Abstract
Two systemic inquiries, based on soft systems methodology (SSM), into the potential for using community of practice (CoP) theory by an Australian-government created research and development corporation to change its knowledge management (KM) strategy, are reported. Key staff were engaged in the inquiry into how to build a third-order KM strategy based on CoPs; an exploration of key published work on CoPs yielded four SSM activity models—‘being a community practice system’; ‘doing the work of imagination sub-system’; ‘doing the work of alignment sub-system’ and ‘doing the work of engagement sub-system’. These models can be used as heuristics to aid the purposeful design of CoPs in other settings. SSM, enacted as a systemic inquiry, can be understood as a form of systemic action research, which was well equipped to deal with CoP theory and, when enacted participatively, can generate important systemic insights. The inquiry began the process of fostering an appreciation of third order KM but, on the evidence available, did not lead to on-going commitment to a CoPs-based KM strategy. Future research should acknowledge how the framing of research situations influences the research process, the importance of the design of practice change settings and the limited evidence for purposeful interventions leading to successful CoPs.
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Notes
The organisation L&WA was closed by the Australian Federal Government as part of cost-saving measures in the 2009 budget.
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Acknowledgments
We thank anonymous reviewers, Christine Ellis for her interest in this work, Andrew Campbell for making the work possible and L&WA for financial support. SRES (School of Resources, Environment & Society), now The Fenner School of Environment and Society, at the Australian National University supported the work through a Visiting Professorship to RLI. We are grateful to Phil Wallis for preparing Fig. 1 and Simon Kneebone for Fig. 2.
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Ison, R., Blackmore, C., Collins, K. et al. Insights into Operationalizing Communities of Practice from SSM-Based Inquiry Processes. Syst Pract Action Res 27, 91–113 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-012-9275-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-012-9275-3