The Complex Relations Between Communities of Practice and the Implementation of Technological Innovations

Abstract

The paper analyses the implementation of IT based innovations through a communities of practice lens. It is suggested that such a framework can add fresh insights to the dynamics of innovation processes. The paper makes an empirical and theoretical contribution to the innovation literature by both examining case study evidence from a number of technological innovation projects, and reflecting on the relationship between innovation processes and communities of practice. It is concluded that this relationship is not unidirectional. Not only did the communities of practice influence the innovation processes, for example through shaping important knowledge sharing processes, but the innovations also impinged on organizational communities of practice in important ways. The paper also proposes ways in which the analytical utility of the community of practice concept can be improved, for example by taking greater account of potential negative effects that communities of practice can have for innovation processes.