Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Impact <strong>of</strong> Knowledge Management Created by
Communities <strong>of</strong> Practice in Virtual Learning Environments
Bob Barrett
School <strong>of</strong> Business, American Public University, Charles Town, USA
docjob00@msn.com
Abstract: As more organizations move forward with technological advancements, as well as strategically
planning for competitiveness in <strong>the</strong> marketplace, <strong>the</strong>se entities realize that real world applications and learning
are important. Thus, many are starting to focus on <strong>the</strong> importance and potential application <strong>of</strong> a new approach to
managing in <strong>the</strong> 21 st century with <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> knowledge management, instead <strong>of</strong> just relying only on key
managers and <strong>the</strong>ir experiences individually. According to AllKM.com (2011), knowledge management can be
viewed as a ‘system to facilitate learning, innovation and sharing to achieve <strong>the</strong> strategic objectives <strong>of</strong> an
organization” (p. 2). While many business and academic pr<strong>of</strong>essionals still gravitate towards <strong>the</strong>oretical
approaches, industry is starting to see more movement towards practical and meaningful approaches to learning
from knowledge gained by <strong>the</strong> collective whole. KMNetwork (2011) noted that knowledge management as being
“more about <strong>the</strong> pragmatic and thoughtful application as it is not in <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>oretical definition but in real world
execution wherein lie <strong>the</strong> greatest opportunities and challenges” (p.2). With this strategic change in managerial
approach, companies are learning how to rely upon <strong>the</strong>ir employees, as a whole, to create <strong>the</strong>ir own knowledge
management work product and sustain it within <strong>the</strong>ir own learning and work environments. One way that many
organizations, whe<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> business or academic setting, are capturing and sustaining <strong>the</strong> intellectual work
products and thoughts processes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir employees is through <strong>the</strong>ir engagement in “communities <strong>of</strong> practice”.
Wenger (2006) defined communities <strong>of</strong> practice as being formation <strong>of</strong> “people who engage in a process <strong>of</strong>
collective learning in a shared domain <strong>of</strong> human behavior . . .” (para. 3). These communities can create, share,
maintain, develop, and evaluate all types <strong>of</strong> knowledge through various activities, such as problem solving,
sharing developments, documenting and working on projects, and mapping out knowledge and seeking
improvements, as well as striving for better achieve <strong>of</strong> organizational objectives and goals. Interestingly, many
businesses and educational institutions have streng<strong>the</strong>ned <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> communities <strong>of</strong> practice as “think tanks”
and “creators <strong>of</strong> organizational knowledge” through <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> virtual work groups, departmental discussion
forums, and specialized group boards. Finally, this leads to <strong>the</strong> question as to whe<strong>the</strong>r this change in knowledge
management approach from <strong>the</strong>ory to practical application is stemming from a need to reexamine <strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong>
Intellectual Capital in <strong>the</strong> workplace or education – or just a chance to challenge <strong>the</strong> status quo <strong>of</strong> what we have
all learned to do in <strong>the</strong> past.
Keywords: community <strong>of</strong> practice, network <strong>of</strong> practice, intellectual capital, virtual learning
1. Introduction <strong>of</strong> Knowledge Management and industry
The concept and application <strong>of</strong> knowledge management has been vastly used in industries,
organizations, and academic settings with different interpretations and applications. The creation <strong>of</strong>
and <strong>the</strong> various uses have been instituted, ra<strong>the</strong>r than just relying only on key managers and <strong>the</strong>ir
experiences individually. According to AllKM.com (2011), knowledge management can be viewed as
a ‘system to facilitate learning, innovation and sharing to achieve <strong>the</strong> strategic objectives <strong>of</strong> an
organization” (p. 2). While many business and academic pr<strong>of</strong>essionals still gravitate towards
<strong>the</strong>oretical approaches, industry is starting to see more movement towards practical and meaningful
approaches to learning from knowledge gained by <strong>the</strong> collective whole. The question to be examined
during this article is whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>re is sharing <strong>of</strong> knowledge and how is distributed to <strong>the</strong> group.
Fur<strong>the</strong>r, one needs to consider whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>re is some “holding <strong>of</strong> certain elements <strong>of</strong> knowledge” that
could be seen as beneficial or detrimental to <strong>the</strong> group or organization.
KMNetwork (2011) noted that knowledge management as being “more about <strong>the</strong> pragmatic and
thoughtful application as it is not in <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>oretical definition but in real world execution wherein lie <strong>the</strong>
greatest opportunities and challenges” (p.2). With this strategic change in managerial approach,
companies are learning how to rely upon <strong>the</strong>ir employees, as a whole, to create <strong>the</strong>ir own knowledge
management work product and sustain it within <strong>the</strong>ir own learning and work environments. One way
that many organizations, whe<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> business or academic setting, are capturing and sustaining
<strong>the</strong> intellectual work products and thoughts processes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir employees is through <strong>the</strong>ir engagement
in “communities <strong>of</strong> practice”. Wenger (2006) defined communities <strong>of</strong> practice as being formation <strong>of</strong>
“people who engage in a process <strong>of</strong> collective learning in a shared domain <strong>of</strong> human behavior . . .”
(para. 3). These communities can create, share, maintain, develop, and evaluate all types <strong>of</strong>
knowledge through various activities, such as problem solving, sharing developments, documenting
and working on projects, and mapping out knowledge and seeking improvements, as well as striving
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