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A research study has been undertaken at the University of South Australia to introduce application of lessons learned process in construction contractors ' bidding process in the context of knowledge management. The study aims to identify barriers to effectively capture lessons learned in Australian construction industry and how knowledge management can benefit from lessons learned application.

The research study has been undertaken through conducting a “methodological triangulation” and “interdisciplinary triangulation”. This involved an extensive literature review of knowledge management, organisation learning, lessons learned and associated processes and administration of a questionnaire to a sample of construction contractors operating in Australia to elicit opinions on the main barriers to capturing lessons learned, practices such as existence and retention of documentation procedures. A total of 81 useable responses were received from 450 organisations. Response data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics with correlation analysis to examine the strength of relationship among the barriers.

The top-3 barriers to the effective capturing of lessons learned were “lack of employee time”, “lack of resources” and “lack of clear guidelines”, whereas, “lack of management support” was the least ranked barrier. The study established that despite the majority of the ACCs having formal procedures for recording the tenders submitted and their outcomes, only a minority actually retained the lessons learned documentation for each project. The larger contractors were found to be more aware of the importance of lessons learned documentation. A comparative analysis with previous studies also found a disparity in the ranking of the barriers.

The majority of the participants were small construction contractors in Australia. The reason is that the researchers were not aware of the contractors ' size prior to inviting them for participation in the research study. Second the findings may not generalize to other industries or to organisations operating in other countries.

The findings of this survey help ACCs to understand the importance of lessons learned documentation as part of lessons learned implementation and identify the barriers to effectively document their lessons learned. The study provides insights on the barriers and proposes advocated solutions in form of drivers and enablers (critical success factors) of organisational learning capturing among the Australian construction contractors. By reviewing the current literature, “post-project reviews” and “lessons learned” as important elements of organisation learning knowledge transfer, are addressed. Finally, contribution of this study to knowledge and practice has been discussed in this paper.

To increase the spread and reuse of lessons learned (LLs), the purpose of this paper is to develop a standardised information structure to facilitate concise capture of the critical elements needed to engage secondary learners and help them apply lessons to their contexts.

Three workshops with industry practitioners, an analysis of over 60 actual lessons from private and public sector organisations and seven practitioner interviews provided evidence of actual practice. Design science was used to develop a repeatable/consistent information model of LL content/structure. Workshop analysis and theory provided the coding template. Situation theory and normative analysis were used to define the knowledge and rule logic to standardise fields.

Comparing evidence from practice against theoretical prescriptions in the literature highlighted important enhancements to the standard LL model. These were a consistent/concise rule and context structure, appropriate emotional language, reuse and control criteria to ensure lessons were transferrable and reusable in new situations.

Findings are based on a limited sample. Long-term benefits of standardisation and use need further research. A larger sample/longitudinal usage study is planned.

The implementation of the LL structure was well-received in one government user site and other industry user sites are pending. Practitioners validated the design logic for improving capture and reuse of lessons to render them easily translatable to a new learner’s context.

The new LL structure is uniquely grounded in user needs, developed from existing best practice and is an original application of normative and situation theory to provide consistent rule logic for context/content structure.

The purpose of this paper is to report on research which has developed a new approach to capturing project‐based learning.

Action research was employed as part of a longitudinal single organization case study.

Project learning processes can be improved by using an event‐based approach to project knowledge integration that propagates duetero‐learning. The approach developed generates outputs that codify lessons learnt and promotes measurement of benefits. The event and the outputs, in effect, take the form of “boundary objects” which act as a bridge or means of translation between the participants, as well as to those who will use the learning to improve their own project practice on other projects.

The approach has only been applied within a single support services organization, but could provide a way of overcoming the considerable difficulties inherent in capturing lessons learned within project‐based environments.

The approach helps to overcome the key issues of obtaining management and staff buy‐in, and dealing with the time pressures that exist in project‐based environments. The outputs can be applied to encourage learning across projects and wider communities resulting in improved practice.

The process uses the concept of boundary objects to explain how some of the problems arising when complex abstract concepts are involved can be overcome, particularly in increasing understanding and buy‐in from the actors involved. Viewing learning events as boundary objects sees them as mediating information across project boundaries, between project practitioners and across business units. The event process can be adapted for a variety of scenarios and used by an organization or group of organizations to improve and apply learning more successfully.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze a successful training exercise in detail, through both a practical and a theoretical lens, in order to identify critical aspects of its success and enable others to build upon it; and to capture insights and lessons learned in a framework that will facilitate the design of future trainings for a variety of goals and audiences.

The authors document and analyze the case study of a successful humanitarian logistics training exercise: the World Food Programme’s Logistics Response Team (WFP’s LRT) training. The LRT is described in detail in order to capture the extensive knowledge and experience that went into developing the full-scale, immersive exercise.

The authors evaluate the LRT training through a theoretical lens, considering how it teaches the diverse set of skills required and identifying reasons for its success. The authors contrast the LRT with a light version developed for classroom use, and capture insights in a framework that highlights critical aspects of training design.

The requirements and design aspects highlighted in the framework are very high level, but they focus attention on key aspects that should be considered. Future research should develop more targeted metrics for evaluating what people learn from training exercises. More generally, a systematic approach to capturing knowledge and codifying good practices should be developed.

The detailed case study and framework provide a basis for the design and improvement of simulated emergency training exercises, which are common in the humanitarian practice community.

The case study of WFP’s LRT training formally documents valuable knowledge and experience that went into its development. The humanitarian community can use the proposed framework to more systematically evaluate, improve, and extend training exercises.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a model of adoption of social media to assist project managers in the treatment of lessons learned (LL). Target, a collaborative model to foster learning in projects, approaches the problem of LL management from nearly a new light and perspective.

This research was conducted using a mixed methods approach with a research design denominated partially mixed concurrent equal status. In this design, both quantitative and qualitative elements were conducted concurrently in their entirety before being mixed at the data interpretation stage. These elements have approximately equal emphasis with respect to reaching the objectives of the research.

The results indicate the most suitable social media that match each LL process. They show how to manage LL through processes made in any phase of the project life cycle. The LL processes most commonly used in the projects are raising awareness, collect and store. According to the questionnaire respondents, 54.5 percent of organizations make use of social media in project management, and among the interviewees, half of them use such tools in projects. In addition, 84.1 percent of the questionnaire respondents believe that social media can assist in the LL management.

This study did not get proven successful experience reports in the management of LL. Respondents and interviewees mentioned and recognized such importance, but in projects that use LL management there are no control reports of this learning in organizations in order to measure the gains from the practice of LL management, which indicates an area for future work. An empirical validation of the model proposed in this paper is one immediate research to be done. Another future work is to validate the model in projects from disparate sectors.

The Target model could minimize the problem of knowledge drain, which is ineffective learning practices, resulting in knowledge hoarding, limited sharing and superficial LL practices. Thus, the use of processes supported by collaborative tools that promote discussion, with a familiar format for the user and with an efficient search engine, can generate greater involvement in projects. The usefulness is determined as practical and scientific. It is determined as practical use, because the model allows the selection of tools for each LL process and it can be applied to projects in organizations.

This research proposes a new approach to the management of LL supported by social media. The Target model adds a theoretical contribution to LL processes associating them to social media. This research revisited the extant LL processes and methods in the literature, proposing a new process – raising awareness – that covers personal and interpersonal aspects for the management of LL. The theoretical contribution lies on incremental originality, since it is based on existing theories, processes, methods and tools in order to provide a solution to a known problem.

The purpose of this paper is to show that separate sources of knowledge are identified, described and clearly defined as organizational intangible knowledge assets. These knowledge assets are referred to as knowledge capabilities (KCs). knowledge management (KM) is utilized to leverage these assets with a view to systematic improvement in the process of achieving increased firm performance.

In this paper knowledge capabilities are described in terms of their knowledge life cycle, tacit/implicit/explicit nature of knowledge, technology and organizational processes that encompass a firm's human capital identified as knowledge workers.

The paper finds that five knowledge capability are presented and described as expertise, lessons learned, policies and procedures, data and knowledge documents.

The paper shows that knowledge assets can be measured and improved in order to investigate causal relationships with identified measures of performance.

The paper shows that by explicitly describing these knowledge assets, the KM activities within organizations can more effectively leverage knowledge and improve performance.

The paper sees that by drawing from both resource based and organizational learning literature, a knowledge management framework is presented to describe distinctly separate sources of knowledge within organizations. These knowledge sources are constructed as knowledge capabilities that can allow the assessment of organizational knowledge assets.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a model of Lesson Study owned entirely by pre-service teachers (PSTs), conveying its potential to facilitate mutual spaces of learning between peers beyond formal hierarchical relationships with expert teachers. Fuller’s (1969) conceptual framework of teacher development informed the study, consisting of self, task and impact “phases of concern”.

Participants were secondary physical education PSTs (n=17), completing a university-led postgraduate certificate in education course. Action research methodology was adopted during school placements, when PSTs engaged in Lesson Study with peers. Data obtained through a group discussion board, individual questionnaires and interviews, were subjected to inductive analysis, with key patterns compared to locate themes.

All PSTs felt Lesson Study contributed positively to their training, reinforcing perceived benefits of cycles of action for planning, observing a lesson, reviewing and adapting the plan before re-teaching the revised plan. Findings reveal increased confidence in reducing self and task concerns through four emergent themes: acquiring content and pedagogical knowledge; developing the planning process; understanding individual learners’ needs; and embedding reflective practice. Mutually supportive peer-learning environments created pedagogic space beyond formal mentoring processes, augmenting learning to teach and the understanding of learners’ needs.

Endorsement of Lesson Study by PSTs as a method of engaging in a positive peer-learning climate suggests the workability of this model.

Findings contribute to existing literature exploring the effectiveness and impact of Lesson Study within initial teacher education.

This study identifies and analyzes practices related to declarative knowledge of organizational learning in the product development process (PDP) that uses the Stage-Gate (SG) system.

The field research was conducted with a qualitative approach through a case study. The study object was a multinational company in the automotive sector that is highly competent in truck chassis design with a PDP based on the SG system.

The authors identified PDPs associated with the elements of declarative knowledge of organizational learning in intra- and inter-development teams. Rather than merely being a checklist, each gate in the SG system has the potential to become a more effective and robust intra-team learning practice and promote inputs for continuous improvement in the process through its use as a checkpoint of the five elements of declarative knowledge during the development activities.

The case study was conducted in a multinational company in the automotive sector, whose business units are divided by competencies. The unit studied is a reference in truck chassis and is located in the State of São Paulo, Brazil.

The research model presented can be used to evaluate how companies exploit their activities and practices to leverage organizational learning in PDP. That is, the model can be used as a diagnostic reference for declarative knowledge in companies that apply the SG system to manage PDP.

The study focuses on a model of PDP analysis, aspects of organizational learning and declarative knowledge, in that the model it assists in the collection, distribution and use of information to the development team members with a view for products with greater innovation potential.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo identificar e analisar práticas relacionadas ao conhecimento declarativo da aprendizagem organizacional no processo de desenvolvimento de produtos que utilizam o sistema Stage-Gate (SG).

A pesquisa de campo foi realizada com abordagem qualitativa por meio de um estudo de caso. O objeto de estudo foi uma empresa multinacional do setor automotivo de alta competência em projeto de chassis de caminhões com processo de desenvolvimento de produto baseado no sistema Stage-Gate.

A descrição das práticas já existentes no PDP de uma empresa multinacional do setor automotivo e que estão associadas aos elementos do conhecimento declarativo da aprendizagem organizacional nos ambientes intra e inter equipe. O gate ao invés de ser apenas um checklist, tem potential de se tornar uma prática de aprendizado intra-equipe mais efetiva e robusta e promover inputs para melhoria contínua do PDP através da utilização dele como um ponto de verificação dos 5 elementos do conhecimento declarativo que foram conduzidos pelo time de projeto durante as atividades de desenvolvimento.

O modelo de análise apresentado pelo artigo pode servir como base de avaliação de como as empresas exploram suas atividades e práticas de desenvolvimento de produtos durante as revisões de fase para garantir a aprendizagem organizacional, ou seja, como referencial de diagnóstico do conhecimento declarativo em empresas que aplicam a sistemática de stage-gates para o gerenciamento de PDP.

O artigo une em um modelo para análise de PDP, aspectos de aprendizagem organizacional e conhecimento declarativo, na medida em que ela auxilia na coleta, distribuição e utilização de informação aos membros do PDP com vistas a produtos com maior potential de inovação.

The successful management of change using a project-based intervention is crucial for any organization to succeed in the highly competitive and evolving global business environment. Whilst a number of theories of change management are widely accepted, literature suggests they are falling short of their endeavors as a result of the theories lacking a useful framework to successfully plan, implement and manage change. This paper seeks to address these issues.

This article critically argues the value of project-based management in the change management process with particular focus on PRINCE2 and PMBoK. As such, change management can be considered a project and utilize project-based processes to successfully implement change.

Using PMBoK and PRINCE2 as a reference, a number of PM processes and techniques have been detailed which demonstrate the applicability of project-based processes for implementation of CM initiatives.

It was purported the technical background of traditional project managers has resulted in a focus on tasks and results rather than the human aspects and softer skills of CM, which are equally valuable to project success. Bridging these two gaps could increase the success of CM initiatives and similarly enhance the success of projects-based interventions.

The high failure rate of change interventions suggests improvements could be made to its management, monitoring and control. The analytical focus of this research was in how the common and most utilised CM models could be improved with PM processes in order to appropriately deliver successful change. Using PMBoK and PRINCE2 as a reference, a number of PM processes and techniques have been detailed which demonstrate the applicability of project-based processes for implementation of CM initiatives.

The social science background of CM professionals and the tendency for HR to deliver change initiatives has contributed to the lack of appreciation for formal processes and technical contributions as offered by PM in delivering change. Likewise, theorists developing CM from non-technical backgrounds tend to focus on the human dimensions over all other issues.

The lack of a suitable guiding framework for CM suggests the creation of a CM body of knowledge and alignment of CM processes could enhance the field. Although CM encompasses a broad range of possible change models, the attempts by CM theorists to apply a formal structure to the change process have been scant. Treating change initiatives as a temporary project and subsequently integrating CM with PM processes will capture synergies between the two areas.

This paper discusses the role of narrative in the expression and transmission of social knowledge as a specific type of tacit knowledge. Narrative is a central mechanism by which social knowledge is conveyed. Narrative provides a bridge between the tacit and the explicit, allowing tacit social knowledge to be demonstrated and learned, without the need to propositionalize it. Institutions can best maintain their stock of stories by providing occasions on which they can be told. Archival systems such as databases, lessons learned systems, and video records are less effective, particularly when they attempt to store records or transcripts of oral stories. However, they can be improved by attention to key design dimensions, including appropriate allocation of the effort required from system administrators and users, and attention to translation between genres.