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258 CHAPTER 7 • ImPRovEmEnT sTRATEgy
connection can also have a further effect – it encourages the type of collaboration that
can generate even more insights (see Figure 7.10). The idea is that individual staff with
appropriate experience (who have been identified by the KM system) will share their
understanding of a problem in the context of what is formally known about it (again,
as recorded in the KM system), and through this discussion identify additional insights
not typically stored in any explicit form.
Since the advent of user-generated and social media–type Web applications, the
collaborative aspect of KM has been increasingly emphasised. Operations, even those
with a large and geographically dispersed staff with diverse skills, have used KM to col-
laborate. Tools such as wikis, blogs and social intranet networking allow individuals or
teams to facilitate collaboration, not only between internal employees but also with
external partners and customers.

Communities of practice (CoPs)
A community of practice (CoP) is a collection of people who engage on an ongoing
basis in some common endeavour. Communities of practice emerge in response to a
common interest or position, and play an important role in forming their members’
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participation in, and orientation to, the world around them. In the context of KM,
they are groups of individuals with common interests that ‘meet’ in person, or vir-
tually, to share and discuss problems and opportunities, best practices and ‘lessons
learned’. These communities of practice emphasise the social nature of learning within
or across organisations. Given KM’s reliance on Web-based technologies, CoPs are nor-
mally assumed to mean electronically linked communities. However, even with such

Figure 7.10 Knowledge management systems exploit the ability of e-technologies
to collect knowledge and connect individuals and knowledge in order to encourage
collaboration

Collect Connect

KM should codify and KM should link codified
classify knowledge knowledge and holders of
Databases tacit knowledge
Content architecture Subject matter experts
Data mining Search routines
Knowledge events

Collaborate
KM can encourage eective cooperation
leading to the generation of further insights
Communities of practice
Cultural support

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