Implementing knowledge management in a project based organisation (PBO) in the power generation industry

This research was undertaken for Kemmy Business School and Atlantic Projects Company Limited. The research identified methods from literature to assess both an organisations Strategic Knowledge Goals and its current knowledge maturity level. From here it was possible to identify several existing Knowledge Management frameworks and analyse these against each other to identify strengths and weaknesses, pro's and con's. This paper combines Zack’s (1999) techniques with Minnone & Turner’s (2001) KM3 model to allow an organisation to assess what its long-term goals are along with its current KM ability to determine what the gap is between where they are and where they want to be. Four selected KM frameworks are compared and contrasted against each other and the results of the research. Interviews were carried out with Upper Management to identify the organisations current strategic goals and objectives. Once these were established it was possible to interview a selection of the organisations personnel to determine what the current status of Knowledge management was within the organisation and which of the selected frameworks was the best fit for it. The research into long-term strategic goals found that an effective Knowledge Management system, particularly one which focused on the fields of Quality assurance and Safety, were the strategic goals of the organisation. Further Education and Training of employees was seen as important and the loss of Knowledge, through retirement or employees leaving the organisation, was the largest threat. The organisation was found to be at level one maturity on Minnone & Turner’s (2009) Knowledge Management Maturity model. A framework, responsible person, project team and KPI’s for KM are required to advance the organisations Knowledge Management effectiveness. Rubenstein-Montano et el’s (2001a) framework was identified from the preliminary research as the most appropriate for the industry, organisation and environment. Theoretically this research is the first step in introducing a KM framework tailored for the needs of PBO’s in the power generation industry. More research is needed to further analyse the organisation and industry and select specific details for what is currently a broad framework. While this research has indicated that the organisation is typical for its industry further research would be required before it could be claimed that the results of this research can be generalized. This research is the beginning of a longer process of implementing a KM framework within the organisation. It has been established that the organisation has a basic understanding of Knowledge Management and a lot of work is left to do before an effective system is operational.