Information, knowledge and communications management model for project management

Abstract

Intellectual capital emerges in this era as a determining factor for successful business performance, promoting the development of strategies for comprehensive knowledge and information management. Simultaneously, projects continue to be a cornerstone for achieving business goals. However, adapting to new market conditions, particularly influenced by technological forces, necessitates mechanisms, models, or methods that integrate aspects that have been analyzed separately until now. In this context, through a literature review approach, a state of the art is reached, determining that although various bodies of knowledge, frameworks, and models mention information, knowledge, and communication, they do not address these aspects comprehensively. Based on the above and as a result of a graduation project for the Master’s in Project Management at TEC, this research proposes a knowledge and information management model for project management, involving a field study with professionals in the area and reference frameworks to propose its use. The research method applied was a mixed approach, establishing the following study categories: business information and knowledge, information and knowledge management, project management frameworks, and portfolio models. A statistical sample was established for a population characterized by professionals in the field of project management who had graduated from a postgraduate program, with information accessed from TEC, UCI, ULACIT, and ULATINA. The sample size was 331 people with a 5% margin of error and a 95% confidence level. This sample was surveyed using an instrument with 10 questions, and a population group comprising representatives from organizations like PMI in Costa Rica was also interviewed. A third technique applied was a systematic literature review for both predictive and agile reference frameworks. The main result obtained is that although the studied frameworks refer to each element—information, knowledge, and communication—there is no explicitly integrated model. Therefore, considering the field results, a generic model for managing these elements is generated and is applicable throughout the project management process. Finally, the research concludes the importance of having a model that integrates these elements, considering their alignment with a business need, which is the capitalization of knowledge and the protection of information, a vital element in the articulation of strategy, such as projects.