Storytelling as a Factor in Increasing Intellectual Capital of Project-Based Companies

• The purpose of the paper is to explore storytelling as a potential lever to gain intellectual capital (IC) in project-based companies. The aim is to open up new ways to understand stories and the role of storytelling in increasing IC in project-based companies. Stories are a manifestation of collective knowledge. Often not documented but embedded in individual minds and forming the valuable human capital. We present essential theoretical information, reviewing the concepts of the project-based company and the project work context, and describing the notion of IC (human, structural and relational) in relation to storytelling. The temporary nature of projects is challenge in IC management of project-based companies. Since each project is unique and may have temporary organization the transfer of knowledge is more challenging for project-based companies than for those operating in stable environments. The existing relational capital may not apply to new project and thus new relational capital must be created and accumulated to company. Considering structural capital, the processes and systems and the documented knowledge may be unique to each project and as such difficult to leverage. Storytelling can provide some ways to overcome these challenges. Storytelling is currently little understood and researched in the context of project-based companies, especially from the perspective of IC. Conceptual part of the article is followed by descriptions of stories and storytelling as a vehicle in increasing IC in project-based companies. We suggest that stories and storytelling are effective modes of human knowledge transfer and learning. Storytelling plays a role in advancing informal learning in project-based companies. Projects are unique and project teams are temporary. Therefore the IC management of project-based companies deserves extended research in academia. Originality and value of the paper is on finding a viable perspective and approach with which project-based companies can understand how they can increase IC through storytelling.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Information Systems, Social aspects (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

project-based company

intellectual capital

learning

informal learning

story

storytelling

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)