Global business process development in a virtual community of practice

Abstract

The development of global business processes is presented as a negotiation and learning process between the local practices and the global design, applying the theory of 'communities of practice'. To be able to engage in global process development, the local communities of practice need methods that support their social imagination of global membership. The article presents process simulation as such a 'locating' method, and tests it in a truly global setting: in a telepresence simulation between two units of a telecommunications company in two different countries, engaged in the development of their global New Product Introduction process. According to the results, process simulation enabled innovative negotiation between the local practices concerning the global process design, although the telepresence solution caused some limitations. Based on the results, the article suggests methods to manage the emergent global process development further in the case company.