Communities of practice are being incorporated by organizations into internal knowledge management schema, as well as the extended knowledge system, capable of spanning elements from the external environment. This article seeks to explore the positive outcomes associated with the approach as well as potential challenges confronting communities of practice so organizations may more competently manage conditions crucial to their success. An overview of communities of practice, including an historical background, theoretical definition, common characteristics, structural components, benefits, challenges, limitations, and recommendations for organizational success will be presented. A discussion and conclusions section ends this article.
Badaracco, J.L. ( 1991). The knowledge link: How firms compete through strategic alliances. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
2.
Bibikova, A., & Kotelnikov, V. (2007). East versus West-Philosophy, cultural values, and mindset. Retrieved from http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cultures_east-west-phylosophy.html
3.
Bowditch, J.L., & Buono A.F. ( 2001). A primer on organizational behavior. New York, NY: John Wiley.
4.
Brown, J., & Duguid, P. ( 1991). Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning and innovation. Organization Science, 2, 40-57.
5.
Castells, M. ( 2000). The rise of the network society (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
6.
Chang, J., Chang, W., & Jacobs, R. (2009). Relationship between participation in communities of practice and organizational socialization in the early careers of South Korean IT employees. Human Resource Development International , 12, 407-427.
7.
Davis, S., & Mayer, C. ( 1998). Blur: The speed of change in the connected economy. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
8.
Elkjaer, B. ( 1999). In search of a social learning theory. In M. Easterby-Smith, L. Araujo , & J. Burgoyne (Eds.), Organizational learning and the learning organization (pp. 130-156). London: SAGE.
9.
Fenwick, T. ( 2008). Understanding relations of individual-collective learning in work: A review of research. Management Learning, 39, 227-243.
10.
Fontaine, M. ( 2001). Keeping communities of practice afloat: Understanding and fostering roles in communities. Knowledge Management Review , 4(4), 16-21.
11.
Garavan, T.N., & McCarthy, A. ( 2008). Collective learning process and human resource development . Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10, 451-471.
12.
Gates, W.H. ( 1999). Business @ the speed of thought: Succeeding in the digital economy. New York, NY: Warner Books .
13.
Jorgensen, K.M., & Keller, H.D. ( 2008). The contribution of communities of practice to human resource development: Learning as negotiating identity. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10, 525-540.
14.
Juriado, R., & Gustafsson, N. (2007). Emergent communities of practice in temporary interorganisational partnerships. The Learning Organization, 14, 50-61.
15.
Kekale, T., & Viitala, R. ( 2003). Do networks learn? Journal of Workplace Learning, 15, 245-247.
16.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. ( 1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Lesser, E.L., & Storck, J. ( 2001). Communities of practice and organizational performance . IBM Systems Journal, 40, 831-841.
19.
McDermott, R. ( 2000). Building a support structure for your communities. Knowledge Management Review, 3(3), 5.
20.
Pastoors, K. ( 2007). Consultants: Love-hate relationships with communities of practice. The Learning Organization, 14, 21-33.
21.
Pemberton, J., Mavin, S., & Stalker, B. ( 2007). Scratching beneath the surface of communities of (mal)practice . The Learning Organization, 14, 62-73.
22.
Roberts, J. ( 2006). Limits to communities of practice. Journal of Management Studies, 43, 623-639.
23.
Saint-Onge, H., & Wallace, D. ( 2003). Leveraging communities of practice for strategic advantage . New York, NY: Butterworth Heinemann .
24.
Scott, W.R. ( 2003). Organizations: Rational, natural, and open systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
25.
St. Clair, R.N., & Jia, Y.X. ( 2005). Cultural harmony versus cultural dissonance: Philosophical approaches to conflict resolution. Intercultural Communication Studies, 14, 1-17.
26.
Torraco, R.J. ( 2002). Cognitive demands of new technologies and the implications for learning theory. Human Resource Development Review, 1, 439-467.
27.
Wenger, E. ( 1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
28.
Wenger, E. ( 2004). Knowledge management as a doughnut: Shaping your knowledge strategy through communities of practice. Ivey Business Journal , 68(3), 1-8.
29.
Wenger, E. ( 2006). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/communities_of_practice_intro.htm
30.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W.M. ( 2002). Cultivating communities of practice. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
31.
Wenger, E.C., & Snyder, W.M. ( 2000). Communities of practice: The organizational frontier . Harvard Business Review, 78, 139-145.
32.
Wiessner, C.A., Hatcher, T., Chapman, D., & Storberg-Walker, J. (2008). Creating new learning at professional conferences: An innovative approach to conference learning, knowledge construction and programme evaluation. Human Resource Development International, 11, 367-383.
33.
Yeo, R.K. ( 2008). How does learning (not) take place in problem-based learning activities in workplace contexts? Human Resource Development International, 11, 317-330.
