CoPs as Structures for Managing Knowledge in Dispersed Organisations

Most of the knowledge capital possessed by an organisation is difficult to use, since it is buried in the minds of people and disseminated in hundreds of documents. This particularly concerns large dispersed companies, where geographical, cultural, and organisational barriers hinder the effective sharing of knowledge. The different units, hierarchical levels, geographical locations, and business processes become knowledge islands characterised by specific backgrounds, languages, behaviours, etc. In order to bridge such islands and facilitate knowledge circulation, global enterprises have started to develop internal Communities of Practice (CoPs). However, the real potential of these structures is still little known, as well as the factors of their success or failure. The paper discusses issues and problems raised by the formation of CoPs. An explanatory framework is proposed, which identifies and integrates the different dimensions shaping the creation and management of CoPs