Collection, Distribution, and Assimilation of Lessons Learned A case study analysing the management of lessons learned in the oil and gas industry
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Program
Quality and operations management (MPQOM), MSc
Publicerad
2024
Författare
Edh, Marcus
Björn , Olsson
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Knowledge management (KM) is often recognised as a key source of competitive ad-
vantage, as it promotes innovation, efficient resource management, and continuous
improvement. Yet, although firms are investing more into their KM capabilities,
many firms find it difficult to achieve the full extent of these benefits. As firms are
increasingly organising their work into projects, the lessons learned (LL) process,
which is defined as the firms ability to gather and retain knowledge during and
between projects, is becoming an increasingly important part of KM. This report
investigates the practical application of the LL-process, through a case study at a
global oil and gas energy solutions provider, with the aim of showing how the firm’s
LL-process looks in the current state, and identifying potential opportunities and
barriers for improvement. The LL-process is divided into the collection, distribu-
tion, and assimilation of LL, and for each step of the process, how the firm works
with strategic KM and its people, processes, and technology is analysed. Through
a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods it was found that
although the firm has a lot of well-documented processes for its operations, no pre-
defined process exist which outlines all stages of the LL-process. Although there
were clear structures in place for the collection of LL, there existed a lack of clarity
regarding how to work with the distribution and assimilation of LL. Opportunities
for improvement were in turn identified, regarding strategically aligning the firm’s
people, processes, and technology, and managing non-strategic operational ineffi-
ciencies. These inefficiencies included, limited motivation among employees to work
with LL, a lack of a unified definition of LL causing information overload, and the
technology not being built to facilitate the varying types, and large amount, of in-
formation it is being supplied. Finally, a handful of cultural and contextual barriers
which exerts additional challenges on the improvement work were identified, as em-
ployees strategic preferences are not aligned with what theoretically best suits the
firm’s operations, there exist multiple different local cultures which the firm must
adapt to, the nature of the industry promotes risk-aversion, and the firm is facing
increasing environmental pressure.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Lessons learned , Knowledge management , Collection , Distribution , Assimilation , Personalisation , Codification , People , Processes , Technology