Hard and Soft Paradigm Analysis in Knowledge Creation Projects: an Aeronautical Certification Case

Knowledge creation projects are essential for today’s business. It is common to observe in these projects, in all their dimensions, the presence of the uncertainty factor. Effectively, managing uncertainties is seen nowadays as a necessary condition for project success. This article aimed to present a study on the intensity that the hard and soft paradigms appear in knowledge creation projects and, consequently, identify the levels of uncertainty presented in its projects. To make this study possible, we adopted the hard and soft analysis framework. A case study on knowledge creation, managed by the aeronautical certification department of EMBRAER S.A, was analyzed under the aspects of this framework. It was expected, as a result of this study, to empirically validate the concepts about the uncertainty levels presented in projects of this nature.