Managing Project Competence: The Lemon and the Loop

193 Pages·2018·8.16 MB·English

by  Rolf Medina

Managing Project Competence
The Lemon and the Loop
Best Practices and Advances
in Program Management Series
Series Editor
Ginger Levin
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Managing Project Competence
The Lemon and the Loop
Rolf Medina
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Dedication
I want to dedicate this book to everyone seeing a value in sharing knowledge,
information, thoughts, ideas, secrets, and all other information that makes it
easier for others to do their jobs.
Transparency makes the world a better place.
v

Table of Contents
Dedication v
Contents vii
List of Tables and Figures xiii
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
About the Author xxi
Chapter 1 The Competence Lemon – Different
Dimensions of Competence 1
1.1 What Is Competence? 1
1.1.1 Types of Knowledge 2
1.1.2 Knowledge and Competence 3
1.1.3 Input and Output Competence 4
1.1.4 Knowledge- and Social-Based Competence 4
1.1.5 A New View of Competence 5
1.1.6 The Knowledge-Intensive Company 5
1.2 Six Dimensions of Competence 6
1.2.1 Knowledge and Experience 7
1.2.2 Personal Capabilities 7
vii
viii Managing Project Competence
1.2.3 Social Capability 8
1.2.4 Leadership Qualities 8
1.2.5 Ability to Learn 9
1.2.6 Ability to Manage Complexity 9
1.2.7 Summary of the Six Dimensions 11
1.3 F actors That Have an Impact on Generating
New Competences 11
1.3.1 Operational Factors 13
1.3.2 Personal Factors 16
1.4 Context 20
1.5 Organizational Culture and Identity 22
1.6 T he Relationship Between the Six Dimensions of
Competence and Context 26
1.7 The Competence Lemon 27
Chapter 2 The Competence Loop – A Framework for
Effi cient Competence Management 29
2.1 Core Competences 29
2.2 Dynamic Capabilities 33
2.3 Competence Management in Project-Intensive Organizations 38
2.3.1 Project Capability Building 39
2.4 The Competence Loop 40
2.5 Breakdown of the Different Mechanisms in
the Competence Loop 42
2.5.1 Utilization 42
2.5.2 Accumulation 46
2.5.3 Assimilation 49
2.5.4 Transformation 54
2.5.5 Summary of the Factors Constituting the
Mechanisms in the Competence Loop 57
2.6 Exploratory and Exploitative Learning Strategies 61
Chapter 3 Projects as Learning Arenas 63
3.1 Knowledge-Intensive, Project-Intensive Organizations 63
3.1.1 Is There any Relationship Between Knowledge-
Intensive Organizations and Project Intensity? 65
3.1.2 What Is a Project-Intensive Organization? 66
3.1.3 Summary of Knowledge-Intensive, Project-
Intensive Organizations 67
Contents ix
3.2 Case 1: The Public Sector Organization 69
3.2.1 Competence Utilization 70
3.2.2 Competence Accumulation 72
3.2.3 Competence Assimilation 72
3.2.4 Competence Transformation 73
3.2.5 Summary of Case 1 74
3.3 Case 2: The Fast-Growing R&D Department 75
3.3.1 Competence Utilization 77
3.3.2 Competence Accumulation 78
3.3.3 Competence Assimilation 79
3.3.4 Competence Transformation 79
3.3.5 Summary of Case 2 80
3.4 Case 3: The IT Organization in the Declining Company 82
3.4.1 Competence Utilization 83
3.4.2 Competence Accumulation 84
3.4.3 Competence Assimilation 85
3.4.4 Competence Transformation 86
3.4.5 Summary of Case 3 87
3.5 Learning from the Cases 89
3.5.1 Utilization 90
3.5.2 Accumulation 91
3.5.3 Assimilation 93
3.5.4 Transformation 94
3.5.5 Competence Transfer in the IT Organization 95
3.5.6 Competence Transfer in the R&D Organization 95
3.5.7 C ompetence Transfer in the Public Sector
Organization 97
3.6 Conclusion 97
Chapter 4 REPI 99
4.1 The Basics of REPI 99
4.1.1 Refl ection 101
4.1.2 Elaboration 102
4.1.3 Participation and/or Practice 103
4.1.4 Investigation 104
4.1.5 Processes Based on the Modes 104
4.2 How to Use REPI 105
4.2.1 REPI Meeting: A Case Study 105