Purpose This paper aims to review the research and to summarise the evidence on communities of practice (CoPs) as a tool for sharing knowledge. It will highlight the related literature from the past two decades by looking at potential barriers, solutions and influential factors regarding CoPs within business organisations. Design/methodology/approach The study consists of a constructed approach to determine the sources for the review that covers relevant literature on the topic of CoPs. Findings This paper provides insights about the important role of CoPs in fostering knowledge-sharing within business organisations. It suggests that the impact of globalisation has encouraged many business firms to intentionally establish CoPs as a vital tool for knowledge management (KM) initiatives. It also appears that the importance of the three organisational factors – top management, structure and culture – lies in their ability to have a direct effect on intentionally established CoPs within business organisations. Research limitations/implications The paper suggests a number of ways in which intentionally established CoPs can be developed within business companies. This paper limited its review to three organisational factors. Investigation of other organisational factors is needed. Originality/value This paper provides a detailed insight into the management literature on CoPs as an initiative for knowledge sharing within business organisations.

Purpose This paper aims to offer a wider examination of the research concerning entrepreneurship characteristics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region via a review of recent studies relevant to this topic. Research publications concerning entrepreneurship within the MENA region evidence growing interest in this field of study, with the potential to boost and drive future economic development and growth. This focus within entrepreneurship research is because of the economic development in the region, which is becoming increasingly important for policymakers and businesses. Design/methodology/approach The author performed a systematic literature review to produce robust information about entrepreneurship in the MENA region, followed by a thematic analysis to identify key research themes within each category. Findings Despite the growth in entrepreneurship research in the MENA region, research on certain factors is lacking. An analysis of 271 studies published between 2009 and 2019 identifies 9 main research categories, within which 30 themes have attracted significant academic attention. Female entrepreneurship and gender, youth entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship behaviour and orientation are the three key categories influencing perspectives on entrepreneurship in the MENA region. This study highlights research gaps and provides recommendations to guide future research on the sustainable development of entrepreneurship in the MENA region. Originality/value This paper highlights trends in entrepreneurship research amongst scholars within the MENA region and suggests paths for future research efforts.

PurposeThis paper is an empirical study examining how sectoral committees function as knowledge networks within CCIs in Saudi Arabia. It employs the Madinah Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) branch as a case study. The research examines the influence of individual factors (taking pleasure in helping others, knowledge of self-efficacy, and outcome expectations), and organisational factors (top management support and knowledge sharing culture) on knowledge sharing, to establish whether knowledge sharing assists in the business development of the members of sectoral committees.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses a quantitative methodology to investigate how knowledge sharing between sectoral committee members can assist in the development of their businesses and industries.FindingsThis research provides valuable information regarding the role of knowledge sharing among sectoral committee members and addresses the challenges facing business owners in sectoral committees. Precisely, the results of the survey showed that knowledge sharing in the CCI was considered crucial.Research limitations/implicationsThe research model was confined to the MCCI and using Saudi Arabia as a context of study, which has a unique organisational culture that influenced the participants' perceptions regarding knowledge sharing, and therefore cannot be generalised to other organisations. Further investigation of knowledge sharing using samples from other countries would give a more robust examination of the studied hypotheses.Practical implicationsThe results provided in this research indicated that the activity of knowledge sharing impacts members' business development. This suggests that enhancing knowledge sharing among members of sectoral committees would support the creation of new ideas that were beneficial to improving their business and investments.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the role of knowledge sharing in business development among sectoral committees, particularly within Saudi Arabian CCIs, and is thus able to offer new insight into existing knowledge sharing in sectoral committees in non-Western contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to bring to light a new perspective on the transformational role of universities by considering knowledge strategies for increasing research and academic capabilities. Change usually comes about because of a crisis in an organization; however, such change can also be due to permanent competition and rapid developments. As the world has moved into the twenty-first century, change has become indispensable, and organizations of many kinds face a variety of challenges. The first questions to ask are “Why change?” and “Why is change important?” Change is a fundamental factor behind an organization’s success and can transform an organization into a global competitor. The three big factors that can impact a university are funding, leadership, and the research system, all of which have been directly affected by disturbances from the external environment and indirectly affected by changes to the university context in response to those disturbances. Many universities around the world have built good reputations, but they need to speedily react to future changes. Collaboration between universities and research institutes plays an essential role in developing the research context. In addition, associations based on specialist studies promote continued professional development among university staff. This paper therefore attempts to highlight the need for change in the realm of universities and answer questions regarding the whys and hows of such change.

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Learning the concept of organizational communities of practice (OCoP) is very effective but too complicated when it comes to implementation. Challenges arise when cultivating OCoPs and creating effective communication processes, particularly within an organization that has a traditional hierarchy. Literature on knowledge management (KM) fails to provide an inclusive comprehension of the significance of OCoPs. Thus, the current exploratory research aims to determine how organizational contexts can enable or disable the establishment and development of OCoPs. This article is built on communities of practice (CoP) theory to study the phenomenon of intentionally established OCoPs within large organizations. The case studies conducted for this research involved two companies based in Saudi Arabia, with intentionally created OCoPs. The selected cases assist in providing a holistic understanding of the influential role of organizational context in enabling OCoP activities, using semi-structured interviews, document reviews and field notes. The study findings support an integrated framework to assist organizations in establishing effective OCoPs. Its five phases include establishment, enforcement, recognition, maintenance and sustainability, representing OCoP development phases. The resulting framework organized 16 enabling or disabling factors in OCoP development. This article expands the focus of research beyond traditional CoPs, to investigate the intentional establishment of OCoPs within organizations and understand opportunities and challenges that enable OCoPs. The study argues that organizations implementing OCoPs should offer a comprehensive, long-term strategy for KM initiatives that leads to designing OCoP activities that enable better alignment with the organization’s business plan. A company can shape perceptions and behaviours by establishing the organizational context for social interaction. Thus, this article extends the perspective on developing OCoPs within organizations and argues that the role of middle management requires more thoughtfulness about OCoP research.

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