Correia et. al. (2009) VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE: EXAMINING THE MOTIVATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS IN THEIR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PROCESSES (original) (raw)

The rapid pace of change compels organizations to be innovative in order to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Such innovation is supported by the generation of new ideas, which in turn depends on access to new knowledge. Innovative solutions and processes are unlikely to be developed by an individual but rather by a group of people, working together. As Newell et al. (2006) point out, innovation depends on managing knowledge transfer and situated learning (Lave and Wenger 1991). One group of people that share and create new knowledge is a Community of Practice (CoP). Communities of Practice are places which provide a sound basis for organizational learning. This encourages knowledge creation and acquisition, thus improving organizational performance, leveraging innovation and consequently increasing competitiveness. Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs) can perform a central role in promoting communication and collaboration between members who are dispersed in both tim...