Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Homeland Security and Defense))--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Bergin, Richard ; Josefek, Robert. "December 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on February 5, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71). Also available in print.

Despite increased academic focus on knowledge management, the creation and management of knowledge within organisations has received limited attention. Whilst a considerable body of international literature exists on the role of communities of practice in managing knowledge in organisations, the South African literature is largely silent on communities of practice as a means of managing knowledge and thus represents a gap for further research. The objective of the research is to assess which critical success factors identified in the academic literature are rated as being most relevant to members of communities of practice in a single organisational context, being Multichoice. Further, the research assesses whether critical success factors vary by type and life cycle phase of communities of practice at Multichoice. A deductive, quantitative approach within the positivist paradigm is employed. Specifically, the descriptive survey questionnaire approach is adopted. The research reveals a strong resemblance between the critical success factors identified in the literature and those rated by members of communities of practice at Multichoice. In addition, the research demonstrates that critical success factors vary – albeit marginally - with both the type, and stage in the life cycle, of communities of practice at Multichoice. All the factors identified, with the exception of two factors, are rated as `critical’ to the success of communities of practice at Multichoice. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The research project investigated critical success factors for communities of practice in the Anglo American Corporation. It was found that critical success factors for communities of practice can be identified in the context of the Anglo American Corporation. In addition, it was found that the critical success factors vary with the type and life cycle stage of the community. The research project comprised a qualitative literature review component which led to the design of a quantitative survey component. The survey was conducted in the Anglo American Corporation, with the respondents being members of communities of practice within the organisation. The respondent data set was analysed to produce results for discussion. The concluding chapter of the report outlines the critical success factors identified, and the recommendations made for establishing the support infrastructure for these factors. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

To investigate the ways in which communities of practice affect individuals' identity development, qualitative research methods were used to understand the impact solo travel had on American women's identity development. A theoretical framework developed from the disciplines of tourism, feminism and adult education was used to inform the study. Using a combined method methods approach (naturalistic inquiry and grounded theory), three components of the backpacker community of practice were identified which gave rise to a model of identity development within a particular community. This study has implications for adult education theory as it clearly suggests the interrelatedness of the social context in which this learning takes place (communities of practice), and adult development theory (identity formation). In practical terms it illustrates and also challenges the notion of identity change as irreversible, suggesting learners need constant support to retain new ways of viewing the world and themselves.

To investigate the ways in which communities of practice affect individuals' identity development, qualitative research methods were used to understand the impact solo travel had on American women's identity development. A theoretical framework developed from the disciplines of tourism, feminism and adult education was used to inform the study. Using a combined method methods approach (naturalistic inquiry and grounded theory), three components of the backpacker community of practice were identified which gave rise to a model of identity development within a particular community. This study has implications for adult education theory as it clearly suggests the interrelatedness of the social context in which this learning takes place (communities of practice), and adult development theory (identity formation). In practical terms it illustrates and also challenges the notion of identity change as irreversible, suggesting learners need constant support to retain new ways of viewing the world and themselves.

Medarbetarnas kunskap och kompetens är företagens viktigaste resurs för att hålla sig konkurrenskraftiga. Det är därför av största vikt att denna resurs bevaras och utvecklas inom organisationen genom kunskapsöverföring mellan anställda. Företags ledningsgrupper består av individer som anses ha hög kunskap och kompetens och som tillsammans ansvarar för hela verksamheten. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar möjligheterna för medlemmarna i två ledningsgrupper med hög respektive låg omsättning av personal att dela med sig och ta del av kunskapen inom gruppen. Genom intervjuer av halvstrukturerad karaktär med fyra medlemmar ur respektive ledningsgrupp kunde åtta olika faktorer urskiljas. Dessa var relationer inom gruppen, förändrade spelregler, social interaktion, en trygg konstellation, inställning till förändring, öppenhet för nya idéer, den förväntade följden av kunskapsdelningen samt frånvaro av konkurrens. De åtta faktorerna påverkar kunskapsdelningen i de två ledningsgrupperna på olika sätt som en följd av deras personalomsättning, vissa positivt och andra negativt. Av medlemmarna i ledningsgrupperna ansågs kunskap vara underordnat personliga egenskaper, vilka även är svåra att överföra och ersätta. Studien visade att en hög personalomsättning ger bättre förutsättningar för kunskapsdelning än vad en låg personalomsättning gör.

Typically, ephemeral aspects of material culture, such as gestures and sound, are often overlooked in the reconstruction of culture history which is unfortunate since sound-related artefacts offer clues to our understanding of practices and interactions between groups of individuals. With a music archaeological perspective, my research discusses aerophones recovered from the G-752Rj site in the southern portion of the Greater Nicoya archaeological region associated with pre-Columbian Tempisque (500 B.C. to A.D. 300) communities. I examine variation and/or consistency within the production, consumption, and deposition of these instruments to investigate intra-site micro-scale levels of community of practice. I propose an innovative approach at identifying communities of practice by analyzing sound and gestures within an instrument’s construction. / Graduate / 2017-08-08 / 0324 / 0336 / 0986 / katrina.kosyk@mail.mcgill.ca

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how taste is constructed at the micro-social level of a community of practice and to investigate the dynamics that underlie the process of taste-making. An ethnographic research was conducted in the context of an arts cooperative focusing on how members maintain status boundaries from dissimilar others (inter-group dynamics) and how they negotiate intra-group taste heterogeneity (internal dynamics). The findings indicate that the community symbolically demarcates itself from outgroups in an “us versus them” fashion by continuously juxtaposing its practices to those of competitive actors through “sayings” as well as “doings”. They also begin to mark out the appropriation processes through which members employ distaste to resignify and internalise meaning to their practices (a) by exhibiting tastes of outsiders if they can successfully negotiate their intent (recontextualising exo-cultural elements), (b) by negating tastes that are prevalent in the field in order to criticise subtly outgroup practices (appropriating practice through conspicuous absence) and (c) by negotiating the ‘tastefulness’ of objects that are not valued for their aesthetics by outsiders in order to provoke (resignifying prevailing aesthetics). Finally, the study conceptualises taste-making within the community as an ongoing dialogical process amongst members with heterogeneous views about “tastefulness”. Depending on their status, members employ strategies that help them either to actualise tastes that they favour in the context of the community or to deal with the exhibition of tastes that they are not in accordance with. The thesis makes a theoretical contribution to three areas; First, to literature on taste formation by accounting for the holistic outlook of community-based taste-making practices; Second, to our understanding of negative symbolic consumption by exhibiting the appropriation processes through which distaste endows meaning to practices; Third, to the stream of works on marketplace cultures by proposing a new conceptualisation of intra-group heterogeneity.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-114). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis (Wenger et al, 2002). An understanding of why working, technical professionals participate in knowledge- based communities of practice can provide better opportunities to support individual and organizational knowledge management strategies. Online communities of practice were investigated at two global corporations: Xerox and IBM. At Xerox, Eureka is an internal network service designed to support knowledge sharing and problem solving by a community of practice for field service technicians. It allows the submission of problems from field service technicians and the retrieval of validated solutions for use and adaptation, by all members of the global Eureka community. At IBM Corporation, public network based communities of practice were investigated that focused on db2™ and Websphere™ software technology. Unlike the Xerox Eureka community of practice, knowledge contributions at IBM communities of practice are not validated prior to submission and access is open to public participation globally by IBM employees and by independent users of IBM software technology. The purpose of this case study research was to explore and to describe how and why participants became members of communities of practice – what influenced them to join and to participate. We collected survey data from participants in these communities, to examine the relationships among members’ expectations of purpose, their relationship to the community of practice, their attitudes toward information handling, the costs and benefits of membership, the size of the community of practice and the resulting participation behaviour in these knowledge-based communities of practice at Xerox Corporation and IBM Corporation. As one aspect of exploring user behaviour, we investigated the applicability of two theoretical frameworks for understanding user behaviour in these communities, based on propositions from normative and utility theory and from public goods critical mass theory. The research study provides a test for the explanatory power of public goods, utility and normative theories in a new area; namely, online knowledge-based communities of practice in workplace contexts. This analysis provided support for the applicability of utility theory and for some aspects of public goods-based theory/critical mass theory. The findings of the case study point out some differences in the two communities of practice. A majority of the IBM-based community members reported belonging to multiple communities (6-10) and using access to the community to form online social networks and to meet members outside the community at in-person meetings. They reported their participation as being self-directed and on an ad hoc basis. Most respondents were community members for less than 2 years. In contrast, a majority of Eureka members reported belonging only to the Eureka community and do not report forming online social networks in Eureka. Participation in Eureka is seamlessly integrated into prescribed, standard work practices of the company and supported by company management and with resources. Most respondents were community members for over 5 years. The analysis of members’ contributing behaviour in two online communities of practice reaffirms that the majority of members are passive participants with a core group of regular message contributors. Message composition is a careful and deliberate activity requiring communication discipline, time and effort. Members in both settings reported a strong desire to spend more time in their communities (and more time per visit). Communities of practice are dynamic complex entities that present not only a theoretical challenge but also a practical challenge. This study’s results point to the complexity of facilitating communities of practice: benefits dynamics and flow and permanence dynamics of membership can only be externally managed to a limited extent. The participants’ roles need to be conceptualized in ways that support different types of participation while at the same time highlighting the inherently cooperative nature of self-managed communities of practice.