Knowledge Management Systems in a Project-Driven Environment

1. The Organisation Knowledge Base, which contains the data and information specific to the organisation and wider environment in which the project is being executed.

2. The Project Management Knowledge Base, containing knowledge of the theory and application of project management.

3. The Project-Specific Knowledge Base, which contains the project-specific knowledge acquired from the user at the outset and developed over the project life cycle.

Conroy and Soltan (1998) suggest that during the course of the execution of a project, there will be a creation of knowledge in the Project-Specific Knowledge Base, but there will also be an evolution of the initial knowledge held in the Organisation and Project Management Knowledge bases. For example, this could occur in areas such as familiarity with the particular client; the equipment and technologies used on the project; and the project management systems, techniques, and software. The new knowledge in all three knowledge bases is initially held only by those individuals who are members of the project team. The goal, therefore, is for that knowledge, or at least the most important and relevant elements of it, to be identified, captured, and fed back into, or made available to, the wider knowledge pool of the organisation, along the lines Gupta and McDaniel (2002) propose. In this way, the knowledge can be used to the benefit of future work across the firm, rather than only on future projects involving those specific project team members. In considering the business of consulting engineering, the project-generated knowledge that is of interest for capture can be divided into three general categories (Conroy & Soltan, 1998):

1. Technical-relating to the techniques, technologies, work-processes, statutory requirements, costs, and so forth involved in the production of discipline-specific elements of the project. New knowledge needs to be fed back into and managed by the discipline departments of the organisation.

2. Project Management-relating to the techniques and technologies for managing the execution of projects. This knowledge is of benefit to all project managers and others involved in the wider aspects of project management, including the company quality system.

3. Project Related-knowledge of the client and the historical aspects of the project which are of use for future marketing purposes either in winning jobs with the same client or in improving the firm's 'curricula vitae.'

Thus by following such guidelines for an integrated knowledge management system, capturing project-generated knowledge is feasible.