A Holistic View on Learning in Project-Based Organizations

Abstract

Although researchers have over the years highlighted the importance of managing and supporting learning in project-based settings, it still seems to be problematic. New project management capabilities are needed, such as systems thinking, which will allow project-based organizations to better cope with learning in the organizations. This article explores how Swedish project-based organizations within an engineering and construction context manage and support learning activities today and discusses, with the support of process management literature, how an “organizational-wide project learning process” could improve the prerequisites for learning in project-based organizations. Our findings from three project-based organizations indicate a lack of a holistic perspective on project learning. A conceptual model is proposed, with the aim of validating and promoting process thinking by introducing, for example, new roles responsible for intra-and inter-project learning, respectively.