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Keeping the Wheels Turning: The Dynamics of Managing Networks of Practice
Author(s) -
Agterberg Marlous,
Van Den Hooff Bart,
Huysman Marleen,
Soekijad Maura
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00867.x
Subject(s) - embeddedness , dilemma , knowledge management , organizational dynamics , dynamics (music) , sociotechnical system , psychological intervention , control (management) , business , process management , computer science , public relations , sociology , psychology , political science , epistemology , artificial intelligence , pedagogy , philosophy , psychiatry , anthropology
Intra‐organizational networks of practice (NOPs) confront managers with a dilemma: they must manage NOPs to reap benefits from integrating geographically dispersed knowledge, but the inherently emergent nature of NOPs implies that management control may frustrate practice‐related knowledge to be shared. Based on a case study of 22 NOPs in a geographically dispersed development organization (‘TDO’), we develop a model that disentangles the dynamics underlying this dilemma, helping to better understand it. Specifically, four dynamic relationships are interrelated and involve four kinds of embeddedness (organizational, in practice, relational, and structural) that relate dynamically to knowledge sharing in NOPs. Interventions in both the content shared in the network and the connections among network members can influence each of these relations. This study contributes to theoretical and practical understanding of how to manage NOPs without killing them.