Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding and provide guidance for investments in organizational learning mechanisms for the establishment and evolution of organizational capabilities such as project portfolio management (PPM) and project management capabilities. Design/methodology/approach A multiple-case study research project investigates the development of PPM capabilities in six successful organizations across diverse industries. Findings The research indicates that PPM and organizational learning are dynamic capabilities that enhance an organization's ability to achieve and maintain competitive advantage in dynamic environments. PPM capabilities are shown to co-evolve through a combination of tacit experience accumulation, explicit knowledge articulation and explicit knowledge codification learning mechanisms. Although all three learning mechanisms are important throughout the establishment and evolution of PPM capability development, the research indicates that the development of an effective PPM capability will require particularly strong investments in enhancing tacit experience accumulation mechanisms and explicit knowledge codification mechanisms during the initial establishment or during periods of radical change to the PPM process
