Maxine Robertson

The importance of process knowledge for cross project learning: evidence from a UK hospital

Knowledge is considered to be a key organizational resource in the 21st century and the knowledge management ‘movement’ has alerted organizations to the fact that they should more strategically exploit their knowledge assets. Companies are thus lured by the suggestion that they can gain competitive advantage by the more astute management of their knowledge base and in particular, by the transfer of knowledge across individuals, groups and organizational units, using IT to accomplish this. In this paper, we reflect on this common view of knowledge transfer. More specifically, we question an implication of this view - essentially the possibility of short-circuiting the learning cycle, so that individuals do not have to rely on their personal or shared experiences to identify better practices, but can learn from the codified lessons of others through IT systems. More importantly, we consider the characteristics of knowledge — that knowledge is distributed, ambiguous and disruptive — that makes its transfer highly problematic. We conclude by considering ways of overcoming these barriers by emphasizing the importance of social systems alongside technical systems.A core prescription from the knowledge management movement is that the successful management of organizational knowledge will prevent farms from reinventing the wheel. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are seen as a key enabler of this process. Our findings challenge this logic. They suggest instead that knowledge is embedded within organizational processes and it is through the continual enactment of these processes that knowledge is created, renewed and transferred. Evidence from a cataract project underway at a Midlands Hospital substantiates our findings. We suggest therefore that attention should be directed at the development and use of ICTs to support the relational aspects of project working and the production of process knowledge facilitating processes of knowledge exploration.