Managing tacit knowledge in the corporate environment: communities of practice

Abstract

The concept of knowledge management may not be as widely recognised as is perceived. The pressures of remaining competitive in the rapidly changing world of business at a time when too many organizational change efforts have not delivered their promised results, entails that any new initiative needs to be aligned to the strategic business of the organization. Although unconsciously producing and acting upon knowledge on a daily basis, knowledge management is still a relatively new concept for many organizations. One of the reasons is the nature of tacit knowledge, which is difficult to identify and is not seen as a revenue-earning product or commodity. This research aimed to find a way of successfully capturing and sharing organizational knowledge (especially tacit) and to create an awareness of the value of knowledge to employees in an organization. The implementation of a community of practice is proposed as the first step in the knowledge management process. The theories found in the literature were put to the test by applying them in a case study done in an organization within the corporate environment. Guidelines were offered on the planning and implementation stages. An evaluation was done by conducting semi-structured interviews and analysing the results.