HR as a Knowledge Area of Project Management, Article Critique Example

The objectives of the study

The aim of the study was to understand the impact of social processes on managing knowledge in a project environment. The research was based on a recently conducted study in the UK designed to examine knowledge management on project based learning. The objective of this research was to ascertain the possible enablers and inhibitors to the effective acquisition and conveyance of knowledge by drawing from single projects from different environments. The study drew from the normal organization mode as opposed to the previous study. From the study, the objectives were not clearly identified because they relied on the previous research. The previous study aim was clearly stated and specific. The aim was also adequately explained. Theoretical framework

The study did not identify dependent variables and independent variables. In this study, the researcher discussed a sub topic of managing knowledge on a project environment. He argues that the characteristics of projects involve new product and process development. The argument brought forward is that through such activities, ideas are generated, and cross functional learning takes place. This contributes to the innovative capacity of an organization and argues that projects are the vehicles for driving change in the traditional organization setting. The researcher clearly discussed the issue at hand bringing out the arguments for and against the research from different studies undertaken previously. From the literature review, the underlying theories were clearly identified. The study identified gaps that needed to be filled because following past studies, it was identified that some areas needed to be studied to fill the gaps.

Situation of the study

From this study, a number of similar studies have been discussed. These studies did not adequately address the issue at hand, or they focused on something different from the topic of study. The aims of the studies were also different from the ones the researcher wanted to investigate. A majority of the other studies emphasized on the difficulty of on the project learning. Some of the studies found it difficult to study with individual and across or between projects.  From the study, a number of reasons have been given for difficulties of cross project learning.

A number of organizations face difficulties in trying to capture knowledge and re using project based learning. The study notes that discontinuity is experienced in resource flow from one project to the other. From the studies, it is evident that the researcher had not undertaken adequate research on knowledge transfer leaving some gaps that this study tried to fill. This research is different from the previous ones because it includes knowledge transfer within a project.

Research approach and methodology

The article gives the justification for the study type. The research was an exploratory study that targeted to study the management of knowledge in a project environment. The study fully supported the methodology in the discussion. The research used five case studies on projects that were undertaken and the sample drawn from the construction sector. In terms of data collection, the location and sample, the paper adequately addressed these issues. The study used semi structured interviews and seven project managers were interviewed. The interview was guided by an interview schedule where open ended questions were asked. Testing of reliability was undertaken on the questionnaires.

Presentation and analysis

The analysis of the results was in line with the theoretical framework discussed earlier. The discussion and analysis of the results referred to the discussion made in the literature review.  The results for the study were discussed in line with the topic studied and objectives of the study. The management of knowledge in a project environment was discussed in the findings by the researcher.  Data analysis was based on the factors that were identified in the review of literature and discussion was made from the outcomes of the analysis. The paper also suggested areas for further research.

Reference

Bresnena Mike, Linda Edelmanb, Sue Newellb, Harry Scarbrougha, Jacky Swan Social practices and the management of knowledge in project environments. International Journal of Project Management 21 (2003) 157–166