how do communities of practice relate to knowledge management? course hero

What is the role of knowledge in community of practice?

Oct 21, 2011 · A. Communities of practice tend to weaken the knowledge management process. B. 'Communities of practice' is the phrase that describes the entire knowledge management process. C. Communities of practice mainly improve knowledge use. D. Communities of practice represent one of the three elements of intellectual capital. E. Communities of practice mainly …

What is a community of practice in management?

Knowledge Management in Communities of Practice In the CoP knowledge management is sharing, collecting and protecting information which is a valuable resource for organizations. The reason why communities of practice are so important to organizations is that they are engines of knowledge creation.

What are the key factors about communities of practice?

Mar 11, 2018 · Level 1: knowledge of the broad environment within which the practitioner operates and es-pecially nation-wide economic, psychosocial, bio-physiological, spiritual-cultural, technolo-gical/ professional, educational and political trends. You should also havr some understand-ing of how these trends impact the local community Level 2: Knowledge of social …

Where does knowledge arise?

Dec 18, 2020 · It is important for nurses to reflect on experiences and new knowledge gained in order to promote professional growth. Course Competencies: Analyze the increased complexity of care among older adults. Compare care models for nursing practice specific to the older adult. Design plans for care specific to the older adult.

What are Communities of Practice?

Communities of practice is a term originally developed by Lave and Wenger (1991). It describes a learning theory with a strong relationship to the social construction of knowledge.

Learning Within Communities of Practice

Learning is seen as deriving from the social process of becoming a practitioner, as it gives the individual a social context of being an integrated part of a community. The social construction of identity shapes each person's view and interpretation of the world.

The Implications to KM

Botha et al (2008) summarize the key factors regarding communities of practice as follows:

What is knowledge in an organization?

Knowledge is an asset for an organisation. Knowledge creation and knowledge transfer occurs between employees in the organisation. Knowledge is usually recognised as a most important organizational resource. “Knowledge arises in the collaborative practices of organizational members, as they resolve the challenges confronted in dealing ...

What is the most challenging part of a manager?

Most challenging part of the manager would be to tackle the constraints. An effective manager needs to demonstrate the skills in understanding the constraints and possible changing dynamics. The manager needs to make sure that the members stick to the deadlines and also make effective interaction between them to make sure when to exert pressure and also the freedom. This creates balancing act to challenged managers. However it might raise some conflicts, disagreements, lack of progress and on some occasions, movement towards a solution (Garavan et al., 2007). My manager used to make sure regarding the deadlines of the tasks. He would make members to put extra effort to complete the task on time and at some times he would arrange for some guest speakers in free time. So that it the time is fully utilizes and also would enhance the member’s knowledge. Thus CoP in our organization was most effective.

What are the success factors of a CoP?

One of the success factors for CoP is the motivation . It plays an important role. The manager needs to understand the member’s motivation factors and also has to trust and know about the members. They need to find out the different ways to motivate the members. However there would be many challenges to motivate. So manager needs to overcome these challenges. I have personally observed that my manager had taken full efforts in motivating the members. He had provided full support in case of tough times. If the task is not completed in a specific time, then he used to contribute by putting extra effort. In one of the case member would participate in the sub groups then the manager need to allow so that the particular issue is resolved. This required significant knowledge concerning the talents and knowledge of CoP members. They encourage alignments of changing practices between communities, thereby assisting the transfer of knowledge across the organization (Brown and Duguid, cited in Garavan et al., 2007).

Why is CoP important?

CoP provide opportunity to participate its members in discussions and provide with the necessary information about the various interests. This would allow and encourage the members to come up with new ideas in the field of their interest which would be a part of organisation success. The new innovative ideas are generated using CoP. This was observed in my last organisation. There was a panel formed for innovation. Members are supposed to mention their new ideas. The panel of top management review the ideas and would implement the ideas to improve the organisation performance. Thus, CoP is one of the key factors for new idea generation and knowledge creation.

How does CoP work?

CoP would help members to share explicit knowledge while various communities repository based systems. This is used to create a shared place that allows members to find the information. This ensures the repository has served according to the community needs.Initially members need to place the authentic and valuable content in the repository. This is ensured by assigning the moderators for the repository. All the documents need to be verified before adding to the repository. Moderator needs to identify the relevant data that would make it easy for the members to search and locate the documents.

What is a COP?

A COP is a set of people who “share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002:4). The CoPs are unlike from teams since they are self-organising systems whose lifetime is decided by individuals depending on the built-in value that membership results as described as shown in Figure 1. These communities are not controlled only based on time and space but also affect the organizational limits (Wenger 1998). They exist in any firm because membership is mainly due to participation, not the official status of the firm.

What is the purpose of cultivating communities of practice?

In a new book, Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge, the authors offer a practical guide to making knowledge work inside an organization. In this excerpt, the authors detail seven design principles for cultivating communities, everything from "design for evolution" to "combine familiarly and excitement."

Why do people participate in communities?

People participate in communities for different reasons—some because the community directly provides value, some for the personal connection, and others for the opportunity to improve their skills.

Why is community design important?

Because communities are built on existing networks and evolve beyond any particular design, the purpose of a design is not to impose a structure but to help the community develop. Community design is much more like life-long learning than traditional organization design.

What is the goal of community design?

The goal of community design is to bring out the community's own internal direction, character, and energy. Because communities of practice are voluntary, what makes them successful over time is their ability to generate enough excitement, relevance, and value to attract and engage members.

Why is value important in community life?

Value is key to community life, because participation in most communities is voluntary. But the full value of a community is often not apparent when it is first formed. Moreover, the source of value often changes over the life of the community.

What is the first group?

The first is a small core group of people who actively participate in discussions, even debates, in the public community forum. They often take on community projects, identify topics for the community to address, and move the community along its learning agenda. This group is the heart of the community.

What are the challenges of software engineering?

Software engineering teams face increasing challenges in knowledge management and professional development. Communities of practice address these challenges by providing organizational learning and critical opportunities for technical professionals to build expertise and recognition in their roles.

What is Gartner's reputation?

Gartner prides itself on its reputation for independence and objectivity. Its research is produced independently by its research organization without input or influence from any third party. For further information, see Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity.