Communities of Practice: Comparing Experiences from Private Companies and Public Organisations

Since the seminal work of Wenger et al. (2002), there has been a flourishing literature about Communities of Practice (CoPs). While CoPs were initially conceptualized as a spontaneous phenomenon, marked by informal nature and lack of regulation, shortly afterwards it has become clear that they need to be cultivated and managed. In particular they need an enabling infrastructure and a governance system that represent its key components and distinguish them from a purely informal network. Nowadays, CoPs are often a core part of big KM programmes: many corporations have adopted them as means to promote the sharing of knowledge among their units. In view of the success that CoPs have obtained among private companies, public organisations have also begun to adopt them for managing knowledge assets. As underlined by the literature, KM practices in public and private sectors clearly differ due to the underlying differences in goals and objectives, organizational environment and processes. However, how CoPs can be created and managed in the public sector is still debated, and little evidence has been published. The paper contributes to the analysis of CoPs’ formation and management in the public sector by comparing two cases: a private corporation and a state university. The comparison is based on four dimensions indicated in the interpretative framework previously proposed in Scarso and Bolisani (2008): organizational, cognitive, economic, and technological dimension. The two CoPs have been analysed though a case-study approach. Similarities and differences of the two cases are highlighted, and implications for the management of CoPs in public organizations are discussed.