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106 MANAGING KNOWLEDGE WORK AND INNOVATION

>> INTRODUCTION
As discussed in the previous chapter, much organizational work today takes place
in projects, especially in relation to knowledge work and where the focus is inno-
vation. We look at innovation more specifically in Chapter 9. Here we simply
need to note that innovation processes in knowledge-intensive sectors are often
described as being ‘open’ (Chesbrough, 2003a, b), or ‘networked’, especially
where radical innovation is concerned. This emphasizes how, in the ‘knowledge
era’, innovation increasingly relies on the production of knowledge through
use, and involves knowledge integration across scientific, professional and orga-
nizational boundaries via multiple stakeholder groups (including users) involved
in collaborative and reciprocal modes of working (Castells, 1996; Hardy et al.,
2003; Okhuysen and Eisenhardt, 2002). Such collaboration across professional
and organizational boundaries often occurs in projects.
In this chapter we explore some of the problems of working in projects –
thus even while project-based forms of organizing allow for the kinds of col-
laboration that may be essential for innovation, these forms of organizing also
create problems, in particular in relation to the sharing of knowledge across
projects (we looked at some of the issues related to sharing knowledge within
projects in the previous chapter on teams and knowledge creation). Thus,
working in projects requires overcoming significant knowledge boundaries but
the actual overcoming of these boundaries creates knock-on problems for the
ability to exploit this knowledge in other contexts. Thus, while in the previous
chapter we focused on the conditions that supported knowledge exploration
(creation), including overcoming knowledge boundaries, in this chapter we
look at the problems associated with knowledge exploitation arising from the
very fact that most of the knowledge exploration activity within organizations
(and indeed across organizations as we shall see) occurs within projects.

>> TEAMS VERSUS PROJECTS
In the previous chapter we focused on teams and knowledge creation. Projects
are certainly a form of team-work in the sense that they involve multiple individ-
uals working together to achieve some kind of objective. However, projects are
also in some ways different from teams as we discuss in this section. These differ-
ences are important to understand as they influence some of the problems that
are often experienced in projects, in relation to both problems within projects
and problems across projects. We first consider the key characteristics of teams
and then identify how projects are different to teams. This allows us to then
explore some of the problems of working within and especially across projects.
Proehl (1997) reviewed articles written between 1992 and 1995 and concluded
that the following were commonly defined characteristics of a (psychological) team:

• Shared identity – all members perceive themselves as part of a unit
• Common goal – all members are working towards a common goal

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