Abstract
A growing number of studies are now emphasizing the critical importance of learning and knowledge accumulation for firm-level competitiveness. Despite the growing awareness, relatively fewer project-based firms have institutionalized mechanisms to systematically capture new project knowledge and re-use it to improve the execution of subsequent projects. The peculiarity of projects presents unique challenges that make the cognitive approach to learning difficult to implement. As such, researchers are recommending the social constructivist perspective of learning as the most viable strategy for cultivating learning within and across projects. However, scant work has been undertaken from this sociological perspective to analyze how temporary organizations manage knowledge arising from and relating to projects. From this standpoint, the aim of this paper is to discuss the learning mechanisms of construction firms. The study adopted a quantitative strategy by employing a questionnaire survey into the learning practices of construction projects in Ghana. Drawing on preliminary findings from the literature, the study proposes a model for cultivating learning within projects from the social constructivist viewpoint. In the model, project management practitioners can purposefully nurture or structure a project learning activity through four mechanisms viz.: institutionalization, externalization, socialization and internalization. The proposed model is subsequently validated in an empirical study into the learning practices during the implementation of construction projects in Ghana. Based on the empirical results, it seems that knowledge sharing and transfers through the four aforementioned learning mechanisms proposed by the model are highly regarded within project management practice in Ghana.
Highlights
In the modern economy, the foundations of organizational competitiveness have shifted from the resource-based view (RBV) to the knowledge-based view (KBV) of a firm [1] [2]
Situated learning mechanisms support to the individual, project and organisational levels, we developed four (4) constructs that enabled us to categorize a variety of social mechanisms that temporary organizations engage to construct knowledge and learning viz.: institutionalization, socialization, externalization, and internalization
In appreciating the learning process as a social effort, the current study adopted the model suggested by Nonaka and Takeuchi [26] based on the processes of socialization, internalization, combination and externalization to understand whether and how temporary organizations cultivate learning from a social constructivist perspective
Summary
The foundations of organizational competitiveness have shifted from the resource-based view (RBV) to the knowledge-based view (KBV) of a firm [1] [2]. The competitiveness of the firm is contingent on its learning capabilities. This learning takes two generalized forms—cognitive and social constructivist perspectives. The social constructivist perspective, on the other hand, focuses on learning within a dynamic social process [4] [5]. From this standpoint, knowledge is not seen as a “resource” that is capturable; nor embedded in organizational processes. Knowledge is seen to emerge as people interact recurrently in the context of established routines and procedures [6]
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