Walking (together) on the Wild Side: Sharing and Co-Creating Knowledge in Public Sector Project Management

Viable public value generation is realized at the intersection of the public and the private realms, involving collaborative efforts aimed at tackling the wicked issues affecting collective well-being. Public private partnerships (PPP) and Public Private People Partnership (PPPP) are privileged organizational forms for the generation of public value. The idea that PPP and PPPP can bring collective benefits nurture their diffusion. They can be conceived of as inter-organizational relationships, characterized by: 1) mutual coordination of activities; 2) shared level of risk, and 3) an organizational agreement between the partners. Interorganizational relationships are usually hosted in project settings, which enact a context for eliciting interdependencies and enable public value co-generation. Although literature has investigated the challenges related to the management of projects in the public sector, unveiling "hard" and "soft" issues for their successful accomplishment, little is known on how projects can foster the knowledge assets for public value co-creation. The article pushes forward our understanding of the antecedents, processes, and implications of knowledge sharing in project settings aimed at public value co-creation, shedding lights into the factors which encourage public sector entities and private companies to cross-fertilize their assets to co-produce public value. A systematic literature review has been accomplished, trying to comprehensively integrate the scholarly debate about knowledge sharing dynamics within projects launched by public sector entities to engage private partners and people in public value co-creation. Altogether, 50 items were contemplated in this literature review. Four main themes emerged from the scholarly debate. Knowledge sharing and dissemination relies on contextual factors, which concern the institutional, technological, and social frameworks within which projects are implemented. Knowledge transfer is facilitated when public sector entities promote openness in the design and the implementation of value co-creation projects, introduce reliable technologies to support inter-organizational relationships, and establish trustworthy relationships with their partners. Appropriate organizational architectures should be designed to foster knowledge sharing. Two main solutions are available for this purpose: a conservative approach entails embedding boundary spanners in conventional organizational structures, enabling them to perform as bridges to promote inter-organizational exchanges; a radical way involve arranging a temporary flexible organization, which is hybridized by the partners and hybridizes their knowledge assets. Public managers should be adequately trained to effectively manage projects which are characterized by the engagement of private partners in the process of public value co-creation. Finally, the direct and indirect implications of knowledge dissemination on public value generation should be addressed.