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The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of communities of practice from a psychoanalytically informed perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of communities of practice from a psychoanalytically informed perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept of communities of practice is defined, their working described, and negative attributes delineated.
Findings
The paper finds that through the exploitation of basic skills, the development and sharing of a shared language, incorporation of previous relevant experience and current information over time, the community of practice becomes more open. The group is better able to combine existing knowledge with emerging understandings.
Practical implications
Psychoanalytically informed theory is applied to provide alternative insight into communities of practice and how they impede organizational progress.
Originality/value
The paper illustrates how human nature influences the workplace in general and contributes to the working of communities of practice in particular.
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The concept of community of practice is a common parlance in many organisations, but has yet to be utilised as strategic tool by construction organisations to improve the…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of community of practice is a common parlance in many organisations, but has yet to be utilised as strategic tool by construction organisations to improve the performance of their operations. The purpose of this paper is to how they can be used to improve the performance of projects made.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses the normative literature to develop a proposal for using communities of practice in construction projects.
Findings
An inter‐organisational form of community of practice, known as “champions of practice,” is propagated for use in the construction industry. The “champions of practice” is independent from the project team and comprised of individuals from a learning alliances that have been established. The “champions of practice” is developed as an active know‐how platform to provide advice pertaining to issues of “best practice” that have been accumulated from projects.
Originality/value
The “champions of practice” provides a continuous source of learning and knowledge for all those organisations that have formed a learning alliance. The creation of such a form of community of practice can provide invaluable insights about best practice, which can be formalised and shared in a meaningful and reflective way. It is through proactively sharing knowledge and learning together that the industry can change and obtain the significant improvements that have been asked for by various governments worldwide.
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Anjali Dutta and Santosh Rangnekar
The aim of this article is to empirically investigate the effect of co-worker support on communities of practice with a sequential mediating effect of concern for team members and…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to empirically investigate the effect of co-worker support on communities of practice with a sequential mediating effect of concern for team members and preference for teamwork.
Design/methodology/approach
The data of 216 were gathered from respondents employed as full-time personnel in public and private sector organizations in India using a survey questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis, structured equation modelling and regression analysis were applied to test the formulated hypothesis. Hayes PROCESS macro model was also used to estimate the indirect effects with bootstrap resamples.
Findings
The study's findings revealed the mediating effect of concern for team members and preference for teamwork on the relationship between co-worker support and communities of practice in a sequential manner. The total and direct consequence of co-worker support on communities of practice was also substantial.
Originality/value
This article offers an understanding of the process through which co-worker support is related to communities of practice. This study is the first of its type, basically in the Indian context to the best of the authors’ knowledge.
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This paper aims to discuss the concepts contained in communities of practice theory (COPT) and how they might contribute to greater understanding of organizations.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the concepts contained in communities of practice theory (COPT) and how they might contribute to greater understanding of organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws upon COPT as a means to broaden the perspective of institutional theory.
Findings
The findings provide insight into the processes surrounding organizational change. The notion of change as both intentional actions and unintended consequences is explored through a review of the case of Arthur Andersen and Company.
Research limitations/implications
The study presents a historically informed case study that presents a novel theoretical approach for examinations of behavior, practices and ethics in organizations. Future work based on broader empirical examinations would enrich the findings presented in this study.
Practical implications
The study provides a means to examine organizations in practice and expands awareness of how behaviors in organizations evolve and might be shaped and encouraged over time.
Originality/value
The study introduces a novel theoretical vocabulary to the accounting academy COPT that has the potential to expand our understanding of organizations through examinations of practice.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework that explains the roles and viability of both cooperation and competition as they emerge in communities of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework that explains the roles and viability of both cooperation and competition as they emerge in communities of practice. Although the usefulness of cooperation in communities of practice is well-understood, few studies have considered the role of internal competition, and those that have generally only explored cases in which antagonistic behavior led to the community’s collapse.
Design/methodology/approach
A contingency theory of communities of practice is developed based on the manifestations of members’ participation.
Findings
This theory demonstrates the root causes of fracturing and also provides a foundation for studying communities of practice that have previously defied explanation.
Research limitations/implications
This manuscript explains the potential role and limitations of internal competition in communities of practice, as well as the emergence of subgroups based on differing preferences for cooperation and/or competition. Future research should examine the manifestation and ramifications of such individual differences between community members.
Practical implications
Practitioners can use this theoretical framework to assess communities of practice that they oversee, diagnose potential pitfalls and take corrective action to mitigate potentially toxic influences or inject additional motivating forces that would sustain the community.
Originality/value
This theoretical framework diverges from previous assumptions that internal competition is necessarily toxic for communities of practice, showing the value that it may offer in some contexts.
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The purpose of this paper is to contribute towards understanding how entrepreneurial learning might be understood as being socially situated, embedded in everyday practice in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute towards understanding how entrepreneurial learning might be understood as being socially situated, embedded in everyday practice in the context of family business. The study is framed by three main principles drawn from situated learning theory. First, the family and the business are examined as overlapping communities of practice, as sites of practice‐based knowledge. Second, the concept of legitimate peripheral participation is explored in relation to members of the family business. Finally, how practice is both reproduced and transformed over time is examined in the context of two generations' participation in a family business.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on an empirical study of two generations from five families, the founders of a business and their successors. The interview approach adopted phenomenological techniques. A thematic analysis identified conceptual frameworks to make sense of the data in a “quasi grounded” approach. Finally, the three main principles introduced from situated learning theory – communities of practice, legitimate peripheral participation, and cycles of reproduction and transformation provided a conceptual framework to analyse the empirical material.
Research limitations/implications
This is an interpretive, qualitative study based on a small sample of families based in the North West of England. The findings are not intended to be generalised to a population, but to offer empirical insights that extend theoretical frameworks in order to better understand the entrepreneurial phenomenon.
Practical implications
The experience of the second generation both in the family business and in overlapping contexts of learning‐in‐practice brings innovation and change as well as continuity. The study also suggests that the complex process of succession might be informed by the understanding of the importance of the nature and extent of participation in the family business over time.
Originality/value
This paper introduces conceptual frameworks that capture the social complexity of intergenerational entrepreneurial learning and contributes an empirical illustration of situated learning theory within the context of family business. The situated learning perspective contrasts with much of the existing entrepreneurial learning literature, which has tended to focus on “the entrepreneur” and individual learning processes. This study demonstrates that applying a learning lens brings theoretical insights to the study of family business.
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The purpose of this study is twofold: to examine the types of activity that nurses undertake on an online community of practice (APN‐l) as well as the types of knowledge that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is twofold: to examine the types of activity that nurses undertake on an online community of practice (APN‐l) as well as the types of knowledge that nurses share with one another; and to examine the factors that sustain knowledge sharing among the nurses from their local perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
An in‐depth case study with mixed methods was adopted to obtain rich and naturalistic data including online observations of the messages posted in APN‐l, interviews with 27 members of APN‐l, and content analysis of online messages.
Findings
The most common type of activity performed by members of APN‐l was “Knowledge sharing,” followed by “Solicitation.” Regarding the types of knowledge shared, the most common were “Institutional practice” and “Personal opinion.” The factors that have helped sustain knowledge sharing within the online community of practice include: a self‐selection; validation of one's practice with others who share a similar working situation; a need to gain better understanding of current knowledge and best practices in the field; a non‐competitive environment; the asynchronous nature of the online communication medium; and the role of the listserv moderator.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the growing knowledge base of communities of practice that span organizational boundary. Administrators can use the coding schema developed in this study to gauge current activities of existing online communities of practice. Additionally, they can use the six factors to sustain knowledge sharing community for fostering new/existing online communities of practice.
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This paper aims to explore graduate student experiences of ecohealth communities of practice in Canada, West and Central Africa and Central America, to better understand the role…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore graduate student experiences of ecohealth communities of practice in Canada, West and Central Africa and Central America, to better understand the role of student knowledge in advancing innovative practices in transdisciplinary, participatory and equitable research approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
This ethnographic analysis builds on observations of graduate student participants in ecohealth communities of practice activities, along with 26 in-depth interviews conducted in 2011 with graduate students and professionals trained in ecosystem approaches to health. Interviews are transcribed by the author, and coded and analyzed using a grounded theory approach.
Findings
Although ecohealth communities of practice open new space for students to experiment with innovative practices in transdisciplinary, participatory and equitable research approaches, the surrounding disciplinary, top-down structure of academic and professional careers continue to pose significant obstacles to how students can take up the principles of ecohealth in practice. Through their collective experiences of these obstacles, students have considerable knowledge about the opportunities and constraints that the ecohealth communities of practice afford; however, this student knowledge has not yet been systematized or adequately mobilized.
Practical implications
Student knowledge gained through shared experiences of ecohealth communities of practice appears to be a critical, necessary and underused component in working on systemic change in the structure of sustainability leadership in higher education. However, more research is needed to understand how greater emphasis could be placed on putting students in charge of confronting the conditions of their own training, to collectively produce alternatives that challenge dominant structural norms.
Originality/value
The ethnographic approach re-centers student voices within debates about the relevance of ecohealth communities of practice for realizing the aims of transdisciplinary, participatory and equitable research approaches within the context of international sustainability challenges and graduate training.
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This paper examines events management as a Community of Practice (CoP) and to demonstrate that knowledge management and practice within events operate as a CoP. The paper adds to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines events management as a Community of Practice (CoP) and to demonstrate that knowledge management and practice within events operate as a CoP. The paper adds to the events management literature which is currently superficial in considering events conceptually as a CoP.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive and inductive approach was adopted for the research which incorporated quantitative and qualitative methods undertaken in a United Kingdom setting. Twenty-five in-depth semi-structured interviews with event professionals were conducted and this was complemented by a survey of 215 event professionals.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that within the evolving events industry, as well as reflected in aspects of the academic literature, events can be depicted as a “domain” which connects event professionals to a “community”. The themes emerging revealed that there are modes of working, shared values and practices, a shared identity and a desire to work as a wider collective in order to maintain and enhance knowledge and practice, which are in keeping with a CoP framework.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides new insight on an under-researched area concerning knowledge and practice development within events management.
Originality/value
This is a novel study that considers how the emergent field of events management should be considered as a CoP. It addresses a gap in the literature pertaining to knowledge and practice creation within events management from a CoP perspective.
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Allan Macpherson, Christa Kiersch and Elena Antonacopoulou
The purpose of this paper is to explore the premise that organizationally defined communities of practice can be a valuable strategic learning tool for management.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the premise that organizationally defined communities of practice can be a valuable strategic learning tool for management.
Design/methodology/approach
It is a quantitative study in a single organization. The authors analyzed data from 1,082 employees using hierarchical (multi-level) linear modeling.
Findings
Management can support learning and influence engagement and identification by defining communities of practice and establishing goals, but this is not always successful. Engagement may be a short-term phenomenon, dependent significantly on the type of practice or project in which community members are allowed or decide, to participate. Identification, on the other hand, may need practices that support longer-term individual development aims allowing and supporting the achievement of personal ambition or competence.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies of organizationally defined communities of practice could use established scales to measure leadership, engagement and identification.
Practical implications
When implementing this type of organizationally defined community of practice, attention to the types of practices or projects to which the employees can contribute seems to be most important.
Originality/value
The authors show that: the dynamics within communities of practice (CoP) designed by top management teams have an impact on CoP members’ identification and engagement; organizationally defined CoP may be part of a broader landscape of professional practice (LoP); engagement, objectives and practices, and not only identification and knowledgeability, are key to the dynamics of CoP and LoP; senior management’s leadership role in setting up successful CoP is equivocal.
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