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Developing Knowledge In “Networks Of Practice”

In: People, Knowledge And Technology What Have We Learnt So Far?

Author

Listed:
  • PIERPAOLO ANDRIANI

    (Durham Business School, Mill Hill Lane, Durham, DH1 3LB, United Kingdom)

  • GARY ATKINSON

    (Durham Business School, Mill Hill Lane, Durham, DH1 3LB, United Kingdom)

  • ALISTAIR BOWDEN

    (Durham Business School, Mill Hill Lane, Durham, DH1 3LB, United Kingdom)

  • RICHARD HALL

    (Durham Business School, Mill Hill Lane, Durham, DH1 3LB, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Much of the knowledge management literature, e.g. (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995; Boisot 1998), concerns “Communities of practice”. Brown & Duguid (2000) suggest that a “Community of practice” may be a single organisation, or it may be a tight knit inter-organisational community, whereas a “Network of practice” is a loose knit network of physically dispersed agents. This paper proposes a model for conceptualising the knowledge development process in “Networks of practice”. We will suggest that “Networks of practice” require projects with a modular architecture and that the development of knowledge in these dispersed networks involves not only the process of combination (Nonaka, Reinmoeller, & Senoo; 1998) but also the iterative processes of recombination facilitated by an integrating network centre. The theoretical considerations presented in this paper were occasioned by two case studies examined by two of the authors (Atkinson & Bowden) in part fulfillment of their MBA degrees at the University of Durham. The paper uses ideas from complexity theory to analyse the issue of knowledge creation and recombination in distributed networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierpaolo Andriani & Gary Atkinson & Alistair Bowden & Richard Hall, 2004. "Developing Knowledge In “Networks Of Practice”," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Bruno Trezzini & Patrick Lambe & Suliman Hawamdeh (ed.), People, Knowledge And Technology What Have We Learnt So Far?, chapter 3, pages 21-31, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:wschap:9789812702081_0003
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