Project Management in the Development of Dynamic Capabilities for an Open Innovation Era (original) (raw)
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The Project-Based firm as a new organization form: A dynamic capabilities approach
This paper focuses on the application of the Dynamic Capabilities framework to Project Management discipline. A review of project management literature illustrates the new project and project managers' conceptualization and the shift towards a more strategic perspective. Commonalities and overlaps between project management and dynamic capabilities approach are highlighted both from a theoretical and professional point of view. The findings indicate the closeness between project management and dynamic capabilities by creating an integrative framework useful both for top and project managers. Besides, we show the potential benefits of the application of strategic management theories to Project Management.
The Project-Based Firm: A Theoretical Framework for Building Dynamic Capabilities
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The problem of achieving individual project performance has been replaced by the problem of achieving organizational goals through project performance. Only project-based firms able to learn and build project capabilities can successfully compete in today’s dynamic environments. The purpose of this paper is to present a dynamic capability-based framework that sheds light on how project and organizational dynamic capabilities are built and how these dynamic capabilities allow project-based firms to perform in dynamic environments. Our theoretical framework unpacks the processes of building dynamic capabilities inside a project-based firm, discussing the routines and procedures that are useful to manage projects in unstable and dynamic environments and to build and reconfigure organizational capabilities from project-led knowledge.
Agile project management under the perspective of dynamic capabilities
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There is a growing academic and industrial interest in how firms can adopt agile project management to meet the demands of dynamically fast-moving environments. However, organizations face difficulties using agile methods in developing a physical product, like the companies found in the automotive industry. This article aims to study agile project management from the perspective of dynamic capabilities. It presents a strengthened analysis of the adoption of agile methods needed for developing physical products in the automotive industry. To address this issue, we formulated the following research question: "what are the dynamic capabilities associated with the agile project management of product development in the automotive sector?". The article presents a case study of a multinational organization in the automotive sector that implemented concepts and practices of agile methods in the project management of new vehicles. Results evidenced the manifestation of dynamic capabilities in the organization's agile project management scope at sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring levels. Furthermore, findings showed the presence of agile methods in the projects and their implications for the organization regarding benefits (like communication, time, effectiveness, autonomy, and motivation gains) and challenges (like resistance to organizational changes). Finally, we propose a framework for analyzing relationships between dynamic capabilities' microfoundations and agile project management practices to guide the choice and implementation of agile methods in the automotive sector.
International Journal of Project Management, 2020
How do organizations use the experience from projects to build a systematic capability to manage open innovation projects? Drawing upon Project Management and Open Innovation capability-building frameworks, we studied the crusade of an industrial company to create an open innovation capability. In that sense, we applied an Event Structure Analysis (ESA) to evaluate the event network, which evidenced a four-stage process: closed mode, open driver, vanguard project, project-to-organization. Results demonstrate, from causal connections, that the referred capability can be leveraged from the execution of key projects, especially from a vanguard project. Our study contributes to Project Management theory by reveling that previous experiences in both project and organizational levels offer a fertile ground for the emergence of a vanguard project. For the open innovation field, this paper provides a project-oriented approach to the discussion of open innovation's adoption in mature firms.
Towards Strategic Project Management
Lecture Notes in Management and Industrial Engineering, 2014
This paper focuses on the application of the Dynamic Capabilities framework to Project Management discipline. A review of project management literature illustrates the new project and project managers' conceptualization and the shift towards a more strategic perspective. Commonalities and overlaps between project management and dynamic capabilities approach are highlighted both from a theoretical and professional point of view. The findings indicate the closeness between project management and dynamic capabilities by creating an integrative framework useful both for top and project managers. Besides, we show the potential benefits of the application of strategic management theories to Project Management.
2015
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the learning boundaries of traditional project capability, which follows the linear planning paradigm, in order to include non-linear complex projects that cannot be completely specified and planned in advance, and so require continuous learning over their life cycles. Design/methodology/approach Based on an earlier empirical investigation, where complex-project capability (CPC) is developed through dynamic organizational learning based on non-linear problem solving, the paper examines some of the conceptual and practical implications of this process insight. The focus here is on incomplete pre-given knowledge and emergent knowledge creation during CPC development. Findings Using the three interrelated dimensions of project type, knowledge creation method, and organizational learning approach, the paper reinterprets Karl Popper’s linear problem solving model for learning in traditional projects by introducing the concept of knowledge entropy (disorder) for learning in non-linear complex projects. The latter follows a path from “order to disorder to order” rather than from “order to order” under traditional assumptions. Research limitations/implications By identifying a common learning process at individual, group, and organizational levels, developing CPC can be viewed as a “learning organization”. This multi-level approach facilitates research into distributed organizing for emergent knowledge creation during CPC development. Practical implications In contrast to traditional planned projects with up-front prior knowledge, complex projects are characterized by incomplete knowledge. The challenge of dealing with knowledge uncertainty in complex projects through continuous learning has practical implications for project learning, planning, knowledge management, and leadership. Originality/value The concept of knowledge entropy (disorder) extends the learning boundaries of traditional projects, where little learning is anticipated, by including complex projects with knowledge uncertainty requiring continuous learning. KEYWORDS: Discovery, Organizational Learning, Practice, Problem Solving, Complex-Project Capability, Uncertainty, Knowledge Entropy
2019
Over the last 20 years, there has been an increase in the study of project-based learning to deploy knowledge management strategies and the concept of organizational capability. We address this topic in the context of infrastructure development projects. Through a review of existing literature complemented by pilot empirical research carried out in MultiWaterWork program, and Gaasperdammer tunnel project in the Netherlands, Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge in China and Crossrail in the UK, research propositions are presented on the relationship among knowledge management, project-based learning, and organizational capabilities. The findings reject the position of knowledge management as a best practice toolkit for immediate use and emphasize that there is no pure copy-paste knowledge learned from one project to another. Learning is proposed as the missing link between project capabilities and knowledge management. The study then focuses on the contribution of sets of project capabiliti...
Knowledge processes and capabilities in project-based organizations
2012
The beauty of projects lies in their ability to integrate different knowledge bases and expertise in novel ways. Projects, though, are temporary in nature and this has consequences for the organization that uses them as a business strategy to improve its efficiency. Project-based organizations are representative of this organizational form and can either be standalone or subsidiary organizations within a larger corporation. In project-based organizations the majority of products or services are produced through projects for either internal or external customers. Nevertheless, project-based organizations are characterized as loosely coupled systems with independent sub-units resulting in sparse internal knowledge processes and capability development. Real estate organizations are often composite organizations where one part is project-based with a temporary perspective, and the other parts perceive the organization to have a longer term perspective, represented by facility management...