The evolution of the relationship between project management and knowledge management: a bibliometric study

Abstract The objective of this work is to investigate the relationship between project management and knowledge management. To understand the intersection between these two fields of research, the methodological approach selected was a systematic literature review. The multi-stages approach was adopted, starting with bibliometric analysis with descriptive statistical analysis of the population of papers studied, followed by a co-citation and network analysis, and finally a content analysis in order to identify trends and research gaps. The results show that the project management and knowledge management are related to issues involving the skills of project managers and of the organization, governance of knowledge between projects through the area of Project Management Office, and aspects related to factors critical to success and success itself of a project. As a trend, studies aimed at the formation of virtual teams formed by distributed organizations stand out, and as a gap, the importance of knowledge for projects involving sustainability issues, as few studies were identified about this subject. It was possible to notice that these constructs are essential to organizational performance, and that together they have a synergy that may contribute to enable companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors and achieve competitive advantage.