Born to be Wild: Using Communities of Practice as a Tool for Knowledge Management

Valérie Chanal (1) , Chris Kimble (2)

1 PACTE - Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales
2 Euromed Marseille - École de management

This paper looks at what happens when Communities of Practice are used as a tool for Knowledge Management. The original concept of a Community of Practice appears to have very little in common with the knowledge sharing communities found in Knowledge Management, which are based on a revised view of 'cultivated' communities. We examine the risks and benefits of cultivating Communities of Practice rather than leaving them 'in the wild'. The paper presents the findings from two years of research in a small microelectronics firm to provide some insights into the wild vs domesticated dichotomy and discusses the implications of attempting to tame Communities of Practice in this way.

Mots clés: Communities of Practice; Knowledge Management

Mots clés: Communautés de pratique; management des connaissances

Domaines: Gestion et management

Valérie Chanal, Chris Kimble. Born to be Wild: Using Communities of Practice as a Tool for Knowledge Management. Ethicomp, Apr 2010, Tarragona, Spain. pp.71-80. ⟨halshs-00483133⟩