KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT UTILIZATION IN IT PROJECTS

Abstract

According to recent studies, organizations have begun to recognize the relevance of Knowledge Management (KM) in their projects due to the increased performance of project results. Although KM is usually studied from organizations’ perspective, this paper aims to get the employees’ perspective, in this case, project members. Considering that KM is a discipline that is still evolving, this paper seeks to fill a gap in the literature about KM in Information Technology (IT) projects. It presents an exploratory and descriptive study to identify the actual status of the usage of knowledge management in IT projects in Brazil. For the purpose, it was used the survey methodology to determine the willingness of project members to share knowledge and the contribution of the organizations to the development of KM within the project area. This work was based on four KM pillars (organization, leadership, learning and technology) applied to the creation and transfer processes of KM. The questionnaire was applied to investigate IT projects because of the importance of knowledge to the design and implementation of systems and infrastructure in projects of this nature. Also, the business areas rely mainly on IT investments to the implementation of their business change plans. Preliminary results show that although the organization encourages the practice of KM, it does not provide adequate financial return or recognition. This finding indicates that individuals are willing to share knowledge, but they need a better support of the organization. As far as technology, respondents recognize lack investment in new technologies and software to assist KM. As for learning, respondents demonstrate that socialization and the opportunity to conduct trainings happen regularly. Finally, the environment in which project members are inserted needs improvement in terms of the development process and the formalization of the discipline of KM within the project area. Full Paper PDF: http://www.contecsi.fea.usp.br/envio/11contecsi-files/papers/678/submission/director/678-2424-1-DR.pdf