| Course | HRM-5700 The Effectiveness of a Market-Connected Culture |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Module 3 written assignment: managing knowledge, project management and customer learning |
| Length | About 652 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Master of Science in Human Resources Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HRM 5700 Module 3
One Hundred Forty Studies a Year: Capturing Project Lessons and Learning With Clients
Student Name
Master of Science in Human Resources Management, Thomas Edison State University
HRM-5700: The Effectiveness of a Market-Connected Culture
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
One Hundred Forty Studies a Year: Capturing Project Lessons and Learning With Clients
Introduction
Projects are where much organizational learning happens and where much of it is lost. A project team solves problems for months, then disbands, and its members carry what they learned into new teams or out of the company. Meridian BioLabs completes about 140 studies a year. Each one is a source of lessons about methods, timelines and clients, yet the lab still repeats problems such as underestimating sample stability testing. This assignment examines why project knowledge is lost and how to keep it, then turns to learning from clients.
Why Project Knowledge Is Lost
Schindler and Eppler (2003) reviewed methods for capturing project learning and identified recurring obstacles: lessons are recorded at the end of a project, when people are already moving to new work; documentation is written to satisfy a requirement rather than to help the next team; and teams are reluctant to record mistakes that could reflect on them. At Meridian, the final study report is written for the client and contains no internal lessons, and the closing meeting is skipped when the next study is already late. The only record of what went wrong is in the memories of team members. Davenport and Prusak (1998) observe that knowledge moves most readily through conversation among people who share a context, which is why reviews held while a team is still together capture more than reports written afterward.
Methods for Capturing Project Lessons
Schindler and Eppler distinguish process-based methods, which capture lessons at milestones during a project, from documentation-based methods, which focus on written records. Both are needed.
The pre-study lookup closes the loop. Lessons have value only if the next team uses them, so the study planning template will require project managers to search the database and record which lessons they applied. This makes application part of the project process rather than an optional extra.
| Method | When | What it captures | Use at Meridian |
|---|---|---|---|
| After-action review | At each study milestone | What was expected, what happened, why, what to change | Thirty-minute meeting led by a trained facilitator |
| Lessons database | After each review | Short, searchable lessons tagged by method and client | Three to five lessons per review |
| Pre-study lookup | At study planning | Lessons from similar past studies | Required step in the study plan template |
| Expert locator | Any time | Who has worked on similar methods | Linked to the lessons database |
Learning From and With Clients
Clients hold knowledge the lab needs: their regulatory strategy, their timelines, their experience with other laboratories. Gibbert et al. (2002) described customer knowledge management as gaining and sharing knowledge with customers, not only about them, and identified five styles: prosumerism, in which customers help design products; team-based co-learning; mutual innovation; communities of creation; and joint intellectual property. For a contract research lab, team-based co-learning and mutual innovation fit best. In co-learning, Meridian and a client's scientists work together through a study, sharing problems as they arise. In mutual innovation, they develop new methods together, such as faster stability testing approaches that both can use.
Recommendations
Three changes would help Meridian learn from projects and clients. First, introduce after-action reviews at three milestones in every study and feed their lessons into a searchable database. Second, require a pre-study lookup and record which lessons were applied. Third, invite each major client's scientists to a joint review at the end of every study, asking what the client learned, what Meridian could do differently and what the client is planning next. Human resources should train facilitators, include participation in reviews in performance goals and recognize teams whose lessons are used by others.
Conclusion
Meridian completes enough studies to become a fast-learning organization, but it loses most of what its projects teach. Milestone reviews, a lessons database connected to planning and joint reviews with clients would turn completed studies into knowledge and strengthen the client relationships analyzed in Module 2.
References
Davenport, T. H., & Prusak, L. (1998). Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know. Harvard Business School Press.
Gibbert, M., Leibold, M., & Probst, G. (2002). Five styles of customer knowledge management, and how smart companies use them to create value. European Management Journal, 20(5), 459-469. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-2373(02)00101-9
Schindler, M., & Eppler, M. J. (2003). Harvesting project knowledge: A review of project learning methods and success factors. International Journal of Project Management, 21(3), 219-228. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(02)00096-0
What the HRM 5700 Module 3 instructions ask for
The third HRM-5700 written assignment covers managing knowledge in projects and learning from customers. Expect questions on why projects lose knowledge, how lessons can be captured and reused, how project management practices support learning and how organizations can learn from and with their customers. Some versions are based on a case study. Without a textbook to lean on, cite journal research and apply it to a firm that delivers projects for clients. Present recommendations that a project manager and an HR leader could act on, and cite in APA style. If the prompt is case-based, identify the moments in the case where learning could have been captured but was not.
How this HRM 5700 Module 3 example is built
The introduction frames projects as a source of learning that is easily lost. A section explains the obstacles to project learning using a research review and matches each to the lab's practice. A table compares four capture methods and how each would be used. A section on customer knowledge management applies five styles from the literature and chooses two that fit a research business. Three recommendations follow, with HR's role defined. The paper connects to the earlier module on relational capital, so the course's argument builds. A table compares capture methods by timing and content, so the reader can see why reviews during the project complement records at its end.
HRM 5700 Module 3 rubric: what earns full marks
Mentors grade this assignment on understanding of project learning and customer knowledge concepts, the practicality of recommendations, use of scholarly sources and application to an organization. Answers that explain why lessons are lost, not only how to record them, show depth. A recommendation that ensures lessons are applied, not just stored, demonstrates insight. Customer learning sections should go beyond customer satisfaction surveys to sharing knowledge with customers. Readable structure and cited sources finish the grade. Mentors also look for awareness of the cultural obstacles to recording mistakes and for a plan that addresses them, such as keeping review content separate from performance ratings. Connecting customer learning to relational capital from Module 2 shows integration across the course. Research on project learning and on customer knowledge should both appear.
HRM 5700 Module 3 help: mistakes that cost marks
Students lose points by recommending a lessons-learned database without saying who will use it or when, or by confusing customer knowledge management with customer relationship software. Others ignore the cultural obstacles, such as fear of recording mistakes. Build reviews into the project schedule. Make lookup part of planning. Define how you will learn with customers, not only about them. Name HR's role in training and rewards. A free first sample using your own HRM-5700 Module 3 organization is available on request. Keep lessons short and specific so others can use them. Tie the lookup to a document teams already complete, such as a project plan. Ask clients what they learned, not only whether they were satisfied.
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HRM 5700 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HRM 5700 Module 3 sample paper?
The full project learning paper for the lab is above, covering capture methods, a lessons system wired into study planning and ways of learning with clients.
Why do organizations lose project knowledge?
Lessons are recorded late or not at all, documents are written for compliance and teams disband before sharing what they learned.
What is an after-action review?
A brief team meeting at a milestone or at the end that compares plan and result, explains the gap and agrees on what to do differently.
What is customer knowledge management?
Gaining and sharing knowledge with customers, not only about them, through styles such as co-learning and mutual innovation.
How can lessons learned actually be used?
By requiring teams to search and apply past lessons when planning new projects, so the lessons enter decisions.