Jon Pemberton, Sharon Mavin and Brenda Stalker
This paper seeks to surface less positive aspects of communities of practice (CoPs), regardless of emergent or organisationally managed, grounded in political‐power interactions…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to surface less positive aspects of communities of practice (CoPs), regardless of emergent or organisationally managed, grounded in political‐power interactions. Examples are provided from the authors' experiences of a research‐based CoP within UK higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is primarily theoretical with empirical examples drawn from a descriptive CoP case study.
Findings
The paper discusses the following themes: the impact of timing on CoP development; the impact of CoP leaders and managers in “managed” CoPs; the power‐political interrelationship between emergent CoPs and formal organisation; the impact of dominant actors with position power; emotional containment and emotion work within CoPs; power implications of novices and masters and the implications when CoP practices diverge from organisational practices. It finds that to ignore such issues of power within CoPs is to limit the knowledge creation process.
Research limitations/implications
Further empirical research is necessary to investigate micro and macro power‐political issues of CoPs. In particular, emotional containment and emotion work of CoP members and the impact of this on knowledge creation is worthy of future research.
Practical implications
The paper has significant implications for CoPs in practice as the quest for pragmatic mechanisms to develop individual and organisational learning and knowledge creation for competitive advantage.
Originality/value
While there is an implicit assumption that CoPs are “good” and benefit individuals and organisations, this paper highlights less positive power‐political issues relating to CoPs which are under researched in the extant literature.
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This paper aims to explores consultants' experiences of communities of practice (CoPs) in one of the world's largest information technology companies against organisational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explores consultants' experiences of communities of practice (CoPs) in one of the world's largest information technology companies against organisational strategies. The research focus concerns experiences of formal top‐down and underground CoPs.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is an exploratory case study. Following a subjective approach the it draws on individual experiences of ten consultants. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted alongside documentary analysis to gain understanding of the organisation's approach to CoPs.
Findings
The paper finds that the one size fits all organisational approach to CoPs does not address the specific knowledge requirements of the consultancy unit where the majority of consultants work widely dispersed from clients' sites. The consultants report mistrust of top‐down CoPs and remain committed to underground CoPs. Since the skills and knowledge of the consultants are the unit's only asset, the top‐down approach to CoPs should be revisited in order to enable knowledge creation and continuous improvement of these assets, vital for future success of the consultancy business.
Research limitations/implications
The research focuses on the consultancy unit; wider research exploring experiences of top‐down CoPs elsewhere in the organisation is an area of future research, as is exploring membership of bootlegged CoPs as resistance to organisational change.
Practical implications
This research is useful for practitioners, especially the management of consultancies, whose business success is reliant on their employees' skills and knowledge.
Originality/value
The researcher is a member of the organisation under exploration and is therefore able to include an inside view. The research was undertaken following the acquisition of an international consultancy by the information technology organisation.
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Rein Juriado and Niklas Gustafsson
The paper aims to discuss the emergence of communities of practice in a temporary event organisation involving public and private partners.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to discuss the emergence of communities of practice in a temporary event organisation involving public and private partners.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs qualitative methods in the form of 31 semi‐structured interviews, a five‐week period of participant observations and archive research in a Swedish public‐private partnership, focused on large‐scale media and entertainment event.
Findings
In the temporary event‐driven project‐based organisational structure studied, communities of practice emerged by themselves because of the complexity of the task at hand. These are called “emergent communities of practice”. Four built‐in organisational mechanisms that cultivated the emergent communities of practice were identified: trust building stability; competence contributors; competence shadows; and social glue of informal events. Surprisingly, the public/private dimension was found not to affect the emergence of the community negatively.
Research limitations/implications
Given that conclusions are based on the Swedish data, the paper recommends that similar studies be carried out in other countries.
Originality/value
The paper extends the framework of communities of practice beyond the boundaries of a single or few stable organisations by analysing communities of practice within a temporary project organisation; it introduces the concept emergent communities of practice; and it proposes four ways to cultivate communities of practice.
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George H. Stonehouse and Jonathan D. Pemberton
Core competences, emanating from an organisation and that provide distinctive benefits to customers, are commonly viewed as the basis of competitive advantage. While these exist…
Abstract
Core competences, emanating from an organisation and that provide distinctive benefits to customers, are commonly viewed as the basis of competitive advantage. While these exist in many forms, the role of individual and organisational knowledge is increasingly important in the formation of knowledge‐based core competences. This paper explores the ideas of knowledge management, making reference to a number of sectors and companies, and specifically the airline industry, arguing that the culture, structure and infrastructure of an organisation are integral elements that facilitate and nurture learning. As a consequence, competences are built and developed within the “intelligent” organisation, which in turn, contribute to its competitive success.
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Jon Pemberton, Anna Buehring, George Stonehouse, Louise Simpson and Ian Purves
This paper charts the technological developments that have taken place within primary health care during the last 20 years, drawing upon previous research and presenting new…
Abstract
This paper charts the technological developments that have taken place within primary health care during the last 20 years, drawing upon previous research and presenting new survey findings on the current state of computerisation. The survey reveals that 96 per cent of UK practices use a clinical computer system, with repeat and acute prescribing, the collation of annual data and audits/searches being the most well used applications. The move towards the so‐called “paperless” practice is strongly related to GPs’ computing expertise, with larger practices more likely to have gone in this direction. Over half of GP practices now have access to the Internet. Improvement of computing skills appears a major determinant of successful integration of technology within a practice. There is a need to develop a social architecture and learning environment that allows GPs to provide good quality health care with clinical computer systems at its heart.
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Florian Kohlbacher and Kazuo Mukai
This paper aims to explain and analyze community‐based corporate knowledge sharing and organizational learning, the actual use of communities in Hewlett Packard (HP) Consulting…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explain and analyze community‐based corporate knowledge sharing and organizational learning, the actual use of communities in Hewlett Packard (HP) Consulting and Integration (CI) and their role in leveraging and exploiting existing and creating new knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents an explanatory case study research design, qualitative interviews with top executives, middle managers and employees conducted in 2005 and 2006. Explanatory case studies were used to analyze, illustrate and exemplify major findings.
Findings
The paper identified an effective approach to community‐based knowledge sharing and organizational learning at HP CI Japan's learning communities (LCs). The case study illustrates the main characteristics, features and mechanisms of communities within the framework of HP's global and local knowledge management (KM) structure and resulting activities, and illuminates effective adaptation to the Japanese working and business context.
Research limitations/implications
General limitations of case studies and generalizability of such field research apply.
Practical implications
The research has important implications for firms and business practitioners by highlighting how HP's Japanese‐style LCs facilitate intra‐organizational knowledge sharing and creation.
Originality/value
This paper presents a real‐life example of an effective community at HP CI Japan, its mechanism and practical value for companies. Even though HP's KM activities have frequently been researched, HP CI's learning communities are discussed for the first time and illuminate that even within one single company there is no one‐size‐fits‐all solution.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose that a form of communities of practice (CoP), a community of innovation (CoInv), is the best support for sustainable innovation. It aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose that a form of communities of practice (CoP), a community of innovation (CoInv), is the best support for sustainable innovation. It aims to outline a method for identifying champions of innovation in organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on extant research to argue that innovation is facilitated and supported by innovation champions, who have most influence outside traditional organisational structures when they are members of a close‐knit community – a CoInv. A potential method for identification of champions of innovation is highlighted.
Findings
Innovation champions are special people, with particular personality types and psychological profiles. In order to succeed in championing innovations in organisations they need both procedural and resource support, and social and cognitive support. The influence of innovation champions comes through social contacts, multiplied through the communities in which they participate, through the genuine esteem in which they are held. Developing CoInv around such champions makes practical sense for organisations.
Originality/value
Identifying champions of innovation will permit a CoInv to form that links social networks and transcends organisational internal boundaries and forming such a community will potentially trigger more successfully supported innovations.
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Thomas N. Garavan, Ronan Carbery and Eamonn Murphy
The purpose of this article is to explore strategies used by communities of practice (CoPs) managers when managing intentionally created CoPs.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore strategies used by communities of practice (CoPs) managers when managing intentionally created CoPs.
Design/methodology/approach
Four intentionally created CoPs in Ireland are explored, using a qualitative research design with data from observation, interviews and analysis of documents.
Findings
The study identified a number of specific strategies CoP managers use to develop trust, facilitate collaboration, facilitate the negotiation of shared meaning and manage power issues within the CoP. These strategies were shared by the four managers who participated in the study.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a small sample of managers in Ireland. The context and process imposed constraints and the findings are context specific which implications for the application of findings to other CoPs.
Originality/value
The study highlights the concept of CoP is not confined to traditional understandings but includes intentionally created highly structured time‐bound groupings of individuals who work in a collaborative manner to share knowledge. The paper offers learning from CoP managers and highlights the practical implications of their experiences.