Knowledge Management in Project-Based Organizations: The Interplay of Time Orientations and Knowledge Interventions

The common perception is that all types of work and work organizations appear to involve knowledge: knowledge intensive work, knowledge workers, knowledge products, customerrelated knowledge and knowledge intensive organizations. Therefore, as organizations increasingly organize their activities in the form of projects, effective ways of knowledge management are needed to deliver successful and timely outcomes. However, little research has been done in the area that integrates time orientations into the process of knowledge management. Using the approach of grounded theory, this paper investigates the interplay between time orientations and knowledge interventions through interviews with international project managers drawn from different types of project-based organizations in Sweden and Italy. The perceptions and experiences of the managers are used to construct a model of time orientation and knowledge interventions in project-based organizations. Time orientations are shown to play a critical role in the success or failure of projects. The model integrates time orientations into the project life cycle and illustrates how effectively knowledge interventions can be used to achieve project milestones and meet overall deadlines.