Knowledge is increasingly seen as the organization’s most important asset. The knowledge-based view dictates that by understanding the importance of knowledge as a competitive advantage, and leveraging it, organizations can compete in a differentiated and sustainably advantageous way. In project-based organizations where individuals with different specialized knowledge meet and create new knowledge together, this might be seen as especially valuable. Despite having a big impact on both the academic and managerial world, organizations seem struggle when actually faced with the practical implications of integrating knowledge in the firms.This problem has been highlighted both in research, as well as in an empirical pre-study. Understanding where this problem stems from is an important step in finding a way to solve it. Following the idea that the use of incentive systems has long been an effective way of steering behavior in organizational members, we wonder what the role of incentive systems is in the context of knowledge integration in project-based organizations.   Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate and analyze if missing or deficient incentive systems is the reason why project-based organizations struggle with knowledge integration.

The current study is driven by the growing importance of learning capabilities within organizations. Nowadays an ability to constantly develop and improve based on mistakes and broadly apply successful experience is becoming a strategic competitive advantage in highly competitive business environment. This is even more relevant for project-based organizations, where natural specifics of project activities impose higher requirements in regards to their ability to learn quickly. At the same time, despite the existing number of recommendations there are only rare cases of successful systemic application of knowledge management activities in projectbased organizations. Thus, additional exploration of the topic is required through identification of critical factors that influence implementation process. From this standpoint an exploratory research has been conducted, including an exhaustive literature review and a qualitative case study in a single company, complemented with additional interviews in ten other organizations. The combination of scrupulously summarized theoretical insights from the existing extensive range of academic research and the data obtained empirically resulted in a comprehensive theoretical framework. This framework depicts all the recommended elements that need to be incorporated into a project-based knowledge management system, as well as a list of critical factors, which should be considered while rolling out a system in practice. The current study revealed some new factors, which critically influence the success of project-based knowledge management systems implementation. These new findings are also included into the final framework and supposed to help to eliminate the existing confusion regarding the topic. Therefore, the produced comprehensive framework is highly recommended for practitioners as a starting point for planning their knowledge management system implementations projects. It also suggests further exploratory opportunities.

<p>Globally, the fast-changing business environment requires a period for people to learn and accept new information and knowledge which comes more quickly than ever before. E-learning systems, as by-products of information technology are popular today especially in those international organizations with subsidiaries in many countries around the world.</p><p>As typical project-based organizations, some market research companies in China have also adopted e-learning systems already for some years to meet the requirements of global learning and knowledge sharing. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the role of an e-learning system in a Chinese market research company in Shanghai.</p><p>By examining the literature on learning, e-learning and project-based organizations, the research gap of e-learning in the context of project-based organizations has been defined. Through conducting semi-structured interviews in a Chinese market research company, the results demonstrate the current role of an e-learning system as an additional learning channel for individuals. This has not, however, brought significant changes from an organizational perspective due to many factors such as limited interactions between headquarters and local offices, language and cultural barriers, lack of top management support, and issue of time constraints.</p><p>In order to encourage the use of an e-learning system, the Chinese offices need to build a supportive learning environment internally such as providing a Chinese version, establishing the communication platform, leaving some flexible time for employees to learn and also to link the learning results to individual performance.</p><p>Moreover, the headquarters also needs to try to motivate the local (Chinese) employees to be more involved in the e-learning processes such as launching, maintaining and giving feedback to improve the effectiveness and also to push forward the impacts of e-learning from an individual level to team or organizational levels.</p>

Globally, the fast-changing business environment requires a period for people to learn and accept new information and knowledge which comes more quickly than ever before. E-learning systems, as by-products of information technology are popular today especially in those international organizations with subsidiaries in many countries around the world. As typical project-based organizations, some market research companies in China have also adopted e-learning systems already for some years to meet the requirements of global learning and knowledge sharing. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the role of an e-learning system in a Chinese market research company in Shanghai. By examining the literature on learning, e-learning and project-based organizations, the research gap of e-learning in the context of project-based organizations has been defined. Through conducting semi-structured interviews in a Chinese market research company, the results demonstrate the current role of an e-learning system as an additional learning channel for individuals. This has not, however, brought significant changes from an organizational perspective due to many factors such as limited interactions between headquarters and local offices, language and cultural barriers, lack of top management support, and issue of time constraints. In order to encourage the use of an e-learning system, the Chinese offices need to build a supportive learning environment internally such as providing a Chinese version, establishing the communication platform, leaving some flexible time for employees to learn and also to link the learning results to individual performance. Moreover, the headquarters also needs to try to motivate the local (Chinese) employees to be more involved in the e-learning processes such as launching, maintaining and giving feedback to improve the effectiveness and also to push forward the impacts of e-learning from an individual level to team or organizational levels.

A Gestão do Conhecimento (GC) ainda é um desafio para muitas organizações. Em empresas projetizadas, em que a maior parte dos profissionais se dedica à atividade de projetos, há obstáculos adicionais a serem superados. Isso acontece, entre outros fatores, devido à própria natureza dos projetos, pois são exclusivos (dificultando a aprendizagem por repetição) e finitos (em geral não há mecanismos para integrar os conhecimentos adquiridos ao longo do projeto em novos projetos). A partir desse contexto, o presente trabalho foi orientado pelo seguinte problema de pesquisa: \"como as organizações projetizadas realizam a gestão do conhecimento de seus projetos?\". Para responder a essa pergunta, foram analisados os conhecimentos relevantes para serem gerenciados, as práticas de GC utilizadas e os fatores influenciadores (facilitadores e dificultadores) presentes em três organizações: Escritório de Projetos do Banco Central, Cia de Talentos e PromonLogicalis. Além de projetizadas, essas organizações têm origem brasileira, oferecem serviços de consultoria (interna ou externa) e são referência em seus setores de atuação. A pesquisa é de natureza exploratória e descritiva, possui uma abordagem qualitativa e utiliza o método de estudo de casos múltiplos. Foi desenhado um modelo conceitual para o levantamento das práticas organizacionais com base no foco das práticas (intra ou interprojetos) e nos processos de GC para os quais contribuem mais intensamente (recuperação, criação/aquisição, compartilhamento e armazenamento). Como resultados da pesquisa foram identificados 8 conhecimentos relevantes para serem gerenciados, 7 fatores influenciadores da Gestão do Conhecimento, 10 fatores facilitadores, 4 fatores dificultadores. Além disso, foram mapeadas diversas práticas de GC intra e interprojetos nas organizações pesquisadas. Como conclusões do estudo, percebeu-se que para que se realize uma boa Gestão do Conhecimento na organização, mais importante do que as práticas empregadas é a existência de um contexto facilitador, pois se o ambiente favorece a criação, compartilhamento, armazenamento e recuperação de conhecimentos, as mais diversas práticas são estruturadas para apoiar esses processos. Além disso, percebeu-se que não parecem existir as melhores práticas de GC, mas sim, as melhores práticas para cada contexto organizacional. Espera-se que este estudo adicione conhecimentos ao campo de Gestão do Conhecimento em Projetos (PKM - Project Knowledge Management) e contribua com estudos futuros sobre o tema. / Knowledge Management (KM) remains a challenge for many organizations. In project-based companies, in which most professionals are dedicated to project activities, there are additional obstacles to overcome. This happens, among other factors, due to the very own nature of projects, because they are exclusive (making it difficult to learn by repetition) and finite (in general, there are no mechanisms to integrate the acquired knowledge throughout the project to new projects). From this context, the present study was guided by the following research question: \"how do project-oriented companies manage their project knowledge?\". In order to answer this question, the relevant knowledge to be managed was analyzed, the KM practices were identified and the influencing factors (facilitating and complicating factors) were raised in three project-based companies: Project Management Office from Banco Central, Cia de Talentos and PromonLogicalis. Besides being project-based, these organizations are from Brazil, offer consulting services (internal or external) and are references in their sectors. The research has an exploratory and descriptive nature, uses a qualitative approach and is based in multiple case studies. It was designed a conceptual model for the organizational practices identification based on the practices\' focus (intra and inter-project) and on the KM process that they contribute the most (retrieval, creation / acquisition, sharing and storage). This research identified 8 relevant knowledge to be managed, 7 influencing factors of knowledge management, 10 facilitating factors and 4 complicating factors. In addition, the intra and inter-project practices in the surveyed companies were mapped. As for conclusions to the study, it was realized that in order to make a good knowledge management in the organization, the existence of a facilitating context is more important than the practices employed, because if the environment favors the creation, sharing, storage and retrieval of knowledge, the most diverse practices are implemented to support these processes. Moreover, it was realized that that the best knowledge management practices seem not to exist, but instead the best practices for each organizational context. It is expected that this study can add knowledge to the field of PKM - Project Knowledge Management and that it may contribute to future studies on the subject.

Introduction: Statistics show that a large number of companies struggle for their survival.About 20 % of the EU companies in all the different industries that were born in 2015 couldnot survive till 2016. More specifically, only less than half of the companies that were born in2011 are still active in 2016 (Eurostat, 2018). Moreover, corporate bankruptcies in Swedenincreased by 20 % in the years 2017 to 2018 compared to 2016 (Tillvaxtanalys, 2019 ).Therefore, the main challenge for managers is to consolidate short-term and long-termthinking, encourage visions while remaining focused on execution within employees. Problem background: While the current literature acknowledges both the importance oforganizational ambidexterity for companies’ survival, and the role played by managers todevelop ambidexterity, research on how to achieve such ambidexterity is still narrow.Moreover, the influence of the different leadership styles on contextual ambidexterity and itseffects on individuals have hardly been attended in the literature. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to develop an understanding on how leaders, throughambidextrous leadership styles, create a context that enables individuals to achieve contextualambidexterity. More specifically, this master’s thesis aims to define a conceptual frameworkthat shows the influence of the leadership styles on contextual ambidexterity Methodology: In order to answer our research question, a qualitative research was conductedwith a deductive approach. Eight Interviews, four managers and four employees, wereconducted in four project-based organizations within the software industry in Sweden. Findings: The key findings are that transformational leadership style was found to foster “trustand support” in social support, and “stretch” in performance management, while thetransactional leadership style was only found in discipline in the organizational context. Conclusions: This study shows how developing adaptability in an organization requiresmanagers to apply transformational leadership style to the social support dimensions of theorganizational context. On the other hand, developing alignment in an organization requiresmanagers to apply both transformation and transactional styles rather than transactional. Mangers also need to balance the intensity of their leadership styles as both styles need to be emphasized equally well.

In recent years, the nonprofit sector has grown and charitable organiza-tions have become more important. HRM has got a more significant role and it is no longer enough to build an organization on the perception that "doing good is good enough". Since charitable organization often have both employees and volunteers and they have different needs, goals and competence levels it is crucial to manage both groups in a suitable way in order to achieve the organizational goals. For that reason we will focus on how charitable organizations can use Human Resource Management to motivate their staff in order to get a desirable performance and a better outcome. The purpose with our research is to see how HRM is used in order to manage the volunteers and employees in a charitable organization and what consequences this de-sign has for the organization. Since previous research has not focused on both employ-ees and volunteers our research will fill an important gap and therefore our ambition is to contribute to the research society by acknowledging this phenomenon. In this research we have done a single qualitative case study of Rädda Barnen and conducted two interviews. We have discovered that both groups are managed differently in the four areas of HRM (flows, performance, involvement &amp; development) since they have different needs, goal and competence levels. Furthermore, we found that Rädda Barnen has been struggling with retaining (and recruiting) volunteers.

Background Previous research in the area of knowledge management shows that projectbased organizations often struggle with their employees resistance to shareknowledge with colleagues for reasons of self-interest. Other research show thatimplementing incentives to stimulate knowledge sharing behaviors has beenproven efficient. However, the fact that no previous research has touched uponthe topic in the context of project based organizations, motivated us to immerseourselves in the area. Purpose The purpose of this study was to map how incentives stimulate knowledgesharing in project based organizations. Method A qualitative single-case study performed with semi-structured interviews on thedepartment of medical systems at project based Sectra AB. Conclusion The study highlights the value of combining incentives with clan control formotivating knowledge sharing in project based organizations. It indicates thatproject based organizations with help from incentives can stimulate knowledgesharing behaviors, both directly and indirectly.

This thesis discusses the challenges of modern organizations in their efforts of designing relevant project governance systems. To address the challenge the paper proposes using resource-based view on project-based organizations in order to evaluate and identify key governance resources. Given that prevailing rational and standardized models in project-related literature provide organizations with homogeneous resource-base, this paper invites attention to those resources, which have the potential to deliver unique character to the organizations. The thesis first discusses the relevance of exploring projects as governance resources at project-based organizations, next screens the projects through VRIO framework of resource-based theory. Derived intangible resources and organizational resources are further explored at a case study organization. The findings are analysed through complex adaptive systems theory, where intrinsic motivations appear as sources for emerging project governance systems, while principal trust serves as a resource for self-organization of projects and project governance unit.

Purpose – The research purpose of this thesis project is to develop a framework that presents how project-based organizations can improve their knowledge transfer through the implementation of more digital solutions. Method – To fulfil the research purpose, the study took an exploratory and qualitative research approach. Due to the chosen approach, an abductive research strategy paved the way for a successful performance of this project. The data collection was conducted through 18 semi-structured interviews, where 12 of them consisted of interviews with various employees of the case study organization and six semi-structured interviews with purposely selected customers of the organization. The conducted data was analysed through the thematic analysis method. Results – The results consist of an in-depth understanding regarding how project-based organizations can improve their knowledge transfer processes and benefit from increased implementation of digitalization. The conducted data lead to the development of a framework that include guidelines and next steps for implementing more digital solutions for improved knowledge transfer and an increased organizational knowledge base. Theoretical contribution – The theoretical contribution of this single case study is addressing the gap of the research on temporary organizations such as project-based organizations and their knowledge transfer processes. By connecting project-based organizations’ knowledge transfer processes to the eminent phenomenon, digitalization, this study also contributes to the inadequate research area of how project-based organizations can utilize the benefits of a higher implementation of digital solutions. Practical implications – The findings are based on an organization within the area of consulting and professional services. Hence, the findings are intended to be general guidelines how digitalization can be beneficial for all types of project-based organizations. The overall findings present how successful assimilation of knowledge is enabled through utilization of digital solutions, routines of knowledge transfer and that each project participant is granted enough resources.