research overview 25-mar-2015 terence ahern be, mba, phd academic supervisors: prof. brian leavy...
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Research Overview
25-Mar-2015
Terence Ahern BE, MBA, PhD
Academic Supervisors: Prof. Brian Leavy & Prof. P.J. Byrne
The Development of Project Management Capability in Complex Organizational Settings: Towards
a Knowledge-Based View
1Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Table of Contents
2Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Introduction & Research
Background
Research Findings & Implications
Research Conclusions
Innovation Learning
Organization
Organizational Context & Research Motivation
Environmental Change & Organizational Innovation
Rapid change in the external environments of public sector organizations in the 1990s/2000s – National Development Plans and EU market deregulation of the energy sector
Trigger for the development of project management capability (PMC) for delivering capital infrastructure projects in two public-sector organizations investigated –
Iarnród Éireann / Irish Rail and ESB, each with 5,000 to 10,000 employees
Research Motivation How do large and complex organizations develop significant new strategic capabilities
from a previous low base in response to radical environmental change?
Complex organizations - open systems, indeterminate, faced with uncertainty. Use models of rationality to seek determinacy and certainty.
3Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Research Model - Developing Project Management Capability (PMC)
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Research Question: How do learning processes underpin the development of Project Management Capability (PMC) in complex organizational settings?
Data Collection & Analysis Primary data: 51 semi-structured interviews - 35 in Iarnród Éireann and 16 in ESB
– total transcripts of 350k words
Secondary data: company procedures, reports, documentation, etc.
Inductive analysis of data using a practice-oriented research perspective
Goals Practice - Learning Development
PMC Development Context - External & Internal
External Stimulus
Goals
PMC Dimensions Goals
Structures Procedures Resources Systems
PMC Process Groups
Goals Differentiation
Integration Normalization
Organizational Capability Development - Approaches Resource Based View (Economics)
Penrose (1959) – Theory of the growth of the firm (TGF)
Organizations as pools of resources services derived from resources
Management experience as a limit on firm growth and capability development
Barney (1990) - Resources as valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable (V R I N)
Grant (1991) – Framework for resources, capabilities, strategy … Porter’s 5-Forces
Teece et al (1997) – Dynamic capability for resource reconfiguration in volatile environments
Organizational Routines (Economics) Nelson & Winter (1982) – Routines as building blocks for capability
Zollo & Winter (2002) – Co-evolution of operational / dynamic routines and learning
Organizational Culture Barney (1986) – Values, beliefs, assumptions, symbols … valuable, rare, inimitable
Knowledge Based View (Learning) Nonaka et al (1991) - Knowledge creation explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge
Grant (1996) – “Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm”, Strategic Mgmt Jnl
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Organizational Capability Development – Playing Chess
Resources Chess pieces ... Lego blocks
Routines Standard moves as building blocks – all known games as prior knowledge
Rule driven – apply existing knowledge little learning
Culture Game protocols, behaviour, etiquette, etc
Attitudes to risk and reward
Prestige attached to winning
Innovation & Learning Every game different learning
Exploratory moves learning
Innovative moves learning
Continuous improvement continuous learning
6Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Knowledge is a Tricky Business
Economic Development
Knowledge Economy
Smart Economy
Knowledge Workers
Value-Add
Etc.
Complete the Sentence
Knowledge is …
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Types of Knowledge & Interaction Explicit Knowledge (Known)
Practical knowledge - professions, business, organizations, politics, households
Intellectual knowledge - arts, culture, science (E = mc2)
Pastime knowledge - gossip, news, stories, jokes
Spiritual knowledge - religion
Unwanted knowledge - accidently acquired, aimlessly retained
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Experiential Knowledge (Knowing) Knowing that - propositional (know-that) … today is Wednesday … E = mc2
Knowing what - aggregations of knowing that
Knowing how - procedural (know-how)
Knowing who; Knowing whom; Knowing why; Knowing when; Knowing where
Tacit Dimension of Knowledge “We can know more than we can tell” (Michael Polanyi)
Recognising a face in a crowd; riding a bicycle; speaking a language; doing algebra
From-to character of the tacit dimension. Integration “from” subsidiary particulars “to” a focal referent , e.g., piano playing, acting role (lines)
Tacit foreknowledge - entrepreneurs see environment as “image” (Penrose)
Interplay
Research Inquiry - Knowledge Boundaries & Opportunities
Main Research QuestionHow do learning processes underpin the development of Project Management Capability (PMC) in complex organizational settings?
How do organizations learn and create new knowledge? ‒ Learning-before-doing vs. learning-by-doing
Can organizations learn or is it only individuals who can learn? ‒ Individual minds vs. collective mind
Is organizational learning equal to or greater than the sum of the parts? ‒ Lego blocks vs. teamwork synergy
Knowledge terminology – what’s the difference and why it matters‒ Data, information, known (know-that), knowing (know-how), intuition (tacit), wisdom
What is organizational knowledge and where is it found? ‒ Explicit ... libraries, databases, etc.‒ Experiential ... embedded in organizational processes, routines, practices, etc.‒ Tacit ... embodied in organizational personnel, relationships, behaviours, etc.
How can knowledge creation, learning, and utilization in organizations be managed? ‒ Explicit ... planned ... centralized ‒ Experiential ... planned / emergent ... centralized / distributed‒ Tacit ... emergent ... distributed
9Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Table of Contents
10Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Introduction & Research
Background
Research Findings & Implications
Research Conclusions
Innovation Learning
Organization
Research Findings and Implications for Developing Organizational Capability in Project Management
Main Research Insight - PMC is Developed Through Organizational ‛Complex Problem Solving’ (CPS)
Planning Paradox: Unlike traditional projects, complex projects cannot be fully specified in advance
Incomplete knowledge Continuous learning during projects PMC as practice
(1) Complex knowledge formation is emergent bounded planning distributed management
(2) Knowledge formation is grounded in problem solving, which involves organizing and learning
(3) Developing organizational capability involves dynamic, non-linear, organizational learning
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Output
Input
Individual ComplexProjects Projects
Medium/LargeProjects
Project Knowledge Spectrum
Revised Linear Model
Innovation – Team
Innovation – Individual
Planning
(Ahern et al, 2014)
Research Findings - 1
Emergent Complex Knowledge Formation & Distributed Organizing
In traditional projects, plans are goal-driven with little learning expected during implementation beyond linear learning based on error detection and elimination planning paradigm
As complex projects cannot be fully specified in advance, incomplete plans at the outset are common learning during project delivery is intrinsic but often downplayed
Leadership by consensus of a community of learners that delivers a project by learning the project vs. leadership by authority of a production team in the application of prior knowledge
Distributed coordination mechanism, such as ‘a common will of mutual interest’, which is fostered around project goals and paced by the project life cycle synergy
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Project Capability Traditional Complex
Planning Specified Goals & Means Outline Goals & Means
Metaphor Gyroscope Puzzle Solving
Main Locus of Risk Planning Phase Planning & Execution Phases
Organizational Learning Theory Guided Evolution (Plans) Means-End (Goals)
Project Execution Mode & Plan-Led, Error Detection, & Goal-Led, Exploratory, &
Theory of Knowledge Growth Linear Problem Solving Non-Linear Problem Solving
Main Research Insight - PMC is Developed Through Organizational ‛Complex Problem Solving’ (CPS)
Planning Paradox: Unlike traditional projects, complex projects cannot be fully specified in advance
Incomplete knowledge Continuous learning during projects PMC as practice
(1) Complex knowledge formation is emergent bounded planning distributed management
(2) Knowledge formation is grounded in problem solving, which involves organizing and learning
(3) Developing organizational capability involves dynamic, non-linear, organizational learning
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Output
Input
Individual ComplexProjects Projects
Medium/LargeProjects
Project Knowledge Spectrum
Revised Linear Model
Innovation – Team
Innovation – Individual
Planning
(Ahern et al, 2014)
Choice and evaluation ‘screens’
Uncertainty regarding thefinal design
Certainty regarding the
final design
TIM
E
Design involves progressively reducing the number of possibilities until the final design is reached
CONCEPT
FINAL DESIGN SPECIFICATON
Large number of design options
One design
Slack, Chambers, & Johnston (2007)
Knowledge Funnel
Knowledge Funnel
Research Findings - 2 Knowledge Formation Through Problem Solving as a Mode of Organizing and Learning
Problem solving approach is reinterpreted as a two-stage process of differentiation (disordering) and integration (ordering) activities that reduces knowledge entropy (disorder)
Knowledge formation involves organizing and learning at the same time as a synonymous duality of ‘organizing-learning’ knowledge formation is a mode of organizing and learning
(MOL)
Creative destruction - knowledge formation follows a path from “order to disorder to order” rather than from “order to order” under traditional assumptions. The transition point ‘B’
between differentiation and integration can be leveraged.
A project is a mode of organizing to accomplish a temporary undertaking vs. project as task
KnowledgeBellows
BEntropy Envelope Entropy Envelope
entropy (+) entropy (-)
Start → Differentiation → Integration → Goal(Goal)
divergence convergencedisordering ordering
Logical Structure of Knowledge Formation
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Main Research Insight - PMC is Developed Through Organizational ‛Complex Problem Solving’ (CPS)
Planning Paradox: Unlike traditional projects, complex projects cannot be fully specified in advance
Incomplete knowledge Continuous learning during projects PMC as practice
(1) Complex knowledge formation is emergent bounded planning distributed management
(2) Knowledge formation is grounded in problem solving, which involves organizing and learning
(3) Developing organizational capability involves dynamic, non-linear, organizational learning
17Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Output
Input
Individual ComplexProjects Projects
Medium/LargeProjects
Project Knowledge Spectrum
Revised Linear Model
Innovation – Team
Innovation – Individual
Planning
(Ahern et al, 2014)
Research Findings - 3
Organizational Capability Development as Dynamic ‛Organizational Learning’
As a new strategic capability, project management capability (PMC) is developed as a dynamic ‛organizational learning’ capability through continuous ‛complex problem solving’ (CPS)
PMC development as a 'learning organization‘ and multi-level ‘capability ecology’
Like a fractal snowflake pattern, the same logical structure for learning is found to operate at individual and organizational levels – goals, differentiation, integration, normalization
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PROBLEM-SOLVING LEARNING GOALS DIFFERENTIATION INTEGRATION NORMALIZATION
PM - PMBOK
PMI (2013) - process groups initiating planning executing closingmonitoring & controlling → → → →
PMC Development (IE & ESB) GOALS DIFFERENTIATION INTEGRATION NORMALIZATION
PMC Development - External goals consulting drafting publishingPMC Development - Board goals devising implementing regularizingPMC Development - Organization goals designing configuring transferringPMC Development - Project (Supervision) goals planning executing handoverPMC Development - Project (Works Staff) goals survey/design/plan implement handover
monitoring & controlling → → → →
Research Model - Developing Project Management Capability (PMC)
19Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Research Question: How do learning processes underpin the development of Project Management Capability (PMC) in complex organizational settings?
Data Collection & Analysis Primary data: 51 semi-structured interviews - 35 in Iarnród Éireann and 16 in ESB
– total transcripts of 350k words
Secondary data: company procedures, reports, documentation, etc.
Inductive analysis of data using a practice-oriented research perspective
Goals Practice - Learning Development
PMC Development Context - External & Internal
External Stimulus
Goals
PMC Dimensions Goals
Structures Procedures Resources Systems
PMC Process Groups
Goals Differentiation
Integration Normalization
Table of Contents
20Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Introduction & Research
Background
Research Findings & Implications
Research Conclusions
Innovation Learning
Organization
Conclusions and Implications for a Knowledge Based View –
Boundaries and Opportunities
Inquiry Knowledge Boundaries and OpportunitiesMain Research Question
How do learning processes underpin the development of Project Management Capability (PMC) in complex organizational settings?
How do organizations learn and create new knowledge? ‒ Learning-before-doing vs. learning-by-doing
Can organizations learn or is it only individuals who can learn? ‒ Individual minds vs. collective mind
Is organizational learning equal to or greater than the sum of the parts? ‒ Lego blocks vs. teamwork synergy
Knowledge terminology – what’s the difference and why it matters‒ Data, information, known (know-that), knowing (know-how), intuition (tacit), wisdom
What is organizational knowledge and where is it found? ‒ Explicit ... libraries, databases, etc.‒ Experiential ... embedded in organizational processes, routines, practices, etc.‒ Tacit ... embodied in organizational personnel, relationships, behaviours, etc.
How can knowledge creation, learning, and utilization in organizations be managed? ‒ Explicit ... planned ... centralized ‒ Experiential ... planned / emergent ... centralized / distributed‒ Tacit ... emergent ... distributed
21Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Table of Contents
22Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Introduction & Research
Background
Research Findings & Implications
Research Conclusions
Innovation Learning
Organization
Innovation Learning Framework
23Dr. Terence Ahern - PhD Research Overview
Systems Thinking
----- Innovation
Culture (Self-Organizing)
Shared Vision
----- Common
Will
Personal Mastery
----- Master
Practice
Mental Models
----- Distributed Organizing
Team Learning
----- Community of Learners
Innovation Learning Organization
KnowledgeUncertainty
-UnknownKnowns
KnowledgeIndeterminacy
-Unknown Unknowns
ExperientialKnowledge
- Known
Unknowns
ExplicitKnowledge
- Known Knowns
(adapted from Senge, 1990)
Knowledge Formation Potential: From N-Synergy to N2-Synergy
When knowledge is embodied in people, there are two knowledge links between every two people, not one. If someone is inspired by a colleague, this represents one
knowledge link. But, if there is mutual inspiration based on a shared interest and cooperation, there are two knowledge links
Between 2 people, there are 4 potential knowledge elements - 2 individuals and 2 links
Using people as corner points that form geometric shapes, the knowledge elements between people build up as a squared series based on the number of people – 12, 22 (line), 32
(triangle), 42 (square), 52 (pentagon), 62 (hexagon), etc.
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Persons (N) A 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... NKnowledge Link Pairs B 0 1 3 6 10 15 ...Knowledge Links C (Bx2) 0 2 6 12 20 30 ...Knowledge Elements D (A+C) 1 4 9 16 25 36 ... N2
Learning Organization Knowledge Potential
(Ahern, 2013; Ahern et al, 2015)