The Evolving Project Management Office as a Tacit to Explicit Knowledge Broker

Abstract

Multinational software and service implementation companies are faced with several challenges when it comes to effective and efficient retrieval and utilization of knowledge within the organization’s business units. While explicit knowledge is more easily recorded, tacit or qualitative (i.e., “sticky”) knowledge is seldom easy to transfer. Internal sharing and retrieval of this knowledge are essential core competencies for business units to function cohesively and to position themselves for competitive advantage. The Project Management Office (PMO) has a key role to play in the facilitation and standardization of this tacit knowledge as encountered in projects of varying complexity. Research shows that project-based organizations with PMOs have a better handle on knowledge flows and better able to handle the unexpected situations. PMO’s act as knowledge brokers with the aim to make tacit knowledge reusable, retrievable, and standardized, i.e., more explicit. This study explores the extent of the knowledge brokering function and determines if there is evidence of a mediating or moderating effect by the PMO on the tacitness of knowledge. This brokering function is examined via the project manager expectations and attitudes about knowledge sharing, trustworthiness of the source and recipients of this knowledge, the level of tacitness of the incoming knowledge, and organizational preferences on knowledge sharing. Through a framework that shows when and in what life cycle stage PMO knowledge brokering or attitudes and expectations are most effective, PMO Managers can take timely actions to increase the likelihood of more explicit knowledge being created leading to a critical competency for the organization at large. Situations where the PMO would be best served to allow knowledge to be explicit without its involvement are also examined.