Why Communities of Practice (CoP) are ‘Still’ Relevant for the Organizations?

Abstract

There is a continuous scholarly debate on emerging structure of Communities of Practice (CoP) in modernorganizations. The understanding of CoP differs among the organizations and so are the benefits. Over the years CoPconcept has emerged and the new subsets are introduced such as Communities of Innovation (CoInv), Communitiesof Participation (CParp) and Communities of Creation (CoC). This paper proposes that CoP should evolve itself, notconstructed in the organizations. Authors argue these communities emerged and evolved out of the need for doingsomething new and relevant in the organization. The paper draws upon existing research to substantiate their case -why communities of practice are still relevant for the organizations? The paper insinuates apractice-based-standpoint supported through semi-structured interviews with ten corporate executives to understandthe relevance of CoPs in current environment. Through this research, authors are proposing SKLC (Stakeholder,Learning, Knowledge, Collaboration) framework to comprehend the embryonic construction of CoPs. Theframework would describe the way of CoP is understood and explore how CoP stakeholders augment knowledgethrough learning and collaboration. Further, this paper examines how the companies can use CoP to improve internalcommunications, improve profitability and align their processes.