The importance of power and ideology in communities of practice

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss some underdeveloped issues in Community of Practice theory and their practical implications for the study of the organization. Design/methodology/approach -The paper shows that, in order to achieve this goal, first the blind spots are identified (such as power issues and the relation of the community with its environment) based on a literature review. Then, a case study is presented, carried out in a large Dutch organization (referred to as the Design Company), which designs and produces complex technology. The focus is on one community of practice (The User Interface Design Team) and the process of its development (internal and external) within a particular environment. The consequences of this development on the environment are examined. The methodology employed is mainly ethnographical observation and qualitative interviews. Findings -The paper finds that the case study demonstrates the relevance of considering such concepts as power, conflict, and ideology in CoP theory. Enriched in this way, CoP theory can account for both the internal and external development of communities (in terms of empowerment), as well as the conditions that constitute a favorable context for such development. It can also explain how the bottom-up process of change that was induced by the User Interface Design community takes place within the organizational life-world. Originality/value -The paper reveals that the insights provided by this research have the potential to enrich the body of knowledge surrounding CoP theory. The results of this research are considered to be useful for organizations that present similar conditions to the one presented in this case study.

Collective action for knowledge mobilisation: a realist evaluation of the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care

“…136 It is the interaction of individuals and active collaboration 137 that creates group identity as individuals create meaning through sense making. 138 Within the current study we observed this happening to some extent through specific projects, such as those that employed more interactive methods, for example improvement projects. This supports the idea that the topic or subject area around which a collaboration is focused is also important for its success.…”

Cross‐cultural analysis of the Wikipedia community

“…Although the practice of informal collaborative learning through knowledge sharing is not limited to organizational settings, a number of studies about CoPs were conducted primarily in organizational environments. Whether it was about employees of Caterpillar (Ardichvili, Page, & Wentling, 2003), coordinators for Adult Learning Councils (Gray, 2004), user interface designers (Veenswijk & Chisalita, 2007), Xerox technicians (Orr, 1996), or insurance claim processors (Wenger, 1990), these studies discussed knowledge‐sharing practices of CoPs within organizational boundaries. As noted earlier, knowledge‐sharing practices outside organizations are already occurring.…”

Workplace learning and information exchange among gig workers: crowdsourcing and the social media advantage

“…Traditionally, a CoP is a network of professionals who gather for the purposes of knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer learning on a wide range of topics within the same field of practice (Wenger, 1999). A CoP provides an informal network of support for practitioners to learn best practices and share concerns with other community members (Veenswijk and Chisalita, 2007). Both online meetings among professionals just as one would in a face-to-face CoP and an information exchange in a social media group can be considered vCoP activity.…”