Project team members
Drucker (1993b) makes the important point that, in many companies,
the true source of competitive advantage is not so much technology or
even knowledge itself. It is, according to him, people, the knowledge
workers – project team members – whose skills and expertise are the foundation
of all progress. He continues by arguing that, on the one hand,
knowledge workers need the organization (e.g. project) in order to put
their knowledge to work and, on the other hand, they own the chief
means of production, and can take their knowledge through the door at
a moment’s notice. ‘The more an organization becomes an organization
of knowledge workers, the easier it is to leave it and move elsewhere’
(Drucker, 1993b: 11). As a result, every organization – project or projectbased
company – is always in competition for its most essential resource:
qualified, knowledgeable people. The only way to attract and keep the
best people is to provide them with an environment that allows learning
and innovation to flourish. ‘Loyalty can no longer be obtained by
the paycheque. The organization must earn loyalty by providing to its
knowledge employees exceptional opportunities for putting their knowledge
to work’ (Drucker 1993b: 13). Grant’s writings (1996, 1997) on the
‘Knowledge-based theory of the firm’ also chime in well with Drucker’s
thinking.