PAPE
RS
Project Management Journal, Vol. 48, No. 4, 22–38
© 2016 by the Project Management Institute
Published online at www.pmi.org/PMJ
ABSTRACT ■ INTRODUCTION
The importance of simultaneously facilitating short-term efficiency by exploiting existing knowledge and technologies to make profits today, and long-term innovation by exploring new knowledge and technologies to adapt for future demands, is continuously highlighted
in the management literature (e.g., Jansen, Tempelaar, van Den Bosch,
& Volberda, 2009; March, 1991; O’Reilly & Tushman, 2013). Most prior
research has studied exploration and exploitation on firm and business
unit levels, investigating their effects on performance. Research targeting
how exploration and exploitation are managed at the project level is less
common (Junni, Sarala, Taras, & Tarba, 2013; Turner, Maylor, & Swart, 2015).
This is surprising given that project-based organizations (PBOs) consistently
struggle with organizational learning challenges (Bakker, Cambré, Korlaar, &
Raab, 2011; Chronéer & Backlund, 2015; Scarbrough et al., 2004a). For many
PBOs, innovation and explorative intra-project learning are critical aspects
of developing and delivering complex and customized products that satisfy
evolving customer demands, whereas exploitative inter-project learning
is necessary to achieve efficient use of limited project resources (Brady
& Davies, 2004; Eriksson & Leiringer, 2015; Turner et al., 2014). However,
inherent characteristics such as the uniqueness, autonomy, and short-term
focus of each project, and the interdependencies between project actors and
their activities make it difficult to manage both explorative and exploitative
learning (Davies, Dodgson, & Gann, 2016; Eriksson, 2013; Söderlund, 2008).
In the particular context chosen for this article—construction projects—
the above described difficulties are especially prevalent. De-centralization
and dispersed modes of working in inter-organizational projects are defining
characteristics of the industry (cf. Leiringer, Green, & Raja, 2009). Construction projects are temporary, often highly customized and rarely undertaken
within a standard framework. Moreover, clients and end-users are rarely the
same, and even large repeat clients have their projects spread across time and
space (Winch & Leiringer, 2016). The downside of this arrangement is that
the autonomy afforded to individual project teams increases the risk of their
becoming disconnected from other projects within the same organization,
with detrimental implications for inter-project learning (Bresnen, Edelman,
Newell, Scarbrough, & Swan, 2003).
Project learning processes are commonly impeded by temporary and often adversarial relationships that lead to coordination problems on the more complex projects (Bresnen, 2007). In recent years,
therefore, collaborative arrangements (mostly termed “partnering”) have
The Role of Co-creation in Enhancing
Explorative and Exploitative Learning in
Project-Based Settings
Per Erik Eriksson, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
Roine Leiringer, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Henrik Szentes, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
We study how co-creation practices influence explorative and exploitative learning
in five collaborative construction projects
with partnering arrangements. Drawing on
a longitudinal case study, our findings reveal
two different types of explorative learning
processes (i.e., adaptation and radical development) and three different exploitative
learning processes (i.e., incremental development, knowledge sharing, and innovation
diffusion). Furthermore, co-creation practices
enhance adaptation, radical development,
and incremental development, which are
typical intra-project learning processes. Co-creation practices do not, however, enhance
knowledge sharing and innovation diffusion
across projects. These findings concur with
previous insights that the temporary and
one-off nature of projects makes inter-project
learning problematic.
KEYWORDS: project-based learning;
exploration; exploitation; co-creation;
collaboration; partnering; construction