Leveraging knowledge through communities of practice

This chapter presents a case study of cultivating communities of practice (CoP) for leveraging knowledge for higher education institutional development. CoPs have been shown to encourage member participation in collaborative learning and to enhance knowledge acquisition from one member to another (Wenger, Ivey Business Journal, 2004). This is a knowledge management tool for capturing organization knowledge. However, to launch a CoP in any organization is difficult, for it cannot be mandated or created, but it can only be coordinated, facilitated, and cultivated (Wenger et al., Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge, 2009). The model of communities of practice is based on the idea that one cannot separate knowledge from practice. Through participation in the CoP’s activities, knowledge of CoP members could be captured and codified into tangible capital, and this “making things real” process is called reification. Participation and reification are intertwined and interdependent in cultivating a CoP for leveraging knowledge in organizations. Copyright © 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.