| Summary: | This paper considers the knowledge, resource, and competence management practices of a capital intensive company in Brazil. We map general and essential competencies, identify critical performance factors and catalogue the knowledge management tools available to the firm. We also attempt to trace the impact of the implementation strategies selected on the success or failure of the project. Two specific questions that arose in the course of the research were: a.) How can firms maintain the knowledge base of the organization in the presence of high turnover, and b.) What are the effects of the loss of intellectual capital on the firm. This was exploratory research, using the longitudinal case study method advocated by Voss, Tsikritsis and Frolich. The unit of analysis was the individual project. We studied 15 new plant erections or revamps carried out between 2007 and 2009. Data sources included interviews with key project management employees as well as analyses of management reports, firm data banks, and software used in the project management process. Among other things, our research identified a strong relationship between the profile of the individual project manager and the management structure adopted on a given project.
|
|---|
