Knowledge Management, Intellectual Capital and Project Management: Connecting the Dots Meliha Handzic 1,2 and Nermina Durmic 1 1 International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 Suleyman Sah University, Istanbul, Turkey mhandzic@ibu.edu.ba ndurmic@ibu.edu.ba Abstract: Traditionally, the fields of knowledge management (KM), intellectual capital (IC) and project management (PM) have been studied separately. More recently, scholars have started to call for convergence between these disciplines in order to broaden research interests and opportunities in academia and enhance their value to practice. Following the current trend, the purpose of this paper is to propose a new conceptual model that merges elements of knowledge management (KM), intellectual capital (IC) and project management (PM) and thus connects dynamic (KM), static (IC) and performance (PM) aspects of project-based organisations. It is expected that the proposed model will serve as a valuable theoretical basis for future empirical research of modern knowledge organisations. Keywords: knowledge management, intellectual capital, project management, conceptual model 1. Introduction Organisations operating in today’s world face increased global competition, technological advances and a knowledge- based economy. To grow and survive in such a world, organisations need to continually learn and transform their knowledge into improved and innovative products and services. Typically, these products and services are delivered as the end results of the organisational project initiatives. The current literature on project management reports a high percentage (up to 70%) of failed projects. These projects are not delivered on time, within budget and/or scope (King 2003, Lewis 2003). Among potential reasons given for such a high project failure rate is insufficient knowledge acquired and transferred from past projects to enhance the success rate of future projects (Yeong and Lim 2010). The ability to identify and leverage the required knowledge assets plays a critical role in project-based organisations competing in the new economy (Drucker 1993, Stewart 1997). Therefore, companies are facing challenges to better manage knowledge assets in the project’s environment. Effective knowledge management is seen as the key to survival and prosperity in the new economy. In order to improve project success and thus increase organisational competitiveness, this paper argues that aspects of knowledge management (KM), intellectual capital (IC) and project management (PM) should be merged. Accordingly, the paper proposes a new conceptual model that combines elements of KM, IC and PM into a single converged model. Prior to this, the paper reviews the existing concepts and frameworks of KM, IC and PM and discusses some past attempts on their integration. It derives the proposed model from the literature presented and discussed in the following sections. 2. Knowledge Management In order to make sense of the variety of perspectives of KM that exist in literature, there have been a number of attempts to categorise or group them (Holsapple and Joshi 1999, McAdam and McCreedy 1999, Earl 2001, Alavi and Leidner 2001, Handzic 2004). In this paper, we use the notion of “generations” as a context for discussing different types of strategies or schools of KM. 2.1 Three Generations of Fragmented KM Models The first generation of KM can be described as technocratic (Earl 2001). It views knowledge as an object and places emphasis on the role of information and communication technologies in KM. The systems focus on formalised knowledge bases in which the knowledge of human experts is made explicit so that they can be used by non-expert workers. Knowledge directories and Yellow Pages of experts allow other workers to locate those who have the knowledge they need more easily. KM systems are designed to document knowledge processes and store best business practices. Data captured in shared databases, data warehouses and document management systems are used to support planning and decision making to meet customers’ needs. Hahn and Subramani (2000) identify a number of issues and challenges related to the utilisation of information and communication technologies for KM: the need to balance knowledge exploitation and exploration, overload and useful content, additional workload and ISSN 1479-4411 51 ©ACPIL Reference this paper as: Handzic M and Durmic N. “Knowledge Management, Intellectual Capital and Project Management: Connecting the Dots” The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management Volume 13 Issue 1 (pp51-61) available online at www.ejkm.com