Understanding learning within information technology projects : an examination of the Australian experience
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2011
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Information Technology (IT) is one of the great drivers of organizational change, and
initiating projects to apply new technology and systems is the means by which such
changes are implemented. Effective learning is an essential focus of the innovative and
successful organization of today, and IT projects present a major opportunity to
generate important new knowledge for individuals and organizations. The majority of
the research and literature that is concerned with workplace learning focuses on a stable
and long-term workforce. Projects, however, have a temporary existence and a
transitory work team. My research is concerned with understanding the significance of
learning within Australian IT projects, and discovering how new knowledge is
generated and exploited for the benefit of the individuals and organizations involved.
The research methodology selected was phenomenology, and a series of in-depth
interviews was conducted with carefully selected participants from a wide and
representative range of Australian IT projects. The epistemological assumptions that
sustain this approach are that the requisite knowledge exists in tacit form in the minds of
those who have experienced the phenomenon of learning in projects.
The collected data was subjected to deep hermeneutic interpretation and this enabled the
development of a rich understanding of the many different facets of the project learning
phenomenon. At the individual level the intensity of the learning experience was found
to be influenced by the participant's existing frames of reference and the 1.evel of
motivation and confidence to transform them when appropriate. Projects involving a
high level of tension, with opportunities for experimentation, presented particularly
powerful learning experiences. The research also highlighted evidence of absorptive
capacity, where more experienced practitioners were able to learn new skills faster and
with less stress than those less practiced. At the team learning level, there were some
examples where teams had bonded into effective learning units, but generally power
sharing was limited, and decision-making largely centralised. At the organizational
level, the transfer of new project knowledge was erratic: efficient methods for receiving
and making use of such knowledge were largely absent. In some instances there was
evidence of organizational absorptive capacity: where projects were reprises of previous
failed ventures there was sufficient retained corporate memory to ensure success at a
subsequent attempt.
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