Barriers and Facilitators to Knowledge Capture and Transfer in Project-Based Firms

The objective of this paper is to increase our understanding of knowledge management policies in project-based organisations from a human resource management perspective, a neglected dimension in the knowledge management discourse (Scarbrough & Swan, 1999). We hypothesise that incentive structures play a major role in the operational success or failure of knowledge capture and transfer policies. More specifically, conflicts and inconsistencies in incentives lead to variances in whether or not these policies are successful. The paper analyses three empirically grounded models of knowledge management in project-based firms, and works towards a framework drawn from three literatures; knowledge management, the resource-based view of the firm and agency theory. Drawing from the ‘resource-based view’ theories of the firm (Barney, 1991, Teece at al, 1997, Collis & Montgomery, 1995), we argue that knowledge capture and transfer can be regarded as strategic issues, in that they benefit the organisation as a whole. However, the process of accumulating and documenting (i.e. capturing) ‘lessons learned’, is more tactical in nature, as it involves costs attributable to a specific project (for example employee time to document and compile reports). Furthermore, these costs may be in conflict with the pressures of a specific project, such as completion on time and within budget. If there are inappropriate or nonexisting incentive structures to address this inherent conflict, knowledge management policies will be inadequate. This fundamental tension is analysed through the agency theory perspective, which attempts to address the problems that result from agency relationships where there is goal incongruence between the principal and the agent. In this case, the conflict is between the strategic benefits accruing to the organisation as a whole from the knowledge transfer, and the tactical costs associated with knowledge capture that are borne by the individual projects. The paper begins with a review and integration of the relevant knowledge management, resource-based view and agency theory literature. We continue with a discussion of the methodology for our empirical research, followed by the results: 3 company case studies of approaches to knowledge capture and transfer. These firms are all international, project-based and leaders in their sectors, yet approach knowledge management in very different ways. We conclude by analysing the cases with reference to the earlier theories, and propose the beginnings of a new knowledge management typology that integrates the human resource implications of agency theory.