Organizational Learning and Project Portfolio Success  : An Empirical Study in a Multinational Oil and Gas Company

Abstract:

This study aims to understand the impact of organizational learning on project portfolio success in a multinational Oil and Gas company operated in Indonesia. The Organizational Learning and Project Portfolio Success have been proven to have contribution to business performance and they might possess a relationship where enhancing one of them will strengthen the other. Exploring on this relationship might give beneficial input to the organization in order to maximize their success.  Thus, our research question is formulated as:

To what extent does Organizational Learning impact the Project Portfolio Success?

We developed the study’s conceptual model based on the relevant previous literature. The conceptual model depicted the aim of the study to test the potential positive impact of each Learning Stocks (Individual, Group, and Organizational) on Project Portfolio Success, as well as the aim to test the potential negative impact of the misalignment between Learning Stocks and Learning Flows on Project Portfolio Success in the studied company.

We adopted quantitative research method due to the nature of research question and the ontological and epistemological assumptions we hold toward the studied phenomena. Accordingly, we used a questionnaire as an instrument to collect the required data to test the hypotheses. The questionnaire was subject to a pilot test to ensure the clarity of statements before it was distributed to the targeted respondents which are the managers and the Project Management Office personnel in the studied company. The research hypotheses were tested by applying single and multi-regression analyses using SPSS software.

Our findings showed that, independently, each learning stock type (Individual, Group and organizational) has a significant positive impact to project portfolio success. When we looked for the best model that gives the highest explanatory power, the result showed that the combination of all three learning stocks in one model can explain project portfolio success construct the most. Lastly, the study proved that the misalignment between learning stocks and flows gives negative impact to the project portfolio success.

We concluded the study by stating the theoretical contribution and practical recommendations based on the results such as the need to have a balanced investment in the individual, group and organizational learning stocks; ensure the alignment between the organizational units’ strategies and goals; develop an “Internal Strategy Awareness Index”; and conduct a revision of the alignment between the company’s strategy and the project portfolio.