this paper.

Background: The complex, unique and temporary nature of projects makes project-to-project knowledge transfer challenging and has attracted attention from both practitioners and academic scholars. This challenging nature of project-to-project knowledge transfer led to the proliferation of a host of tools and instruments (so-called knowledge transfer mechanisms) in which little structure can be discovered making selection by (project) managers a difficult task.Aim: This article aims to deal with this unstructured proliferation of knowledge transfer mechanisms by empirically categorising these transfer mechanisms, thereby reducing the number of mechanisms to groups that share a common characteristic.Setting: The study takes stock of the wide range of knowledge transfer mechanisms available and analyses them in terms of specific characteristics (e.g. explicitness or reach).Methods: A multi-method approach is used in which a multi-level latent class analysis is applied on data collected via an expert panel.Results: Five categories of transfer mechanisms could be empirically established where these mechanisms showed common characteristics.Conclusion: The taxonomy developed will allow organisations and project managers to more efficiently select appropriate transfer mechanisms for use in project-to-project knowledge transfer.

Knowledge dissemination, as part of the knowledge exchange process, is particularly challenging in any project environment due to the temporary nature of projects. Although several studies in the earlier literature studied the factors that influence knowledge exchange, very few examined them from the ‘knowledge push’ perspective. This study aims, therefore, to highlight the critical factors that impact knowledge dissemination in a project environment. This empirical research found ten critical factors, such as individual experience, trust, source credibility, shared understanding, motivation, and articulability. These individual factors seem to have a dominant influence on knowledge dissemination from the view point of the knowledge source.

This paper examines mechanisms to use lessons learned on individual projects within an organisation. A Delphi study highlighted the organisation’s responsibility for incorporating knowledge from projects into a project management methodology. Knowledge from a project should be transferred through a centralised knowledge management function that should evaluate codified knowledge within the context in which it was generated, determine how the knowledge should be used, and maintain the explicit knowledge database and the knowledge flow process. Based on a literature review, structured interviews, archived data, and a Delphi survey, a framework for transferring knowledge to the organisation is proposed. The framework enables the organisation to motivate and guide knowledge transfer within a methodology that indicates where, when, and how knowledge transfer and use should take place.

Knowledge transfer in projects are more complex and challenging than such transfers in normal operations due to the temporary nature of project teams in which team members often do not see the capturing and transferring of knowledge across projects as important for long term benefits to the organization. Understanding how and why different communication media, computer-mediated or otherwise, are used in organisations becomes essential to prescribe and to predict sound rationale organisational investments in different media choices. Although a lot of research has been done on factors that influence media selection as a knowledge transfer tool, organisations are becoming more dependent on using the electronic media for communication and further advancement in the electronic media necessitate continued research. This study investigates the key factors that influence the selection of electronic media in projects communication focussing on the engineering sector as well as identifying factors which are more dominant that others. The communication factors which were identified during the study were grouped into four groups: system characteristic factors, task factors, organisational factors and people factors. The study investigated the influence of the communication factors on the following forms of electronic media: e-mail, internet, intranet, extranet, electronic bulletin boards, television networks, audio recordings, video conferences, tele conferences, instant messaging, telephonic systems and multimedia presentations. Results showed that the top ten key factors which influence selection of electronic media consisted of; six system factors, three task factors, one organisational factor and one people factor. Systems factors were more critical than the other factors in influencing the choice of electronic media.

The Project Management Office (PMO) has been associated with organisational project management competence. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support this perception. This study examines the relationship of PMO maturity and the nine knowledge areas that describe Organisational Project Management (OPM) by collecting data from 129 PMO executives, staff, and project managers in South African Government Infrastructure Departments (SAGID) using a structured questionnaire. The results show that a PMO's `strategic' maturity has the highest impact on all nine areas of OPM. It is thus recommended that public organisations need to accelerate the strategic maturity of their PMOs to benefit from them.

Past studies of performance management systems (PMS) have focused more on designing the framework and less on the effect it has on employees. Moreover, employees in developing countries may not be knowledgeable or familiar with PMS. This paper proposes two competing statistical models to examine the roles that supervisor support (SS) has in engineering organisations. It was found that SS is a mediator, but not a moderator, in the relationship between PMS and employee job satisfaction. In other words, SS partially explains why employees have positive perceptions of their jobs based on their evaluation of the current PMS; SS thus enhances the PMS in engineering organisations.

Knowledge transfers across projects in Project-Based Organizations (PBOs) are more complex and challenging than in the permanent organizational context due to the temporary nature of project teams in which team members do not see capturing and transferring across projects as important for long term benefits to the organization. Although knowledge transfer is well researched, few empirical studies have covered the implementation of knowledge transfer across projects in project-based organizations. To gain an overview of the knowledge transfer process in PBOs, a systematic literature review is conducted to the three theoretical concepts of interest in this study, namely knowledge type, transfer mechanisms and transfer success. The literature review identified several dimensions under each theoretical concept. Subsequently a conceptual model with two propositions is proposed for future empirical study in the relationships amongst the three theoretical concepts.

Product quality has become one of the most important factors for consideration by manufacturing environments due to the increasingly competitive global market. This is especially true for organizations manufacturing a non-repairable product as the cost of warranty claims can be financially considerable and cause rapid loss of market share due to loss of customer satisfaction and confidence. This study has therefore set out to identify the factors affecting product quality in a manufacturing environment. Two distinct sets of factors were identified in literature: "Hard" factors are Systems and Processes, Efficiency, Product and Process Complexity and Discipline, whereas "Soft" factors are Long Term Planning, Organizational Culture, Workforce Management and Leadership Support. The study found that Long Term Planning and Organizational Culture had a very significant impact on product quality within an organization manufacturing a non-repairable product whereas the hard factors only had marginal impacts on product quality.

Projects that fail, for whatever reason, can impact negatively on society, organisations, and other stakeholders. A number of researchers have identified various critical success factors (CSFs) that can influence the outcome and success of a project. This research therefore aims to determine the CSFs that influence various success measures of small-to medium-sized projects at a South African mining company, Exxaro Resources' Grootegeluk Coal Mine. Other objectives of this research include determining the extent of the impacts of these CSFs on the different success measures of a project. The investigation suggests that there are correlations among CSFs, and that certain factors impact the outcome of projects far more than others. This research finds that the single most important CSF for small-to medium-sized projects is the selection of a competent project manager. The competent project manager is characterised by a group of interrelated CSF factors: good leadership, commitment, and learning from past experiences. Based on the research results, other CSFs are discussed and explored in order for recommendations to be made on how this mining company, and possibly other organisations, can achieve greater project success.

The success that Lean and Six Sigma deployment has brought to organisations such as General Electric, Toyota, Motorola and AlliedSignal has generated great interest in the business and process improvement circles in recent years. Organisations are training Black Belts with the intention to reintegrate them into line function roles. These Black Belts are expected to be change agents in their organisations to transform the business culture to one that embraces continuous improvement. However, certain success factors govern the reintegration of trained Black Belts. The goal of this study is to guide organisations that will be reintegrating Black Belts on which critical factors to prioritise for successful reintegration. The body of knowledge relating to these success factors was identified and evaluated. Analysis was conducted to rank the success factors in order of importance. It was found that the highest ranking factors were the importance of the credibility of Black Belts; the amount of time spent by Black Belts in training to build solid skills; and management training and buy in.

The Six Sigma deployment methodology is known for its results in operational excellence associated with improved business practices. Organisations worldwide have shown significantly reduced costs and increased profits when successfully deploying Six Sigma. This paper reports a longitudinal study of a set of indicators and success factors for Six Sigma deployment, using Lonmin PLC, a mining company in South Africa, as a case. The results suggest a shift of indicators from heartfelt personal involvement in 2006 to a mechanistic performance-based culture in 2010. Practical recommendations are made regarding the nine success factor components to be included during Six Sigma deployment.