Transnational practices in communities of task and communities of learning

Abstract

This article explores situated practices in communities that provide transnational services. Communities of practice generally focus on reinforcing local ties. Our study identifies two distinctive but interdependent communities of practice that are transnational and virtual: one community consists of employees who share work and tasks, labeled communities of task; the other consists of employees who jointly share and create knowledge, labeled communities of learning. We extend the existing community of practice literature by providing a heterogeneous understanding of the different types of situated practices, claiming that the situated practices of sharing work and sharing knowledge stem from the type of participation within the communities, either through service relays or virtual servicing. Empirical data in this study were collected from two transnational professional service firms. Our study shows that both types of communities benefit from managerial facilitation, even though one community type is more formal and the other is informal.

Perspectives

“…Hydle et al (2014) consider the provision of transnational services by locally situated professionals in professional services firms collaborating across different sites. The research focused on the IT function.…”

The Integration of Law into Global Business Solutions: The Rise, Transformation, and Potential Future of the Big Four Accountancy Networks in the Global Legal Services Market

“…To signal this new creditworthiness, the Big Four are moving aggressively to integrate their FLPs within their international networks, thereby subjecting them to the same hierarchical controls, branding, strategy, processes, standards, and values as the rest of the business. These efforts to achieve greater harmonization and control are in turn reinforced by sophisticated client management systems and a culture of reciprocity under which lawyers working in their legal practices worldwide play multiple roles simultaneously—for example, as part of the legal service line, an industry group, a particular geographic location, and a number of client teams—thereby interacting with other professionals with different expertise (e.g., tax, consulting, accounting, financial, or industry-specific or local expertise) around the world (Greenwood et al 2010; Hydle, Kvålshaugen, and Breunig 2014). Greenwood et al (2010) label this form of matrix organization “multiplex,” although as several scholars have noted, this terminology may overstate the degree to which the Big Four have actually achieved transnational integration (Boussebaa and Morgan 2015; Spence et al 2015).…”

Engagement in Online Learning: It’s Not All About Faculty!

“…73-85). Moreover, Hydle, Kvalshaugen, and Breunig (2014) have added to Wenger's original conception to assert that "a view of CoP that extends beyond the local understanding to consider relational ties in terms of spatial and relational proximity is needed" (p. 610). In other words, the more traditional understanding of community as only comprising a place-based group of people has evolved and communities are now understood to exist in virtual settings as well.…”