be over-emphasised since CoPs contribute value to an organisation and build knowledge assets for the organisation or industry they operate in and across - losing that to a sudden demise could be catastrophic for the learning process and the individuals involved and some intervention and debriefing process needs to occur as part of the legitimate process of a CoP.
Wenger explains it well (2005, p. 132): "We travel to the four corners of the world but we hardly know our neighbours; we coordinate our work in huge organisations, but we find it difficult to know whom to trust; we have instant access to a worldwide web of connected computers, but we long for ways to sort out what to pay attention to and what to ignore in order to maintain a sense of coherence and personal trajectory... my point is rather that changing the scope of our engagement is not so much expanding its range as it is a series of trade-offs between forms of complexity." Wenger advises that we recognise communities of practice as part of our social life:
important places of negotiation, learning, meaning, and identity. A community of practice is a
"living context" (2005, p. 214) that gives new members access to competence and experiential learning as members swop narratives. It is a participative form of engagement that creates the right environment for the "acquisition of knowledge (2005, p. 214). A core outcome Wenger explains, is that a well-functioning community of practice can provide the right environment and context for participants to explore radically new insights in an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement. "A history of mutual engagement around a joint enterprise is an ideal context for this kind of lead-edge learning, which requires a strong bond of communal competence along with a deep respect for the particularity of experience. When these conditions are in place, communities of practice are a privileged locus for the creation of knowledge." (Wenger, 2005, p.
214). The conclusion that can be drawn is that communities of practice have the following characteristics, as outlined by various researchers, including Wenger, with Snyder and also with McDermott; Hislop (2004); Fontein with Millen, and also with Lesser; and Lave:
i. A community of practice is a body of common knowledge which exchanges ideas, shares knowledge, problem solves and shares experiences.
ii. A community of practice is made up of people who share a common purpose or interest, bringing together people with passionate views or interests.
iii. A community of practice has a sense of shared identity and over time, produces capability in the form of a shared repertoire of community resources, such as artifacts, routines, jargon, styles, processes and responsiveness.
iv. Within a community of practice there are some common or overlapping values.
v. Communities of practice are characterised by diversity of opinion and within the CoP context foster innovation as divergent ideas challenge the status quo (Justesen, 2004).
vi. Communities of practice exist within organisations and can span organisations, as well as interact with other CoPs, including competitors or industry related CoPs.
vii. The interaction between individuals of passion who share a common purpose produces a bank of knowledge that can be used to build knowledge assets for an organisation as well as an industry sector, thus adding value.
So how does this apply to the business-to-business media sector? What contribution can the media make in this regard? This is a difficult question to answer with this literature study chapter as mere is almost no mention of the media in reference to the body of work on communities of practice. What we do know is the following: the media disseminate information, in whatever form, be it electronic broadcast networks, print or over the internet. Some of that information keeps consumers of that media informed about daily news, some entertains, and some has a trade purpose - such as advertising. When it comes to business-to-business media, that information provided can facilitate a trade exchange between the suppliers and distributors of goods;
document best practice - which is vital for communities of practice to plug in to; and most importantly, keeps all stakeholders in the system informed about industry developments and innovation, introducing the innovators in these fields to the broader industry sector - thereby also contributing to building and adding to networks. The emergence of the internet and online media across multiplatforms, including mobile, is not only a quantum leap forward for business-to- business publishers and a whole new model for business, but also allows virtual communities to operate across borders, organisational and country, broadening the knowledge sharing base. The world has become smaller, but for the community of practice, this is a catalyst. The supposition that media, in this context business-to-business media, are an overlooked crucial cog in the community of practice community is evaluated in this research study.
The key here is the networking, facilitation and information provider role that business-to- business media play, which if proved, would meant that this important media sector is not only a crucial cog in sustaining a community of practice, but conversely - applying the same intervention of the CoP onto business-to-business media, could reveal a synergistic relationship where the CoP could in fact assist in sustaining business-to-business media. The literature is scant, so the qualitative research study results are key. In the following chapter, qualitative data analysis will be unpacked, as well as how to use soft systems methodology as the lens through which to evaluate the data.
CHAPTER 3
"Progress in almost every field of science depends on the contributions made by systematic research; thus research is often viewed as the
cornerstone of scientific progress."
Geoffrey Marczyk, David DeMatteo & David Festinger Essentials of Research Design and Methodology (2005)