Viewpoint
The strategic drivers and objectives of communities of practice as vehicles for knowledge management in small and medium enterprises

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2007.05.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Communities of practice are a concept that has appeared in the world of knowledge management for a number of years. Many organisations have implemented them and they remain one of the important vehicles of knowledge management in the 21st century. Organisations use communities of practice for different purposes and achieve different goals with them. The concept has its origins in the private sector, where groups of staff members at organisations such as Xerox and Boeing met regularly to share stories and learn from each other via communities of practice. The value of these communities of practice is increased innovation, responsiveness, improved staff skills, and reduced duplication. Very little attention has, however, been given to how small and medium enterprises have accepted and implemented communities of practice, what the rate of implementation and acceptance has been, and how successfully it is working for these organisations. The aim of this article is to focus on communities of practice as a concept in the world of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and how that concept translates to value for SMEs.

Section snippets

Introduction and definitions

Communities of practice are groups of people working together towards achieving specific goals through the creation, sharing, harvesting and leveraging of knowledge. These people may have different backgrounds, but they all work together towards achieving the same goal(s), using their knowledge, skills and abilities. Their focus is on exchanging knowledge and information in order to achieve the specific goals and objectives relating to the work they have to execute.

Wenger et al. (2002, p. 4)

Adapting to the rapid pace of change in the business world

In today's business world, the need for organisations to become more systematic and intentional about managing knowledge is new and therefore communities of practice has a new, central role as part of the organisation and as part of knowledge management programmes to assist in achieving this. Cultivating communities of practice in strategic areas is a practical way to manage knowledge as an organisational asset, which is part of organisations’ knowledge management vision.

Developments in science

Establishing the common baseline of knowledge in a domain

An objective of a community of practice in a specific area would be to establish a common baseline of knowledge in that specific domain. That means that the community of practice will establish how much knowledge in that specific domain exists in the organisation that is available for staff to use, both in tacit and in explicit format. It will also indicate gaps in the knowledge base, which should systematically be filled by the organisation and by communities of practice to build the baseline

Conclusion

Communities of practice as knowledge management tools have been identified a long time ago. However, the importance thereof has not been identified as starting measurement for knowledge management programmes in organisations, especially where a phased approach is required, and where cost is an issue, such as in small and medium businesses. These small and medium businesses will benefit from going this route, as the cost and risk are minimised, although the value-add is high and the expansion

Marina du Plessis obtained her Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in 2003, the title of her thesis being “The role of knowledge management in customer relationship management and eBusiness”. Dr. du Plessis practices as a management consultant, specialising in the areas of knowledge management, CRM and business strategy. She currently lectures and does extensive KM research at the University of Pretoria. She also provides strategic knowledge management

References (14)

  • M. Du Plessis

    Drivers of knowledge management in the corporate environment

    International Journal of Information Management

    (2005)
  • Anklam, P. (2006). KM and the social network. Available [Online] from...
  • Anonymous. (2006). Communities of practice: Questions and answers. Available [Online] from...
  • Bond, K. (2006). Communities of practice and complexity: Conversation and culture. Available [Online] from...
  • Burk, M. (2000). Communities of practice. Available [Online] from 〈http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/mayjun00/commprac.htm〉;...
  • Denning, S. (2006). Communities for knowledge management. Available [Online] from...
  • Hinton, B. (2003). Knowledge management and communities of practice: An experience from Rabobank Australia and New...
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (62)

  • Digitally transforming work styles in an era of infectious disease

    2020, International Journal of Information Management
  • Community of Practice: A flexible construct for understanding SME networking roles in the Irish artisan cheese sector

    2018, Journal of Rural Studies
    Citation Excerpt :

    This is significant as SMEs in general, and artisan based agri-food SMEs in particular, often have limited networking capability (Havnes and Senneseth, 2001) and struggle to participate in collaborative practices due to limited resources (Hamburg and Marin, 2010). Du Plessis (2008) argues that potential knowledge benefits of CoPs for SME's is substantial, however he focuses on the development of CoPs within rather than across organisational boundaries. As Eriksson and Bull (2017) find, artisan cheese production requires active steps to ensure the continuation of craft-based practices and prevent the attrition of tacit knowledge.

  • Social learning through rural communities of practice: Empirical evidence from farming households in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

    2018, Learning, Culture and Social Interaction
    Citation Excerpt :

    In the domain of environmental management, communities of practice facilitate social learning that promotes adaptation and innovation through social interactions (Keen et al., 2005; Edelenbos & Buuren, 2006; Noguera-Méndez et al., 2016). While the communities of practice are commonly used in the organizational context (Angelle, 2008; Brown & Duguid, 1991; du Plessis, 2008), there is insufficient knowledge of how the concept is understood in the rural context of the VMD. This study attempts to gain empirical insights into how the rural communities of practice in the delta are built and facilitate farmers' learning practices in adapting to local environmental challenges.

View all citing articles on Scopus

Marina du Plessis obtained her Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in 2003, the title of her thesis being “The role of knowledge management in customer relationship management and eBusiness”. Dr. du Plessis practices as a management consultant, specialising in the areas of knowledge management, CRM and business strategy. She currently lectures and does extensive KM research at the University of Pretoria. She also provides strategic knowledge management assistance and advice to Eskom, South Africa's main utilities provider, and provides business strategy advice to large multi-nationals in RSA.

View full text