Explorative and exploitative learning in project-based organizations: improving knowledge governance through a project management office?

Abstract

Organizational learning, in terms of both explorative learning within projects and exploitative learning across projects, is of strategic importance for project-based organizations (PBOs) in industries involving production of complex product systems (CoPS). In this conceptual article, we discuss and reflect on how organizational learning may be addressed in PBOs by the establishment of formal knowledge governance mechanisms in a project management office (PMO). Prior literature on PMOs has discussed a broad and diverse range of PMO functions, without conceptually reflecting on their interdependencies. Here, we synthesize the literature into seven main functions. From an organizational learning perspective, we identify significant synergies among the functions of Developing and maintaining a lessons-learnt database, Developing and maintaining project management standards and methods, Consulting and education, and Strategic management. We reflect on how a PBO may establish a centralized PMO utilizing these four systemic learning-related functions as knowledge governance mechanisms, in order to facilitate explorative and exploitative learning through articulation and codification of knowledge. There are also synergies among the three remaining functions, project resource management, monitoring and control, and project portfolio management. These three functions are, however, control related and could be detrimental to place within a centralized PMO focusing on organizational learning.