Duryan, M;
Smyth, H;
(2017)
Facilitating Knowledge Sharing Environment Within Bureaucracies by Cultivating Communities of Practice: a Case Study.
In:
Proceedings of the 18th European Conference on Knowledge Management:ECKM 2017.
(pp. pp. 283-292).
ACPI: Barcelona, Spain.
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Abstract
Hierarchical structures and processes in organisations that manage large infrastructure programmes are designed to better control their implementation. Bureaucratic rigidities of the organisations do not allow them to deal with increasing complexity as they lack environments that encourage the knowledge flow, risk taking and flexibility on which adaptation thrives. The centralised power structure generates defensive mechanisms and discourages individuals to learn and to share knowledge. To remain flexible and adaptive the bureaucracies need to sustain their competitive advantage by capitalising on knowledge and experience of their experts. The leadership needs to think holistically about combining conditions of hierarchy and discipline with other forms of cooperation. Communities of practice can become the spaces of explicit and especially tacit knowledge exchange outside the usual organisational constraints and can foster environment of learning and collaboration internally and externally. However, there are many examples of failure to evolve them into a sustainable entity. This paper explores the process of cultivating communities of practice within a hierarchical organisation that manages large infrastructure programmes. It aims at studying how application of problem structuring techniques can assist the organisation under scrutiny in understanding the key sponsors' perceptions regarding communities of practice and how that can contribute to reducing a tension between a need to capitalise on expert knowledge and the individuals who are discouraged to learn by control structure of a hierarchical organisation.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Facilitating Knowledge Sharing Environment Within Bureaucracies by Cultivating Communities of Practice: a Case Study |
| Event: | 18th European Conference on Knowledge Management:ECKM 2017 |
| ISBN-13: | 9781911218487 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | http://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_6217... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge Management, Communities of Practice, Organisational Learning, Hierarchical Organisations, Cognitive Mapping |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett Sch of Const and Proj Mgt |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10059928 |
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