COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE AS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TOOL (original) (raw)

Sharing Knowledge through Communities of Practice

Methodologies for Competitive Advantage

Campos, editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: "This book provides a sound understanding of the managerial implications of communities of practice as well as their opportunities and limits for knowledge management"-Provided by publisher.

COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE AS A METHOD FOR KNOWLEDGE-ORIENTED COOPERATION1

After a short historical review of the development of the concept of "Communities of Practice" (CoP) we present examples of organisational Knowledge Management (KM) in which Etienne Wenger's CoP model has been applied. In the main part we focus on the business orientated CoP framework that Wenger, Snyder and McDermott proposed in 2002 for KM by extending the original approach of 1998. Finally we conclude with a critical reflection over the necessity - within KM frameworks - to explicitly emphasize participation in stewarding knowledge as a condition for bridging the gap between knowledge and its management.

A note on organizational learning and knowledge sharing in the context of communities of practice

2006

The knowledge management (KM) literature emphasizes the impact of human factors for successful implementation of KM within the organization. Isolated initiatives for promoting learning organization and team collaboration, without taking consideration of the knowledge sharing limitations and constraints can defeat further development of KM culture. As an effective instrument for knowledge sharing, communities of practice (CoP) are appearing to overcome these constraints and to foster human collaboration.

Knowledge Sharing Within and Between Communities of Practice in a Knowledge Intensive Organization

IGI Global eBooks, 2011

The aim of this chapter is to link communities of practice to the knowledge creation and dissemination in the specific context of knowledge intensive organization. This is done by pointing out the role that CoPs may have in relation to knowledge sharing and innovativeness in the knowledge intensive context. CoPs can fulfill numerous functions in respect to the creation, accumulation, and diffusion of knowledge. Thus, Wenger's (1998) clarifying categorization of those knowledge-related functions has served as a foundation and inspiration in this context-specific description: exchange and interpretation of information; retaining knowledge; steward competencies and provide homes for identities. However, it is worth noting that while communities of practice are traditionally seen as the creators of knowledge and innovations, it is also important to acknowledge the challenges and even obstacles of these tightly-coupled groups may bring to the organizational knowledge sharing and learning processes. These issues are mainly defined through our empirical case examples we have linked to the theoretical review.

Impact of Communities of Practice on Organisational Knowledge Transfer and Creation

Knowledge management specifically aims at converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge and thereafter again into tacit knowledge in an ever growing cycle of expansion and regeneration. Called knowledge spirals by Nonaka and Takeuchi, such processes used to traditionally occur through informal and totally voluntary work groups who had particular knowledge, and are now being attempted in progressive organisations through the use of knowledge creating processes like Communities of Practice.

UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Managing knowledge is an issue that is of critical importance to the international firm and the successful sharing of know-how and best practice have been identified as key elements in an international firm's competitive advantage (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Wan & Hoskisson, 2003). While there may be agreement on the value of knowledge sharing, there are many barriers and unknowns to the achievement of this objective.

Born to be Wild: Using Communities of Practice as a Tool for Knowledge Management.

This paper looks at what happens when Communities of Practice are used as a tool for Knowledge Management. The original concept of a Community of Practice appears to have very little in common with the knowledge sharing communities found in Knowledge Management, which are based on a revised view of 'cultivated' communities. We examine the risks and benefits of cultivating Communities of Practice rather than leaving them 'in the wild'. The paper presents the findings from two years of research in a small microelectronics firm to provide some insights into the wild vs domesticated dichotomy and discusses the implications of attempting to tame Communities of Practice in this way.

COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE AS A METHOD FOR KNOWLEDGE-ORIENTED COOPERATION

After a short historical review of the development of the concept of "Communities of Practice" (CoP) we present examples of organisational Knowledge Management (KM) in which Etienne Wenger's CoP model has been applied. In the main part we focus on the business orientated CoP framework that Wenger, Snyder and McDermott proposed in 2002 for KM by extending the original approach of 1998. Finally we conclude with a critical reflection over the necessity -within KM frameworks -to explicitly emphasize participation in stewarding knowledge as a condition for bridging the gap between knowledge and its management. 1 Contribution to TACONET Conference on Self-regulated Learning in Technology Enhanced Learning Environments, introductory talk of 23 September 2005, Lisbon, Portugal.

KNOWEDGE DEVELOPMENT WITHIN COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE USING ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

2010

Knowledge assets are a critical resource that can generate a competitive advantage for organizations. Generally, knowledge can be divided in explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. Organizations focus on managing the explicit knowledge and also on capturing the tacit knowledge embedded in the individuals' experiences. Knowledge development represents the main purpose of the knowledge management domain, in both research and applications. Through the interactions in social networks, community-based knowledge development and sharing have become very effective tools. In this context, more and more organizations are developing communities of practice as strategic tools for knowledge development and sharing within the organization and across organizational boundaries.