1. Home
  2. Vol 1, No 1 (2022)
  3. Alie

Organizational Knowledge Network through Community of Practice

Stephan Alie(1*)
(1) Brighamyoung University
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

As the amount of critical information in companies continues to burgeon and employees’ knowledge is heralded as an organization’s key competitive advantage, knowledge management has become a compelling workplace topic of discussion. Communities of practice have recently been recognized as effective means for organizations to manage their knowledge. In order to determine how virtual communities of practice serve as knowledge management vehicles, the authors of this paper conducted a study on virtual communities of practice within twelve large, international companies by interviewing virtual community of practice builders and leaders within these organizations. This paper reveals the study’s findings. It outlines specific ways that organizations can benefit from sponsoring virtual communities of practice. It also identifies factors that community builders and leaders can influence to ensure a VCoP’s success as a knowledge management vehicle

Keywords


communities of practice, organizational, knowledge networks

References


Allen, S. (2003) “No formal training required: How an informal community of practice helps its members improve their individual performance”, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Utah State University.

Barab, S.A. & Duffy, T.M. (20009 “From practice fields to communities of practice’, in Jonassen, D. & Land, S. (Eds.), Theoretical foundations of learning environments, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 25-56.

Benson, G. (1997) “Informal training takes off”, Training & Development, Vol 51 No 5, pp. 93-94.

Blunt, R. (2001) Knowledge Management in the new economy . Writers Club Press, Lincoln, NE.

Bradsher, M. & Hagan, L. (1995) “The kids network: Student-scientists pool resources”, Educational Leadership, Vol 53 No 2, pp. 38-43.

Brown, J.S. & Gray, E.S. (1995) “The people are the company”, Fast Company, viewed 20 August 2002, .

Chao, C.A. (2001) “Workplace learning as legitimate peripheral participation: A case study of newcomers in a management consulting organization”, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University.

Davenport, T.H. & Prusak, L. (1997) Information ecology: Managing the information and knowledge environment, Oxford University Press, New York.

Davenport, T.H. & Prusak, L. (1998) Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know, Harvard Business School Press, Boston

Gilbert, T. F. (1978). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance. New York, NY: McGraw- Hill.

Goldwasser, D. (2001)“Me a trainer?”, Training, Vol 28 No 4, pp. 61-66.

Gregory, T. (1993) “Community of teachers”, Technical document, Indiana University.

Hamal, G. & Prahalad, C.K. (1994) Competing for the future, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.

Hansen, M.T., Nohria, N. & Tierney, T. (2001) “What’s your strategy for managing knowledge?” in Harvard Business Review on Organizational Learning, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, pp. 61-86.

Hara, N. (2000) ‘Social construction of knowledge in professional communities of practice: Tales in courtrooms’, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University.

Kelly, K. (1998) New Rules for the New Economy: 10 Radical Strategies for a Connected World, Viking Press, New York.

Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Mager, R. F. (1992). What every manager should know about training: or “I’ve got a training problem”… and other odd ideas. Atlanta, GA: Center for Effective Performance.

Masterson, K.T. (2002) “Communities of practice: A bridge to knowledge management success”, LawNet, Inc., viewed 13 December 2002, .

Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995) The knowledge creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. Oxford University Press, New York.

O’Driscoll, T. (2003) “Improving Knowledge Worker Performance”, Performance Improvement, Vol 42 No 4, pp. 5-11.

Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. I. (2000). The knowing-doing gap: How smart companies turn knowledge into action. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Saint-Onge, H. & Wallace, D. (2003) Leveraging communities of practice for strategic advantage, Butterworth- Heinemann, Burlington, MA.

Schwen, T.C., Kalman, H.K., Hara, N. & Kisling, E.L. (1998) “Potential knowledge management contributions to human performance technology research and practice”, Educational Technology Research and Development, Vol 46 No 4, pp. 73-89.

Sharp, J. (1997)“ Communities of practice: A review of the literature”, viewed 20 May 2002, .

Sorohan, E. G. (1993). We do; therefore we learn. Training & Development, 47(10), 47-55.

Stake, R.E. (1995) The art of case study research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Stewart, T.A. (1997) Intellectual Capital, Doubleday/Currency Publishers, Inc., New York.

Stolovitch, H. D., & Keeps, E. J. (1999). What is human performance technology? In H. D. Stolovitch & E. J. Keeps (Eds.), Handbook of human performance technology: Improving individual and organizational performance worldwide (2 ed., pp. 3-23). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Wenger, E. (2000) “Communities of practice: Stewarding knowledge” in Despres, C. & Chauvel, D. (Eds.), Knowledge horizons: The present and the promise of knowledge, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston, pp. 205-224.

Wenger, E. & Snyder, W.M. (2000) “Communities of practice: The organizational frontier”, Harvard Business Review, Vol 78 No 1, pp. 139-145.

Yi, J.Q. (2000) “Supporting business by facilitating organizational learning and knowledge creation in the MOT community of practice (CoP)”, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University.

Yin, R.K. (1994) Case study research: Design and methods, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.


Article Statistic

Abstract view : 253 times
PDF views : 168 times

Dimensions Metrics

The PDF file you selected should load here if your Web browser has a PDF reader plug-in installed (for example, a recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader).

If you would like more information about how to print, save, and work with PDFs, Highwire Press provides a helpful Frequently Asked Questions about PDFs.

Alternatively, you can download the PDF file directly to your computer, from where it can be opened using a PDF reader. To download the PDF, click the Download link above.

Fullscreen Fullscreen Off

Full Text: PDF

How To Cite This :

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2022 Stephan Alie