Intra-organizational networks of practice (NOPs) confront managers with a dilemma: they must manage NOPs to reap benefits from integrating geographically dispersed knowledge, but the inherently emergent nature of NOPs implies that management control may frustrate practice-related knowledge to be shared. Based on a case study of 22 NOPs in a geographically dispersed development organization ('TDO'), we develop a model that disentangles the dynamics underlying this dilemma, helping to better understand it. Specifically, four dynamic relationships are interrelated and involve four kinds of embeddedness (organizational, in practice, relational, and structural) that relate dynamically to knowledge sharing in NOPs. Interventions in both the content shared in the network and the connections among network members can influence each of these relations. This study contributes to theoretical and practical understanding of how to manage NOPs without killing them.
This study examines the use of enterprise social media (ESM) for organizational knowledge sharing and shows that professionals face ambiguities because their knowledge sharing behavior is informed by an institutional complexity that consists of 2 dissimilar institutional logics: logics of the profession
This paper outlines two leadership strategies to support organizational learning through networks of practice (NOPs). An in-depth case study in a development organization reveals that network leaders cope with a learning tension between management involvement and emergent learning processes by enacting two strategies: brokering and buffering (B&B), or conducting and controlling (C&C). The latter strategy implies a one-sided emphasis on institutionalization, whereas a B&B strategy implies mediating and shielding the network from too much management intervention. The B&B strategy appears more useful for achieving multilevel organizational learning through NOPs; this study thereby contributes to theory about learning and NOPs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.